Minidisc recording problem

Subject: BS: Minidisc recording problem
From: Zhenya
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 02:03 PM

I had a problem using my minidisc recorder last night, and wonder if anyone could give any advice on this. (I'm a fairly new user and haven't figured everything out yet.) I have the SONY net-MD N707.

I used the recorder last night to record my music lesson. I checked it after starting to record, and after about 15 minutes, and everything looked fine. (Second time was just a visual check; I didn't actually move or otherwise touch the recorder.) At the end of the lesson, I noticed it had stopped by itself, although there should still have been plenty of room on the disc. When I got home, I found it had recorded about half the lesson, and then just abruptly stopped. (Luckily, being a new minidisc user, I still had been using my trusty cassette recorder as a back-up...just in case...)

At home, using the same battery and disc, and the same settings, I recorded some other music over the same part of the disc (before and after the point where the stop occurred.) Everything worked fine. There wasn't even a blip on the new recording.

I couldn't find anything in my user manual under troubleshooting, or figure out what happened.

So...I'm curious - has anyone had this same problem and/or does anyone have any idea what might have caused this? (and how to prevent it in the future. I'm hoping to eventually leave my heavier tape recorder at home and just carry this.)

Thanks for any info.
Zhenya

Subject: RE: BS: Minidisc recording problem
From: treewind
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 02:07 PM

If it wasn't something silly like the battery running flat, it looks like it's faulty. Take it back for a replacement.

Anahata

Subject: RE: BS: Minidisc recording problem
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 02:10 PM

Ummm... I own the exact same beast (The N707) and have never had this happen... maybe a bad disc????

How long was the whole lesson?

How much of it did it record? Oh.. half... but how much time was that???

Subject: RE: BS: Minidisc recording problem
From: Ron Olesko
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 02:12 PM

I'm not 100% sure, but I have a couple of possible reasons.

1. The level was too low. Depending on how your MD is set, it might not register if the input level is too low and simply stop recording.

2. Was anything else on the disc? I'm guessing the answer is no since you were able to record later.

3. Did you set a timed recording? I'm not that familiar with your unit (I just received a NETMD but haven't used it yet).   There is a feature on some models where you set the length of the recording.

4. Weak batteries?    You did mention that you were able to record later, but I do know that the deck will shut off if it feels the power drop.

5.   Accident.   These units are very tiny and it is easy to accidently switch them off.

6. None of the above.   I have a MD recorder and a home deck, but my use of NetMD's is limited.   Maybe someone else has an idea.

Subject: RE: BS: Minidisc recording problem
From: Zhenya
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 02:28 PM

Thanks for the comments so far. I should mention I have been using the recorder for 4-5 lessons already, and had no previous problems. I was using a 74 minute disk, but I set it for LP2 mode. (to get, in theory, 148 minutes.) My lesson is an hour, and it stopped at about 33 minutes. (The disc had nothing else on it.)

I did wonder if perhaps the sound level had dropped for awhile, and it stopped because of that. But from my manual, it looks as if that only happens with digital recording, and this was from a mike. (And there would have been at least some sound in the room, if not music. I find the mike is very sensitive and picks up every little paper rustling, etc.)

Also, once I started it initially, I never touched it again until the lesson ended. It's possible it showed a message when it first stopped, but by the time I looked at it, it was completely shut off.

For the next lesson, I'll use a new disc and new battery. Maybe that will prevent it, in case, as you said, the battery was weak. (It wasn't a new battery, although it did record fine at home after the lesson.) Oh well...
Zhenya

Subject: RE: BS: Minidisc recording problem
From: Amos
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 02:44 PM

Even from a mike, it can be set to record only while the sound is above a certain point. I would try it again with the MDR volume in setting raised a little and ANLS (or whatever that automatic sensing setting is called) turned off. You'll have to dig through the manual to find out which setting it is. What I think it usually does is set automatic track points when the input drops to a threshold value.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Minidisc recording problem
From: Zhenya
Date: 31 Jan 03 - 04:52 PM

Thanks Amos,
I'm definitely going to check this in my manual. It sounds like it may be the problem. When I was recording, I had set it to have track marks placed automatically every 5 minutes. ( I had used this once before, without difficulty.) I don't know if this had anything to do with the problem.

I haven't read the whole manual yet. I'm finding it's taking about an hour to work through 10 pages (trying out everything as I go along) and I'm only about halfway through the instructions. (I did skim the rest, particularly the "troubleshooting section" yesterday.)

Anyway, thanks for pointing me in the right direction here.
Zhenya

Subject: RE: BS: Minidisc recording problem
From: alison
Date: 01 Feb 03 - 12:43 AM

I have used a sony, and found that it really chewed its way through batteries very quickly, so I would guess it was a battery.......

I'm still waiting to get my Akai back, its been off being fixed for 2 months!!

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: BS: Minidisc recording problem
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 01 Feb 03 - 01:38 AM

Really?? My NZ 707 runs for weeks on one AA battery...

Subject: RE: BS: Minidisc recording problem
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Feb 03 - 01:24 PM

Sice we're on the subject of mini's, I was thinking of buying one with the intention of recording some gigs. Do the Sonys have RCA jacks? I wanted to patch it into my powered mixer.
                                                    Cheeers,
                                                      Monahan

Subject: RE: BS: Minidisc recording problem
From: Amos
Date: 01 Feb 03 - 01:27 PM

Monoahan:

Yes, they do -- a standard mini. If your mixer output is the larger-diameter RCA plug you just get an adapter for the mini and it worls fine.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Minidisc recording problem
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 01 Feb 03 - 01:51 PM

RCA jacks?

Mine doesn't... But I run an adaptor chord that works just fine, RCA (Stereo) plugs out from my sound board to a 1/4" (Like walkman headphones) jack into the MD recorder... I think the chord cost me 4 bucks...

;-)

(or am I confusing what RCA jacks are again???)

Subject: RE: BS: Minidisc recording problem
From: Amos
Date: 01 Feb 03 - 05:38 PM

Clinton -

In my nomenclatrure I think of both the mini and the normal size single-barrel two-conductor plugs as RCA. As I said a small adapter does the trick for mating one to the other.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Minidisc recording problem
From: alison
Date: 02 Feb 03 - 09:07 AM

Clinton, you're lucky... the sony I used went through an AA battery every hour if it was recording......

the Akai is attached to 4 x AAs and lasta a few days if used for recording


slainte

alison

Subject: RE: BS: Minidisc recording problem
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 02 Feb 03 - 11:48 AM

A battery every hour?!?!?!?!

That's off-side!

:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Minidisc recording problem
From: nickp
Date: 03 Feb 03 - 04:25 AM

The problem may have been a faulty disc rather than the machine. If there's a bad block - or whatever they use - it will just die in a similar way to what you described. I had similar problems with cheaper discs but it cam apply to any. It's likely to be more critical if used in long play mode (which I don't use). If you have something important to record run the disc theough on anything before hand to prove it'll work then erase it for the real thing.

Subject: RE: BS: Minidisc recording problem
From: BanjoRay
Date: 03 Feb 03 - 04:57 AM

I've had batteries die loads of times in mine while recording. If you switch on again some time later, the battery will have recovered somewhat, and will record for some minutes more. The voltage of the battery only has to drop very slightly to cause it to switch off, so totally fresh batteries should definitely be used for important recordings.
Cheers
Ray

Subject: RE: BS: Minidisc recording problem
From: Declan
Date: 03 Feb 03 - 04:58 AM

Was the mic you were using battery powered ? My mic has a small battery in it which you can switch on. The problem is that when the battery runs out the mic stops recording - however if you switch the mic OFF, it takes its power from the MD unit and continues to work! It took me a while to figure out that this was the case and ended up with a couple of blank recordings of great sessions. If this was the case however the disk itself would continue to 'think' it was recording, so the timer etc would still be running.

Subject: RE: BS: Minidisc recording problem
From: GUEST,Bystander
Date: 03 Feb 03 - 05:13 AM

I've been using minidisc recorders on a regular basis since they first appeared about 7 years ago and have never had a faulty disc (not like CD-R's). I have had Zhenya's problem a few times. The best thing is to "save" as you go along. Whenever there is a pause in what you are recording, stop the machine and re-start. This will at least ensure you don't lose the lot.

Subject: RE: BS: Minidisc recording problem
From: BanjoRay
Date: 03 Feb 03 - 05:28 AM

It's good discipline to pause the recording during natural breaks - (use PAUSE rather than STOP, it uses very little power, and leaves your setup the same) because this also inserts a track mark, so it's easier to find your way round the recording afterwards. If the battery dies on you, the software detects the low voltage and saves everything before switching off, so you shouldn't lose anything that's already been recorded.
Cheers
Ray

Subject: RE: BS: Minidisc recording problem
From: Zhenya
Date: 03 Feb 03 - 01:21 PM

Thanks everyone, for all these helpful comments. I was recording in LP2 mode (twice as long as normal) when the problem occurred, so perhaps that also added to the problem. But again, I had used LP2 before without problems. I had hoped to get two lessons on each disc, but if this turns out to be the culprit, I'll just revert to using regular mode.

When I compared the MD to the tape, there really wasn't a lot of silence at any point on the tape. There was some talking which was quieter than the music portions. But when the MD stopped, it actually was during the music. I'm still not exactly sure what caused the problem, but for my next lesson, I'll be using a fresh battery and fresh disc, and will check the sound levels.

I like the idea of pausing or stopping periodically to save material, but I don't know if I would use this during a music lesson or workshop, as I think I would find it very distracting. (I purposely got a cassette player with auto reverse the last time around, as I hated having to stop the lesson to flip the tape over. ) For other recording situations, where I have my hands free, however, I will probably do this.

Re the cable questions: I've been learning about different cables/adapters as I go along with this. I don't know much about mixers, but I have set up cables to use the minidisc player with my home stereo system. I got a cable with a 1/8 minipug on one end and what I have heard called RCA or "phono" cables (two) on the other end. I have used this to record LPs, etc., from the stereo (with the miniplug going into the line-in jack on the MD player) and to play the minidisc through my stereo (with the minipug in the headphone jack of the minidisc player). (You actually have to attach two of these to the stereo, one for line-in and one for line-out on the receiver. They were just a few dollars each.)

Re the batteries: I heard that previous SONY models really ate the batteries, but on this one, the batteries in general seem to last a long time. The first one did run out during a lesson (almost at the end) and at that time, the machine made a fairly loud noise, and the low battery light flashed, so I knew right away what was wrong. It's possible the battery I used last week was starting to go, but I was able to use it to record without difficulty for about 30 minutes once I got home, and then to play back what I recorded. And so far, it still seems okay.

The mic I used wasn't battery powered, but I'll keep this issue in mind if I get a different mike.

Thanks all!
Zhenya