New to MD and Need Help with MD Unit

[Deb]

Hi,

I have 30 MiniDiscs with recorded speeches that I need to transfer to CD's. I do not have a minidisc recorder or player. I have some experience with SoundForge, but can learn another program if needed. I would appreciate some advice on what type of minidisc player or recorder to purchase. I would like to have the best playback possible, but this will probably be its only use.

Thank you!

Deb

[A440]

When were the speeches recorded? Do you know what kind of unit they were recorded on? If not, what kind of discs are they on: 74, 80 or 1GB Hi-MD?

The best thing for you would probably be to look on Ebay for a MZ-NH600D. They can be found for under $100, but look closely at condition, seller feedback, etc.

The explanation is a little complicated, so hold on to your hat.

There are actually two kinds of minidisc players: regular MD (before 2004, plays 74-minute and 80-minute discs, recorded in the formats SP, LP2 or LP4) and Hi-MD (plays all three kinds of discs, plays back everything, records in PCM, Hi-SP and Hi-LP). (Actually there are various generations of both types of players; the earliest MD only recorded in SP.)

Any Hi-MD will do a direct upload of its own formats--PCM, Hi-SP, Hi-LP--using Sony's free program, Sonicstage. You can get a full install of 3.4, which will be all you need, from the Downloads link on the upper left.

Regular MD means either playing back in realtime, and recording out of the headphone jack (with Soundforge or other recording program) or buying the MZ-RH1, the only unit that will upload the SP, LP2 and LP4.

If you have a Sony store near you, take your disc and pop it into a player. Look at the display and see what the recording format is.

If the format is SP, LP2 or LP4 and you're willing to take the time to record in realtime, you can find old regular MD units (I prefer MZ-N707 or MZ-R700 but just about anything with a three-digit number will do) or the MZ-NH600D (Hi-MD player) on Ebay. The MZ-NH600D will play back everything and, if it does turn out to be a Hi-MD recording, it will also upload.

[Deb]

Thank you so much for your reply.

The discs say MD 74 and were recorded 3-4 years ago, so I am guessing it would be regular MD probably recorded at SP (or the default setting if there was one). That means I will probably have to "Regular MD means either playing back in realtime, and recording out of the headphone jack" and I can use any regular MD units. I really don't want to spend over $200 to upload the files, UNLESS it would be remarkably improved.

Thank you again.

Deb

When were the speeches recorded? Do you know what kind of unit they were recorded on? If not, what kind of discs are they on: 74, 80 or 1GB Hi-MD?

The best thing for you would probably be to look on Ebay for a MZ-NH600D. They can be found for under $100, but look closely at condition, seller feedback, etc.

The explanation is a little complicated, so hold on to your hat.

There are actually two kinds of minidisc players: regular MD (before 2004, plays 74-minute and 80-minute discs, recorded in the formats SP, LP2 or LP4) and Hi-MD (plays all three kinds of discs, plays back everything, records in PCM, Hi-SP and Hi-LP). (Actually there are various generations of both types of players; the earliest MD only recorded in SP.)

Any Hi-MD will do a direct upload of its own formats--PCM, Hi-SP, Hi-LP--using Sony's free program, Sonicstage. You can get a full install of 3.4, which will be all you need, from the Downloads link on the upper left.

Regular MD means either playing back in realtime, and recording out of the headphone jack (with Soundforge or other recording program) or buying the MZ-RH1, the only unit that will upload the SP, LP2 and LP4.

If you have a Sony store near you, take your disc and pop it into a player. Look at the display and see what the recording format is.

If the format is SP, LP2 or LP4 and you're willing to take the time to record in realtime, you can find old regular MD units (I prefer MZ-N707 or MZ-R700 but just about anything with a three-digit number will do) or the MZ-NH600D (Hi-MD player) on Ebay. The MZ-NH600D will play back everything and, if it does turn out to be a Hi-MD recording, it will also upload.

[A440]

There would be a slight improvement because the transfer is digital rather than analogue. But for speech, you're right--I don't think it's worth the price difference, as long as you have a decent soundcard in your computer.

Since you're familiar with SoundForge you can probably do some noise filtering or normalization if you think it's necessary.

I still recommend getting the NH600D, because it's recent and probably little used or still new. Connect headphone out from the NH600D (volume all the way, equalization off) into Line-in with your basic plug-to-plug cord. But get any unit described as NetMD (MZ-N***) that looks good to you.

I also recommend that you get the Hi-MD Renderer program (free, but if you feel like sending MarcNet a donation, he's been outclassing Sony all by himself for years).

http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=12683

With its NetMD Recorder feature, you install it alongside SonicStage and also connect the computer to the USB connection on the NH600D. Then you can control the playback through SonicStage and record individual tracks instead of having to edit them apart later.