Minidisc or something else?

[Mobius]

I'm considering buying one, but I hear the format is dying. Is anyone here familiar with them and know of possible alternatives?

I'm interrested in doing some field recording and interviews, transferring some old records and tapes, and possibly recording from analog line sources like SW radio. I'm also considering taking up jogging, and I have a long commute during which I'd like to use it in the car. I'd also like to be able to do this independently of a computer, and like the fact that the media is removable. Any ideas other than Minidisc? Has anyone else made an affordable portable product with line and mic inputs with some form of removable media like Compact Flash cards or anything?

Or is minidisc for me? I'm just nervous that the format is dying. Why did I have to discover this so late?

[Strungup]

I'm considering buying one, but I hear the format is dying. Is anyone here familiar with them and know of possible alternatives?

I'm interrested in doing some field recording and interviews, transferring some old records and tapes, and possibly recording from analog line sources like SW radio. I'm also considering taking up jogging, and I have a long commute during which I'd like to use it in the car. I'd also like to be able to do this independently of a computer, and like the fact that the media is removable. Any ideas other than Minidisc? Has anyone else made an affordable portable product with line and mic inputs with some form of removable media like Compact Flash cards or anything?

Or is minidisc for me? I'm just nervous that the format is dying. Why did I have to discover this so late?

Welcome to the MDCF .

So far , for Field recording there are a few options , but they involve great expense, Transfering LP&Tape , A Lot of MP3 Players have Line input for Recording .

But the Sound Quality of MD has yet to be rivaled , and it is the only one that does ALL of what you have said ( Though the Jogging part makes me a little nervous, unless you buy a seperate "Player Only" model ) The Mic preamps in the Sony MD's are very nice , you wont find nicer for the Portable Stereo mics.

The ability to Adjust record levels , and Edit track marks , move tracks to rearrange them , etc

Lp copy ....Did 7 yesterday , Tape Copy ........ Lost count over the years, CD Copy , Line or Optical you have a Choice !!!! Toslink Cable from an Optical output of Digital Radio , CD , DAT, Multitrack Recorders , Computer soundcard ......... The list gets long .

You can built a "Used" music collection faster than you can imagine , what you Pay for the MD Recorder will be made for By the Music you get from your Freinds and Aquaintances when you snag CD's they have that you like directly to MD .

Live recording ,.......A nice mic and MD and a Little knowhow , Your now a Bootlegger ( Like most of us here )

Next , I have a Question ........... Is a 57 Chevy Dead? I mean Yeah they dont Make them anymore , but are they Dead ? MD People will remain that way for a Looooong time to come.

[A440]

Nothing is the perfect unit for everything you want to do. The MZ-RH1 would do a lot of it extremely well--though personally I wouldn't go jogging with mine.

But there is no question that minidisc is nearing the end of its life. And much as I enjoy Hi-MD, and appreciate its current advantages, I have doubts about recommending it to a newcomer.

Look at the Samson Zoom H2, the Edirol R09 and the M-Audio Microtrack.

All of them are flash recorders, with easy drag-and-drop to a computer. Edirol and Zoom have built in mics for your interviews. The mic preamps for external mics apparently aren't comparable to minidisc, but users say they are adequate. Line-in recording can be higher quality than minidisc--24-bit.

This O'Reilly site has a lot of informed discussion about them.

http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/pub/a/orei...iew.html?page=2

The Zoom H2, especially, is being billed as a field recorder because it captures surround sound, and it's only $200. But it has proponents and detractors. Guitarfxr has one and he prefers MD.

I haven't switched because i like the smaller size, on-unit editing, level monitoring on the remote control, good mic preamps, better stealth capability and other features of minidisc. Also, I'm used to the darn things.

If you can find one, there are also old units like the iRiver H120 and H140, hard-drive recorders that were not great recorders when introduced, but have been brought up to speed by third-party Rockbox firmware. Unlike minidisc, they have 20GB and 40GB capacity and simple drag-and-drop interface for their recordings. (You can watch levels on their remotes, too.) But it's a rechargeable battery (my preferred Hi-MD unit, the MZ-NH700, takes a basic AA), people can fry them with the wrong chargers, interface takes getting used to, etc.

Minidisc, as you have probably read, is not drag-and-drop. It goes through Sony's proprietary software--SonicStage or Mac Transfer--because the files themselves are, for no good reason, encrypted.

Personally, I don't see why you're so eager to combine the recorder and the player. For jogging, get yourself a little flash mp3 player--I like the Sansa E200 series, but there are many other contenders. The most you'd be able to carry on a Hi-MD disc is 1GB, while the little flash players hold more and are much tinier. Set the player aside and concentrate on the recorder.

All the flash recorders will do Line-in recording. They have removable media too, and flash memory cards can be read by all sorts of gadgets--unlike minidiscs, which can only be read by a minidisc player. Perhaps a decade or two from now, all the minidisc units will be worn out and minidiscs will be unreadable (though I hope to have uploaded everything by then).

If you don't need ultra high quality for interviews, you could get yourself a lipstick-sized iRiver T30 (1GB max) or T60 (various larger capacities) and use their tiny built-in mics, which are suitable for voice (though not music). Also drag-and-drop, very simple, very portable.

The one-size-fits-all unit is still just out of reach. I keep thinking it will get closer, but no one seems to want to manufacture the exact feature set I crave--or you. For instance, to record your LPs, you want to look for sync recording--starting a new track when silence is sensed. Minidisc has that. I don't know if the flash recorders do.

You need to set priorities with your wish list. Then you can figure out which unit is closest to your ideal. If it's minidisc, we'll be happy to help you here and teach you the secret handshake and mysterious cult rituals. But you do have other choices.

Edited October 2, 2007 by A440

[bobt]

I still can't figure out why you can't record and play on the same unot A440, mine seem to do them both very well, my advice, get an RH1 and a 500, best of alllllll possible words.

My opinion only, but probably the opinion of many on this board,

Have fun, and let us know what you choose,

Bob

[Mobius]

Thanks for the replys guys. I'll look into all the units mentioned. I actully did find the Edirol last night, but also noticed it is a bit bulky. I have been considering buying an older unit to play around with like a Sony R-37 or R-50 (though these things seemed to be PRICEY for an older unit! SHEESH!) and if the format fits me, investing in the RH-1. I have been kicking around grabbing an S1 for exercise too, but I know the HiMD's wouldn't work on either of the older units. Heck, if the S1 had a mic input I'd just grab one of those! Does anyone know the difference in the impedence of the inputs? maybe I can build an impedence transcormer and just use the line input for a mic? (with no phantom power I guess though).

Funny enough I recently got my amateur radio license (one of the reasons I started looking into recorders was to use to record contacts. Nagra's like I used in film school came to mind first, but were just a wee bit pricey) and since I have had sort of an aversion to computers. I do use them (obviously) but I just don't like attaching more and more of my life to them. In fact, I'd love to transfer the MP3's I have to minidisc. Somehow it's just comfortable to have something to hold and say "this is my X CD, this is my Y album" rather than "hold on, let me crank up the computer and pull up that file.... hold on... okay, it's booted, now iTunes... hold on... where is it...

I don't know, that probably sounds crazy. I haven't really put my finger on the root of the issue yet, but I'm definately becomming disenchanted with computers. I even use a Mac at home just so I don't have to bother keeping up with all the newest anti-virus, andi-spyware, anti-whatever software. Maybe I'm just old fassioned.

[Strungup]

On a Mac myself , Own an R50 and will not part with it , My other R50 just recently passed away after 10 years , yes I said 10 yeaRS OF USEAGE BIG TIME.

Agree with the Aversion , although it is somewhat of a must in this day and time .

The R50 is pricey because it was the best one component wise , that Sony made , The R50 is a Legend. there were a Lot of preamps made for that unit.

(I actually had this one , loved it .)

[Mobius]

Wow! I didn't realise they made preamps like that for these.

Hmmm...

[raintheory]

yeah those are nice!

they need one for the RH1!

[Strungup]

yeah those are nice!

they need one for the RH1!

The only one left in production is the Rolls MX34 , it would suit the RH1 perfectly .

http://www.rolls.com/products/mx34.php

I want one , but I cant get it in Japan . Been trying , but nobody carries Rolls here , and Rolls wont ship overseas directly , I would have to go thru a third party .

[A440]

@ BobT--Sure, you can record and play on one unit, or save the recorder for recording and get a player. But a little flash player with a lot of storage and no moving parts makes more sense for jogging, car trips, etc., as mentioned in the original post.

@ Mobius--Early MD units like the R50 only record (maximum) 80 minutes per disc, don't upload and of course can't handle Hi-MD discs. Those very early units are pricey because there aren't many left, and because they were more durable than anything built afterward, but they are limited.

Yes, you can record loud music to Line-in with a battery module like this:

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

Or record quieter stuff, too, with a preamp. But the S1 won't upload either.

If you're going to try the format now, you might as well try it with Hi-MD.

[bobt]

"@ BobT--Sure, you can record and play on one unit, or save the recorder for recording and get a player. But a little flash player with a lot of storage and no moving parts makes more sense for jogging, car trips, etc., as mentioned in the original post."

A440 I realize what you're saying, but with flash you are limited by size, if you want more you delete and replace, with MD you pop in another disc, different strokes for different folks I guess, I do agree though that Hi-MD is the way to go

Bob

[Mobius]

Well, my issue there is MD used on ebay ~$80-$100

Hi-MD used on eBay ~$200 + the media is quite a dit more expensive.

Do you think Legacy MD would turn me off?

[bobt]

Hi MD can use regular MD media, as for legacy, depends on the model, lots of them tend to break the cable for the record head. For starters, why don't you try for an NH 600, great downloader, and HiMD as well, and also cheap

Good luck,

Bob

[A440]

What are you going to use your recordings for? If you ever want to get them onto your computer, to burn them as CDs, or to play them off anything but the original disc, then save yourself a lot of time and get Hi-MD. The bonus is that you get higher-fidelity recording as well as uploading capability.

The NH600 has a line-in jack for realtime recording. The NH600D (for Downloader) does not do realtime recording, just downloads music from the computer. Some sellers like to "forget" the difference. If you see NH600 for sale make sure it is not the NH600D.

As BobT said, Hi-MD can use regular MD discs. You only get 27 minutes of PCM recording on a regular 80-minute disc, but you get 140 minutes of Hi-SP recording, about the length of a concert.

Recording times are on this page.

http://www.minidisc.org/keep/onkyo_md-133.htm

[Mobius]

The bonus is that you get higher-fidelity recording as well as uploading capability.

I didn't realise I couldn't upload with the legacy gear. I am not inclined to do it, but I suppose it IS a practical option to have. I guess if I burned the interviews to CD using the computer I wouldn't have to worry about equipment in the future to access it.

Thanks for the advise guys. I'll have a look over the NH600. Also, if all that little box does is add 9v to the audio line, I can make one of those myself probably MUCH cheaper. I'll investigate that as well. I know some people who really know some things about electronics (not saying any of you here don't. I really don't know.)

[A440]

Here's a how-to for the battery module.

http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=11254

[Strungup]

there is an R50 for sale

http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=19970&hl=