Mini disc to wav converter?

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ajfriedman

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I'm planning to use portable mini disc recorders for field recording, and then edit and mix the recordings on a PC to produce fixed format programs.

Is there a good way of getting the MD content into WAV files on the PC?

There will be several field recorders generating new material on a regular basis, so the transfer method needs to be faster than real-time and have as little chance for human error as possible.

Also, suggestions on which MD recorder would do the job are welcome. The material will be spoken -- no music.
 
When I was using my MD 4 track I would record the audio into the puter via a soundcard and a good recording program.

Wich soundcard do you have on your puter? Does it have RCA , 1/8" or someother type of input?

I would recommend looking at Soundforge, or Wavelab for what you want to do. Look for the older versions as they will be cheaper and still do what you need done. They handle a ton of effect pug in's and are not too hard to learn unlike the multi track recording programs like Cakewalk or Cubase.

I am not sure if there are MD's that will interface via USB or something like that so you might be stuck with realtime recording.

jontflesh
 
I was hoping to avoid the effects of the D-to-A and A-to-D conversions that would occur when playing back the MD, and essentially re-recording in on the computer. In addition to the slow speed, there is the potential for loss of quality.

I would be using Cool Edit 2K for minor editing, effects (EQ mostly) and mixdown.

I've done some further research, and can't find any way to beat the real-time issue, so I guess my question boils down to...

Does anybody think the MD to PC second generation copy will degrade quality that would be noticeable in a spoken word program that will be played back from a 16 KHz mono WAV file? Would the end product be better or worse than using a cassette recorder like the Sony WM D6C for the original field recording?
 
a.....man,

Did you ever find a solution?

I am using the Yamaha 4 track Cassette and I use MD to bounce and record a master mix.

I bought most of my equipment before the MD multiracks came out and way before the current audio work station and computer revolutions in home recording.

Anyway I have no money to upgrade my basic recorder any time soon. I am interested in getting my home recordings into the computer at some point for possible MP3 file sharing etc. from either cassette or MD. MD sounded more promising as a more stable environment and I hoped I too could stay direct digital from MD into the computer without going back into analogue. Let me know if you found a way. Or anyone one else out there is certainly welcome to awnser.
 
Gentlemen, it kind of boils down to this. If you have stereo, or mono program material on mini disc and you want to transfer that to computer, you can do so in two ways. First is obvious, an analog transfer which is OK but less than desireable. Second is a digital transfer which is a real time process but digital none the less so there's no signal degridation from what's on the mini disc (which is a lossy data compression system but we won't go there right now).
First off, you need a minidisc player with a digital output on it. Most of the ones I've seen (and I own one as well) are equiped with a TOSLINK optical out put which is S/PDIF format on a optical cable. The other end of this equation is a sound card for the computer that is equiped with the same TOSLINK optical input. There are lots. Do a little search here and you can come up with lots of options. The last part of the system is the software and it sounds like you have that covered with Cool Edit Pro.
 
Many Thanks to My Tracking Ratisious Cyber Friend....excuse me I have not recovered from watching Monday Night Mayhem and I am having Howard Cosell flash backs.

Anyhow I do have the TOSLINK Optical out but my current OEM sound card has only a 1/8 stero phono jack on the back of the machine that I have found so far. Any other inputs to the card would be internal if they exist.

The included software for my Gateway has an "SB Audio 64D mixer" with a line input, external MIDI Port (don' t use any MIDI at this time) and supposedly an internal Synthesizer with a volume control/slider but no way to access the synthesizer sounds that I can find.

The only real problem is my recording setup is in my bedroom and the computer is at the completely opposite end of the house. I had hoped to bridge the gap by picking up a second used MD player for my home stereo system wich is next to the famly computer. But to stay digital I need a new sound card and to go analogue I have get a stereo preamp wich I don't have and can't afford anytime soon......sounds like the sound card will be more financially feasible if I stay on the lower but usable end.

Any suggestions on sound cards under $100 or $150?
 
Re: the PCLink connection

I have a PCLink device that came with my minidisk. It is simply a sound card that plugs into a USB port. It is not necessary at all if your computer already has a sound card. You can just plug your minidisk recorder into the line in on the back of your sound card.

In fact, even if you had a PCLink, it only would for playback and would not allow you to transfer files from your minidisk to your PC.
 
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