Nobody using minidisc I see

[jjones1700]

Sweet. Thanks a bunch for all the help. I'm liking the 564 more and more just from what I've heard.

 

[lbanks]

I would choose the Tascam over the Mkii also. There are a few gotcha's concerning the Sony multitracker.

 

[jjones1700]

I would choose the Tascam over the Mkii also. There are a few gotcha's concerning the Sony multitracker.

Sony seems to have some kick ass ideas in regards to hardware and audio/video formats, they just suck at making their ideas a reality. It seems all of their hardware has some sort of "gotcha", somewhere. For now, if I want to dump something on MD, I just run it from my 424mkII to my MDS-JE530 deck. It would be MUCH more convenient (did I mention portable?) to have the Tascam unit though.

I love the MD format just for it's convenience and the sound quality is not bad either. I still like the ol' analog though. A TSR-8 would be really nice vs my current RT-909.

 

[Sexy Heather]

As an owner of a Tascam 688, a Tascam 424 mkII, a Tascam 424 and a Tascam DP-O1FX/CD, I strongly recommend you get a Tascam 564. If you dig Portastudios, you will absolutely love the 564. And you can find them for not very much online. The 564 rocks!

 

[jjones1700]

As an owner of a Tascam 688, a Tascam 424 mkII, a Tascam 424 and a Tascam DP-O1FX/CD, I strongly recommend you get a Tascam 564. If you dig Portastudios, you will absolutely love the 564. And you can find them for not very much online. The 564 rocks!

A PS 564. A "digital" version of my 424mkII........hehe I'll be hunting one down in the next week or two. Thanks so much you two.

 

[lbanks]

Sony seems to have some kick ass ideas in regards to hardware and audio/video formats, they just suck at making their ideas a reality. It seems all of their hardware has some sort of "gotcha", somewhere.

It just makes you wish you could fly over to Japan and slap 'em... look at the mess they made of the PSP/PS3. They had a huge advantage over everyone, but blew it in the execution.

 

[A Reel Person]

...

The Tascam 564 will record 4 tracks on MDD140 data minidiscs only, but will also record/playback normal minidiscs in stereo, enabling you to use the kickass mixer section in your live-to-stereo minidisc recordings. Live-to-stereo md recordings on standard md's using an MD Portastudio would probably be considered budget format recordings, that has utility and it's place, occasionally.

 

[jjones1700]

It just makes you wish you could fly over to Japan and slap 'em... look at the mess they made of the PSP/PS3. They had a huge advantage over everyone, but blew it in the execution.

Yeah. How can a company blow such a HUGE lead it had with the PS2? I guess tradition was bound to bite 'em in the ass sooner or later.

 

[Sexy Heather]

I have tried using non-data MiniDiscs with my 564. The message I received was "Disc Error". They would neither play nor record. Perhaps it was the discs themselves. Otherwise, I have had no issues with my 564, it's a champ!

 

[A Reel Person]

Eh,...

I have tried using non-data MiniDiscs with my 564. The message I received was "Disc Error". They would neither play nor record. Perhaps it was the discs themselves. Otherwise, I have had no issues with my 564, it's a champ!

I should verify it, myself. (soon)

 

[lbanks]

Yeah. How can a company blow such a HUGE lead it had with the PS2? I guess tradition was bound to bite 'em in the ass sooner or later.

I wish I knew came up with the idea a Blu-ray DVD, included. I want a game machine to play GTA, not watch movies.

 

[jjones1700]

I wish I knew came up with the idea a Blu-ray DVD, included. I want a game machine to play GTA, not watch movies.

It's all about "multimedia" nowadays. I don't care about everything being in one package. I have a CD player for playing my CDs. I have a computer for viewing my digital photos and listening to my digital music files. I have a DVD player and VCR for watching movies. The funny thing is.............I'm perfectly fine with having different pieces of equipment that serve a specific purpose. Why would I want an "all in one" component where if something fails, I lose the capability of all of them? Kind of like the modern day cell phones................

 

[Agent47]

I use Hi-MD for outdoor/ambient sound recording, and for a short while used it as part of my mix chain as a master recorder (Cubase>Hi-MD>Sound Forge).

 

[bileshake]

I've used a MD8 forever replaced it in the jam room with a zoom H4 and a pro tools rig in the studio. Might be time to let it go.

 

[jacobmyers]

I have tried using non-data MiniDiscs with my 564. The message I received was "Disc Error". They would neither play nor record. Perhaps it was the discs themselves. Otherwise, I have had no issues with my 564, it's a champ!

The "normal" MD should play in the 564. I've used Sony, Fuji, TDK, and Maxell minidiscs with good results. The 564 manual says that it will NOT record onto a stereo disc (though I could swear that I did so with the one I used before this one). I've used it many times to "dump" location recordings from an MZ-R700 (portable recorder) to the computer. It's way better than using the headphone amp to "approximate" a line-level output and there's an EQ, too, which happens to compensate well for the mic that I usually work with.

The "disc error" bit seems to be pretty common, even when using MD-Data discs. The one I'm using now (I just bought it) will often give the error with a disc that played fine just minutes ago. It also stops playback randomly (which is a royal pain). Dirty laser? Probably. So I'm getting a service manual for it and I'm hoping that it will have a detailed description of the "factory" cleaning and setup process.

I'll post the result (with pictures) for anyone who's interested.

 

[A Reel Person]

Thanx for posting, & welcome to the board!

(Bored?) Nah! Minidisc still kicks ass!

Sorry it's been so long for my followup post!

I agree and confirm that the 564 will record and play back 'standard' stereo minidiscs, and thereby would make use of the 'live-to-stereo' nature of putting the 12x2 mixer audio signal down to stereo on a standard OTC stereo minidisc.

As a side note, the 564 manual says it will only playback standard stereo minidiscs, but will not record them! Maybe early production models wouldn't and later production model were changed to enable full record/playback on std minidiscs,... [but that point is speculation]. Maybe there's an error in the manual, or maybe Tascam tech writers were obfuscating the truth? Never mind the manual.

All I know is mine works fine in this respect.
(Used a std Memorex 80 min MD).

I'm still interested in recording on MiniDisc!
I still think MD's a great format!
The Tascam 564 still rocks!

 

[vampirefish]

I've used a Yamaha MD8 for some time... off and on. My only beef has been lack of a digital out.

 

[TinNedd]

I still have my Yamaha MD4, but I find listening fatigue is the problem whith it. It does not have optical out or USB transfer and getting hold of a few extra data disk seems to be hard. Mine will record and play normal disk's in stereo of course. I suppose you would not get much recording time whith an MD8

They were great when they came out, the next big step, but it did not last too long for something better to come along. Great for transferring those porta-studio cassette tapes or vis versa You can get a decent recording out of them and they do have their own particular sound.

Im sought of thinking about using mine again. At the same time there are few good portable multitrack machines coming out too. Ones that can record 4 or more channels at time if desired and have USB transfer for computer ................something like that




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[JuliánFernández]

I LOVE mi Sony MD for recording rehearsals!

 

[faderbug]

minidisc sounds like nothing else.