Mini-Disk Player for recording

Spicy Lauren

I have the intension of buying a mini-disk player at the weekend in order to do some recording. I was told I could use the little earphone as microphones but I am not 100% of the pick-up quality of sound, so I would appreciate some advice on which MD player to buy, maybe a mike and/or big earphones.
My main purpose of recording with a mini-disk player is to be able to record any kind of sounds with it (obviously!) and also being able to transfer these sounds onto a program such as Cubase or 8/16-track.

My budget is €250 max.

Thanks a mill!

Board@Work

IMO if you want any type of quality then MD is NOT the way to go..

I tried it a few times to record concerts I went to and the quality was crap even with decent mic

Spicy Lauren

Board@Work wrote:

IMO if you want any type of quality then MD is NOT the way to go..

So what would you recommand?

bonzai bob

earphones as microphones? wtf?

If you really think this i suggest you stay away from technology in general:D

Board@Work

Depends what ur trying to record. is it music. interviews. concerts...

If ur a musician I would suggest some type of mutlitrack device which can be purchased in any good guitar store.

Interviews a dictaphone or even the MD with a good mic would suffice..

Concerts.. hmm have no idea thats something I would like myself

Spicy Lauren

Board@Work wrote:

If ur a musician I would suggest some type of mutlitrack device which can be purchased in any good guitar store.
Interviews a dictaphone or even the MD with a good mic would suffice..

Yes I am a musician. I want to be able to record sounds such as... birds, people walking, sea, that kinda stuff. Would you say a MD with a mike will be OK, and which MD and mike would you advise to get? I will transfer these recordings later on on multi track or computer program

Eoin Madsen

MD is a digital format, it's exactly the same as a storage medium as any other digital format. If you buy cheap, the mic preamp will be cheap, but essentially the standard quality of mic pre will probably be no better or worse than any such device within the same budget.

I've never ever in my life heard a crowd bootleg of a gig that wasn't completely ****. Any dynamic microphone recording the output of a loudspeaker more than 1 metre away will not sound good, no matter what you do with it.

Eoin Madsen

Earphones do actually work as microphones, they're just not very good.

What are you going to use the recordings for? The problem is that any dynamic mic will not work well at any kind of reasonable distance. You really need a condensor mic for that, but most condensors won't work with an MD or anything like that (they need extra power). A battery powered one would do a good job, but you're looking €200 for something like that.

Spicy Lauren

bonzai bob wrote:

earphones as microphones? wtf?

If you really think this i suggest you stay away from technology in general:D

This is ther reason I posted this thread ye wolly. I havent a clue

bonzai bob

where's wally?

meh, if all you want to do is record random sounds then fire away, the crap quality may actually add to whatever song you match them with.

Just bare in mind the background noise, ie, cars, wind etc.

Also, i know this is obvious, but not all MD's have mic inputs, so make sure you get one with the red whole:D I got one about 2 years ago as i did media and needed it for interviews etc. Once you're in a quiet room it sounded ok. Think it's a Sony one, cost 280, not sure if it was euros or pounds. I still have it but it's falling apart.

Eoin Madsen

You can get actual Sony MD mics. They're crap, but they probably work better with an MD than anything else for the same money.

bonzai bob

yeah you can get all this shizzle in any Sony store actually.

John

Erm, anyone who thinks MD is of no use in recording should listen to this album by Alexander Hacke. Pretty much all of it was recorded on an ordinary MD with a small enough mic (not a fancy condenser one) and it sounds great. The majority of field recording work is done with MD, which is what Spicy Lauren wants it for.

Spicy Lauren

Great lads thanks!

dalk

Hi...

Check out omni-directional binaural microphones... they are very discreet (looks like you are listening to music) and they pickup sound in much the same way as your ears do (thats the idea)..

Also if i was you i would check out some of the Mp3's players that have mic-in (off the top of my head some iRiver models do). This would save you the hassle of having to record (in realtime) your minidiscs onto your PC. With mp3 player you would just copy over the recorded mp3. (There is no minidisc that i am aware of that will allow you to digitally upload files to a PC). And minidisc ATRAC is a lossy compression just like mp3 so quality would be similar...

dalk

dalk

of course the above would kinda blow your budget a bit... but i would be inclined to buy a good mic and a cheap or (better still) second hand minidisc...

should be plenty second hand seeing as mp3 players are all the rage...

BeardyGit

Eoin Madsen wrote:

Earphones do actually work as microphones, they're just not very good.

What are you going to use the recordings for? The problem is that any dynamic mic will not work well at any kind of reasonable distance. You really need a condensor mic for that, but most condensors won't work with an MD or anything like that (they need extra power). A battery powered one would do a good job, but you're looking €200 for something like that.

In April 1997 I bought an MZR30 minidisc recorder. It cost me 430 punts at the time. I also bought a stereo electret condensor microphone from Sony, model ECM-MS907. This cost me something in the order of 170 punts. It's excellent - Great clarity and I've used it for everything from recording acoustic gigs through songwriting and interviewing for radio over the last 8 years. With an adjustable stereo field

Sony's current RRP is only US$99 so you should be able to pick one up for €80 or so. Drop in a single AA battery and you're all set.

11811

How bout using sound fx discs?Bit easier than recording things like the sea etc.could be fun tho trying to get a flock of birds into a studio!!!

John

Field recording is great fun and very rewarding to get your own sounds. Using those sound effect discs is pretty boring and going out with an MD and a mic gives you a lot more freedom (and you don't have to pay anything for the samples).

Spicy Lauren

Hey fellow musicans,

I thought I'd update you on what I bought a few weeks back...

I got myself a Sony MD player and an electret condenser microphone - and the lot works beautifully! It was a bit over budget but nevermind, I think it's really worth it!

So thanks to ye all for your advices and keep up the good work!

x