minidisc recording

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williamsgethyn

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Can anyone help me with this question re: Minidisc recording. I've just bought a sony minidisc and a sony ECM-MS907 digital mic, with the aim of recording guitar and vocal straight onto MD as a songwriting tool. I've read many of my favourite bands like to write this way and it seems really easy. Trouble is, the mic i've bought doesn't seem to pick up signals very well. I've checked the recording levels, been through the manual a hundred times but i can't get it to record at a decent volume. I'm not putting the guitar or mic through a preamp, just recording completely acoustically wit the mic on the table in front of me. Any suggestions would be very welcome!

cheers,

Gethyn.Williams@fsmail.net
 
Is the mic battery strong enough? Try replaceing the battery first and see what happens. According ot the specs on the mic, the AA battery has a 100 hour life in that mic. Or it may need a preamp to boost the signal. See if you can borrow or tryout a mixer or preamp at a store. Be sure to start with your levels low before raising them. Also try positioning the mic differently, like sideway to the recording source.
 
I use a Sony MZR700 minidisc with the ECMMS907 mic to record band rehearsals and it works excellently, and the sound is quite good.

Check the battery, as GraveRocker suggested, but if it still doesn't work, you may have a defective mic.

BTW, that mic cannot use phantom power from the minidisc, it REQUIRES a battery.

Bruce
 
Cheers for the suggestions Guys. The battery is brand new so I don't think that's it. Speaking into the mic at close range works pretty well and the quality of recording is excellent. It's just impractical for writing as I can't get the mic that close to my guitar and face at the same time.

I'm still trying different positions but I'm not hopeful, so I may well take the mic back. I could try a preamp, although I was hoping not to have to do that. Am I wrong in thinking that I should be able to record at a decent volume without amplification?

Gethyn
 
Yes, as I said... it works quite well for me, even at low volume....
 
Yo Gethyn of San Fran:]

When you get your mic on line, try to do the guitar part on one track and then dub in the vocal.

Or put the Guitar part on two tracks and then dub in the vocal on one or two tracks.

Try to avoid bouncing.

I use the Yam MD8 and that's how I do most of my stuff. Also, you can use a CD back track by dumping it into your recorder and then you will have this great music to do the vocal. Many tracks are available on CD. I do this often with a friend singer. I just run a 1/4 inch line from the earphone plug into my recorder, adjust the volume as there is "plenty" of it on CD, and Voila, a good backing track.


Have phun,


Green Hornet
 
I think you need a preamp/mixer to boost the mic level signal to line level strength. A small mixer would allow you to balance the levels between vocal and guitar. You could try suspending the mic closer to you mouth and see how well it picks up your guitar and vocal.
 
A Sony MZ-R500. Nothing particularly advanced. I've still got a few weeks to take it (and the mic) back the shop if I need to. Thanks for all the suggestions above. To clarify, I only want to use this as a basic songwriting tool. I'm not going to use it for recording perfect takes or mixing, just a reminder till I can get to a studio.

Thanks again,

Gethyn
 
The 500, eh? That explains it - it doesn't have a mic in (at least, the Sony MZR500 I looked at in the store 2 weeks ago didn't). It only had a line-in - if you wanted to use it with a mic you needed to use a mic pre to bring it up to line-level.

There's your answer!

Bruce
 
A Mic pre eh? Well Bruce, you sound like you know what you're talking about. Can I buy one separately or will I have to upgrade the mindisc? Any idea how much they cost or can anyone recommend a good one?

I'll get the beers in.

Gethyn.
 
The lack of mic input on the 500 is EXACTLY why I bought the next model up (the 700)!

I didn't want to bother with mic pres for what I was going to do things (simplify man!), so an external is not what I wanted.

If you can still exchange the minidisc, I would...

Bruce
 
Bruce, not only have you hopefully solved my dilemma, you've given me an excuse to spend more money. You're a legend.

Cheers

Gethyn.
 
Well, what can I say??? I'm a gear slut!!!!!!! ;)

Good luck with it...

Bruce
 
I just got a son mz-r900 from minidisco.com for $329. It works great! No problems with mic sensitivity or lack thereof. Automatic end search. This is a good unit and I highly recommend it. Al
 
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