toyranch Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 I'm going to be recording rehearsals in a very loud small room. I want it to sound good, but it's mostly for our reference. I need something I can download onto my PC easily and turn into MP3's. My budget is around $200. I think that covers it, but let me know if there are any other factoids to address. Thanks in advance for your help and recommendations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby Normal Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 I'm going to be recording rehearsals in a very loud small room. I want it to sound good, but it's mostly for our reference. I need something I can download onto my PC easily and turn into MP3's. My budget is around $200. I think that covers it, but let me know if there are any other factoids to address. Thanks in advance for your help and recommendations. To be honest, with your budget, I would throw it all into the microphones and use a laptop instead of minidisc. Others here can help you with the microphone recommendations. Then again, others might disagree. It really depends on what you mean by "I want it to sound good" and "but it's mostly for our reference"--two opposing statements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyranch Posted July 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 To be honest, with your budget, I would throw it all into the microphones and use a laptop instead of minidisc. Others here can help you with the microphone recommendations. Then again, others might disagree. It really depends on what you mean by "I want it to sound good" and "but it's mostly for our reference"--two opposing statements.Sounding good and being for our reference aren't, in my mind, opposing statements. If I wanted cheap and "reference only" I could haul an old boom box in there and record it on cassette tape using the built in condenser mic. But I'm looking for better than that, just realizing that "live album quality" could be achieved if I spent enough, but I'm not needing that either.I want something I can walk in the room, set in the middle of it, turn it on, and let it record for 3 hours or so. Then take it home and dump it onto computer, slice out what I like, and keep that. Don't have a laptop, so that's not an option. The best/easiest for $200 or so is what I'm looking for to accomplish that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobt Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 Get an NH700 and a decent mic, you will be set, and on the road to Mini Disc addictionBob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby Normal Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 Get an NH700 and a decent mic, you will be set, and on the road to Mini Disc addictionBobLOL--I was trying to save this poor fellow. Now you've done it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyranch Posted July 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 I wish I had $600 for this, but I don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 $600 no way. Second hand NH700, $150 max maybe less than half that if you get lucky. Microphone less than $100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted Member Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 Deleted by author. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyranch Posted July 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 Thanks very much for your help. I ran into Amazon when I first did a search and it said $600, but I found some used ones on eBay and Craigslist. Does it need a powered mic? I have some older regular mics that are good for recording. I was thinking about using my Audio Technica AT-816 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 Take a look at the picture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby Normal Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 Take a look at the picture Dude, have you no shame? Put some clothes on that cheesecake, will you? You're liable to give the poor fella a heart attack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyranch Posted July 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 (edited) OK, that answers that. Thanks!Are the discs re-writable, or can you get re-writable discs so you can use the same one over and over, or are they all single use as a recording medium?(I know these are dumb questions to you guys and apologize for that) Edited July 15, 2009 by toyranch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby Normal Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 OK, that answers that. Thanks!Are the discs re-writable, or can you get re-writable discs so you can use the same one over and over, or are they all single use as a recording medium?(I know these are dumb questions to you guys and apologize for that)Absolutely rewritable. The only ones that aren't are the prerecorded releases that you may or may not ever see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A440 Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 (edited) You want something you can put on a table, record and upload. To do that with minidisc, you need:Hi-MD unit + external microphones (though it seems you already have the mics).Windows computer with SonicStage installed.2 steps at least: Upload (hope it works), convert to .wav or .mp3, store.------------Whereas you could get a Zoom H2 or Yamaha Pocketrak, both with built-in mics, for around $200 and do a simple USB upload because they don't record in Sony's weird proprietary encrypted format. Now if you want to set track marks while recording, or want to be stealthy with small outboard mics, Hi-MD is still your baby. But.... Edited July 16, 2009 by A440 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobt Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 If the gentleman comes here looking for minidisc, I think we should help him along, if he wanted something else, he would be in their forum.Like narp says, the discs are reusable, the later versions of sonicstage are quite good, you have to be careful on upload that you don't erase the original, and that you do not put protection on it, Have funBob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted Member Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Deleted by author. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A440 Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 (edited) You don't need a powered (condenser) microphone, but MD recorders are able to power microphones that require plug-in power. Any microphone capable of outputting a microphone level signal, like dynamic or self-powered microphones, can be connected to an MD recorder as well.Just don't get confused between plug-in power, the 1.5 volts supplied at the mic jack, and Phantom Power, 45V and a whole separate kind of device. With the kind of loud music toyranch wants to record, just plugging in a microphone to the mic jack is simply going to overload. The mic has to go into Line-In through a battery box (or preamp, though what you really need is the absence of amplification for loud music). Toyranch's AT-816 is a dynamic mic, not a condenser, and probably doesn't end in a stereo miniplug. I don't know about adapters, power, etc. for it to be used with MD. I found it at this recording-studio page--he uses MDs!http://www.retrosampling.se/studioeng.htmBobt, all of us longtime users have had a huge learning curve with minidisc. When someone proclaims they're a N00B, I think it's worthwhile to point out easier alternatives. There are new gizmos all the time--I just stumbled over that cute little Yamaha Pocketrak .wav recorder a few weeks ago, and it's already been around for months. We get our gadgets to do a job, and if something can do the same job with less hassle, I think it's worth mentioning--full disclosure and all that.... Edited July 16, 2009 by A440 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted Member Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Deleted by author. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobt Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 "Bobt, all of us longtime users have had a huge learning curve with minidisc. When someone proclaims they're a N00B, I think it's worthwhile to point out easier alternatives. There are new gizmos all the time--I just stumbled over that cute little Yamaha Pocketrak .wav recorder a few weeks ago, and it's already been around for months.We get our gadgets to do a job, and if something can do the same job with less hassle, I think it's worth mentioning--full disclosure and all that...."To me Adrian, this is still the MD forum, not MD and assorted gadgets. I still feel if a newcomer wants info on an MD, info on an MD is what we should give them. Most of us here agree that dollar for dollar and feature for feature MD is the way to go. Question of semantics I guess, maybe stuck on a small island shields me from seeing a lot of what is out there, but I do scour the internet, visit tapersection once in a while, find that all the toys have their share of troubles, trilas and tribulations.For that, I will pump MD until the last one has disappeared.Take careBob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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