Hi-MD newbie question

[ggunn]

Hi, all. I'm new to the forum but not to MD; I have been using MD for theatre sound design for many years. I have also been using my old Sony tabletop model for live recordings of my band (which I import real time over S/PDIF into a Mac/ProTools setup), with limited success. My MD is very vibration sensitive, and changing discs every 80 minutes can be a problem. I am recording sometimes from condenser mics through an Audio Buddy, or direct from the mixing board, or sometimes one channel of each.

I have been llooking at flash memory and microdrive recorders as a replacement technology, but I very recently ran across some discussion of Hi-MD which has piqued my interest. I am going off now to peruse the Essential Hi-MD info/FAQ's subforum, but my basic question is this: Is Hi-MD a good fit for my application?

Thanks in advance,

[A440]

Hi, all. I'm new to the forum but not to MD; I have been using MD for theatre sound design for many years. I have also been using my old Sony tabletop model for live recordings of my band (which I import real time over S/PDIF into a Mac/ProTools setup), with limited success. My MD is very vibration sensitive, and changing discs every 80 minutes can be a problem. I am recording sometimes from condenser mics through an Audio Buddy, or direct from the mixing board, or sometimes one channel of each.

I have been llooking at flash memory and microdrive recorders as a replacement technology, but I very recently ran across some discussion of Hi-MD which has piqued my interest. I am going off now to peruse the Essential Hi-MD info/FAQ's subforum, but my basic question is this: Is Hi-MD a good fit for my application?

Thanks in advance,

If you're used to MD then Hi-MD might be just the ticket. Get the MZ-RH1, and you can upload all your old SP recordings--no more realtime.

It's got Line-in and mic-in.

With Hi-MD you can do 90 minutes of PCM or 8 hours of Hi-SP (equivalent to your old-school deck) on the 1GB disks. (They're not backward compatible with your deck, though.) A Hi-MD unit is palm-sized and you could limit vibration by putting it on something soft. It's probably more shockproof than a deck anyway since it's made for portable use.

If vibration is a problem, then you might not want a hard-drive recorder.

Flash recorders like the Edirol should also do the job, though you would want to look at its recording interface--the MD would be more familiar, and Sony has long since figured out on-unit editing, track marks, etc. I've never tried the Edirol R09, but its users seem to be happy with it. Personally I don't need the built-in mics, and I've already got the MD habit.

[ggunn]

Flash recorders like the Edirol should also do the job, though you would want to look at its recording interface--the MD would be more familiar, and Sony has long since figured out on-unit editing, track marks, etc. I've never tried the Edirol R09, but its users seem to be happy with it. Personally I don't need the built-in mics, and I've already got the MD habit.

Yeah, I am looking at the Edirol unit as well, but it's got very mixed reviews, the worst kind, like 5/10, about evenly split between the ones that rate it 8-9.5/10 and those that give it a 2/10.

[A440]

Well, I was trying to be fair-minded about the Edirol R09, and all the early reviews were excited about it, but if opinion is that sharply divided, I'd steer clear.

I don't think you'll find anyone who hates the RH1. And since you already know MD--and all its old quirks--the MZ-RH1 is going to seem like heaven. Especially since you can upload your existing recordings.