Jo2 Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 Im looking to buy something that easily records dj sets for me, whether its at my house or in a random club. Should I go with the...Handheld RecorderorMinidisc PlayerAlso I heard minidisc players were a pain in the butt when it comes to moving files from the MD to the PC, any truth to this?And how do I hook it to the mixer, do I just get a banana cord and hook it to the RCA record out of my mixer? Is that the only extra piece I would need to record?Thanks in advance for any help... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A440 Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 I'd love to get my hands on the H4 but the budget is limited. Reviews on it have been mixed--Google and see. Some people like it, some think it's flimsy. You can get higher-resolution recordings with it than with minidisc. But minidisc's PCM quality is the same as a CD. The built-in mics do add bulk, though you may not care. The advantages of minidisc are 1) price and 2) track marking, silent track marks you can add as you record, which you may not need or want for DJ sets. Uploading is not as much of an annoyance as it was in years past. You do need Sony's proprietary (but free) software, SonicStage (or Mac Transfer), but most of the complaints you will read online are about old versions. Now you highlight the folder you want to upload, click on a button, and it uploads. You can plug a stereo minijack or an optical output into the minidisc's line-in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo2 Posted March 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 I'd love to get my hands on the H4 but the budget is limited. Reviews on it have been mixed--Google and see. Some people like it, some think it's flimsy. You can get higher-resolution recordings with it than with minidisc. But minidisc's PCM quality is the same as a CD. The built-in mics do add bulk, though you may not care. The advantages of minidisc are 1) price and 2) track marking, silent track marks you can add as you record, which you may not need or want for DJ sets. Uploading is not as much of an annoyance as it was in years past. You do need Sony's proprietary (but free) software, SonicStage (or Mac Transfer), but most of the complaints you will read online are about old versions. Now you highlight the folder you want to upload, click on a button, and it uploads. You can plug a stereo minijack or an optical output into the minidisc's line-in.Sweet, thanks for the reply. Sounds like it's easy to use and I just noticed that the H4 info doesn't say anything about a line input which is a huge drawback for me. So looks like i'm picking up a Song MD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo2 Posted March 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2007 Sweet, thanks for the reply. Sounds like it's easy to use and I just noticed that the H4 info doesn't say anything about a line input which is a huge drawback for me. So looks like i'm picking up a Song MD.Actually I just read a lil bit more on this ATRAC3 stuff, kinda confusing. So if I record in PCM quality then theres no problems...I can just go from the MD to Sonicstage to my ipod or computer or burn it to a cd. But if I record in any kinda of ATRAC3 bitrate then I have to go from my MD to SonicStage, and then I have to convert it to mp3 (which I read was difficult) before I can use it in any media players? And I also read somewhere that you cant use ATRAC files on any other computer besides the one you first put it on because of copyright laws or something? Can someone clear this up for me cuz if I can't record more than an hour and 30 minutes on PCM thats pretty lame. I'd like to be able to record longer and move the files around somewhat freely between computers, and be able to convert to mp3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobt Posted March 16, 2007 Report Share Posted March 16, 2007 If you are recording off records/cd's etc PCM may be a waste, try a lower bitrate, quality is still very good, and you can put more on a minidisc. You can save the file as wav then edit as needed. Also make sure you are using the latest version of SS, Good luck,Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A440 Posted March 17, 2007 Report Share Posted March 17, 2007 (edited) In all fairness, I'm almost entirely sure the H4 has a line input. And for recording DJ sets, unless you want to edit on the unit, it might be more convenient--if, and it may be too early to tell, the H4 will stand up to regular use. The other question is its interface: the controls and display on the unit. The more important question is whether you want minidisc features like smaller size (but without built-in mics), editing the recording on the unit and the ability to add track marks while you record (or automatically every X minutes). The conversion business is confusing because Sony has kept changing the rules. When you record on Hi-MD, you can record in PCM (which still needs to be uploaded through SonicStage) or in ATRAC formats. Many of the restrictions on ATRAC have gone away in recent versions of SonicStage. You can now remove Digital Rights Management garbage from your files with the File Conversion Tool in SonicStage. ATRAC files, called .oma files, are now portable--but SonicStage has to be installed on the computer to play them. Minidisc is not intuitive. With minidisc, you are not recording in mp3, and you cannot simply copy the recording to your computer. You are recording in ATRAC, and you have to use SonicStage to upload it to your computer as .oma file. Marcnet's free Hi-MD Renderer converts the .oma files on your computer to mp3 or lots of other formats, easily. Conversion is not a problem. SonicStage is pretty reliable now, but it is still not not the most elegant program. Why don't you download it--free from Sony, or with the installer under Downloads--and try it a little bit. Be a little careful: like every other music player program (Real, WMP, etc.), it wants to make itself your defauilt player. Don't let it make itself the default player--you have the option when you start it up--and don't allow it to "Import" all the music files from your computer, which means it would make ATRAC copies of any mp3 or wav file it finds. If what you want is a bit bucket--a recorder that will take a line input and make a recording you can copy to your computer--then you should definitely look at recorders like the H4. Minidisc is smaller, cheaper and more mature technology, but it does have that added uploading step to deal with. Nearly all of the time you can upload without problems, however. Everything has to go through SonicStage, including your own recordings that you upload. Once they are uploaded, however, you can convert them to most other audio file types with Hi-MD Renderer. You can also save them as .oma files that you can copy and play back in any computer that has SonicStage installed, not just your own. And once files are converted from .oma to .mp3 or .wav or .flac, you can do whatever you want with them. Edited March 17, 2007 by A440 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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