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09 Oct 03 - 01:14 PM (#1032527) Subject: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: Steve Benbows protege I want to purchase a mini disk player and a good mic to be able to record lessons, gigs etc. I am in the u.k. I don't really mind about cost. What do people here use or recomend? Thanks a million. Pete. |
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09 Oct 03 - 01:18 PM (#1032531) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: GUEST,sean I got good results witha sony MD recorder and Mic. The mic came in at around £80 |
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09 Oct 03 - 01:37 PM (#1032553) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: open mike be sure to get on with a mic input--i was fooled into getting one that could not even plug a mic into!! the Sony MD has a red port for the mic input. hard to find one these days--the manufacturers do not seem to be aware that people actually MAKE music-most are set up to down load only.. see previous thread....we have discussed this at length... spell disc with a "C" and more searches may be successful.. |
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09 Oct 03 - 01:38 PM (#1032554) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: Amos I use a SONY MDR also and am quite happy wiht results. There is a learning curve. Make sure it is a full-featur3ed one that supports recording and not just an MP3 player! A |
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09 Oct 03 - 01:43 PM (#1032557) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: open mike discussed here and thread + links to previoius threads |
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09 Oct 03 - 04:43 PM (#1032666) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: Bill Hahn//\\ I purchased one on E Bay a while back---a Sharp. I d on't know if Sharp still makes them, but I found it to the best brand with controls all in one area and easy to work. The price on E Bay ran, at that time, approx. $65.00 U.S. Bill Hahn |
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09 Oct 03 - 08:39 PM (#1032766) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: George Seto - af221@chebucto.ns.ca I can't believe a microphone compatible current Minidisc recorder would cost only $65.00 US funds. No way! I would expect it to be a discontinued model and probably without a microphone input. That seems remarkably low in price. A minidisc recorder compares to a top-end cassette recorder, so I would expect at least 165 in US$ for a non-microphone plugable unit, and also without MDLP. Would you check that again? Oh, and what model was it? |
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09 Oct 03 - 09:06 PM (#1032777) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: Ron Olesko George, Bill Hahn is talking about the MiniDisc RECORDER that he picked up on E-bay. You can find some bargins there. Mic's are a different story. I would suggest going to www.minidisco.com and check out some of the mic's they have available. (I'm not affiliated with minidisco.com!) You can use just about any mic if you have a mini-plug connection. Stereo mic's work best. If you use a mono mic you can either a) record on one channel or b) record mono on both channel. I purchased a lav style mic from minidisco.com about a year ago and they work great. They were made by Sound Pro. I understand that the Sony ECM-MS957 is a great mic as well, but I have not personally tried it. Ron Olesko |
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10 Oct 03 - 01:46 AM (#1032897) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: George Seto - af221@chebucto.ns.ca Thanks Ron for clearing that up. I've never visited EBAY, so thought they were some kind of store like perhaps an Electronic version of Canada's Bay stores (The Bay is the currently known name for the old Hudson's Bay Company.) Say, in about another 18 years, they'll be celebrating their 350th anniversary. I think that might be right. |
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10 Oct 03 - 02:39 AM (#1032906) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: The Barden of England As you're in the UK, look here first:- http://www.richersounds.com/index.php?f=itemlist.php&c=2001 And for the Stereo Mike look here:- http://www.maplin.co.uk/ Maplins have a Stereo Condenser Mike for £14.99. I use mine on a Sharp Minidisk, and it's great. |
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10 Oct 03 - 07:23 AM (#1033006) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: Dave Bryant Pete, before you spend a fortune on a mike, try one of the tiny single-point stereo mics from Henry's Radio/Electronics in Edgeware Road - about 200 yards north of the tube station on the right - it shouldn't be difficult to get to from where you live. You can find it from this page (it won't let me give a direct link to the detail page for some reason) but click Microphones, then scroll down to Tie-Clip Microphones and select 173.623 STEREO TIE CLIP MICROPHONE. I've use one with my mini-disc recorder for a couple of years and it gives a great sound. I've even made an extendable holder from a telescopic arial which means that I can point it towards singers in sessions over other people's heads. The Recorder, Mic and Holder all fit in one small case. At under £16 it will hardly break the bank. On bit of advice, if your recorder has a manual recording volume control, you will get much better results from using it. If you use automatic, the control will "hunt" when the volume is low or where there is a gap and you will get hiss on the recording at maximum volume. |
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10 Oct 03 - 02:04 PM (#1033274) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: Steve Benbows protege O.k thanks guys. John and Dave a question. What model of mini disc do you have? If it works well then at least I know which models to consider buying! Thanks alot. Hope you are both well. |
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12 Oct 03 - 04:52 AM (#1034018) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: GUEST Steve Benbows protege - I have a Sharp MD which is about 3 years ol and has given great service. I think that both the Sharps at Richer Sounds would fit the bill, and the mike that Dave suggested will also fill the bill. |
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12 Oct 03 - 01:16 PM (#1034149) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: Steve Benbows protege Guest thank you for your good advice. With so many products on the market it is hard to know what to get! |
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12 Oct 03 - 02:36 PM (#1034175) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: Ferrara Here are some anecdotes & observations to add to what's on the above threads. We have a new Sony MZ NF-810(CK) and also a used Sharp 702. The CK option isn't available in the UK but the basic Sony 810 recorder is. My observations: Bill says the Sharp is easy to use but I find the Sony much easier. To my ear the Sony definitely gives cleaner, more realistic sound with the same mic. I strongly prefer the Sony sound quality. Depends on the type of stuff you're recording, I guess. Sony has one feature the Sharp doesn't have: it will play/ replay a single track. useful for learning songs, or for, say, a project I'm doing now of copying just the songs from a week-long class. Most of the features are common to both though. The Sharp has manual setting of the recording level. The Sony only allows you to specify high or low sensitivity. I'm finding that with my lovely little stereo condenser mike, which doesn't have much built in amplification, the Sony does not record at a high enough level to copy well to tape. The resulting tape is fine but I have to turn the volume way up. (I need a tape deck that can increase the level electronically, but I spent all my money on the week-long class.) The Sharp definitely gives a more robust sound. Me, I love the Sony and forgive it its sins. I'm thinking of looking for a new mic though because of the above mentioned volume problem. On the other hand it might be simpler just to get a tape deck that lets you set the recording level when making tapes.... |
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13 Oct 03 - 03:04 AM (#1034413) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: The Barden of England Steve Benbows protege - The GUEST above was me - my cookie had gone walkie |
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13 Oct 03 - 04:33 AM (#1034427) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: Dave Bryant Hi Pete, I've got quite an old Sony MZ-R30 which has now been superceded by quite a lot of newer models. I find it reasonably easy to use, but as you would expect with anything so small, some of the more complicated actions can be a little fiddly. On the other hand these are usually final editing which you carry out at home so that's not too much of a bother. I gather that many MD recorders now have a PC interface and this can make titling etc easier. My main gripe about MD recorders in general is that although they usually have digital-in they don't have digital-out. This was a deliberate design limitation to ensure that people only made personal copies of CDs and that you couldn't make a digital copy of an MD. Nowdays with CD burners being widespread and also the fact that pre-recorded MDs never caught on, this restriction is a bit stupid. OK I can output an analogue audio signal into my PC, but this defeats the the main object of recording digitally in the first place. If anyone knows of an MD recorder (or even a player) that does output a digital signal from an MD - I'd be very interested. |
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13 Oct 03 - 04:58 AM (#1034437) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: GUEST,KB I have a sharp MD & just use a tiny computer-mic. I had no end of problems finding an appropriate mic because the Sharp manual says it needs to be "plug-in-power". I think the Sony ones might be easier to find a mic for. |
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13 Oct 03 - 05:06 AM (#1034441) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: GUEST,Jim Ward Dave- The MZ-30 is in my experience more reliable and just as good sound-wise as the newer smaller Sony's. The best bet for keeping things in the digital domain is to pop down to Richer Sounds and get a full size Sony deck. These have digital ins and outs and far more comprehensive editing facilities. Incidentally, Richer Sounds sell a tie pin stereo mic- Vivanco EM216 for about 30 squids which was used in W.Africa to record the kora playing on the CD to be found here I had to master up this CD from the minidiscs it was recorded on and was so impressed with the quality of recording I bought one right away. |
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13 Oct 03 - 05:51 AM (#1034455) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: Dave Bryant KB - "plug-in power" usually means that the socket supplies "Phantom Power" which is required by many condenser microphones, this shouldn't stop it working with a mic that doesn't require it. The thing that I'd be interested to know is if the computer mic records in stereo - they don't usually, and it seems silly to lose this facility. The mic that I suggested, has it's own little battery box (one AA), but if there was phantom power available from the recorder, it might be possible to dispense with it, which would make it even more compact. For a single-point mic so small, it gives quite remarkable stereo separation. |
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13 Oct 03 - 07:07 AM (#1034489) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: Dave Bryant BTW - I've looked on the Richer Sounds site and none of their full size MD decks appears to have digital out. I'm planning to upgrade the old AWE 64 soundcard in my PC to a more modern one with optical digital input, but unless I can find a way of getting a digital output from MD, then there's not much point. Basically, I want to be able record at sessions etc. then upload the recordings onto PC where I can edit them, before burning the results onto a CD or re-writing them onto MD. The problem is that having sampled a recording onto an MD, I have to play it as analogue into my soundcard which then re-samples it - there must be a loss of quality doing this. Mind you at the end of the day, I do get a much better recording than I used on my big old Marantz portable cassette recorder - without having to lug around all that weight. It is also easy to cut out parts (set track marks and erase the track) without having to recopy, so perhaps I'm being niggly. I'm sure though that if the manufacturers realised that live digital recording was what many people buy MD recorders for, they might make this feature available. |
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13 Oct 03 - 08:22 AM (#1034532) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: AKS ... if the manufacturers realised that live digital ... Quite so! 98 % or more of the MD users I know, use it primarily for more or less professional (field) recording of 'original' material, not for consuming illegally copied music. AKS ps check your PMs, Dave, there's supposed to be one from me about MDs with digital out. |
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13 Oct 03 - 08:33 AM (#1034536) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: The Barden of England I have an Aiwa system at home with optical out. Can't say I've used it much though as I can record from CD to MiniDisk on the system anyway. Of course if I had a motherboard with optical in then life would be great, but I can go optical into my Zoom 1044 and then go via my USB from this to my computer. |
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13 Oct 03 - 09:20 AM (#1034579) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: Dave Bryant John is the AIWA a MD system - if so which one ? I can copy digitally from CD to MD, but not the other way round, which is what I need in order to transfer "field" recordings from MD to CD (probably via PC). BTW there are plenty of reasonably priced PC soundcards which can accept digital input (usually optical). AKS - I'll have a look at the MD models you've suggested. |
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13 Oct 03 - 02:06 PM (#1034754) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: Steve Benbows protege Guys thank you all for your help! There is some good stuff above but the tech stuff loses me (At 23yrs old!!!) I want to be able to record my lessons with Benbow and Diz Disley aswell as my stuff from jazz school. I should be going out this weekend to have a good look. Thank you all. Pete. P.S Dave and john do stay in touch. |
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13 Oct 03 - 04:27 PM (#1034849) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: GUEST,harpgirl I just bought a Sony Net MD walkman MZ-NE410. Yes, I saw it advertised and I just HAD to have something small to take music with me out of the country! I feel like a fool because I really wanted one which I could hook a mic into and this one seems not to have such a thing. I succumbed to advertising YET AGAIN...I guess I'll have to read the specs on the web. Anyone familiar with it? |
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13 Oct 03 - 04:40 PM (#1034861) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: GUEST,harpy Aside from the fact that I am ashamed to say I needed yet another music gadget, I just read some reviews and I find that I bought it at a pretty good price (99bucks), that I can buy a pack of recordable minidiscs for fifteen bucks for 15 or so, and that if I beef it up to it's top recording ability I can get five hours of music on one disc. It runs on one double AA battery and the sound quality is excellent. I think I can record myself from the computer and an external mic and I know I can record what I have recorded to the computer with my other gadget, the Boss 532 digital four track I have. It is plain and fits in my pocket. Definitely a improvement over the unwieldly CD player! So, since I am such a weakwilled consumer, Max....baaaaa baaaaa...more advertising!!! |
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13 Oct 03 - 04:46 PM (#1034869) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: GUEST,me again ...plus I was able to load and use the recording software with no trouble. So a monkey can figure this one out! |
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13 Oct 03 - 11:44 PM (#1035070) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: fishhead50 For a good site on Mini Disc machines check out www.minidisco.com they have advice on uploading to your computer http://www.minidisco.com/new-to-md.html#mdcomp For a great selection of microphones see www.soundprofessionals.com I just purchased the SP-SPSM-4b for an upcoming banjo camp. Its hand held with a 6' cable, stereo and directional. |
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13 Oct 03 - 11:52 PM (#1035078) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: Amos Any soundcard which takes plain old analog sound in such as from a mic can also capture the sound out from a MDR --and doing this is one way to help avoid some of the ambient noise of the computer when recording. The MDR captures sound very cleanly. When you play it into the computer (being recorded by an application) it tends to record more cleanly than if you were recording directly to hard disk, i my experience. A |
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14 Oct 03 - 03:58 AM (#1035169) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: GUEST,Jim Ward Dave- Sony-MDSJE780B/S & MDSJE980B/S full size units both have optical outs and ins plus a co-ax in. A usefull gadget made by Fostex (and others I believe) converts optical to co-ax and vici verci. Cost about 50 notes from Turnkey in CharingX Road or most stores selling recording gear. |
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20 Oct 03 - 02:07 PM (#1038491) Subject: RE: Tech: MINI DISK + MIC. From: George Seto - af221@chebucto.ns.ca Another excellent site for Mini-Disc related items, including Service Manuals, and a message Forum, is http://www.minidisc.org"> For the Manuals |