Mini Disc for location recording?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Big Tree Films
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Big Tree Films

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I'm looking to acquire a standalone portable high quality recorder for use as a location recorder.

It will predominantly be used for capturing ambience and 'found sound' for later processing/sampling.

Budget limited but i don't want flat recordings either!

Anybody have any suggestions on suitable kit (help on mics would be good too)

Thanks

Great BBS......glad i found you

Philip Lloyd
 
If quality is a paramount concern, look into a portable DAT unit.... MiniDisc doesn't come close...............

Bruce
 
A cheaper alternative to the DAT which might suit your needs is this little thing.

http://www.americanmusical.com/item.asp?UID=2002022709112924&menu=0201&keyword=AMT11&item=ZOO+PS02

Its a multitrack recorder using smart cards, 20 bit 31.25Khz sampling rate, check out the specs on the more info link. Its about 300 bucks and uses batteries. Its small. But if you have 700 to 1200 bucks for a portable DAT machine you can bump the sample rate to 48Khz. The best set up for portability would be a laptop with a 24/96 audio card with some multitrack software. Power and portability!


Peace,
Dennis
 
Bruce, I've read that some people prefer minidisc over dat
due to it's editing capabilities and being a more "stable"
format in the sense of when you're moving around in the field.
In addition, as the dat recorders age they might not be as
compatible with other dat players-any thoughts?
Thanks in advance!

P.S. BTW, with 24 bit minidisc available now, isn't the sound
quality difference relatively minor?
I just picked up a Teac 40-4 reel to reel 1/4" 4 track w/dbx,
so it will be an interesting comparison to MD sound quality.
 
24-bit or not, MD is lossy due to ATRAC... period. So it can't possibly compete with any non-lossy format such as DAT....

I've had more disk errors show up on my little MD recorder than I ever have with my DAT.... (but mind you my DATs not portable...)

I'm not knocking MD as such - it has its place.... but it really doesn't compare to CD-Rs or DATs....

Bruce
 
Re: MD 24 bit vs. DAT

Thanks again Bruce for setting me straight!
You know how it is with us "home recordists"- a little wishful
thinking about our gear....
I'll be using the Teac 40-4 for mixdowns then instead of the 2
track MD until (if and when) a better digital unit is purchased.
The spec's seem pretty good at 15 ips with the dbx engaged,
at least for demo work.
 
Blue Bear Sound said:


I've had more disk errors show up on my little MD recorder than I ever have with my DAT....
Click to expand...


Thats an outright lie, I bet if you stuck any kind of disk in the tape slot of your DAT it wouldn't even work.... Maybe this is why your having a problem with ATRAC!




Peace,
Dennis
 
With a name like "Hasbro" you know dat has to be good!
 
Well, I just got a Marantz PMD-650 pro MD recorder...

http://www.marantzpro.com/Marantz/PMD650/index.htm
Click the link that says "image" to see it. The picture doesn't show up for some reason.

I love it!! It's rugged, easy to use, and sounds fantastic! It's not exactly compact and it eats batteries like popcorn, but that's no big deal with rechargeables.

It's got a lot of advantages over a consumer MD recorder.

XLR Microphone inputs
Phantom Power
DIGITAL OUT!! :D
Analog record level control
Bass rolloff switch
1/4" Headphone jack
Built-in mic and speaker in a pinch
Built like a tank! (it's designed for field reporters)

More...

When you monitor through the headphones, it passes through the A/D and D/A converters so what you hear through the phones is what goes on the disc. If it's clipping digitally, you'll hear it!

Another cool thing is that when you record in mono mode, it records a duplicate to the right channel that is 15db lower than the left channel, so if you clip you've got a backup!

As for the sound quality... The mic preamps are nice and quiet, and I wouldn't hesitate to use them in even the most critical applications.

It's got ATRAC v4.0, which is only a little downlevel from the latest v4.5. When people complain about the sound quality if MD,they're really complaining about ATRAC v1.0 that came out when MD was new. That really didn't sound all that great and was prone to compression artifacts. It soiled the reputation of MD for years to come.
With the latest versions of ATRAC, there's no way you're going to hear the difference between it and DAT.

Last drawback is that it's an expensive unit. Markertek has the best price on it for $1000. I got mine on Ebay for $930 though.

If you can afford it though, it's worth every penny!
 
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atomictoyz said:
A cheaper alternative to the DAT which might suit your needs is this little thing....

Peace,
Dennis
Click to expand...
That is a really cool looking unit.
 
Blue Bear Sound said:
24-bit or not, MD is lossy due to ATRAC... period. So it can't possibly compete with any non-lossy format such as DAT....

...I'm not knocking MD as such - it has its place.... but it really doesn't compare to CD-Rs or DATs....

Bruce
Click to expand...
Blue Bear,

I respectfully disagree. The technology of MD is really phenomenal. While it may not quite measure up to DAT, the difference is nominal, to many people using them professionally.

It's substantially better than cassette tape.

Many people who were using DAT's for remote recording are moving to MD's. They are certainly less problematic. They are used a lot for remote recording for radio.

I have a Sharp Mt 877. It sounds incredible, and has worked flawlessly. You can also adjust the input level, which is nice.

Zeke
 
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