Sony MZ-M200 Right for me? Need a good Audio Recorder

[Satummoo]

I am a musician and I need to pick up a good quality digital recorder to record my lessons, masterclasses, and for auditions. I remember awhile ago looking for some but couldn't find anything that seemed geared for actual quality without spending 500$+. I'm a student so I don't want to spend a lot, but I need something that can record with good quality and is easy to use so if I need someone to record me playing, they could figure out the basics.

What type of format of recording should I use? Mini disc or HD storage?

With some research, I found this:

http://www.minidisco.com/Sony-MZ-M200

The MZ-RH1 and MZ-M200 are the same except the MZ-M200 comes with a really good recorder.

The thing is, Mini Disc have been out forever and reading some forums, there is some speculation that they will stop producing them. I don't want to have trouble finding disc 5+ years down the road but it seems unlikely that they would stop producing them because they came out with a high-def version in 2004.

What do you guys think?

Are there any other options I should explore?

[Strungup]

I am also a Musician ( just look at my name ) I use MD for lessons as well , but sad to say ( especially from me ) there is a better alternate

for you. The Zoom H2

here is why .

1. Built in Mics ( not bad actually , not great but not bad)
2. Built in Metronome that is very usable( every musician needs this)
3. Tuner built in that is quite accurate, I have used it a lot
4. Records in mp3 format , so you save disc space
5. USB , uploads directly to Mac or PC
6. fits in your pocket,or guitar case, backpack
7. Runs on regular batteries
8. Is not expensive
9. and you can Monitor yourself in the headphones , with the Monitor on setting , the Mics stay on all the time , so you can record a part (Rythym) and then practice the lead part while listening to the Rythym in the headphones ( you will hear both! )

I have the RH1 which is the M200 , and the quality is very nice indeed , I use an Audio Technica AT-822 stereo mic , and that is basicall for premium outdoor recording or event recording . But for lessons and truly every day use , I would have suggest the H2 (which I also have )

It really is the perfect Musicians tool.

[Satummoo]

I am also a Musician ( just look at my name ) I use MD for lessons as well , but sad to say ( especially from me ) there is a better alternate

for you. The Zoom H2

here is why .

1. Built in Mics ( not bad actually , not great but not bad)
2. Built in Metronome that is very usable( every musician needs this)
3. Tuner built in that is quite accurate, I have used it a lot
4. Records in mp3 format , so you save disc space
5. USB , uploads directly to Mac or PC
6. fits in your pocket,or guitar case, backpack
7. Runs on regular batteries
8. Is not expensive
9. and you can Monitor yourself in the headphones , with the Monitor on setting , the Mics stay on all the time , so you can record a part (Rythym) and then practice the lead part while listening to the Rythym in the headphones ( you will hear both! )

I have the RH1 which is the M200 , and the quality is very nice indeed , I use an Audio Technica AT-822 stereo mic , and that is basicall for premium outdoor recording or event recording . But for lessons and truly every day use , I would have suggest the H2 (which I also have )

It really is the perfect Musicians tool.

That sounds really nice. The only thing though is that sound quality is VERY important to me. For lessons, it isn't too much of a concern, but still needs to be above average Sound qaulity. For auditions that I need to send in recordings it is VERY important to have as good sound quality as possible, is there that much difference?

the Zoom H2 does seem like it's nice that it's all integrated though.

Can the zoom record other than MP3? I don't want the audio to be really compressed for important recordings

[Strungup]

Yes , it will record in MP3 VBR ( the highest quality Mp3 , as well as in WAV 16 or 24 bit .

the owners manual is a free download , from the website.

http://www.samsontech.com/products/related...user_manual.pdf

website

http://www.samsontech.com/products/product...cfm?prodID=1916

also Zooms website ( better pics and info)

http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h2/index.php

Edited February 7, 2008 by Guitarfxr

[bobt]

The M200 is smaller, media is cheaper, and interface good, take your choice, H2 has some poinys as TC has said, M200 has it's advantages as well. Having minidiscs for quite a few years I can attest that the sound quality is incredible, and with the right mics, live recording is great, as wel, line in recording is there

Bob

[A440]

The DS70P mic that comes with the MZ-M200 is bass-deprived--frequency response is 100-15000 Hz.

Better to get the MZ-RH1 and a good microphone, or get the H2.

The microphone is much more important than the bitrate. A high-resolution recording of a bad source, like the DS70P mic, will sound much worse than a high-quality mp3 recording (over 192 kbps) of a good mic. Think about your recording situation--studio? performance? line-in from a mixer?--and choose a good microphone.

Edited February 7, 2008 by A440

[jmsla]

Hi, new registered member here but, I've been familiar with minidisc.org for some time.

I am familiar with the flash recorders such as the Zoom and Edirol, etc, but, nevertheless just purchased an MZ-M200 from Mini Disco. I am a drummer and the -50% to +100% speed control on the M200 is worth the price. It's even better than the speed control on the MZ-B100, which I sadly just lost to theft a month ago.

With the M200 there is no discernable change in pitch or clairity at the max 50% slower speed. This is a great feature for me because I can now slow down complicated or just really fast drum kit parts and clearly hear what is peing played making transcribing and learning much easier and faster. I will also be able to use it as a play-a-long device at slow speed to help with the physical side of learning a part and feel. Lastly I can record myself playing at slower learning tempos and play back at faster speed to hear what it should sound like at performance tempo. For me, the wide speed adjustment and resulting clean and clear sound at even the slowest speed is worth the price alone if I did nothing else with the unit. And it will make great recordings especially with a high quality mike.