crisdean Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 Good evening and a warm welcome to the community, first of all I'm very glad that I found this forum. The reason for my posting here is because I want to start using minidisc. Many people would call me crazy but I liked the format and thinking of that when it came out. Another reason is the sexy design of the devices. Always wanted one but then the CD came and so I gave the minidisc a miss. Now things have changed and although I perfectly know that there are ipods (have one myself) I pretty much like the idea of recording tracks without a computer. Plus minidisc seems to be pretty tough so I really want to get one and start with fun. Now I do have a couple of noob questions as I'm not very into all this technical stuff so I hope you guys can help me here which is very much appreciated. What I would like to do with the recorder. 1) Record digital radio (Evoke Flow radio) 2) copy MP3 tracks onto minidisc 3) copy minidisc to the computer 4) record LPs 5) do some audioblogging with a microphone 6) record CDs from PC I know that I could do it differently but I definitely would like to use the minidisc. Now I had a look on the web and found a MZ-RH1 recorder. An MZ-RH10 as well (is that a later version of the RH1?) Now does anyone know if I could record the digital radio from the Evoke Flow onto the recorder? A link that might be helpful: http://bit.ly/89sDVs (Evoke link). I thought that I might use the headphone input or so to get the music in. If someone could advice here as I'm really not yet into this material. Your help is therefore hugely appreciated. Btw. is it true that the sound quality is better when using ATRAC? I've got an ipod and the sound with the normal headphones is ok. It all depends on the compression rate I guess. Many thanks for reading and hopefully helping me. Cheers Crisdean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herbaklez Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 Minidisc is an extremely convenient recording technology, but keep in mind that these are small, mechanical devices and prone to being dropped and are relatively easily damaged compared to MP3 players. Your Evoke Dig Radio has no digital output jack, so any recording of the radio involves D-A conversion by the radio, then A-D conversion by the recorder. You will still benefit from a cleaner radio transmission/reception, but the recording will not be of the original digital signal. I'd recommend HiMD minidisc for recording. Much longer recording/playback times are available, and more compression rates are available for use. Only use your minidisc when another format is not practical. Transfer your CDs to an MP3 player to preserve your Minidisc recorder for recording purposes. I have 2 recorders and one (my favorite of the 2) just died. I now have access to a Zoom MP3 recorder which is beautiful to use and I don't plan on buying a replacement minidisc recorder. I now have to consider transferring any precious minidisc recordings to CD before the other minidisc recorder/player dies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crisdean Posted December 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 Hi thanks for the advise there This one does have a digital output S/PDIF http://pure.com/products/product.asp?Product=VL-60954&PageType=Specification&Category= Well I thought of using a used player for me going jogging and the recorder to record from LP and bring it onto the computer as a very convenient medium. A used MD player should be around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 A lot of points skipped over in the previous response IMO. One thing if you want to do LP transfers, you need 2 things to do it well: 1. a MD deck, that you can hook to your existing stereo amp output. These are cheap nowadays, but they only do SP, LP2 and LP4. For all that they're worth having. 2. the MZ-RH1 so you can do uploads from the deck to computer. You also neeed: 3. The MZ-RH1 so you can put MP3's onto the minidisc without conversion. 4. the MZ-RH1 to record from microphone. Decks don't have the microphone input, and there are some nice portable-recorder-features built into the RH1. All the models you mention are fine for going the other direction (CD->MD), whether by optical or by USB (SonicStage) download. The RH1 is the latest and later than the RH10. The RH10 won't allow you to upload things you record on a deck. Good luck! I can help a bit with LP->MD->CD. Stephen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crisdean Posted December 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 A lot of points skipped over in the previous response IMO. One thing if you want to do LP transfers, you need 2 things to do it well: 1. a MD deck, that you can hook to your existing stereo amp output. These are cheap nowadays, but they only do SP, LP2 and LP4. For all that they're worth having. 2. the MZ-RH1 so you can do uploads from the deck to computer. You also neeed: 3. The MZ-RH1 so you can put MP3's onto the minidisc without conversion. 4. the MZ-RH1 to record from microphone. Decks don't have the microphone input, and there are some nice portable-recorder-features built into the RH1. All the models you mention are fine for going the other direction (CD->MD), whether by optical or by USB (SonicStage) download. The RH1 is the latest and later than the RH10. The RH10 won't allow you to upload things you record on a deck. Good luck! I can help a bit with LP->MD->CD. Stephen Stephen that sounds brilliant cheers! The problem might be the LP player as it's over 20 years old! So not sure if there is a connector for it. I might as well buy a cheap new one and hook the recorder on there if that's possible. As the player is at my parents and I hoped not to buy a new LP player for that. Nevertheless there are some nice LPs and it would be a shame if they went for good without being 'saved'. Regarding the DAB radio. The only way would be one with a S/PDIF digital output wouldn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 Taking the last first: you can always do analog output to an MD deck or portable, but it won't be as good a recording as something which is digital (SP/DIF) already. I wouldn't trust these cheapie LP players. People have been known to spend $4000 on the RIAA-equalised pre-amp for a turntable alone, with at the very least as much for the cartridge as the entire (new) player would cost you. Whilst I'm not suggesting you actually lash out at that level, I would think that a second hand Technics turntable for a couple of hundred bucks (sorry 100 quid) and a cartridge costing a similar amount would do you nicely. As long as their amplifier has a decent preamp and noise-free line out, then you are good to go with an MD deck. I would avoid any cheap "solutions" you find on the internet (eg phono preamps costing $50-100) as they are terrible. If you have to buy an amp, most up to about 4 years ago still had phono input (ie the preamp is included), so you could easily get lucky on Ebay or one of the other for-sale websites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crisdean Posted December 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 Well that's the point my parent swould enjoy listening to LPs again and I would have it on MiniDisc and on PC and Mac. However, I really don't want to spend, well mostly my parents, spend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 Trust me, you don't want any (new) LP player you can buy on the internet. Too cheap or too expensive, if you see what I mean. Or standalone pre-amp. Your best bet is to get a second hand amp (at least 3 years old, likely has phono in) and turntable. Here's a turntable: Technics SL1210 Here's an amp that would do perfectly. Depends on the final price of course. Never mind all the extra channels, that is irrelevant, but this has digital in AND out, just like I mentioned. Sony amplifier Another good make is Onkyo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crisdean Posted January 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 Hey guys my parents will get a system. So this means amplifier and a dual lp player Any ideas if they shoudl go all Sony or Onkyo? Would it make sense to mix various components if building such a system of amplifier, cd player and lp player? Two boxes would be needed as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 I would say it doesn't matter. Buy whatever you can that is good value second hand. The current offerings don't have what you want, mostly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crisdean Posted January 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2010 Aye I've looked at some stuff and first of all the LP player will be a DUAL CS415 with integrated amplifier with my MZ-R91. What I want to get for me parent swould be a Sony deck with used components. For me I'm looking for a MD-CD deck and hope that I can find something that would take my fancy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted January 18, 2010 Report Share Posted January 18, 2010 Aye I've looked at some stuff and first of all the LP player will be a DUAL CS415 with integrated amplifier with my MZ-R91. What I want to get for me parent swould be a Sony deck with used components. For me I'm looking for a MD-CD deck and hope that I can find something that would take my fancy Warning: look at the manual carefully - the combo decks have slightly less facilities for easy editing than the MD-only decks. There's always a price to pay..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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