Re: [microsound] [ot] minidisc recorders

[Joe Milutis <milutis@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Portable CD recorders from marantz, and I think the other portable Cd
recorders I looked into, weren't really portable.  That is, even though they
look portable, their suggested use was for studio (something to do with no
guarantees that the jostling wouldn't disrupt the recording, but the only
thing I clearly remember now is that they were not good in the field. )
However, I use both the portable minidisc marantz (now phased out) and the
portable solid state marantz, and am pleased with both.
J


On 1/20/05 2:12 PM, "mandra  (chris)" <mandra@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> what about portable CD recorders - like the Marantz?
> On Jan 20, 2005, at 2:00 PM, derek holzer wrote:
> 
>> I used a Sony MZ-R35 for years. It's from about 1999, back when they
>> built things a bit more sturdy, and it has yet to fail me. I'd be a
>> little nervous about the newer make MDs, which get closer and closer
>> to the size of a credit card and generally don't look nearly so
>> robust. I also really liked the "jog-wheel" function. See here:
>> 
>> http://www.minidisc.org/part_Sony_MZ-R35.html
>> 
>> In general, however, the things I disliked about Minidiscs were this:
>> 
>> 1) Bad AD converters, very noisy!!! Consumer grade stuff will always
>> be like this. I tend to record *very* tiny sounds, and every dB of
>> noise floor I can remove counts.
>> 
>> 2) No digital outs. This means the DA converter of the MD, and then
>> the AD converter of whatever you are capturing with, add up even more
>> noise. You could get a full-sized MD deck for the digital out, but
>> that doesn't really help you "in the field" if you need to capture and
>> edit something right away.
>> 
>> 3) No professional connections. This means balanced, XLR microphone
>> connections. Ask any audio technician, and they will probably tell you
>> that the mismatched impedence between a pro mike and the
>> consumer-grade input probably adds more noise than all the other
>> factors combined!
>> 
>> 3) No digital ins [at least on newer models, my old MZ-R35 had an
>> optical line in]. This I suppose is some Digital Rights Manipulation
>> scheme, to keep clean copies of CDs from making their way between MD
>> players. But it's a pain if you want to bypass the crappy MD mike
>> inputs and AD converters with an aftermarket preamp/AD unit. The only
>> consolation is that you can use an external preamp and then the line
>> input, allowing the use of balanced XLRs [if you have such a preamp],
>> but the transfer to the MD is still analog.
>> 
>> OTOH, the ATRAC compression never bothered me too much. But for the
>> lack of professional mike inputs, I might even consider the new HiMD
>> format except that the software to extract the audio is proprietary
>> Sony stuff, and I'm just not down with that. Use an open standard and
>> you'll get my attention and hard-earned cash.
>> 
>> I would recommend to get a portable DAT from EBay, but as most people
>> know, this standard is going to be quite dead soon enough, as nobody
>> makes parts or tapes any more. A Sony TR-[something] usually goes for
>> between USD 300 and 500, and I am still using just such a model.
>> Inputs aren't great, but it has full digital IO which is something I
>> really needed. I could record something and then immediately offload
>> it digitally to my laptop and get to work on it.
>> 
>> My honest advice would be to save your pennies a little longer and go
>> for one of the new hard-disk based recorders. They usually have much
>> better inputs and AD converters [although maybe not with XLR inputs],
>> can do 24/96 [usually] and most importantly are fully digital IO
>> compatible, so you can use whatever preamp/AD you want, so can easily
>> offload to your computer with no sound quality loss or stupid
>> proprietary formats.
>> 
>> The R1 Editrol looks like a nice starter unit, and goes for +/- USD
>> 500:
>> 
>> http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/R1Edirol/
>> 
>> Getting a recordable MP3 player [like the some of the IRiver models]
>> is an option, but your still stuck with many problems, namely
>> compressed audio format and crappy consumer-grade inputs. In general,
>> there seems to be a huge conspiricy on the part of hardware
>> manufacturers to keep decent-quality sound recording *out* of the
>> hands of the masses...
>> 
>> Good luck,
>> d.
>> 
>> -- 
>> derek holzer ::: http://www.umatic.nl
>> ---Oblique Strategy # 36:
>> "Consult other sources
>> -promising
>> -unpromising"
>> 
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>> 
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