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Author
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Topic: Sony MiniDisc
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Marty Pollard
Member From: a confidential source
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posted 23 June 2005 04:31 PM
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I just got this thing and used it last nite and it's the best $30 I've EVER spent (well, except maybe for that nite in Memphis).Great fidelity; so easy to use! I understand they are discontinued. I can see why; Robyn was saying that the only niche they really seem to fill well is the one musicians use them for. |
Willie Crisel
Member From: Charlotte, Tennessee, USA
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posted 23 June 2005 08:11 PM
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I've had a rack mount for 3 years, i love it,,i can put anything on it ,then tune it to my steel,great for copying cassettes to disk,i did have a non pro one but it didn,t last long,,got one with a heavier transport,,i have to say the reason the first one gave out was that i moved it around alot,------------------
1977 Emmons SD10 push pull 3 and 4, 1990 ,Emmons Legrand II 8 and 4 Peavey LTD Peavey Session 400 Ibanez analog delay |
Charlie McDonald
Member From: Lubbock, Texas, USA
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posted 27 June 2005 05:30 AM
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I don't know why MD didn't catch on. I use mine for lots of things, transferring digital tracks, live recording, sending mixes to a friend who has one. Really easy. |
Bill Myers
Member From: Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, USA
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posted 27 June 2005 06:02 AM
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Mini Disks are are great tool, but there were two problems which prevented them from really getting popular. The first was the early versions on the software that was used had too much data compression and the audio wasn't that great. They corrected that problem and they now sound pretty good. The biggest issue with these machines was that this format was a proprietary Sony format and for a long time, they would not license the format for other companies. I think eventually Sharp did license it from Sony but by then, everybody forgot all about minidisks. ------------------
2003 Carter D10, 8x5 Black and 1998 Carter D10 9x5
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Dave Grafe
Member From: Portland, Oregon, USA
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posted 27 June 2005 03:45 PM
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quote:
I don't know why MD didn't catch on
Actually, due to the excellent feature set (editing, erasing, changing song sequence, etc.), the MiniDisc DID catch on quite some time ago in just about every market worldwide except North America. You see, here in the land of the free, there are commercial interests heavily invested in marketing CD and DVD product who did not want this new format "confusing" their customers and interfering with the profit margin. They kept it out of the US altogether for a while when it was already the consumer norm in Asia and Europe. If you got that for $30 you really scored Marty. Even at $300 it would be normally considered a bargain - good on ya![This message was edited by Dave Grafe on 27 June 2005 at 05:26 PM.] |
Dave Grafe
Member From: Portland, Oregon, USA
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posted 27 June 2005 04:17 PM
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Sony has discontinued ALL disc hardware - they no longer make CD players, either. |
Jonathan Cullifer
Member From: Atlanta, GA
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posted 28 June 2005 05:47 AM
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I used to use MDs for recording myself playing live, and it was decent at that. The small size and convenience didn't hurt any either. |
rpetersen
Member From: Tipton, Iowa
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posted 28 June 2005 09:49 AM
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Sounds interesting - which model do you all use?------------------
Ron Petersen &
The Keep'n Tyme Band
Mullen Universal 12 - 1975 Session 400 - Nashville 1000 - Nashville 112
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Leroy Golden
Member From: Muskegon, Michigan, USA
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posted 28 June 2005 10:38 AM
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I have the sony pro rackmount, the sound is as close to CD as you can get and the editing features are second to none, IE; pitch control, combine phrases, divide phrases etc. I believe it didn't catch on because of price (very expensive in the beginning) but sometimes you do get what you pay for eh? That's my 2 cents worth!!! |
Jim Cohen
Member From: Philadelphia, PA
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posted 28 June 2005 11:07 AM
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You got a great bargain at $30, man. They sell for $200-300. Better buy a good supply of discs though, before you can't find them anymore. My only frustration with them is that there is (apparently) no way to transfer the DIGITAL file to your computer for burning to a CD-R. I've had to play the tracks back in ANALOG form in real time into a sound recorder on my computer, save as a wav file and then convert back to digital and burn to a CD-R. Kinda loses the point of the digital recording after you've done that. It's okay if you're gonna just listen to them thru the MD player itself, but I prefer the convenience of CD-Rs. |
seldomfed
Member From: Colorado
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posted 28 June 2005 01:19 PM
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This brings up another question.What are people buying now to get live recordings? Something portable and not soo expensive. Anyone tried the Marantz digital recorders?? chris ------------------
Chris Kennison
Colorado |
Jerry Gleason
Member From: Eugene, Oregon
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posted 28 June 2005 03:38 PM
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I think that compact flash recorders are the next generation, replacing Minidisc recorders. Consider the Edirol R1. It sells for $439 at most online music retailers.
http://edirol.com/products/info/r1.html It records on compact flash media as MP3, or uncompressed 24-bit WAV files. You can easily transfer files to a computer for editing via it's USB 2.0 port, or an external card reader. A one Gigabyte CF card sells for under a hundred bucks these days. The R1 is generally getting better reviews than the Marantz, which is supposedly a "pro" product. 
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Dave Grafe
Member From: Portland, Oregon, USA
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posted 29 June 2005 12:43 AM
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Jim Cohen - some MD recorders have a digital I/O that can be connected to either a CD recorder or a computer recording interface for transfer of datat in the digital realm.I use the Sony MDS-E10 and MDS JE510 MD recorders and the Sony CDR-W33 CD recorder for this purpose. I also occasionally use the Sony MZR700, which is the pocket-size version, for portable playback and recording at gigs. |
Jeff Lampert
Member From: queens, new york city
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posted 29 June 2005 08:07 AM
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If you are recording a band, how do you set up one of these things in order to get a decent balance of all the instruments (assuming they are balanced to start with)? Thanks in advance for the info. .. Jeff------------------
Jeff's Jazz
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Jim Cohen
Member From: Philadelphia, PA
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posted 29 June 2005 08:09 AM
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Dave G., yeah my MD recorder has a digital I/O cable, but it only works in one direction! That is, to transfer digital files TO the MD, not FROM the MD. Maybe other models have a 2-way function, but I didn't come across any like that when I was shopping around. Are you sure they exist? |
Dave Grafe
Member From: Portland, Oregon, USA
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posted 29 June 2005 09:16 AM
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They do on the models I mentioned, which BTW are no longer made, though you can still get them on eBay.Jeff - with a really good sound engineer n a large venue just take a line from the mixing console. In a small place I set up a couple of small mics and live with what I get. |
Pete Burak
Member From: Portland, OR USA
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posted 29 June 2005 09:39 AM
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Jim, The models Dave mentions are are not the hand held models.
I don't think any hand held MD's had the digital export (I could be wrong).
FWIW, I'm still using my Yamaha MD8 (no digital export), which has been a fine unit for my home recording needs. I guess I'd mix down to a stand alone CD recorder (if I had the attention span to get that far with it  ). I've used mine mainly to create rhythm tracks to play steel along with (typically drum machine, acoustic guitar, and bass,).
The editing features work great to make purchased rhythm tracks much longer (the steel segments), and edit out other instrument solos, etc.
I also have a hand held for live gig recording, and I usually set the mic in a location that will produce a "steel heavy" mix (20ft mic extension cord ala RS), as these recordings are for my own listening only, FTMP.
The MD I have now will record for 5 hours on 1 disk, Sony MZ-NF810CK (I sometimes record 5 hours of Steel Radio or Grateful Dead radio off the 'net, to listen to in the car).
~pb
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Marty Pollard
Member From: a confidential source
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posted 05 July 2005 07:22 AM
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Mine IS a handheld.I've been using IN ORDER TO get my mixes right. I listen and adjust. But not much; my instincts are pretty good (probably from years of being the default sound engineer). Jeff, I use it as if it were an audience member and record from the corner of the dance floor. If it's not balanced in the main mix then it's not balanced, right?[This message was edited by Marty Pollard on 05 July 2005 at 07:24 AM.] |
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