Another neophyte stumbles in..

[Tristan]

Firstly, thanks for the great site, lots of my questions have already been answered. I just came from a seminar where instrumentalists were recording lectures and music demonstrations with little silver units i'd never seen before. I'm pretty excited about this and feel like i've been in a cave for a few years. Help me find my new md recorder. :grin:

Prime Uses:

1) record my own acoustic instrumental and vocal music

2) transfer it into my computer and burn a cd

3) record lectures, other live music, rock bands, symphony, small chamber groups, vocal stuff, individual jazz musicians.

4) record 2-5 hour long radio shows for long road trips

5) record family history interviews

6) copy my decaying cassette tapes onto md

7) would be nice to have am/fm to listen to also (optional)

Secondary Use:

1) mp3 transfer from computer/net to md

2) storage for digital camera pictures, documents etc.

Each time I perform (daily), people want a cd which i can't afford to make in the studio right now, is there a future plan for these mini discs to play on standard cd players? Is the quality of the mini disc recording such that i could sell a cd burned from it? (if I got a great mic, etc.)

How do I copy minidiscs my friends have made? (don't howl, remember i'm new). Must I have their machines to make a copy? Or is it a transfer to the computer then onto cd process?

From this site, I've gathered that the Sharp has excellent sound quality, which is very important for me, just a little worried about support if it goes wrong (japan is a long way away). Do I need to worry about that? Not sure if I need all the storage the new Hi-MD would provide, but i'm open.

All suggestions welcome, from DREAM MD to any older models I could find on ebay. Ease of use also would be nice.

Tristan

[aeriyn]

Whoa, this might take a while.

Firstly, thanks for the great site, lots of my questions have already been answered.  I just came from a seminar where instrumentalists were recording lectures and music demonstrations with little silver units i'd never seen before.  I'm pretty excited about this and feel like i've been in a cave for a few years.  Help me find my new md recorder.    :grin:

I shall try my best. ^^

Prime Uses:

1)  record my own acoustic instrumental and vocal music

2)  transfer it into my computer and burn a cd

3)  record lectures, other live music, rock bands, symphony, small chamber groups, vocal stuff, individual jazz musicians.

4)  record 2-5 hour long radio shows for long road trips

5)  record family history interviews

6)  copy my decaying cassette tapes onto md

7)  would be nice to have am/fm to listen to also (optional)

Hmm... before I go any further, I'd like to note that there are no MD units with AM radio functionality, but some of the mid-level ones DO possess FM/TV and Weather-band radio units. (Although, not the high-end models.)

Secondary Use:

1)  mp3 transfer from computer/net to md

2)  storage for digital camera pictures, documents etc.

Any NetMD unit will take care of #1... but #2 you'll only find on Hi-MD. Btw, however, using the MO drive of the Hi-MD unit as a USB data drive is really slow. >.>; You'd be better off with one of those flash storage vault type things for that.

Each time I perform (daily), people want a cd which i can't afford to make in the studio right now, is there a future plan for these mini discs to play on standard cd players?  Is the quality of the mini disc recording such that i could sell a cd burned from it?  (if I got a great mic, etc.)

MDs use a completely different read/write system than CD does. The MDs are magneto-optical, which means they use a combination of a laser and a magnetic head to arrange small magnetic domains into the binary bits used for data/music storage. It would be completely impossible for them to read on a regular CD drive due to the difference in read methods (reflectivity vs. polarity) and various other things I don't even know about.

How do I copy minidiscs my friends have made?  (don't howl, remember i'm new).  Must I have their machines to make a copy?  Or is it a transfer to the computer then onto cd process?

You can make analog copies (using a line cable) from their MD unit to your MD recorder/deck, but the Serial Copy Management System prevents you from making a digital copy of a recorded MD.

From this site, I've gathered that the Sharp has excellent sound quality, which is very important for me, just a little worried about support if it goes wrong (japan is a long way away).  Do I need to worry about that?  Not sure if I need all the storage the new Hi-MD would provide, but i'm open.

Sharp's Auvi units with the 1-bit Digital Amp have sound that makes Sony units sound like pathetic, puling little things. :happy:

Since no Sharp MDs are actually marketed/sold in the US, warranty would be void and customer service would be a bitch, to say the least. However, Sharp makes excellent recorders and players and I think the inconvenience of no warranty and no support is totally worth it (besides, dealing with Sony's tech support is like getting a root canal).

Hi-MD units are currently in their infancy. I myself am not too thrilled with their limitations and the fact that Sony claimed they had capabilities that they do not, or they have capabilities so neutered that they atropy to the point of uselessness. One might be wise to wait another generation before going Hi-MD.

Now. For my recommendations. :happy:

For (almost) all your wants in one package, you cannot go wrong with the Sharp Auvi IM-DR80 NetMD recorder. It has the Auvi digital amp, so you get lovely sound reproduction. Also, the DR80 has plenty of recording capability. Recording level adjustment, a powered mic jack (no need for a mic preamp), sync-recording, auto track marking (for lectures or recording radio shows, hey how useful!). The list goes on and on. The only downside I see to this recorder is that it lacks an LCD display on the main unit, making monitoring recording levels on the little remote a bit of a pain. However, the unit does have what Sharp calls a "Multi-Station" USB base, which lets you download tracks to the recorder via NetMD, as well as all sorts of inputs (line, optical, etc) and the base does have an LCD display.

Personally, I do not own a DR80, so I'm not sure of how easy it is to use. But I know several people who have the unit and love it. I own a Sharp DS8 player-only, so I can tell you firsthand that the sound of the Sharp MDs with the digital amp is just wonderful. You really have to hear it to believe it. I did.

However, with regular MD (NetMD, etc) you cannot directly upload your live recordings via USB. You can do this with Hi-MD, true, but SonicStage locks the recordings in OpenMG format and you can't do anything with them but write more MDs, which to me is kinda useless.

For Hi-MD, I would recommend the Sony MZ-NH900. The unit is a bit larger than the NH1, but it has an external AA battery pack that can be used to boost battery life for long-time recording. The unit is a little bulky compared to the NH1, and half of it is metal, the other half plastic (which confuses me a bit). It has all the required powered mic jack, optical/line in, etc. This unit DOES have a large, 3-line display on the main unit as well as a stick remote, making it a bit easier to monitor and adjust recording levels.

I do not know how it sounds, but if it sounds anything like my Sony MZ-N10 NetMD recorder, I would honestly go with the Sharp unit instead, just because my N10 sounds like mud. >.>; You do have the advantage of Hi-MD, and while you may not be able to upload your recordings in any usable format (yet, Sony is supposedly releasing a Wave Converter to take any Hi-SP analog recordings and convert them to .wav format...), you can have it play the recordings over USB and capture the wav stream with a sound editing suite.

Anyhow. The Sharp DR80 is already out (in Japan) but it can be ordered from Audiocubes (http://www.audiocubes.com), and maybe other sites that I don't know of. I haven't seen it on eBay before.

You can check out more info on each of these units here.

Sharp IM-DR80 Auvi 1-bit MiniDisc recorder:

http://www.minidisc.org/part_Sharp_IM-DR580+DR80.html

Sony MZ-NH900 Hi-MD recorder:

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

Hope this helps. :happy:

[Kaotic]

7)  would be nice to have am/fm to listen to also (optional)

Secondary Use:

1)  mp3 transfer from computer/net to md

2)  storage for digital camera pictures, documents etc.

are these 3 features deem important to you? afaik, the radio feature is on the remote. Not only limit yourself on choice of units, but it would cost arm and a leg to replace it, if it becomes unuseable.

eventhough, Hi-MD is big step forward from MD-LP/NetMD, and capable of storing files. But as I said b4, you are limit yourself on choices of units available, For one, Sony is the "ONLY" manufacturer that supports it currently. If you really like the format, I would suggest you wait and see, and hope Sharp or other MD manufacturer produce Hi-MD units.

it would help ppl narrowing down on choice of units that suit you best, if you can tell us if those 3 features whether or not important to you!!

[Kaotic]

Whoa, this might take a while.

Hmm... before I go any further, I'd like to note that there are no MD units with AM radio functionality, but some of the mid-level ones DO possess FM/TV and Weather-band radio units. (Although, not the high-end models.)

hehe, now would you stop giving error information to the public! :smile: as owner of mz-nf610, I can assure you, it does include AM/FM/TV and weather band (same applies to nf810) on the remote. just not with current generation of Sony NetMDs (nf520d), as it without the AM band. :rasp:

[aeriyn]

hehe, now would you stop giving error information to the public!  :smile:  as owner of mz-nf610, I can assure you, it does include AM/FM/TV and weather band (same applies to nf810) on the remote. just not with current generation of Sony NetMDs (nf520d), as it without the AM band.  :rasp:

Wow, no kidding? I didn't know that! Thanks for clearing that up.

However, the NF610 isn't worth the price IMO. :rasp:

[Tristan]

to Aeriyn, thank you so much for your detailed reply. I really appreciate it.

to Kaotic, thanks so much for replying; am/fm radio is optional, saving pics is optional but it would be nice to download from the web.

To both: Some 20 mins ago i lost out on a ebay bid for a 'new in box' Sharp IM-DR80 (red) that is probably what I am leaning towards, thanks to your suggestion Aeriyn, but when the bid got to $297 or so, I decided to just wait a bit, or go with one of the web import dealers I found for $319.

Ebay does make me a little jittery, but the guy selling it only lives 45 mins from me, so i could have killed him it was a dud. That little red DR80 is so sexy. Lots of my friends travel a lot, so I'll probably wait a bit do see if anyone's headed to Japan, in which case I'll send them over with my money to snag me one. Knowing me, I won't be able to wait that long. I'm in trouble now. :grin:

thanks again,

Tristan

[Christopher]

Aeriyn, when I read posts like these from you I know that you're a true asset to the forums - and it gives my spamming fingers a break. :happy: