MiniDiscs: Such potential for bootlegging... and yet I doubt

tell me!

I use an MD - it's a Sharp SR60 (older model) - I can change the recording level while recording & it's been pretty reliable. I don't use a condenser mic usually - I use a big Audio-Technica cardioid thing which can handle louder bass ... But it's not too hard to sneak in in a large coat pocket.

Recording into the PC through analog cable works just fine .. the recording doesn't lose much considering it was recorded through a microphone.

The only problem I have is that the mic/jack makes noise (static) when it moves - so I have to be careful not to bump it when I'm recording.

Hey as per your first worry- if you are mainly going to use it for live taping and do not care about getting music from your computer onto the MD player- then Id say seek out an older model. Many older models do have an output jack. Its mainly the new Sony NEtMD players that do not.

as for the other things- Im not experienced with taping to know- but MDs do not skip in regular use..

answers based on my sony mzr30 which is gargantuan compared to modern portables (ie walkman sized) and the sony md-je510 (or something) separate thing that sits on my hi fi rack (and is a bunch cheaper than the portable but you can't record gigs on it).

the digital rights stuff lets you do a digital copy of a minidisc (to, say, another minidisc) but the copy can't be digitally copied (without hackery).

netmd stuff i know nothing about.

analog line out to sound card is fine, imo. my portable has no digital out anyway. the separate does have digital out but i don't have a soundcard with digital in so...

my portable won't let you change the recording level without pausing the output. stuff recorded too loudly is digitally clipped and sounds dreadful. you can use the autolevel thing which gives ok results (better than the digital clipping) but things with sudden loud noises in them (drums for instance) tend to sound a bit strange as the autolevel keeps going up and down. my recording of b&s at camber sands suffers from this during 'the kids are alright'.

my portable happily powers a mic, depends on the mic i guess.

never had a recording skip but then i'm not one for jumping around. md has only skipped on playback whilst sat on an idling bus where the rattling went on for longer than the 30 seconds or so of anti-skip buffer. solved the problem by picking the player up off the seat.

"mic pre-amp overload distortion" dunno, never heard of it.

never noticed much in way of compression artefacts (or explained them away as some other artefact, see above). i always record in mono to get 149 or so minutes or recording (are gigs ever mixed for stereo?) so i can start it before the band comes on, stop it after they've finished and not have to worry about changing disks 75 minutes in. stereo lp modes are after my time i'm afraid.

more steady mike answers...

this sounds good.... now which one have people recorded well with and has a good level adjust?

An ex of mine uses DAT to record shows (but he does this on a large enough scale to justify investing in the equipment). I know that there are specialized forums where they discuss equipment and recording methods; they'd be able to give you better advice.

I have a Sharp 702 (similar vintage to Koogs' Sony above - over four years old).

This *does* allow on-the-fly recording level adjustment and (though I've got out of the habit of taking it to gigs) I've made some pretty decent live recordings running small-capsule Sound Professional binaurals into it (about $70 - runs off the MD's phantom power).

I use this arrangement more for taping band practices, acoustic performances in a domestic setting and field recordings - the binaural/MD combo has even been pressed into service under duress as drum overheads on a multi-track recording.

If you want to use a large condenser mic, (or, more likely, a back-electret) you'll need an external power source (you would with any portable) - a battery pack or suchlike.

I don't know of any portables on the market that come with a digital output (you need a deck for that), but, as has been pointed out above, the SCMS protection wouldn't prevent the digital copying of an analogue recording (i.e. mic, vinyl, tape).

Don't worry about ATRAC artefacts - what I've heard of the LP2 and LP4 modes suggests they're surprisingly free of low-rate MP3 nastiness (using a stereo mic with LP4 might be a bit of a waste though), and regular SP mode (all I have) is virtually transparent.

My Sharp is beginning to show its age now (not terribly reliable), but before its demise I can't recall a single skip while recording.

REVIVAL TENT!

i'm looking into a minidisc recorder and i share many of the same questions j. williams did above. is there a verdict on whether or not sony or sharp makes the better recorder? i'm looking at the sony mz-nf810, mzn707, and mz-r700. i've used the mz-r700 and it recorded fine (and was easily concealed, although the bowery ballroom bouncers gave me a momentary scare), but there is no line out. is there any way to get minidisc recordings onto a computer to be burned onto cd-rs? it's fine for recording interviews etc since i'd just transcribe those, but i'd like to be able to reuse the discs through digital transer.

thanx

Well, yeah. MiniDisc decks have a digital out, but no portables do (at least not the consumer models). If it's worth it to you, get an MD deck and go optical out to your soundcard or USB device. I do it all the time.

I had a sharp, I have a sony now, the sony is better.

Guy above "the newer models have no output jack" no don't be fooled, the 'digital out' doubles as a normal 'audio out' jack.

Aiwa does 'em cheaper than Sony, and Aiwa's owned by Sony now. Might be worth considering.

mark,
which sony model do you have? minidisc.org is very useful, but it's the idiosyncratic tidbits they miss on, such as your point about digital out doubling as audio out. what flexibility does that offer you?

and i've heard tell that info *can* travel both ways on the usb or the optical connection...

i'm figuring on buying one of these used, so i'm trying to patch together an informal user's guide.

I bought Vicky an Aiwa md for her birthday last year, and it was a piece of crap, then Dixons decided that they wouldn't replace it, and instead would fix it, despite me saying "this is crap I want a replacement". so, it's in a bag somewhere, Vicky has my old (and very good) Sony and I have my new I-river, which has all the ins/outs and more that the sony has.

basically - avoid Aiwa, and dixons, especially dixons