On Wed, 19 Jun 2002, ... hellothisisalex ... wrote:
quoted 7 lines I've been thinking about getting a minidisc player to do field recordings
> I've been thinking about getting a minidisc player to do field recordings
> and the like. Could anyone give me the scoop on what I should be looking
> for, pros and cons, etc? For example, what's the battery drain like, how
> long do they typically last? Most of what I'm thinking of doing will
> require the player to be cordless. And, do all minidisc players have a mic
> in jack and record function? Help me out here because I'm woefully ignorant
> of these things.
Hey mark,
Hope you've found www.minidisc.org.
You might find my DIY comments on MD in general useful:
http://www.quietamerican.org/links.html
The Sony MZ-R50 is probably the best consumer MD deck ever made, but it
eats batteries much faster than current models and its ATRAC is slightly
outclassed by current ones. I bought one on eBay last night for $73,
here's another on auction now:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1360754959
Current decks get VERY good battery life, i.e. you can record at least 2
disks with a single good quality AA (duracell ultra, etc.), much more if
you use these in conjunction with rechargeables.
Not all current decks have mic inputs!!! E.g. the Sony MZ-R500 does not.
There is a clear division between players and recorders, this should be
clear from product descriptions.
Not all decks are created equal. Sharps have manual gain setting that is
adjustable WHILE RECORDING, only the very latest Sonys have added this I
think. Sharp preamps sound discernibly better (the mzr50 mentioned above
notwithstanding). Track editing features vary from deck to deck.
There are currently fine quality cheap sharp decks available at
returnbuy.com, search for 'minidisc' -- the MT15 for $63 is a fine deal
for example.
My experience has been no more than about 100 disks a deck before
something breaks. But, I tend to be rough on my decks.
Microphone quality will be MUCH more important to your final product then
deck. If you can get one of these cheap decks (< $100) you would be very
well served dump the savings immediately into getting the best quality mic
you can afford.
Don't record in MDLP modes if quality concerns you -- fine for listening
to dubs of BoC at the gym, but not for your own precious recordings!
Getting your recordings onto a PC to be used there is a real pain right
now. There is simply no good way of doing digital transfer. More on my
site at 'the gear I use.' NetMD is NOT a solution to this problem.
Best regards,
aaron
ghede@well.com
http://www.quietamerican.org
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