From iRiver to hi MD for podcasting

[ratbagradio]

I'm a podcaster who has been recoding on the iRiver ifp 785 which is agreat little machine. No longer made it nonetheless offers MD style plug in power with a mic/line in jack.

I planned to record a two day conference later this but my problem was that the iRiver offered no more than 8 hours of recording time. And the computer interface on the ifp is such that you have to install the software on every computer you use to upload the audio.

So I thought:(i) I do need a backup recorder.(ii)Should I hunt down another ifp? (iii) Or should I seek out another recording mode? (iv) What are my options?

Considering the price range I was limited to (approx $AUD200)-- relative to with the ifp or its replacement -- I purchased a new SONY MZNH700 on eBay.

The logic makes sense --as I get a backup or replacement recorder with a recording time only limited by battery charge.

But I find the HiMD a bit different and also a similar to the Mp3 player/recorder I own. There is a bit of a learning curve to grapple with and the manual isn't the best DIY I've dealt with.

It's taken me months to get used to the iRiver mp3 and I expect the same will be required for this HI MD format.

I've been recording all my shows on the iRiver primarily because I hate the sound floor on my computer and the sterility of the interface at that workstation. In fact podcasting's major handicap I think is this default culture which presumes that you are trying to replicate the radio broadcast studio in your own home. And for this reason the discussion and the habit in podcasting has tended to be warped by a sedentary approach.

For this reason the mini disc seems to have been neglected. I assume that's the reason. I know there are few like me who record only on their iRivers in preference to the pc or mac. This also means that podcasters have locked themselves out of the rich culture and exchanges that have been fostered around MD technology and use.

It's rather bizarre really...as though the contemporary podcaster thinks they have re-invented the wheel.

The irony is that accepted paths, rig wise, for podcasters are very narrow indeed such that it tends to fall to debate about hardware addons -- mixers, mics, and such --and of course folk aren't thinking plug in power when they're talking about inserting a microphone into their pc or mac. I mean its a different world even though its supposedly chasing the same thing: sound recorded well which later may be mixed or edited. And of course all that Mp3 audio you gather has to be stored on your computer unless you cut a CD to move it elsewhere.

It's true that if you are seeking to record voice only the iRivers will do but then a lot of other issues kick in.

Having said that it's strange that there hasn't been much discussion here in these forums about podcasting. Why is that? Is it because that like my radio colleagues MinDiscers are disparaging of the sound quality attainable in the highly compressed Mp3 format? I can see that -- but the main gift of podcasting -- or audio sharing like that -- is the voice and really you have a lot of leeway with what you can do with speech. Because what podcasting gives the producer of the audio is a great capacity to SHARE their output.

The irony is that there are all these podcasters out there trying to up their input quality at the workstations by fiddling with all their widgets and add ons, when theres' this great technology available -- the MD -- which resolves a lot of the issues they get caught up in...if they'd only get off their backsides and go record elsewhere.

It seems to me, and I hope someone will correct me if I am making a mistake, that pairing the mini disc with a device like the iRiver ifp and tooling up with microphones that work in both (I use the Visivox SCM-PRO and the Sony ECM DS30P (a msitaken buy I think)-- is a way to create flexible rig options on a budget--especially as you'll always need a backup recorder for those times something goes wrong.

WHAT I WANT though, is a course in how to use the MD --is there such information on the web I can access? If someone could design a course such as on sites like this:

http://nuvvo.com/

Mini Discs would be recognised more as a recording option.

dave riley

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[A440]

Welcome to the minidisc sphere.

At least one member here has a signature announcing "podcasts with minidisc," so you're not alone.

I think the reason MD isn't the podcaster's obvious first choice is that before Hi-MD--that is, for more than a decade of the minidisc's existence--Sony ignored the obvious idea that people wanted to get their recordings off the minidisc after they were made. Lots of other recorders came along in the meantime that would let you transfer your digital recordings easily to your computer. By the time Sony finally woke up--providing not only uploading but .wav recording--minidisc had already endured a decade of bad word-of-mouth. Uploading with SonicStage was also iffy until version 3.2, further driving people away. And Sony is only now getting around to Mac compatibility.

I don't think the learning curve is as steep with MD as it was with your Iriver (I have a 799). Minidisc recorders have level meters, for one thing. And once you get used to the hardware--like pressing two buttons at once to record--and set the defaults the way you want them, the unit almost makes sense (except for the annoyance of setting manual volume on everything but the RH1). Uploading to SonicStage and uploading to Iriver Music Manager are almost equally easy/inconvenient, and the once-notorious SonicStage has become relatively user-friendly.

I'm very fond of my NHF800, which has taken considerable use and abuse over the last two years.

There's a Live Recording FAQ here, though it's dedicated mostly to music. Voice recording is straightforward: just press Rec/Play and let it record. Anything else that strikes you will get a

fairly quick response here.

For a one-step conversion to .mp3 for files you have uploaded to My Library--instead of converting to .wav and then reconverting to .mp3--there's Hi-MDRenderer. Get it from Downloads (upper left here), and check out the info in the Software FAQ.

I've tried to use the Iriver as a music recorder via Line-in, with exactly the same mic and battery module as my MD, and the results are just sad. For hi-fi, the MD is just plain superior.

So when people compliment you on the sound quality of your podcasts, you can either tell them you're an equipment nonconformist or just look smug.

Edited October 17, 2006 by A440

[greenmachine]

Isn't there an alternative firmware for IFP's to enable real drag 'n drop? I remember something like that. Having used an IFP [different model no.] in the past, for quality recordings i'd prefer Hi-MD any day.

[ratbagradio]

Isn't there an alternative firmware for IFP's to enable real drag 'n drop? I remember something like that. Having used an IFP [different model no.] in the past, for quality recordings i'd prefer Hi-MD any day.

Don't mention ifp firmware. The ifp 700 is a pain in the rear in that regard especially relating to one of my pcs driven by Win XP.But I have an iRiver T30 for listening and it is simply the best device I have ever had.(I even used to record on it with a battery driven mic) 'Tis a pity that they didn't develop the ifp 700 attributes more but we live in a listening rather than a recording world.

Really, more generally, we need an MD podcasting group for mutual support as podcasting pushes a lot of boundaries that mini DisCers would appreciate.

But the disdain or ignorance of MD among podcasters is rampant. I came to the MD through my radio work.

For instance a podcast for your band is a great reach out tool...and with such sites as ODEO and platforms like Blogger you pay nuthin...zero.

The only mindisc sharing site I know of is the FreeSound Project (mainly in wav of course). I luv that.

[A440]

Isn't there an alternative firmware for IFP's to enable real drag 'n drop?

You can change the IFP firmware to drag-and-drop--UMS--but doing so lowers the maximum bitrate on recording to something ridiculously low, 96kbps. The processor is just no match for the MD.

A T30 has become my main listening unit, and its built-in mic is surprisingly good for voice recording--I use it for backup while my good mics are plugged into my MD. But I just wouldn't trust it for music. And while navigating on MD units is by no means intuitive, the little iRiver players are completely cryptic. Four to six alternating button pushes to switch albums? Jeez. Don't know why, but iRiver fans are a lot happier being tweakers than MD users are.

[milomind]

As far as podcasting goes, hell I've been involved in podcasting the show Destructomundo for over a year and a half now with my RH10, and pretty much the same way since the beginning: four headsets run through splitters into a single mic input. I call it the octopus. It's ugly and gets kinda tangled from time to time, but it's totally portable and fits comfortably in my messenger bag. I set up the recording level, and go. I own a mixing board, about twelve different microphones, a PC and a Mac, and have plenty of recording software for each of them, but I always opt to record the show with the minidisc recorder. I really can't imagine doing it any other way. Even in my office with the mixer, the computers and all.

[ratbagradio]

As far as podcasting goes, hell I've been involved in podcasting the show Destructomundo for over a year and a half now with my RH10, and pretty much the same way since the beginning: four headsets run through splitters into a single mic input. h the mixer, the computers and all.

I respect that milomind and know where you are coming from. But i note the irony that theres' this podcasting attitude out there that is kind of glued to the terminal as though thats' the only tool box that has ever existed.

In my case I had never had a MD in my hand,let alone owned one or knew what they did. I don't think I'd ever seen one -- I mean consciously -- until I went looking for them a few months back. But an mp3 player is universal. My household owns four -- primarily as listening devices.

Even when I got into podcasting and started doing research -- and read all the available books & such --= no one mentions the minidisc hardly at all. I think Tod Cochran's book does though. And then people get disparaging because I recorded direct to Mp3 format -- on my ifp iRiver -- such that I was supposed to be trading convenience for quality. And the very idea of recording away from your computer ! Well you must be a nutter! Why do that?

What that does, you know, and the dynamic is already well advanced -- is to encourage podcasting to ape radio as in the whole broadcast studio concept where the environment is controlled such that nothing is supposed to be left to chance.

While there is a place for that -- I note that there is this rigid paradigm being unconsciously orchestrated that is in the long run quite constricting -- that in fact fails to recognise the major reach out, mobility and flexibility the MD and similar recording devices allowed radio.

[ratbagradio]

Welcome to the minidisc sphere....So when people compliment you on the sound quality of your podcasts, you can either tell them you're an equipment nonconformist or just look smug.

I've had a chance to play with the device, A440, and I have had problems with working out the accessing menu but I found this forum's FAQ very useful as the manual is...well...almost consciously obscure. Especially when I had a low battery and couldn't access REC-SETas a consequence. Thats' not in the manual.

But the sound!...it's ten on to Mp3 level recording. Nonetheless, I could not find anywhere on the web a straightforward newbie/dummy level introduction to working the HI MD.I'd even been trained on a pro level console (Low MD) minidisc as part of my panel operators course at a local community radio station and the logic is hard to grasp. (And why anyone would want to edit on a minidisc when they can use a computer to do the job -- seems almost archaic.)

But as for recording ease they beat the iRiver to a pulp. I think I can sit on this one I purchased nicely for a few years before outlaying bigger bucks for a latest model some day.

The irony is that I woudln't have got into minidiscs -- from my podcasting roots -- if I hadn't decided that plug in power microphones were the way to go. You can't use these mics on so many other devices (although on the ifp 700 you can) or your computer, so I have been guided by coincidence as much as anything else.