Guest Anonymous Posted July 22, 2003 Report Share Posted July 22, 2003 Just have few questions, if anyone can venture to help it's appreciated: about how much hard drive space is taken if you transfer to your computer an 80 minute md to mp3, Same question, but with cdr to mp3 (I've also back up my mds to cdrs) How do mp3 sound quality wise to the md's they will be coming from? Thanks! Kevs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pookyhead34 Posted July 23, 2003 Report Share Posted July 23, 2003 Just have few questions, if anyone can venture to help it's appreciated: about how much hard drive space is taken if you transfer to your computer an 80 minute md to mp3, Same question, but with cdr to mp3 (I've also back up my mds to cdrs) How do mp3 sound quality wise to the md's they will be coming from? Thanks! KevsIt all depends on what quality MP3 you're talking about. At 128k, you're looking at roughly 1MB/minute of audio. As for sound quality, garbage in = garbage out. It depends on what quality MP3 you use. At 192k CBR or above or with a lame --alt-preset 160 or above, you're going to have decent quality. But you're going to lose some quality no matter what you do. Depending on your ears and/or what you can tolerate, it may not be an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 23, 2003 Report Share Posted July 23, 2003 Pooky, thanks. what is 128 k referring to? also, what is CBR alt preset 160. I will go for optimum quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pookyhead34 Posted July 24, 2003 Report Share Posted July 24, 2003 Pooky, thanks. what is 128 k referring to? also, what is CBR alt preset 160. I will go for optimum quality.Hi Kevs, 128k refers to the bitrate -- 128000 bits/sec of audio information. CBR is constant bit rate, meaning that every frame (the smallest segment, for lack of a better term, of an MP3 file) gets the same amount of bandwidth. That's opposed to VBR -- variable bit-rate, which means that near-silence won't be given the same amount of bandwidth as, say, a guitar amp turned up to eleven. "alt-preset" is a series of quality tunings for LAME, which is hands-down, the best MP3 encoder. You can find out more about it at: lame.sourceforge.net and software using it at: lame.sourceforge.net/links.html Optimum-quality using lame would be "--alt-preset standard", although there's also "--alt-preset extreme" and "--alt-preset insane" -- you get the idea. have fun PH34 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 24, 2003 Report Share Posted July 24, 2003 Pookyhead, couple quick questions. You seem very knowledgable so I'd like to ask: 1) What is your opinion of doomsayers who say mini disc is like 8 track was in 70's, soon to be doomed in favor of mp3 etc. 2) About the encoder thing,if I am on Mac, i tunes, then I wont need those encoder on that list, correct? 3) I've noticed that Sony portable md's, I have two models, don't sound as loud, or rich and good as Sony portable cassettes players. It's real disappointing in that regard. ( I have a home md unit as well.) Some people on this forum said that Sharps sound better, so I just sent away for a new Sharp and it sounds not even as good as the Sony, any comments on this appreciated. thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pookyhead34 Posted July 25, 2003 Report Share Posted July 25, 2003 Pookyhead, couple quick questions. You seem very knowledgable so I'd like to ask: 1) What is your opinion of doomsayers who say mini disc is like 8 track was in 70's, soon to be doomed in favor of mp3 etc.They've been saying that for years now. They also said the Mac going the way of the Commodore 64, too 2) About the encoder thing,if I am on Mac, i tunes, then I wont need those encoder on that list, correct?Yeah, as far as I know, iTunes is fine -- I'd use at least 192k for quality. 3) I've noticed that Sony portable md's, I have two models, don't sound as loud, or rich and good as Sony portable cassettes players. It's real disappointing in that regard. ( I have a home md unit as well.) Some people on this forum said that Sharps sound better, so I just sent away for a new Sharp and it sounds not even as good as the Sony, any comments on this appreciated. thanks!To be honest, it all depends on your headphones and your personal sound taste -- and the particular model MD player you have. If you get more sensitive phones, you'll get "louder" sound. The MZ-N1 I have sounds better than the MZ-N505 I have -- but it might just be the placebo effect (it's a better model, therefore it *must* sound better...) Have fun PH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mAjEsTiC Posted July 26, 2003 Report Share Posted July 26, 2003 To be honest, it all depends on your headphones and your personal sound taste -- and the particular model MD player you have. If you get more sensitive phones, you'll get "louder" sound. The MZ-N1 I have sounds better than the MZ-N505 I have -- but it might just be the placebo effect (it's a better model, therefore it *must* sound better...) it may also be the difference in quality of the headfone amps that they put in those units? because i kno that they dun make em like they used to... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pookyhead34 Posted July 26, 2003 Report Share Posted July 26, 2003 it may also be the difference in quality of the headfone amps that they put in those units? because i kno that they dun make em like they used to... yep -- my wife's old Sharp 722 (may it rest in peace) had one of the loudest headphone amps I've heard on an MD unit. But this 5+ year old Sony Discman I have -- I can't turn that thing up past 3/10 without it getting louder than "loud enough." Whereas with my MZ-N1 MD walkman, I usually am around 15/30 or 16/30. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mAjEsTiC Posted July 27, 2003 Report Share Posted July 27, 2003 yep -- my wife's old Sharp 722 (may it rest in peace) had one of the loudest headphone amps I've heard on an MD unit. But this 5+ year old Sony Discman I have -- I can't turn that thing up past 3/10 without it getting louder than "loud enough." Whereas with my MZ-N1 MD walkman, I usually am around 15/30 or 16/30.yup i totally agree with that...the amp on my MZ-R2 and even the R50 far surpasses that on my N1 and N10 units... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 28, 2003 Report Share Posted July 28, 2003 Could you guys tell me if any of these "loud" portable md's are presently available to buy today. thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mAjEsTiC Posted July 29, 2003 Report Share Posted July 29, 2003 hmm...u mite b able 2 get an old R50 from ebay or sumfin if ur lucky...tho otherwise no it's very hard to get...especially since they'r older models...tho you can take a look at the Sharp units...they output quite a reasonable amount...Sony is your next best bet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pookyhead34 Posted July 29, 2003 Report Share Posted July 29, 2003 Could you guys tell me if any of these "loud" portable md's are presently available to buy today. thanks!Be careful of Sharp ones, though -- the 702 and 722 models (as well as the MT-MD15) are notorious for TOC Errors. Now, if you can find one refurbished, that'd be your best bet, because they've been fixed. Otherwise, you're playing russian roulette. But if you get a good one, they're pretty loud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 29, 2003 Report Share Posted July 29, 2003 Thanks, maybe I'll look for that R50 on E bay, but like I said, I just bought a brand new Sharp from minidisco ($229) new, and it did not sound any better than Sony. I'll assume there was something about R50 that made them louder back then. thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 31, 2003 Report Share Posted July 31, 2003 Majestic: R50 is Sony correct? I thought it was Sharp. Don't know if you can answer this, but you think/know that R50 would have better, louder, sound than my 707 or mz500? thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mAjEsTiC Posted July 31, 2003 Report Share Posted July 31, 2003 Majestic: R50 is Sony correct? I thought it was Sharp. Don't know if you can answer this, but you think/know that R50 would have better, louder, sound than my 707 or mz500? thanks.yep it is the Sony MZ-R50...as i said it is an old unit and u can find the specs of it here...well generally the older units sound a lot better than the newer ones...they seem (to me at least) to be more "rich" in the sound that they produce (i'm talking about my R50 as compared with my N10)...I'm thinking that this has to do with the amp that sony put in there. and IMO i would say that the R50 does sound better than the 707 or the 500... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted August 1, 2003 Report Share Posted August 1, 2003 Yes, I'm gonna get one off E bay. I'll report the results later. You would think the QUALITY would either go up, or stay the same. Actually, I hope it works well will jogging -- no G protection back then I don't think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mAjEsTiC Posted August 1, 2003 Report Share Posted August 1, 2003 no G-Protection back then but it should be good enough...though i'm not 2 sure about jogging with MD's since i carry my SD player when i go jogging...but anyway i hope u get the best deal on that R50... :wink: and wot did you mean by "quality" btw??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted August 1, 2003 Report Share Posted August 1, 2003 I sent an e mail to a seller of R50 and he says Sony , to prolong battery life, now uses weaker amplifiers in newer MDs. This explains why R50 is better sounding. He said it should be ok with jogging we'll see. What I meant to say was that usually quality of products (sound quality etc) gets better, not worse. If you know of a unit with G protection with great sound, let me know. And what is an SD player? And do you think mini disc transerred to mp3 to Apple i pod would sound better than new crappy Son's portables. thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mAjEsTiC Posted August 3, 2003 Report Share Posted August 3, 2003 speaking of the ipod i just got a brand new 30gb version a few dayz ago... good 4 file archiving...but the ipod as compared with md has less hrs of playback and is bigger plus heavier...not that i knock it or anything it is a good product in its own right...the amp on the ipod is rated at 30mW RMS per channel as compared with Sony's 5mW RMS per channel...soo the ipod has a "stronger" sound in that case (by stronger i mean louder and has more impact in terms of bass and treble output) so it does indeed sound quite good coz of the higher output... in terms of the sound output from Sony's recent MD devices i would say that my preference would be my N1 unit over my N10...the N1 IMO seems to have a more "rounded" sound than the N10 (which i feel is a little "thin") but the sound quality from both of them are generally pretty good overall... and an SD player is a removable flash based memory mp3 player from panasonic...see here for product description... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted August 3, 2003 Report Share Posted August 3, 2003 Majestic: I've read that i pod holds 7,500 songs and that would be like 300 minidisc, no??? that would be like months and months of music as opposed to one minidisc at a time no?? (my minidisc are all sp for highest quality) I just saw one at the Apple store, and it's very, very small. Held right in palm on my hand. Is n10 or n1 much better than those two I have 707 and mz500 (which I've said have low volume and medicre sound) IN any case, I'm leaning to getting two ipods. One for car, one for jogging, and transferring all my music to an external hard drive. I will still put all my mixes on minidisc home unit (with great remote control). Don't think mp3's have a good home unit with remote. thanks again!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mAjEsTiC Posted August 4, 2003 Report Share Posted August 4, 2003 yep that's true...the ipod does hold approx 7500 songs on it though this is with mp3's ripped at lower quality...and months and months of music can be stored as well but the only gripe i have against it is the battery life (10hrs max as compared with the md's 50hr+)...indeed it does have approx a 32mb buffer which is good 4 say 20min worth of shock protection...but wot i do worry about is the fragility of the hard drive itself...sure it's encased and padded but hard drives do eventually fail and having a laptop hard drive in the ipod i would keep good care of it... and yes you're right...this thing is tiny!!! well the n1 imo has a better sound than the n10...the n1 sounds better than my friend's 710 unit...i'm not 2 sure about the quality of the 500 or the 707 becoz i'v neva owned those units before...but i would'n think there would be a slight difference in quality because the sound output of the n1 with the bass and treble settings set to max does indeed sound better than say mayb the 707 from wot i've heard...not 2 sure abou this but this is my guess since a lot of ppl i know seem 2 complain about that unit... :? and no ur right about mp3's don't have a good home unit with remote...i use my comp setup most of the time when i'm on it...it does the job so long as it's got a decent set of speakers hooked up to a decent soundcard...and good luck in the decisions u make about buying the right unit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted August 4, 2003 Report Share Posted August 4, 2003 Majestic: last thing: Then at highest quality, how many song fit on a 30 gig i pod. How much hardrive space in general, does it take if you are transfering to mp3 (via in my case apple i tunes to ipod later) 1) one 74 min mini disc at sp mode 2) or a cdr 700 mb thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mAjEsTiC Posted August 5, 2003 Report Share Posted August 5, 2003 in the highest quality it would probably fit say 1000 odd wav files give or take??? depending on how big the wav file is (and how long your song is...i'm taking an estimate of approx 50mb per wav recorded @ 48000kHz 16bit Stereo) soo it's a lot mroe than md can store yes...tho i'm not sure about wot u mean by how much harddrive space it takes to transfer to mp3...would you care to elaborate a bit more? thanx... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted August 5, 2003 Report Share Posted August 5, 2003 Let me make this simple. Lets say you have a two scenarios 1) you have TDK 74 MD filled up to the brim with music 2) you have a TDK 700 MB CDR filled up to the brim with music. And lets say you have lots and lots of these actually. If you tranfer these to MP3, using the highest quality possible, which is what I will be doing from my Mac in i tunes. How much hardrive space do each one take up. thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mAjEsTiC Posted August 5, 2003 Report Share Posted August 5, 2003 ooh rite rite...well i'm taking it that you're going to rip them approx @ 320kbps...soo each song can take up about 10mb each...soo with 30gb you could fit 3000 odd songs on the 30gb harddrive of the ipod... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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