What is best for musicians?

[sherrygoldman]

I direct a small volunteer acoustic choral singing group (5 singers, 1 accompanist). I was making decent but not great recordings of performances with an old Radio Shack stereo tape recoder. It broke at Christmas.

I need to replace it, and I felt that this is the time to get in on digital recording, so the CDs I make from the performances will have a better sound quality. I do not want to spend a lot until I see how I like the medium. I have also heard that this format is "on its way out".

I have been searching ebay for something used to get me started.

I have been researching minidiscs for a few months, and while I am learning about some of the features, the number of different brands and models from which to choose is overwhelming! I don't know which features are essential, helpful, or useless, except for the necessity of a microphone input. I can't even determine a pattern in the names of the models! Every single model looks completely different and I can't tell which orientation would feel the most comfortable without actually trying it out.

I have very little interest in downloading music from the internet. My primary concern is recording live unamplified music.

What advice can you give me? Brands... features... Please explain all features relevant. Normally I research through Consumer Reports, but they have no articles on this.

Please help! I am new to this type of forum as well. Any guidance on even how to use this forum would be welcome.

Thank you in advance. :roll:

[jadeclaw]

Well, it depends on the amount of money, you want to invest...

Sharp or Sony, it doesn't really matter, as recorders from both brands deliver near CD-Quality when recording.

So which one?

In the used department, I suggest the Sony MZ-R30 / 35 / 37.

The MZ-R37 is smaller and lighter. Difference between the R30 and the R35 is a slightly different case design.

All three have automatic/manual recording level adjustment, microphone input and line out, which sounds better than the headphone outlet.

I have personal experience with both of them.

MZ-R30: http://www.minidisc.org/part_Sony_MZ-R30.html

MZ-R35: http://www.minidisc.org/part_Sony_MZ-R35.html

MZ-R37: http://www.minidisc.org/part_Sony_MZ-R37.html

Price range on eBay, around 60 to 120 US$. But remember to check seller ratings before bidding and you may consider using eBay's escrow service for payment.

On the new front:

Sony: The MZ-N710 and 910 have everything you need, in addition, they have 2 Longplay modes as well, which double or quadruple the recording time.

MZ-N710: http://www.minidisc.org/part_Sony_MZ-N710.html

MZ-N910: http://www.minidisc.org/part_Sony_MZ-N910.html

Price range: ~200 to 300 US$

From Sharp, the IM-DR420 is the most interesting here, as it is relatively cheap and has everything necessary as well:

http://www.minidisc.org/part_Sharp_IM-DR40...R410+DR420.html

Price range: ~180 to 200 US$

However, if you can wait until April, the the new Hi-MD recorders become available and these are very interesting, as you can upload your recordings onto a computer and then you can use any normal CD-Writer to create a CD from that, preserving the full quality throughout the whole process.

The MZ-NH900 and the MZ-NH700 are the most interesting here, both allow recording in full CD-Quality and have microphone and line input as well.

From my personal standpoint, I would wait for the Hi-MD-Recorders, as you can achieve the highest quality with these.

MZ-NH900: http://www.minidisc.org/part_Sony_MZ-NH900.html

MZ-NH700: http://www.minidisc.org/part_Sony_MZ-NH700.html

Price range: ~250 to 300 US$

A general FAQ (technical) concerning Hi-MD is found here:

http://www.minidisc.org/hi-md_faq.html

A Beginner's FAQ is here:

http://www.minidisc.org/very_faq.html

Hope this helps.

[darkfusion]

Sharp's portable MD's are renowned for their superior live recording quality :wink:

If NetMD is of no intrest to you, and live recording is a feature that is important, you really can't go wrong with a Sharp MD-DR7.

[Christopher]

Since your new, I would recommend a wait so you can get the full experience of MD, or rather Hi-MD in April. It is extremely feature-rich [jadeclaw's response is excellent], and will suit you quite well.

About using the forums, here is a good link: http://forums.minidisc.org/faq.php

Welcome.