Recording from CD to MD

[Soundbox]

I have a sony CD walkman of 1994 vintage and of course my MD recorders. I do the majority of my CD dubs with this setup as all it takes is a simple line level cord to go from the output of the CD player to my line in on the MD recorder. I add track marks after recording has been completed.

Being that I am always wanting to improve my work I have a few points that I would appreciate your thoughts on.

Reading back in the forum history, I see record level 23 being mentioned as being the best to use for perfect copies. My MZ-R35/R50 only have a sliding bargraph display. Do I count 23 of these as being the corrcet level?

Does using ATRAC-R recorder make a difference on record or is it mainly playback? Is it engaged on the line in socket?

Lastly, I was thinking about investing in an expensive Kimber cord as reading the details, it says that this is the area that most losses occur. Anyone tried a woven cable? Was it worth it?

Thanks for any help, Ian

[sfbp]

In no particular order:

1. Atrac-R applies to any x1 recording, generally. It won't kick in on high speed dubs, and you are at the mercy of SonicStage as to whether it kicks in for a particular conversion. Nothing to do with playback.

2. If you want to improve your recordings, get something with optical out. It should beat your walkman easily (though there may be those here who can contradict me, please feel free to do so). Generally speaking, analogue cables should be avoided wherever possible. That's one of the reasons we all use MD.

3. I am not 100% sure about 23 on any particular piece of equipment, though Avrin has undoubtedly done the research in the cases he specifies. I think that what IS to he avoided is "full blast" (except for units which actually have "line out"). I routinely amplify analog signals by feeding them through an MD deck (with optical out of course), anyway. Most but not all decks can do that by pressing REC when there is no disk in the machine.

and 2a. (further reflection) I would say the optimum results for portable MD use (from a CD) come by ripping direct to LP2, or (better) Atrac Advanced Lossless. The one thing to avoid is ripping to WAV/1411kHz. But with the MZ-R50 you don't have that choice (LP2). You could probably do just as well with playback from your computer's CD + sound card provided the latter has optical out. If it doesn't, grab a $15 USB Audio sound card and send it that way to optical.

Stephen

[NickyJay]

I concur with the above regarding optical / coaxial digital connections. You get the track marks automatically inserted for you as well with this method.

I do however recall some posts which said that going via analogue connection on a deck yields the best possible quality. This is due to the superior analogue 20 bit D/A converters compared to the 16 bit CD optical connection.

[Soundbox]

Thank you for the thoughts. MiniDisc to me is one of those things where it is worth making an effort with as it is so good, but information from the manufacturers is not clear or detailed enough (most other Japanese manufacturers are just as bad at this).

I understand the possibility of using a digital connection but can I just run these points past you and see if I am way off or getting there.

Analogue vs digital CD-MD. Analogue makes full use of the ATRAC system in the MD recorder by disposing of the 'unheard' elements (does digital not always) but the source CD player is the weak point.

Digital link. Best done in real time in SP mode or LP2 on the computer.

I was under the belief that the MD record system was built around line level signals but if the digital link is the best option then I will take the steps to sort out equipment I need (CD player with optical out).

Ian

[sfbp]

Analogue vs digital CD-MD. Analogue makes full use of the ATRAC system in the MD recorder by disposing of the 'unheard' elements (does digital not always) but the source CD player is the weak point.

Either method uses the same codec (Atrac). The problem is that analogue cables and the analogue output of your source now become critical - as you rightly divined in your first post.

Digital link. Best done in real time in SP mode or LP2 on the computer.

I record digital sources (from the internet) or analogue source (radio - actually it's digital but I can't get at the digital version of the signal, which is just as well because someone has to decode it anyway, so I leave that to the receiver} in real time, too. Depending on the (original) source & bit rate I record in LP2 or LP4 or Hi-SP.

I was under the belief that the MD record system was built around line level signals but if the digital link is the best option then I will take the steps to sort out equipment I need (CD player with optical out)

Or you can use the CD on the computer with a USB Audio card and then it's digital all the way.

[Soundbox]

Thanks. I will get myself an audio card pronto then - any one that comes to mind as being good quality?

[sfbp]

Two choices that are cost effective:

1. Terratec - normal audio card

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Terratec-Aureon-5-1-PCI-Sound-Card-Digital-OUT-/300497399221

you'll have to download the drivers, and get yourself optical cable(s), this is bare bones, but the card is great

2. USB Audio card. The ones on Ebay are fine, I have one of these, some people charging a lot more than this for what looks like the same thing;

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/External-USB-Virtual-7-1-Sound-Audio-Box-Card-Adapter-/220649538434

(there's also orange packaging but it is the same thing)

[Soundbox]

Thanks Stephen. I have no facility for an audio board so that USB one will be my next ebay purchace.