Minidisc Mastering...

D

DJ BIZZ-E

New member
People tell me that it is not wise to record your (pre)master on a Minidisc. Why is that? It is also digital isn't it? I heard that the (SONY) Minidisc compresses the signal a bit, which makes it sound worse/better, I don't know...but I find a Minidisc easier to use and more reliable than a tape...Tell me if I'm wrong...

I would like the idea that I can record my mixes on MD and send it to a studio where I can Master it...The only thing is...is it possible??? It probably is, but would it make a worse record?(meaning:not sounding as good as if I had used a D.A.T. tape...)

Anyway...I hope you can answer my questions...Thanks a lot in advance...

C-YA!

DJ BIZZ-E
The Music Junkie...
(c) 2000.
 
I too have a Sony Minidisc recorder. It is fun to play with and is easier to use than tape and even sounds a little better. To answer your question about using it to master to, this is not a good idea. As you have heard from others there is a lot of compression going on. If you mix down to minidisc and compare to your actual recording, you will find a big difference. Where you will notice it most is in the highs. On top of that, I think you find find it very hard to find a mastering studio that would even have a minidisc. If you can afford a dat, go for it. By the way, what are you recording on. If you are using a computer, go CD. even better than dat.
 
Minidiscs have SURPRISINGLY good sound quality. I own 3 decks myself. If the sound sounds good-enough to you, then it IS GOOD ENOUGH.
But there is some data compression going on, and people with really keen ears can hear it. Especially if there are multiple generations of dubs. For a single dub, even though some people can tell a "difference", they cannot consistently pick which is which, and sometimes actually prefer the Minidisc sound. So for a single transfer from MD to CD, it is probably OK **IF** you check the sound and are satisfied.
Most people who are really serious do try to get an uncompressed format recorder also (I have a VS 1680)

Peace,
Rick
 
It wouldn't be a good idea to master to a format that literally slices out some of the signal (via the MDs compression techniques). Far better to master to a solid format (Masterlink, DAT...), THEN dumb-it-down to MD....

Bruce Valeriani
Blue Bear Sound

PS Didn't you just post this with another header???
 
It sounds killer on Minidisc...

Yo bvaleria...I indeed posted my question twice so I could get more answers...

YO AXIS...In my opinion the Minidisc sounds (almost always) better than my DAT...That's one of the reasons why I want to use my MD instead of my DAT...I also don't think I would mind if some of the highs were cut out...if, of course, the songs doesn't lose its power...AND IT DOESN'T! So I will probably try to find me a studio that can Master my MD's and just go for it...(I am also used to OLD SKOOL Hip Hop records that don't have such a great sound quality...and I love it!...It makes it ROUGHER...Anyway...That's just my humble opinion).

Thanks to everyone that replied...

DJ BIZZ-E

PS: More opinions are welcome of course!!!

PEACE.
 
Yo DJ...

Must be one helluva crappy DAT unit if MD sounds better... just bear in mind that you will actually lose much more of your signal on MD than you would have on DAT simply because of the nature of the MD format (nothing to do with losing high-end frequencies either - MD compression masks out *any* frequencies its algorithms decide would be masked out by louder sounds). I've A-B'd original source and MD copies and there *is* a significant difference (not as different as between CD and cassette, obviously, but still very noticeable)... MD copies tend to have a thinner, mids-slightly sucked out kind of sound than its un-encoded (uncompressed??!?!) counterpart.

I'm not saying MD sounds bad - if it works for you then go at it, just be aware of what you're *really* doing to your masters.

Bruce Valeriani
Blue Bear Sound
 
Crappy DAT...

It's not a crappy DAT(*), but the Minidisc(**) gives me the sound I am looking for....

(*): Ok, it's the cheapest home-DAT from SONY(DTC-790)...but I don't think this one should sound crappy because it's the cheapest...

(**):The Minidisc makes it sound more bassy...strangely enough...I just got an E-mail from someone saying that a DAT gives more highs and more LOWS...Anyway...Maybe I should check my hearing...

PEACE.
DJ BIZZ-E
 
The Minidisc recorders use a process called ATRAC the details of which I'll spare both of us,suffice it to say that once you put something on an MD,80% (!) of the original sound is gone! (5:1 compression ratio).BUT,there are crazies out there that actually believe that overloading vacuum tubes which power bandwidth limited speakers makes their electric guitars sound better,so go for it if you like it that way,man!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top