Help a newbie!?

[Georgeo]

Hey guys, I'm new here, but was sent here by a taper, who said that you'd be good people to ask!

I'm looking to get into live recording of gigs, purely as an occasional hobby. Being a student I don't have much cash to spend on this, so I'm looking to get everything 2nd hand/on the cheap. I have a Sony Mz-N510 MD player, with an optical line in, which I've been told can't be used for live recording. I've been looking to get a HI MD recorder, of which there are two on eBay now, a MZ-NH600 and a MZ-RH910, both are between £40 and £50, which is just about in budget, which of the two (if any) would you recomend?

I also need Mics and a Battery Box etc. any recomendations there?

Would these be good enough, or should I be looking to shell out a bit more?

Any help is brilliant

Thanks very much,

Georgeo

[bobt]

Hi There,

Get the 910, as it has a mic input. As for mics and recording, the best answers are in the appropriate sections of the forum.

Happy recording,

Bob

[raintheory]

You definitely want a recorder that has a mic-in.

You can check out what Hi-MD recorders are available, along with information about them from here: http://www.minidisc.org/equipment_browser.html

Your N510 can record using a standard analog line-in plugged into the line/optical jack. If you can patch into the soundboard you can use that. Or if you have access to a preamp of some sort you can use a mic through that.

The N510 lacks any uploading abilities though, so Hi-MD is definitely worth it.

Welcome to the forums, BTW.

[A440]

The MZ-RH910 will be better for what you need.

If you are recording loud live gigs--amplified music--you might be able to get away with using a battery box into the line-in of the N510. But as pointed out above, you wouldn't be able to upload those recordings, as you would with the RH910.

The MZ-NH600 has a line-in but not a mic-in. So you'd have to get at least battery box and possibly a preamp to boost a signal enough for line-in. Also, be careful. There's also the NH-600D. D is for downloader--there is no input for live recording. Some Ebay sellers like to exploit the confusion between NH-600 and NH600D

Another possibility, if that auction doesn't work for you, is the MZ-NH700. Does everything you need, takes a regular AA battery, and it's a little workhorse.

The mics you pointed to will be fine--they are apparently Microphone Madness mics imported to England. You could contact Mic Madness directly to see if they're less expensive.

http://www.microphonemadness.com/products/mmmicbinster1.htm

An alternative for Europeans is the widely recommended mics by our own Greenmachine, who also makes battery boxes. Ask for the minidisc.org discount.

http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=14388

If you are on a very low budget you can use an attenuator instead of a battery module into a recorder that has a Mic-in jack (not the line-in). Put the volume knob on Maplins VC-1 all the way UP.

Mic-->VC-1-->Mic-in.

And welcome to minidisc-land. It's confusing at first, but....it works.

Edited May 17, 2007 by A440

[Georgeo]

Hi guys, thanks very much for the welcome, I'm bidding on the MZ-RH910, hopefully I'll get it.

Being in the UK, the Microphone Madness mics direct would probably work out as just as expensive, with the import duty etc.

Thanks very much again, I'll keep an eye out for all your recomendations.

George