is Net Md any better sounding than LP4?

[rich.jenn]

Hi,

I'm struggling with Sonic Stage, and wondering whether the audible result of Atrac files is going to be superior to just making recordings in LP4, and by-passing the PC altogether?

Anyone done any comparisons?

Cheers

Richjenn13

[brian10161]

i dont think you can make LP4 recordings without a pc.

besides, lp4 doesnt sound very good (depending on your listening preferences). to me, i cant listen to music no encoded in lp2 or higher, it just doesnt sound any good below that.

[Roamer]

Actually, you can record with mic/line-in in LP4(at least with 1st gen HiMD, MZ-RH1 and older Sharp units).

But unless you're doing speech recording, I don't see much the point ...

[brian10161]

I've been corrected

I didn't think it was possible with a NetMD thought. ah well

[poe]

Never really tried it myself but yes Net MDs can record in LP4 off the line and/or mic. It's also pretty much agreed that any format recorded direct to a unit sounds better than through Sonic Stage. Assuming you're using a optical input into the unit that is. Later, POE.

[rich.jenn]

Thanks to all.

I have to admit I'm STILL not clear (pretty dense on occassions!)

What I'm trying to ascertain is whether a music file encoded on a PC using

ATRAC3 is going to be any different audibly from recording music straight

on to a MDnet recorder in LP mode (using digital input, off a CD player),

or whether all that Sonic Stage is doing is allowing you to compile and

label more easily(!?)but encoding the music in exactly the same way that a

MDLP recorder does?

Sony are completely vague about this (no surprise there.)

Yes, I agree, LP4 doesn't sound very good! - I was hoping that somehow

Sonic Stage had found a cleverer way of encoding that sounded better......

Hmmm... Bit like a perpetual motion machine - great idea, somewhat

difficult in practice.

Cheers!

richjenn13

[brian10161]

well, for starters if you record with sonic stage, its going to be faster. you encode the music, then record it to the MD.

doing it in realtime, will take, realtime. the quality may be the same, but i have a feeling it will be better than using sonic stage.

lp4 doesn't sound good to me at all (im a bit of an audiophile ) so i tend not to use it. i use LP2, but i use sonicstage mainly because i have to. i dont have a very decent MD player, just an MZ-NF520D (D = downloader from what i hear) and it requires i use usb. theres no recording line in.

i wish i had a deck

anyway, i hope that i helped a little bit. if not, just post back, im sure theres others here willing to help

[King Ghidora]

LP4 is never going to sound good no matter where it gets encoded. My NetMD was used exclusively for listening to music I encoded on a PC and downloaded to the MD. I don't know if LP4 sounds better if encoded on a PC as compared to recording via an optical line in but I do know that it sounds completely bad when encoded to LP4 on a PC and downloaded to a MD. My guess is that it won't be any different encoding LP2 using the computer or the MD itself. Yes the MD has an optical input but the USB cable delivers digital data to the MD so there's no loss of quality there.

[bluecrab]

LP4 is never going to sound good no matter where it gets encoded. My NetMD was used exclusively for listening to music I encoded on a PC and downloaded to the MD. I don't know if LP4 sounds better if encoded on a PC as compared to recording via an optical line in but I do know that it sounds completely bad when encoded to LP4 on a PC and downloaded to a MD. My guess is that it won't be any different encoding LP2 using the computer or the MD itself. Yes the MD has an optical input but the USB cable delivers digital data to the MD so there's no loss of quality there.

I am, as I write this, listening to [u]Voce: Music from Women of the World

(various artists). I borrowed this CD from the public library and have transferred it in LP4 mode from CD to MD (at high speed) on my MXD-D400 to a plain old 74-minute MD, for temporary listening purposes. I'm listening through Koss MAC-7 headphones on a Sony MZ-R500. It sounds fine - not quite as fine as SP or LP2, but listenable.

This in fact is my main use for LP4 - temporary recordings for evaluation or for listening to while driving. LP4 sounds OK in my car, as well. I should note that while I am reasonably sensitive to audio quality, I do have a bit of hearing loss. In any case, I expect I'll continue to use LP4 for eval/mobile purposes, at least until (if!) Sony ever decides to fully implement Hi-MD for the Mac.

[King Ghidora]

All can say to that is I can hear a huge difference between LP2 and LP4. I think LP4 sounds terrible to be honest.

[ZosoIV]

SP: Usually sounds as good as a CD.

LP2: Usually sounds as good as a clear FM station or a good tape.

LP4: Usualy sounds like a 50-cent K-Mart brand Type-I tape that got caught in a vacuum cleaner

[ATELETRONICS]

if you have hi quality mp3's and use sonic stage 3.2 or higher to transfer the files in lp4 they are almost not that bad and almost listenable but just almost. they sound worse when encoded straight from cd. i know that sounds stupid but its easy to hear. lp4 really sounds bad for music,

[paularmenores]

I still do my recordings in realtime using my MDS-JA333ES. I've compared SP to LP2 to LP4 and I don't think the difference is as big as some people would have you believe. Sure, LP4 doesn't sound as good as SP, but it's quite bearable. If you want CD quality audio, then use a CD. If you want to carry 5 hours of music around with you, then LP4 is fine. I'd much rather carry around 1 MD in LP4 than 4 MD's in SP.

I've done lots LP4 recordings using sonicstage and my RH1, mainly for podcasts. If it's just speech you are listening to then sonicstage is fine (especially since it burns a disc so quickly). When it comes to music however, the sound from sonicstage just doesn't seem to be as rich as the recordings from the deck. There is a harsh quality about the recording. You can only really compensate for this with reasonable playback equipment - the portable players just don't give you enough control over the sound. If you plan to keep a disc for a long time, then perhaps spending the time to do a realtime recording would be beneficial. But, if you know you are going to erase the disc next week then sonicstage is sufficient.

[ZosoIV]

LP4 encoded via SonicStage is harsh because the lowpass is a bit higher than the value used for hardware encoders. LP4 is so bit-starved that even trying to encode 1kHz of extra bandwidth will strain it and make encodings sound metallic or harsh. I've noticed the same for LP2 as well: LP2 sounds really "sandy" or rough sounding in SonicStage, but not as much when encoded on unit.