limitations to copying from a CD to a minidisc?

[soul&folk]

I'd like to know the best way to copy my cds to my mz-n707

I've got an Edirol UA-25 interface. Will that help keep things in the digital realm? Do I even need to use it to do what I'm trying to do?

Which cables do I need? Perhaps just a basic RCA cable and then a Y cable to go from the RCA line-outs of the CD player and into the line-in jack of the MD unit?

EDIT: It just occured to me that since I also have an MD Deck (MDS-JE500) that has an optical line-in, perhaps I could play the cd from my computer and send the signal out through the edirol ua-25 and into the deck with the optical cable? Anyone tried something like this?

Is there a CD unit that I could purchase used that has an optical line-out that would make this even easier?

Edited March 7, 2007 by soul&folk

[A440]

The MZ-N707 is a NetMD unit. With a PC (not a Mac), you can transfer songs to it through a USB-to-mini-USB cable faster than realtime with SonicStage (Sony's music library software) or Simple Burner (which also needs SonicStage installed, but will read a CD in your computer and transfer it to MD without also putting it in your music library on your PC). The cable, if you didn't get one with the unit, is a standard cable used with a lot of digital cameras and PDAs. The port is under a rubber gasket on the upper right.

The transfer will be in LP2, which is good for portable use and lets you put 2 albums (148 minutes on a 74-minute disc, 160 minutes on an 80-minute disc) on a minidisc. You can also use LP4, and get quadruple the minutes (4 x 74 or 4 x 80), but quality suffers.

If you are a stickler for sound quality and don't mind using one MD per CD, then yes, you can record in realtime and in higher SP quality through the optical in. The line-in of the MZ-N707 is also an optical in, so you don't need to use the deck unless that's more convenient.

You can find various portable CDs with optical out, like the Sony D-EJ725 (though I don't recommend that model--for some reason my used one only plays the first 10 tracks of a CD and doesn't see the rest). There's no particular rhyme or reason that connects model numbers to optical out--you just have to check the features list. Google around for a list of CDs with optical out. Or run out of the computer with your Edirol.

SonicStage and SimpleBurner will give you an option for transferring in SP via the USB connection. However, that is not real SP--it is LP2 padded out to SP size, to be compatible with the oldest, SP-only units. The sound quality is LP2, which is the best you can get with NetMD transfers.

Edited March 7, 2007 by A440

[soul&folk]

Thank you. That is clear good information. Much appreciated.

[bluecrab]

A somewhat old list of CDs w/opt out can be found here:

http://www.ericwhitney.org/websites/minidi...on/opt_all.html