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How to rip FROM MiniDisc (using MZ-N510) to computer?

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aarnott

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Hey folks,

I'm new to this forum, so I hope I've picked the right place to ask this.

I'm desperately looking for a way to copy tracks from my tall stack of MiniDiscs back to my computer. I have some 3 dozen discs and much of it is recordings I've made off of audio cassettes I own, or personal live recordings. SonicStage does not seem to have a facility to rip FROM MiniDisc (only TO minidisc). Am I missing something, or is there some software out there that can rip from MD?

I realize that there is a copyright protection concern here, but I seriously hope there's a way (even if it's hacky) to get the music and live recordings off of these discs. I've done a few discs already just using an analog patch cable from Line Out to my computer's Line In, and that was SUCH a pain! Getting the volume and sensitivity controls adjusted just right so that the quality is acceptable (no clipping, decent volume, decent signal to noise ratio) is a balancing act that has to be redone with each disk or even track.

PLEASE tell me if you know how to do this. I'll buy software if it exists. It will seriously save me tons of time.

I have a Sony Net MD Walkman MZ-N510 Type-S.

Thanks.

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Hey folks,

I'm new to this forum, so I hope I've picked the right place to ask this.

I'm desperately looking for a way to copy tracks from my tall stack of MiniDiscs back to my computer. I have some 3 dozen discs and much of it is recordings I've made off of audio cassettes I own, or personal live recordings. SonicStage does not seem to have a facility to rip FROM MiniDisc (only TO minidisc). Am I missing something, or is there some software out there that can rip from MD?

I realize that there is a copyright protection concern here, but I seriously hope there's a way (even if it's hacky) to get the music and live recordings off of these discs. I've done a few discs already just using an analog patch cable from Line Out to my computer's Line In, and that was SUCH a pain! Getting the volume and sensitivity controls adjusted just right so that the quality is acceptable (no clipping, decent volume, decent signal to noise ratio) is a balancing act that has to be redone with each disk or even track.

PLEASE tell me if you know how to do this. I'll buy software if it exists. It will seriously save me tons of time.

I have a Sony Net MD Walkman MZ-N510 Type-S.

Thanks.

It isnt a software issue , it is the UNit , That model MD will only download not upload , to upload you will need an RH1 /M200 that will (On windows anyway ) upload what we call "Legacy recordings" Legacy means pre HiMd ( a nice way of saying old )

quite a few of the guys here have you beat b a few hundred discs ( including me ) over 300 ,I lost count about 4 years ago )

If you dont mind taking a little time and doing it the slow boat to china way , here is the solution.

Audacity , ...... works like a Tape rcorder for you computer , exept it has STUFF built it , llike Levels Meters both in /out , gain controls , editing ability , effects proccessing (So you can make those recording of yourself sound presentable to someone else!) Just set your MD to line level output , connect to your soundcard with and 1/8" stereo cable and real time record into the computer ( if you have an external drive you can set Audacity to use that and put everything there) Be sure to read the help files and I beleive there are some tutorials available online for Audacity . This program has been around a looong tome is made by recording people and musicians who just also happen to be programming savvy , no bugs , no viruses , no spyware )

http://audacity.sourceforge.net

The other way is to drop the Money on an RH1 ( which ae getting rarer by the second)

Edited by Guitarfxr
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It isnt a software issue , it is the UNit , That mosel MD will only download not upload , to upload you will need an RH1 /M200 that will (On windows anyway ) upload what we call "Legacy recordings" Legacy means pre HiMd ( a nice way of saying old )

quite a few of the guys here have you beat b a few hundred discs ( including me ) over 300 ,I lost count about 4 years ago )

If you dont mind taking a little time and doing it the slow boat to china way , here is the solution.

Audacity , ...... works like a Tape rcorder for you computer , exept it has STUFF built it , llike Levels Meters both in /out , gain controls , editing ability , effects proccessing (So you can make those recording of yourself sound presentable to someone else!) Just set your MD to line level output , connect to your soundcard with and 1/8" stereo cable and real time record into the computer ( if you have an external drive you can set Audacity to use that and put everything there) Be sure to read the help files and I beleive there are some tutorials available online for Audacity . This program has been around a looong tome is made by recording people and musicians who just also happen to be programming savvy , no bugs , no viruses , no spyware )

http://audacity.sourceforge.net

The other way is to drop the Money on an RH1 ( which ae getting rarer by the second)

Thank you! That was very useful.

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To continue the topic in its new forum, since almost all the stores are sold out of the RH1, I think you should get the M200 unit. It is THE EXACT SAME UNIT as the RH1 with the ONLY significant differences being the model number and the fact that the M200 is really the RH1 with a bonus ECM-MS70P detachable clip-on stereo microphone included in the deal.

As my simple analogy goes, you can either drive the equivalent an classic 1960s air-cooled Volkswagen Beetle (real-time with Audacity, both it and the VW being legendary classics with the speed equivalent to 56K dial-up), or, you can go for a 2007 twin-turbo Porsche Carrera (with the RH1/M200, which is as lightning-fast as 7+ MB DSL or cable)

Personally I feel that it would be worth breaking the bank for either an RH1 or M200, while your N510 and your legacy MDs can STILL be used to gether in your own preferred portable setup.

BTW, don't worry, you can leave your legacy MDs' recording tab in the "protect" mode and still transfer your recordings to the computer. The RH1 "clones" the tracks and transfers them cleanly with ALL ALBUM AND TRACK TITLES INTACT and without erasing your disc.

In fact, provided you use the supplied SonicStage 3.4 OR HIGHER CD instead of that measly SS 1.5 your N510 came with, you can even convert those recordings to the always-groovy .WAV format so you can then burn a CD of that recording to use as a backup in case either your MD gets corrupted of lost or if your PC crashes and you lose the program.

It's up to you, like the analogy stated, "0-60 in 3 days", or 0-60 in 3 seconds, the choice is up to you.

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"I will NEVER bow down at 'The Altar Of iPod'!!! MINIDISC (and HI-MD) RULES!!!"

From your signature I'd say you feel the MD is superior to the iPod. While I wasn't specifically planning on an iPod, I was looking at replacing my MD player with an MP3 player of some kind (iPad, Zune, or something else) since I don't do live recordings any more and I'd prefer to exchange my 3 dozen MDs for a single player with a larger screen.

But before I make a mistake, I wonder if you have a few specific reasons I may want to consider before I sell out.

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I think it's silly to get MD simply as a portable player nowadays. There are smaller, higher-capacity, more easily navigable players for that purpose.

I've played with iPod and, briefly, Zune, which is overly large unless you really expect to be watching videos on it.

One you might add to your list is the Sansa e200 series. I played one back-to-back with an iPod Nano through my own headphones and its sound was clearly superior. Its other advantages over the iPod are that it takes a removable microSD card--you can add another 2GB--and that the rechargeable battery can be replaced by the user when it eventually wears out. Navigation is very straightforward, and it has a built in voice mic--low quality, but useful in a pinch. It can do drag-and-drop, which is how I use it, or sync with Windows Media Player--possibly Winamp too, since Winamp keeps trying whenever I connect the Sansa. It has some kind of video playback I haven't tried.

The disadvantage vis-a-vis iPod is that when there's a lot of music on it, it takes a little while to read it all when you turn it on. I think the iPod stays in a standby mode with the music database still in memory, which costs you battery life but turns on faster. The USB cord for the Sansa is proprietary, an annoyance. And I have had a file or two that crashed the Sansa--not enough experience with iPod to know if that can happen on those, too.

For the same capacity (plus expansion capability), the Sansa is about $100 cheaper than the iPod. There are probably other good players around too.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/01/sandisk...sa-e260-review/

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From your signature I'd say you feel the MD is superior to the iPod. While I wasn't specifically planning on an iPod, I was looking at replacing my MD player with an MP3 player of some kind (iPad, Zune, or something else) since I don't do live recordings any more and I'd prefer to exchange my 3 dozen MDs for a single player with a larger screen.

But before I make a mistake, I wonder if you have a few specific reasons I may want to consider before I sell out.

It's all because of my 10-year-and-counting loyalty to the MiniDisc family of formats (MD, MD-Data, MDLP, NetMD, and Hi-MD) after all, iPods don't record live on-field material too well, and some models not at all. True while it doesn't take Cindy Margolis' brilliant mind (I personally think that her brains alone are bigger than her somewhat trademark bOObs IMO, hey I went to high school with her in 1983-84, I should know) to know that you see all the sheep (including Cindy and now David Beckham) going with the iPod, but I just have a few questions aboput there little godsend from the folks at Apple:

What happens if you're in the middle of nowhere and your internal rechargeable battery runs out of juice, as opposed to a mere "AA" battery you can replace instantly "on the fly", then what?

What do you do if you run out of storage space in it?

If you want to do a live, on-field recording, how do you do it with an iPod as opposed to a good-old MD or Hi-MD recorder, and, be able to edit that recording in that same or another unit (like my Pro model MDS-E10), after all, with all the DRM that iPods have in them, how do you transfer or share that recording to another unit?

True while there are more and more iPod accessories available as opposed to the beloved MD NOW as opposed to back in our days when MD was king and everyone from Case Logic and other companies made dedicated MD accessories like MD wallets, cases, player carriers, etc. They are still out there, especially on eBay, just type in MiniDisc and set the location for "worldwide" as opposed to "United States", and you will find hundreds of NOS and used MD gear in great condition and ready to be used in your collection.

There is also MiniDisc Access, and there is also MiniDisco, and even Audio Cubes II carries MD gear and accessories for them, don't forget, MD is still the hottest media format in Japan, and most of the stock they carry is from Japan.

There is also yor regional Sony DAPC, in which they carry all the OEM gear for you particular unit, and even items available for other MD and Hi-MD models will work well too, pricey, but well worth it, and next to Toyota and Nissan, the MiniDisc has been the best thing to ever come out of Japan, period.

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I agree with bighmw about the plusses of md especially Hi-MD, with reasonable compression even on an 80 minute disc you can put on more music than you can listen to at a single sitting. If you lose that one disc, you still habe more to replace it, if you lose the HD on your puddle or anything else, all is gone. Md's also have the advantage that every one doesn't have one, so you are not a sheep blindly following the advertising God. And as this is primarily a MDF forum, you will get more yeas than nays about advantages. As to the purported issues on sound qualitity of MP#'s on mD, it's mostly subjective, and most people over equalize anyways. My vote, get an RH1 or M200, you'll be amazed

Bob

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Hi-MD renderer is a very useful utility, written by one of our members (MarCnet) for converting tracks in ATRAC (.oma) format to other audio formats such as mp3, wav and FLAC. You can get it from the downloads section here at MDCF.

Unfortunately the .oma tracks have to be already on your PC (rather than on the MD), before you can use it. so it's probably not much help in this case.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello,

I'm brand new in this forum an have same problem as everyone apparently : download legacy (ATRAC) 100 MD's to my PC. But... I want to keep songs digital... So what I could read is that only RH1 could do it (only for Hi-MD recorded music ? will it work for old ATRAC ?). MZ-NH600D is available at good price on ubid.com. Do you know if it would work with this cheaper model ? I've read the alternative is a sound card with digital in. But I've got a laptop, USB is easier :-)

Tx for your help !

JF

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  • 2 weeks later...

Merci pour les infos (et désolé pour la réponse tardive, j'étais en vacances).

Je les ai tous enregistrés via l'entrée optique (à partir d'un lecteur CD portable), donc, si je comprend bien ça devrait marcher avec le RH1. J'ai justement trouvé un vendeur sympa dans un sony store cet après-midi qui me propose d'essayer et si ça marche, même de me le preter/louer (à voir...) pour faire les transferts.

Encore merci,

JF

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