cheap second hand minidisc for recording?

[corny]

Hi,

I would like to do some field recordings of random stuff - street noise,

bands playing on the street, stuff like that.

I used to own several minidisc units in the past and i liked them alot (except when they broke...

so i figured ill try to build a mic following greenmachine's tutorial, and i now i need a minidsc to record to...

so my question is what model do you guys recommend that will do the job right,

and will go for a cheap price on ebay (or any other 2nd hand market for that matter...)

thanks!

[bobt]

Hi,

I would like to do some field recordings of random stuff - street noise,

bands playing on the street, stuff like that.

I used to own several minidisc units in the past and i liked them alot (except when they broke...

so i figured ill try to build a mic following greenmachine's tutorial, and i now i need a minidsc to record to...

so my question is what model do you guys recommend that will do the job right,

and will go for a cheap price on ebay (or any other 2nd hand market for that matter...)

thanks!

NH700 or 800 probably your best bet

Bob

[A440]

The question is what you want to do with your recordings afterward. If you are content to play them back from the minidisc, or to only be able to copy them by recording them in realtime from the headphone jack, then you can get by with a NetMD. I had some excellent years with a Sony MZ-N707. There are also devotees of the Sharp DR77, Sony MZ-N909, and even MZ-R700 and MZ-R900, which are old models with no computer connectivity. (NetMD allowed you to download songs from computer to MD, like an iPod, but NOT to upload recordings from MD to computer.) You can find NetMD units under $100 on Ebay. You have to make sure they haven't been over-used--look at pictures (check for wear around the buttons), ask questions, be a little suspicious.

Information on every model is here:

http://www.minidisc.org/equipment_browser.html

The NH700 and other Hi-MD units are a great leap in capabilities. They record at CD quality--PCM--while the older MD units only recorded to compressed formats. They hold more per disc. And they allow you to upload your recordings to a PC (not a Mac--for that you should get the MZ-RH1, which will run you about $300). You can get the NH700 new from Minidisc Access for $189, and maybe save a little in an Ebay auction--but again, be careful.

The NH-600D--D for Downloader--does not do live recordings. The NH-600 without the D has a line-in jack--needing a battery module (about $50) for amplified music, a preamp (nearly the price of the MD) for unamplified music. Same for the RH710. I do most of my NH700 recordings with a mic and a battery module into Line-in, so conceivably, if you are recording amplified concerts, you could get away with the NH600 ($129 at Minidisc Access). If you look for the NH-600 on Ebay make sure that it is not the NH600D--sellers seem to have trouble telling them apart, particularly since they benefit from the confusion. Send a question to make sure there is actually a Line-in jack.