what mic do i use with my minidisc player?

[aaguudis]

I have a minidisc player model MZ-N505. it does not have a mic input. There is a "Line-In (Optical)" input. I am wanting to record my upright bass practice sessions, and also be able to record other things, like a band playing in a bar.. Is there a mic that will work for me? Thank you

 

[muzeman]

I have a minidisc with the same setup.

Problem is,optical is digital,mics are not.

The only way you could get a mic to it is with some kind of recorder/preamp with an optical out,or a computer soundcard with a mic in & optical out.

Why don't you buy a cheap mic pre,a cheap dynamic mic,and use the analog inputs on the minidisc?
There's plenty of information on both around here.

Pete

 

[mjbee]

I have a minidisc player model MZ-N505. it does not have a mic input. There is a "Line-In (Optical)" input. I am wanting to record my upright bass practice sessions, and also be able to record other things, like a band playing in a bar.. Is there a mic that will work for me? Thank you

Despite the previous reply, the line in (optical) is indeed likely to be an electrical input. It's usually implemented as a 3.5mm stereo jack (for electrical) with an optical sensor down the "tip" end. So you get both connectors in one space.

You can't connect a mic to this either though, as the impedance and levels are wrong. Bummer.

You will at the very least need a (battery powered?) mic pre to feed line level signals to the minidisc.

This is why I made darn sure my MD recorder had a STEREO MIC input, to save the faffing about. OK, so the built in pre is not going to be brilliant, but for basic stereo recording, it's fine.

Mike.

 

[DCMaguire]

The line-in on the N505 is both a line and optical input.

I have the N707, which does have a separate mic input. I use a small stereo mic I picked up at Radio Shack for about $30. It comes with a battery powered pre, which I don't use with the 707. I bet it would work OK with the 505's line input.

The output of the pre is two separate plugs, one for each channel, so you might want to pick up an adapter to plug both into the 505's line in, or just use one side of the stereo.

This won't win any awards for sound quality, but it's great for practice or for using the MD as an audio notepad.

DCM