Hi-MD minidisc DECK?

[shahiida]

Hi. I'm new to the forum, so I hope I'm doing this right...

I own a sony MZ-M200 portable minidisc recorder. Love it! but now I'm looking for a lower cost solution to have in my audio studio to listen to and download my hundreds of standard and hi-md minidiscs talks for editing and production. I work on a mac. Does anyone know of a hi-md minidisc DECK unit that can handle both standard and hi-md as well as download to a Mac?

[THIS SUCKS]

there is no deck that does what you want it to do...

[kino170878]

If only it was so easy. Sony stubbornly refuses to provide a professional level Hi-MD deck. There are still quite a few normal MD decks on ebay though (Sony still makes the JE-480/780) and Tascam continues to produce studio grade minidisc decks. None of these interface with a Mac however.

[srizvi1]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I'm really new to audio production. What would you be looking to do with a professional deck? I myself have my Sony RH1 and am also a mac user. For me, I connect to my Mac via USB whenever I need to drop my audio files onto the computer to edit. So what were you hoping to do differently?

[kino170878]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I'm really new to audio production. What would you be looking to do with a professional deck? I myself have my Sony RH1 and am also a mac user. For me, I connect to my Mac via USB whenever I need to drop my audio files onto the computer to edit. So what were you hoping to do differently?

Some people favour the hands-on approach using dedicated hardware units to do the job. Editing is of course much simpler to do on the computer (although you could argue decks have their advantages too), but in a studio environment you also may want dedicated audio input and output connections which a portable unit like the RH-1 cannot provide. But I suppose if everything you do is strictly on the computer and portability is all you require from the RH-1 then there is no reason to change your setup.

Edited March 19, 2008 by kino170878

[carlesraf]

Look at this page....from japan, a Hi-MD deck than can handle both MD, regular Md aswell as Hi-MD desck.

(it's a litle expensive, but it's the only model that can't do it) it can record on MD Mode ( Sp,LP2,LP4 and mono) and In HI-MD Mode (HI-SP,Hi-LS and Linear PCM).

It can play ,all no standard, atrac3plus bitrates, from 48kbs from to 356, but i can't record with this ratesm only playback.

There is no USB conection.....

If you want to look this unit you can at:

http://www.audiocubes2.com/category/MiniDi...iDisc_Deck.html

[shahiida]

Hello everyone!

Thank you so much for your responses. I love this online community thing!

Sounds like I'm not going to find a deck, and that if I want a second minidisc recorder/player to have in my studio (so I can download files to my Mac for editing while the other one is on the road), that I'm going to have to buy another Sony MZ-M200, or the MZ-RH1. Would you recommend one over the other?? I was looking for a lower cost solution, but I guess MD is on it's way out....so not many options.

Ok, another question: What is the next generation of portable audio recording devices? Just using a good mic, good interface software and a laptop??

[ozpeter]

Ok, another question: What is the next generation of portable audio recording devices? Just using a good mic, good interface software and a laptop??

The place to read up on the many alternatives is the "TapersSection" forums at http://taperssection.com/index.php/board,11.0.html - the first thing to decide is how much you want to spend. Unlike the MD/Hi-MD products, software to download the recordings from other portable recorders is not an issue, as they record to standard file formats on removable media, or you can treat the device as a USB hard drive.

[1kyle]

The place to read up on the many alternatives is the "TapersSection" forums at http://taperssection.com/index.php/board,11.0.html - the first thing to decide is how much you want to spend. Unlike the MD/Hi-MD products, software to download the recordings from other portable recorders is not an issue, as they record to standard file formats on removable media, or you can treat the device as a USB hard drive.

A possible solution could be to use a Virtual Windows Machine with Sonic Stage to do your music transfers.

Most modern Intel based Macs will run Windows -- either via Bootcamp, parallels, VBOX or Vmware. To use VBOX you'll probably need to instal a Linux\system on your PC but it is FREE -- another freebie is Vmware VMSERVER --but don't go for the latest version (2.0). . -- however of drawback with vmware server 1.x level is that only USB 1.x is supported not the fastest modern usb 2.0.

For minidisc audio transfer this is probably not a problem.

VBOX and vmware workstation supoort usb 2.0 transfer but vmware workstation costs aound 170 USD. VBOX is free.

Cheers

-K

[sfbp]

Looks like there is a new model made by Onkyo, the FR-N9TX(S).

http://cgi.ebay.ie/ONKYO-FR-N9TX-S-Hi-MD-C...1QQcmdZViewItem

It's a lot of money but if the digital output is from the MD not just from CD, it's probably going to find a bunch of customers from here.

Does anyone know?

[Avrin]

This one has been known since last fall, and its optical digital output is AFAIK from CD only.

Edited April 19, 2008 by Avrin

[sfbp]

This one has been known since last fall, and its optical digital output is AFAIK from CD only.

Thanks... that's sort of what I suspected, I now recall the review of the Onkyo *with* speakers, and if this is simply the same unit, I guess the same outcome follows. So the only reasonably safe way is to buy the N9TX for recording, as receiver (it looks nice but not clear how to hook up all the other legacy devices) and listening, and keep the RH1 for mic recordings and uploads.

Like everyone else I am wary of getting too much into a format that might only last as long as one piece of equipment. I had a JE510 for several years and one day it abruptly died.

Thanks

[THIS SUCKS]

Thanks... that's sort of what I suspected, I now recall the review of the Onkyo *with* speakers, and if this is simply the same unit, I guess the same outcome follows. So the only reasonably safe way is to buy the N9TX for recording, as receiver (it looks nice but not clear how to hook up all the other legacy devices) and listening, and keep the RH1 for mic recordings and uploads.

Like everyone else I am wary of getting too much into a format that might only last as long as one piece of equipment. I had a JE510 for several years and one day it abruptly died.

Thanks

do you still have the old broken 510 deck. i need one for parts?

[sfbp]

You bet!

[THIS SUCKS]

what were you looking to get for it?

[laidler]

Looks like there is a new model made by Onkyo, the FR-N9TX(S).

http://cgi.ebay.ie/ONKYO-FR-N9TX-S-Hi-MD-C...1QQcmdZViewItem

It's a lot of money but if the digital output is from the MD not just from CD, it's probably going to find a bunch of customers from here.

Does anyone know?

Hold on mate, you're telling me that this ridiculously expensive Onkyo CD/HI-MD unit doesn't even have optical out for the MD bit? Why? Are there any other HI-MD decks which aren't portable out there? And if not, what the heck are those z y zeds smoking?

[sfbp]

what were you looking to get for it?

Suggest we take this discussion offline. I sent you a PM but maybe you didn't notice

S

Hold on mate, you're telling me that this ridiculously expensive Onkyo CD/HI-MD unit doesn't even have optical out for the MD bit? Why? Are there any other HI-MD decks which aren't portable out there? And if not, what the heck are those z y zeds smoking?

I'm not the one reporting that fact. But I think it comes down to Sony Music leaning on its Electronics Division (and for that matter any one they sign an agreement to market/manufacture equipment like onkyo, sharp or kenwood) . The consensus seems to be "how on earth did the RH1 ever make it out the door?"