recommended MiniDisc for field recording and sampling

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Cratinus

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been checking out a few MiniDisc "walkman" type recorders to use for sampling various sounds around town (for use on some experimental projects). i just assumed i'd end up with a Sony. recently i saw a Sharp model which boasted of "24-bit" recording (compared to the "16-bit" of the Sony model i was looking at). HOWEVER, the Sony had a mini digital output but the Sharp model "only" had analog outs. i'm just wondering if the 24-bit Sharpe model might be the way to go (even if it WILL include an extra D/A A/D conversion to get to my sampler. OR,.perhaps the Sony's lower bit rate (AND digital output) will be fine. I HAVE NOT HEARD (nor will likely be able to hear) either unit. any personal experiences out there?? i DO apologize if this is a "worn out" thread. thanks in advance.
 
Cratinus,

You might wanna check the Sony once more for that digital output before you decide on which one to buy. As far as i know, the Sony MD walkmans have an optical input for digital handling, but output is only analog line (this goes for their 'flagship' MZ-R900) . Unless they've got something really new out that i missed.

Usually you record with the portable and then use an MD-deck to transfer recordings if you don't want to leave the digital domain.

The only drawback i've experienced when recording with the 16-bit Sony outside is that high frequency stuff (for example anything in the frequency neighborhood of a crash cymbal) doesn't come out perfectly crisp sometimes.
Haven't heard the Sharp player.

micmac
 
I didn't think that minidiscs were a specific bitrate. You oughtta read some of the literature on these suckers... I can't believe we don't have cancer or something... :D

At least, it's not the same type of bitrate. It's 32 bands of EQ that are "juggled" into a semblance of that bitrate, based on what Meshuggah, Sonusman and myself were discovering the other day (I'll let you figure out who was revealing the information, :D). It's very interesting, and VERY technical. More technical than interesting, but worth a browse. Might wanna try some of these sites to find out more (i'm just gonna chunk 'em up here...)

www.minidisc.com
www.minidisc.org
www.sony.somethingorrather/technical/specs.gph

ONE of those works, I seem to remember, but the best link for Cratinus would be www.soundprofessionals.com. Also, there's a link to a "problem" site in which people post their complaints and problems with specific models and such. I'll see if I can find the site, it can also be found somewhere in Dobro's two posts a couple months ago...
 
http://minidisc.ch/problems.asp

There ya go. Be sure and check that before you buy anything, although if that Sharp is new, there may not be any postings about it.

Wouldn't a higher bitrate shorten the recording time? I'm curious.
 
thanks for the links. i believe the Sharp unit i saw was the MD-SR60 which DOES boast of a 24-BIT "ATRAC" recording resolution. it think the Sony units were 16-BIT "ATRAC". given ATRAC's "bit shaping-trimming-truncating-manipulating-scrambling and reassembling" i don't know if the sound quality would be that much better,..but i guess that it might. i would "assume" that recording time would be less,..although i have yet to find any figures on this yet. i must confess (upon closer inspection) that i mistakenly confused the MD-SR60's optical input for an optical output. there is no digital out on this unit or any other MD recorder (portable) that i've seen so far. my bad there. at any rate,..thanks again for the links and advice. cheers.
 
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