minidisc use?
- Thread starter exojjl
- Start date
onlyfingers
New member
Hear that sound? Sony shooting itself in the foot.
So I went to Best Buy to get more blank minidiscs. I actually brought one with me, as a visual aid. ("Where do you keep the minidiscs? Here is what one looks like.") The third guy actually knew, and we found them near the blank cassettes. (I had suggested to the first guy that they might be there, but he didn't know where the blank audio cassetes were, either.)
You don't have to wait five or ten years. MiniDisc obsolescence will be much sooner. Sony itself bears part of the responsibility, since, in order to protect its music business, they have produced a digital technology that can only be used in an analog fashion. The lack of a clean computer interface dooms the technology. (Newer models can transfer files to a computer. With older models like mine, you have to play the music in through your soundboard.)
For me, sound quality is all I need, except that your mike may pick up disk whir. (I record practice sessions so I can play along and practice on my own.) Convenience and portability are plusses.
Learn more at www.minidisc.org. Seek out and check out the "Uploading Recorders" section. (I just went. The section hasn't been updated for years, but it will give you some hints about alternatives
Since I have a minidisc, that's what I use. If I were shopping today for a portable digital recorder, I'd look at iRiver.
So I went to Best Buy to get more blank minidiscs. I actually brought one with me, as a visual aid. ("Where do you keep the minidiscs? Here is what one looks like.") The third guy actually knew, and we found them near the blank cassettes. (I had suggested to the first guy that they might be there, but he didn't know where the blank audio cassetes were, either.)
You don't have to wait five or ten years. MiniDisc obsolescence will be much sooner. Sony itself bears part of the responsibility, since, in order to protect its music business, they have produced a digital technology that can only be used in an analog fashion. The lack of a clean computer interface dooms the technology. (Newer models can transfer files to a computer. With older models like mine, you have to play the music in through your soundboard.)
For me, sound quality is all I need, except that your mike may pick up disk whir. (I record practice sessions so I can play along and practice on my own.) Convenience and portability are plusses.
Learn more at www.minidisc.org. Seek out and check out the "Uploading Recorders" section. (I just went. The section hasn't been updated for years, but it will give you some hints about alternatives
Since I have a minidisc, that's what I use. If I were shopping today for a portable digital recorder, I'd look at iRiver.
onlyfingers
New member
Or look here:
Don't take my word for it. Looky here:
http://www.woot.com/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryId=371
(In case it doesn't click through, the date was Oct 22, 2005).
Check the "discuss this" link. Some people bash it because they like bashing things, but some are using or have used, and give you some ideas of what the MD is good for.
Don't take my word for it. Looky here:
http://www.woot.com/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryId=371
(In case it doesn't click through, the date was Oct 22, 2005).
Check the "discuss this" link. Some people bash it because they like bashing things, but some are using or have used, and give you some ideas of what the MD is good for.
recording to minidisc
Hello Friends,
I am new to this board so forgive me if the question has already been asked.
I am considering a MiniDisc recorder like the rackmountable Tascam MD350 <http://www.tascam.com/Products/MD-350.html>.
Let me explain the use for it.
1) broadcasting. I plan on getting equipment such as mixers, compressors, mics, the Echo AudioFire12 for recording talk show formats. Therefore the MD recorder would just be there for another hardcopy way of recording everything.
2) with the same equipment and more, I want to do music recording of guitars and singing and whatever else you would find in a band. Again, since I'll have the Echo AudioFire12, I don't find it completely necessary for the MD recoder to be eight tracks or anything like that.
3) Another use of the recorder/player would be to actually play prerecorder MD sessions/interviews/sounds through the mixer.
Would you recommend the Tascam MD350 or just a CD player/recorder for these needs.
As far as I am concerned, MD should be here to stay. I had a second generation iPod, 20 gig, and it died on me. I lost everything since nothing was backed up. You expect this from hard drives since they just wear out, but MD is optical and I'll trust MD/CD/DVD over another portable iPod or hard disk recorder again. With MD, you do get the compression but its better than it being in an mp3 format or anything like that.
Please advise me on what would work best.
Hello Friends,
I am new to this board so forgive me if the question has already been asked.
I am considering a MiniDisc recorder like the rackmountable Tascam MD350 <http://www.tascam.com/Products/MD-350.html>.
Let me explain the use for it.
1) broadcasting. I plan on getting equipment such as mixers, compressors, mics, the Echo AudioFire12 for recording talk show formats. Therefore the MD recorder would just be there for another hardcopy way of recording everything.
2) with the same equipment and more, I want to do music recording of guitars and singing and whatever else you would find in a band. Again, since I'll have the Echo AudioFire12, I don't find it completely necessary for the MD recoder to be eight tracks or anything like that.
3) Another use of the recorder/player would be to actually play prerecorder MD sessions/interviews/sounds through the mixer.
Would you recommend the Tascam MD350 or just a CD player/recorder for these needs.
As far as I am concerned, MD should be here to stay. I had a second generation iPod, 20 gig, and it died on me. I lost everything since nothing was backed up. You expect this from hard drives since they just wear out, but MD is optical and I'll trust MD/CD/DVD over another portable iPod or hard disk recorder again. With MD, you do get the compression but its better than it being in an mp3 format or anything like that.
Please advise me on what would work best.
bileshake
Member
I think I read ya, and MD will work just fine for ya. The only downside is the transfer of audio to other devices. I don't know anything about this Tascam, and they do make good products but I'm unaware of any surge in technology besides the new MD walkmans having USB for quickly loading your program material to a computer or whatever. If your just gonna playback an interveiw into a mixer it would be great.
When people talk about availability of the media shrug it off. Minidisc might not be big deal in North America but it is or was in Japan.
I'm canadian and I use this website http://www.minidisc-canada.com/ to buy discs dirt cheap by the box for less than the price of a three pac at WalMart when you do see them.
When people talk about availability of the media shrug it off. Minidisc might not be big deal in North America but it is or was in Japan.
I'm canadian and I use this website http://www.minidisc-canada.com/ to buy discs dirt cheap by the box for less than the price of a three pac at WalMart when you do see them.
Blue Bear Sound
New member
MD is a compressed audio format (very similar to MP3s), making it unusable for ANY professional production purposes. MD is really a final delivery format only (like MP3) - it's not used during the various stages of production for any critical audio purposes.
I am a minidisc user. It's a great tool for theatre sound design, especially if it has the "auto pause" feature (not all players do). With this, it plays a sound cue, advances to the top of the next cue, and pauses; the operator just has to hit the play button when the stage manager calls the cue. We used to build our designs on reel to reel tape with leader tape spliced in between the cues, or <shudder> casette tapes.
True, playback directly from computer would be still more efficient, but most community theatres (around here, anyway) don't have the infrastructure or the expertise to do that. The problem with playback from CD is the lack of auto pause; the operator has to stop the disc, advance to the next cue, and pause the CD player for every cue. With MD, hit play and forget it.
I have a ProTools recording setup and a CO2 optical<=>coaxial S/PDIF converter, so file transfer both directions, though real-time, is a snap, and I can stay in the digital domain. An added bonus is that I use the A/D-D/A section of the minidisc to give me two more channels of I/O in my Alsihad setup.
True, playback directly from computer would be still more efficient, but most community theatres (around here, anyway) don't have the infrastructure or the expertise to do that. The problem with playback from CD is the lack of auto pause; the operator has to stop the disc, advance to the next cue, and pause the CD player for every cue. With MD, hit play and forget it.
I have a ProTools recording setup and a CO2 optical<=>coaxial S/PDIF converter, so file transfer both directions, though real-time, is a snap, and I can stay in the digital domain. An added bonus is that I use the A/D-D/A section of the minidisc to give me two more channels of I/O in my Alsihad setup.
Thanks for all the replies.
After reading a bit more, I think I am going to just get a rackmountable CD recorder, I think.
A couple reasons for this.
a) Just because of the compression factor, I don't want my final hardcopy being compressed
b) CDs are a bit more universal that I'll be able to copy and burn it easier than having to import the MD recording to the computer.
So now I am looking for a rackmountable CD recorder.
The only drawback with using a CD recoder is the fact that I can't play a CD while recordering. For example, I wouldn't be able to play an album or a song from the recoder/player while recording.
Any ideas/suggestions on this.
Thanks for all the help.
I also live in Austin, Gordon.
After reading a bit more, I think I am going to just get a rackmountable CD recorder, I think.
A couple reasons for this.
a) Just because of the compression factor, I don't want my final hardcopy being compressed
b) CDs are a bit more universal that I'll be able to copy and burn it easier than having to import the MD recording to the computer.
So now I am looking for a rackmountable CD recorder.
The only drawback with using a CD recoder is the fact that I can't play a CD while recordering. For example, I wouldn't be able to play an album or a song from the recoder/player while recording.
Any ideas/suggestions on this.
Thanks for all the help.
I also live in Austin, Gordon.
gwargantua
New member
I think mini disk should be thought of as a replacement for cassette tape. It has all the same advantages and disadvantages relative to respective eras of their predominence. When the format was introduced, cassettes were still the consumer level recording media of choice.
If you've owned and used cassette tapes and recorders you'll find mini disc is a definite upgrade. The media and recorders are smaller and cheaper, less prone to wear, and offer ease of indexing, locating, and accessing tracks. Sound quality is way better than all but the highest-end cassette recorders (ie nakamichi) even though the format uses compression. It can be (and has been) used with very good results in the professional context for radio-voice type work. I've even done many live band recordings by simply taking a line from the mixer and sending it to my Sony RZ50 with impressive results.
The format offers an excellent combination of inexpensive removable media, record capability, very good sound quality, and portability. No computer required. Yes, seems they might go the way of beta, but that doesn't make it a bad format.
If you've owned and used cassette tapes and recorders you'll find mini disc is a definite upgrade. The media and recorders are smaller and cheaper, less prone to wear, and offer ease of indexing, locating, and accessing tracks. Sound quality is way better than all but the highest-end cassette recorders (ie nakamichi) even though the format uses compression. It can be (and has been) used with very good results in the professional context for radio-voice type work. I've even done many live band recordings by simply taking a line from the mixer and sending it to my Sony RZ50 with impressive results.
The format offers an excellent combination of inexpensive removable media, record capability, very good sound quality, and portability. No computer required. Yes, seems they might go the way of beta, but that doesn't make it a bad format.
phillwildman
New member
Benefits of MiniDisc
Hi guys,
Just to trough in my two pennies worth,
I own 4 MiniDisc Player/Recorders.
2x Portable units, 1x full size HiFi deck and 1x Pro rack mounted deck.
The advantage of using a MiniDisc for me, is that all tracks/songs can be changed, added, deleted, moved around and Titled after the recording has taken place.
That is a really good set of benefits I think.
I also use my Rack mount MiniDisc deck to play backing tracks while singing and playing guitar live at gigs.
All tracks are titled and can be seen across stage, no problem.
With CD you could not do this, plus you would never be sure that a CD hasn't got a scratch or other marks on it. Ive never had a MiniDisc fail on me.
The compression is not a problem for me.
I pump the MiniDisc tracks out through the PA, and quite honestly people never think it sounds like a recording.
I make my own backing tracks in my small (very small) home studio set up, using midi and audio with Sonar DAW.
It's really
Hi guys,
Just to trough in my two pennies worth,
I own 4 MiniDisc Player/Recorders.
2x Portable units, 1x full size HiFi deck and 1x Pro rack mounted deck.
The advantage of using a MiniDisc for me, is that all tracks/songs can be changed, added, deleted, moved around and Titled after the recording has taken place.
That is a really good set of benefits I think.
I also use my Rack mount MiniDisc deck to play backing tracks while singing and playing guitar live at gigs.
All tracks are titled and can be seen across stage, no problem.
With CD you could not do this, plus you would never be sure that a CD hasn't got a scratch or other marks on it. Ive never had a MiniDisc fail on me.
The compression is not a problem for me.
I pump the MiniDisc tracks out through the PA, and quite honestly people never think it sounds like a recording.
I make my own backing tracks in my small (very small) home studio set up, using midi and audio with Sonar DAW.
It's really
onlyfingers said:
I doubt it highly.
MiniDiscs have replaced carts in radio stations.
I'm waiting for the rebirth of DCC (not the label, the bomb that Philips introduced in the late-80's) and the ElCassette
. My DAT died almost 10 years ago and I had to copy a box of deteriorating DAT tapes onto MD for safe keeping.
- Michael
gwargantua
New member
I did the same thing with a bunch of important (to me) recordings I had on cassettes. Dubbed them down to mini disc for safe keeping, easy as pie and no more worries about them "getting eaten".
Mini disc still has a rabid following, though mostly abroad, mostly because people who jumped on the format really like and stuck with it.
Mini disc still has a rabid following, though mostly abroad, mostly because people who jumped on the format really like and stuck with it.
onlyfingers
New member
Hamhead said:
Go figure. It doesn't mean much to me, but the cueing capability is a big deal there, I bet. My minidisk replaced an audio cassette, so I stick with a piece of gear a long time. So when BestBuy doesn't have blanks anymore, know where to go.
phillwildman said:
What rackmountable deck is it that you use? What kind of connections does it have for the inputs?
I've been looking at CD players/recorders but I think it is only practical to invest in XLR inputs/output units if what I've read about RCA is true---its at -10 dB. Is this true?
Please tell me about your MD recorder, if you don't mind.
Charva
Shower Time
phillwildman
New member
Sony MDS E52
(sorry for long delay in reply)
The Sony MDS E52 I use has both -10dB and +4dB switchable XLR in's and out's, Coax Digital, Optical Digital and RCA line level.
it's Brilliant.
------cafr said:
(sorry for long delay in reply)
The Sony MDS E52 I use has both -10dB and +4dB switchable XLR in's and out's, Coax Digital, Optical Digital and RCA line level.
it's Brilliant.
phillwildman said:
thanks for the reply, even if it is a little late.
My friend recently bought a sony hi MD recorder...the mz-r10, I think. It is very, very nice and I am going to be getting the standard LCD one. I used it with my Senn shotgun mic with XLR but I used a xlr to 1/8" and it worked flawlessly. You can even monitor what you're recording when you have headphones connected.
If I may know, how much did you pay for your MDS E52?
Thanks so much.
phillwildman
New member
I can't remember exactly but I think it was around the £300 mark.
Sonic Idiot
New member
I have the MZ-rh910 sony. It's hiMD, which is an important distinction. Each disc holds one gig of data (you can back up files onto these as well, not just audio.) The key is it records 16bit uncompressed wav files. Each disc cost $7. 1 gig for $7 is a steal. The device itself is $160. It's very small, battery life is long, and it has a mic in instead of simply a line in (which it also has). It's an awesome device for the price and the recordings I've made of band practice and ambient effects (rain, thunder, the ocean, etc.) are fantastic - simply wonderful. I would recommend this device highly.
Would I prefer a 24 bit flash recorder. Of course! But they're too expensive. If mini disc is obsolete five years from now, flash medium will be so cheap that I'll simply replace.
Would I prefer a 24 bit flash recorder. Of course! But they're too expensive. If mini disc is obsolete five years from now, flash medium will be so cheap that I'll simply replace.