stop spending your money

arguing about opinions on the internet is one of my favorite hobbies.

high hat wrote:arguing about opinions on the internet is one of my favorite hobbies.

Really? get a feckin life man!! jokin!

I was actually just asking a question about minidisc recorders-.

Are there any minidisc recorders with digital outputs, that I can plug into my MPCs digital input?

MD Recorders are dog s*it, why not if you want to be old skool and OG consider at least a Portable DAT recorder or a portable reel to reel or even a portable cassette recorder (Sony did some direct drive ones)
Not waste your money on a piss poor MD deck....you say you don't like MP3? But then what is MD? It's just another form of MP3...very compressed too.

But Martin not all of them sound garbage! Yes I know but why bother?! It's still compressed rubbish that you can hear it's flaws on a good system...at the end of the day it's Digital, it doesn't add anything nice to the sound if anything it robs the quality...tape well that's different, it's not a lossy format for one, the good decks exceed the frequency response of CD players and the tape itself can add a certain flavour to the sound...

If you reaaalllly want to go portable MD at least get something with Type R or S Atrac which was the latest version, Type S is basicaly type R but with a improved MD LP algorithm (Don't use MD LP, it sound AWFULL!) the normal compression is the same as type R...also you get better results when recording with the power supply not on battery power...all in all it all still sounds shite

There are some hi-fi decks that sounded ok but again whhhyy

Saying all that I still do have a portable MD recorder just cos I never got rid of it...I use it now days to record bits from TV or when I'm round a friends house.
When it breaks I would like to get one of those hand-held recording devices that record uncompressed audio

i never use the MD in the studio unless circumstances dictate (computer broke etc). but, like i said -- field recordings, gigs, micing up some friend's piano -- it's good. mine's portable; smaller than an iphone. cranked all the settings so it doesn't nuke the recording (much). my one major gripe is that it has a compressor (as in, dynamics compressor, not audio data) which **** sucks hardcore! thank god you can turn it off !

maybe i'd be saying all this about DAT if i got a portable DAT before i got the MD.... but i can operate the minidisc recorder by touch, in the dark, on a head full of acid and beer. that level of getting shit done is something you don't take for granted. i can't fathom switching to something else. it'd just confuse me when i try to operate it while hammered

i also like working with TRACKS rather than one long strip of tape, esp. when i'm recording insanely random crap -- e.g. 90% of what i use the MD for.

vinyl_junkie_1620 wrote:When it breaks I would like to get one of those hand-held recording devices that record uncompressed audio

Same.

high hat wrote:i never use the MD in the studio unless circumstances dictate (computer broke etc). but, like i said -- field recordings, gigs, micing up some friend's piano -- it's good. mine's portable; smaller than an iphone. cranked all the settings so it doesn't nuke the recording (much). my one major gripe is that it has a compressor (as in, dynamics compressor, not audio data) which **** sucks hardcore! thank god you can turn it off !

maybe i'd be saying all this about DAT if i got a portable DAT before i got the MD.... but i can operate the minidisc recorder by touch, in the dark, on a head full of acid and beer. that level of getting **** done is something you don't take for granted. i can't fathom switching to something else. it'd just confuse me when i try to operate it while hammered

Hahah innit, stick to what you got and know...I just think why bother changing if it works and does the job, for pretty much the same reasons as you I keep mine...had it since 2004 or something

MD is just another tool that you could use to shape your sound. I regret selling mine.

vinyl_junkie_1620 wrote:

high hat wrote:i never use the MD in the studio unless circumstances dictate (computer broke etc). but, like i said -- field recordings, gigs, micing up some friend's piano -- it's good. mine's portable; smaller than an iphone. cranked all the settings so it doesn't nuke the recording (much). my one major gripe is that it has a compressor (as in, dynamics compressor, not audio data) which **** sucks hardcore! thank god you can turn it off !

maybe i'd be saying all this about DAT if i got a portable DAT before i got the MD.... but i can operate the minidisc recorder by touch, in the dark, on a head full of acid and beer. that level of getting **** done is something you don't take for granted. i can't fathom switching to something else. it'd just confuse me when i try to operate it while hammered

Hahah innit, stick to what you got and know...I just think why bother changing if it works and does the job, for pretty much the same reasons as you I keep mine...had it since 2004 or something

I agree, I have a zoom h4 which is the simplest device I have ever used... the only issue I have with it is the common issue of batteries no longer working as a power supply and only the 9 volt adapter works... however I built a prototype power supply that so far works for on the road stuff.. I am really thinking about an H4N though because one feature they added was, they now let you record on the internal 4 track using both the build in condensers and two external mics via the xlr ports which is something I never understood why the original h4 didn't have the feature.
however I am wondering if maybe getting a couple of the new H1's might not be the better idea.

that being said, I still regularly carry a portable cassette voice recorder to record stuff you aren't expecting. the reason for that is, while the quality is MUCH lower, the sony one I have (full size cassettes) can record for 24 hours non stop or so on 2 AA batteries. the other reason is no powering on, the thing is off and you push one button and it's already recording. Sometimes you gotta be an opportunist.

I also recently got a mini disc for free, I am having some trouble using it though... it's a common sony model, and my issue with it I suspect has something to do with DRM. I transfer media to the mini disc using the proprietary program and it works... however when I unplug the mini disc it seems to always be empty as soon as the USB cable is disconnected. ODD.

Benyamin wrote:1. A good cassette deck is probably the best outboard and tracking tool you can own. Most of you have or can borrow it. Doesn't have to be too fancy.

2. This simplifies life quite a bit, as you can stop worrying so much about integrating reason into your whole mad scientist software dream and focus on making music that means something.

3. Learn to use a cassette deck, and learn to recognize gear hype for gear hype. Trying to improve? What's smarter, spending money or using what you have?

4. If you do not frighten yourself during your work, at least sometimes, then you aren't improving and you should quit and go market soft drinks somewhere.

5. Your studio environment reflects your life. If you are not interested in the world around you, and think that the true dream lies in locking yourself away in a castle filled with records, MPC's, and computers, then your music will be boring and you should quit and go market soft drinks somewhere.

I used the mpc for many years and think it's fine. And this is a post about studio environments.

Word up, I got all that mac and logic ish but really all I use is my little (but will still slap someones shit) mpc 500 a usb interface and often run the mpc through a 4 track multitrack cassette joint i got free... I do enjoy gear but have come to the realization that until you need a helmet and a neck brace to listen to my beats i wont be buying anything radical cause hipsters think theyre dope lol//

good ass post man

-niN wrote:If it is necessary that I name them in order for you to be able to answer my question, I will. But for now here's my questions:

Q 1: Are there MD recorders out there with digital outs? (that I can plug into my MPCs digital in?)
Q 2: What would be a good pick, value for money wize?? recomendations would be very much apreciated.
Q 3: Do the portable ones really sound as bad as people said in this thread? I used to own a non-portable one aaaages ago. I think it sounded OK...

1. No portable MD ever had Coaxial outs - ok, possibly some professional field recorder type of model did. Some old models (in the 90's) had Optical outs. Most models have Optical ins. You have checked this site?:
http://www.minidisc.org/equipment_browser.html

2. The best portable, surprisingly, was the last Sony ever made. The Sony MZ-RH1. I bought one just to transfer my 500+ hours of recordings of live shows and rehearsals to computer. I was a MD user for almost 10 years, the RH1 was maybe my sixth portable...

3. The RH1 sounds quite good.

The reasons I got rid of the RH1, RH10, N910 (broken beyond repair), R910 (stolen), N1 (still working, but occasionally wipes discs), R70 and my huge collection of discs were:
- cost. The Hi-MD disks offer better sound quality, but are not cheap at 8€ apiece.
- availability. Since Sony dropped the atrac format and stopped making MDs, there's going to be a day in the near future when you can't easily find replacements.
- reliability. Two (or three) of my MD recorders started acting funny - formatting discs, making weird noises and so on - after a couple years' heavy use. Moving parts, spinning discs, you know.

I still have my JB-980 deck - the last MD deck model Sony made. I occasionally listen to some band rehearsals from 1998, with a glass of red wine. It's up for sale.

...and -niN, I'm curious!

i got a presonus bluetube off ebay for $100 years ago;
it's plenty "warm."

sometimes you whip some drums around pitchbend on your mpc and it's like, that sounds too goddamn pitchbent, but that's the pitch i want it at! or a casio sounds too stodgy.... so crank the knobs on the bluetube. parts of it go missing, other parts get dank. and suddenly it doesn't sound like pitchbent crap any more... it sounds like a massive fart blasting the house's plumbing clear.

tape definitely has a bit of that !

Lots of gear means lots of learning.And eventualy you may make some music.Made some of my best stuff on tascam cassette multitrack.(the songs)Still stand up today against modern techniques.But more interesting.imho

i love learning this shit. i get my head around it; then i'm a bastard and take it farther than i should !

@ jungleman:
Thank you very much for ur reply and for the link aswell...

You're curious about why the **** I'm thinkin about getting an MD??

Quote:
"MD Recorders are dog s*it, why not if you want to be old skool and OG consider at least a Portable DAT recorder or a portable reel to reel or even a portable cassette recorder (Sony did some direct drive ones)"
Quote end

Did you read my post?? I want a digital output...
I'm looking to spend only a little
money on sumthn with a digital output, because I want to use my digital IN in me MPC!
The reason is : my Analog ins are phucked..
Still makin music thow cuz I do have the built in CD drive. But if I want to sample Vinyl or any other shit that I could normally just feck into the Analogs, the workaround is just a pain in the ÄSS.
If ur wondering why I don't just use USB and a computer? Because my Computer is a piece of krapp, and also the workaround would still be just as much a pain in the ÄSS ! So I'm looking for sumthn below the cost of a decent computer, that could just fit on top of me tapedeck or sumthn and work away easily. I figured that an MD would fit quite nicley into the way I work.

btw.:
I have a cassette recorder. I'd love a reel to reel, but they're above my budget at the moment, same with DAT.