Jump to content

Which Multi-Track Recorder ?

Rate this topic


LunaticFringe

Recommended Posts

Hi. Recently i dug out my minidisc player which i used to record jam sessions for my band into then review for good riffs etc, anyway aside from a great walk down memory lane i also found old some 10-year old data MD's which we were used to multi-track into. I don't remember who or what we used ? Was about 10-12 years ago and was a relatively portable device as the guy brought down by car then left with us for weekend.

I would like to grab as WAV each of the separate tracks from each of the 5 discs and then can manipulate within PC software to 'remix' the old band !

any ideas/suggestions MUCH appreciated

Geoff

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is a good place to start: http://minidisc.org/multitrack_table.html.

I see one of these every once in a while on eBay, they can go for anywhere from $100US to over $500US. AFAIK, the multi-track recorders using the data MD format did not store the ATRAC recording in any format similar to what a standard MD player/recorder could read, you would almost definitely require one of these devices to extract the audio from the discs.

I do not even know if the devices manufactured bydifferent companies could read the other's recordings ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I found this on eBay: Yamaha 4 track MD recorder $150 buy it now price, pretty reasonable if it works!

That was on the first page of this search: Multitrack search on eBay.

Good luck!

Can you tell I am bored tonight? I should be watching Chuck!

Here is an even nicer unit: Sony Multi track recorder, this one is an auction with a reserve of $99US. About 4 days left on the auction.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am afraid that will be tough to confirm, perhaps you can find the manuals for a couple of similar devices and see if there is information about the format. I was reading about the Yamaha you mentioned and it seems like there may have been a standard at the time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

The YAMAHA MD8 of course!

4316849845_8714361b19_b.jpg

Yamaha made two other MD MT's - a version of the MD8 that had 4 tracks and the MD4 which was a bit more flashier looking but really nice 4 track. The MD8 also came in silver which was sold in Europe and maybe Asia.

I love the machine, when I do my drum practice, I play along with music, I can then mute the guide tracks I played along to and monitor my drumming or do a whole new mix up song. Its fun. I also like the fact that if I do want to create a song for fun that Im not tied down to the MIDI tempo beep that you find in all the computer software. There are no menu's other than the MD menu's we've all come to love!

If you record on the MD8 and want to convert the songs, jams, tracks, etc. to WAV/AIFF to Hard Disk then you just need to do your multitrack recording then SOLO each track, and put the stereo outs, with good studio grade cables, to the input of your audio capture device, record maybe at 24/96 just to assure you get the best quality at the HD end and do that for each track. Then you can shift your tracks in Vegas, Soundtrack, ProTools, etc so they sync up.

Also to confirm - YES - MiniDisc Data discs work on ALL MD multitrackers but NOT on normal home decks. The MD MTs do play your normal home recorded stereo recordings that are recorded in SP, not MDLP. But you cant playback a MDD recorded in stereo on the MT on a home MD deck. Make sense? At least I never tried, but even stereo recordings made on a multitracker might not work in your portable, etc.

Also a trick for getting 16 tracks! You need two MD8's with a footswitch and y-cable to trigger the MD8s to record via the front PUNCH I/O plug in the front - that way you have two MD8's recording side by side 16 tracks simultaneously, synchronized even for playback!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...