Yamaha MD8 thread

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dvance101

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I would like to hear what some other musicians think about their MD8's. I have had mine for about 3 years and the only problem I have ever really had was a digital "hiccup" that showed up on the minidisk - We figured that it was due to a minor power surge and fixed the "blurb" by copying and moving tracks over the area of error.

Todays Tip: When recording vocals, I was hardly getting any signal even with Phanton power, so I reccomend a mic preamp (I bought a SM Pro Audio PR8 for next to nothing) - works great and solves the problem PLUS it's an 8 channel unit so you could "technically" use it in a live situation to mic various instruments ALL into just ONE input on your MD8 (maybe for a rehersal or quick demo/dummy track project).
 
Something New We're Trying..

I love my MD8, it has been a great recording tool for me, BUT unfortunatly I need more than 8 tracks so I have placed the order at AMS for a Roland VS2400CD - I had originally decided on the VS2000CD, but why not go for broke.......Anyway after some thoughts about what to do with my MD8, I came up with a cool idea that just might work, and could work for some of you guys whenever you decide it's time to upgrade.

I am going to be using the MD8 as a drum mixer, my studio drumkit only requires 6 mics and 2 overheads. I'll be "pre mixing" the drumkit on the MD8 and sending the mixed signal to the VS2400 (into just one or two tracks), where I can remix the overall tone. At the same time, I can back up the drum tracks on the MD8 by recording all 8 tracks at once. If I ever need them later, they're right there.

If you guys get a chance, go to my listed website and check out the songs I have (for FREE), all recorded on my MD8.
 
recording tactics

if u can get ur drummer to buy an electric kit, ours did for about £1500. the improvement we have in sound for him over 2 tracks now is far better than we had with five mics over the "real" kit by far. with the right settings on the kit and eq'ing you wont be able to tell its not a "real" kit at all
 
johnny j said:
if u can get ur drummer to buy an electric kit, ours did for about £1500. the improvement we have in sound for him over 2 tracks now is far better than we had with five mics over the "real" kit by far. with the right settings on the kit and eq'ing you wont be able to tell its not a "real" kit at all
Click to expand...


We have an electric kit in the studio (a Yamaha DTxpressIII) as well as the acoustic kit - we prefer the acoustic kit for actual recordings - more natural for the style of music we record (progressive rock/metal) - we love the electric kit for quick demos and one off jam sessions.
 
I'm thinking about upgrading TO an Md8 from my tascam 488. It seems to have some great features.
 
Did I post on this thread yet?

Well, I have a recently purchased MD8. I studied and price shopped for about a year, before plunking down for purchase. My deal was sweet. It was a full package deal for $600, which included the MD-8, 14 MDD discs, a regular MD, an MD Lens Cleaner, an Alesis Nanoverb and an Art FX-1. I figure my net cost of the MD-8 was $350, and all the accessories were "what the heck" additions,... especially the two effects units. The MDD disc MEDIA, count 14, was a HUGE hook into why this package deal made good sense to me,.. with MDD disc media going from $10-$15/ea., retail. :eek:

Anyway,... on & on,... I know recording equipment and porta-format units,... and I like the MD-8 very well, based on it's packaged features and verstatility,... not to mention fine SOUND QUALITY.

As I figure, the MD-8 took everything that was best about the Tascam 488mkII, and expanded on it a bit,... LIKE: full, discrete 8x8/8-simul recording, (something the 488mkII does not do),... AND, of course, all the non linear and copy/paste whizbang editing that digital and MD is famous for. Did I mention, excellent sound quality?? ;)

Okay,... you new guys may not know or appreciate,... but I have DOZENS of various Tascam recorders, mixers and Portastudios, as well as a handful of Fostex units,... and I deem the Yamaha MD-8 as a unique and valuable piece in recording technology history.

Honestly,... as I see it, and YMMV,... by concept and features alone,... the Yamaha MD-8 is completely unique and alone in it's class,... a merit only rivalled by the Tascam 388. (In all-in-one 8-trackers).

The Yamaha MD-8 is a completely worthy piece of equipment, that still holds up very well, on sound and features,... as compared to the massive teaming hordes of current 8-trackers.

As far as my not having a huge record of use of the MD-8,... of what little I've used it,... it's a fine and wonderful machine. Literally unrivalled and alone in it's own class.

Yamaha always had a knack of knocking out some very nice equipment, in most cases. Yamaha stuff is high on features and value. In recorders, Yamaha took lots of what Tascam laid the groundwork for, and in some cases improved on it. The MD-8 is an example of that.
 
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The disk loader is broken on mine - won't eject the disk. I'll have to call Yamaha and see how much it will cost to fix it. Otherwise it is perfect for my extremely amateur requirements!
 
I've had mine since they first came out in 1997-98? The MD4 was already out and I was warming up to the benifits of the format when I found one sole MD8 demo machine fresh out of the box.

I use it all the time, every weekend I demo my band practices onto standard stereo minidiscs with it.

The only short commings for me is the amount of 8track mode recording that can be done on a data disc. Since this offen makes for a project broken up onto three or four discs, it would be nice if there were a small hard disk inside to "cache" a song so that it can be moved to another disc. :D
 
I want to upgrade

I currently use the Yamaha MD8 machine. I have been very happy with it. The only issues I have now are the 8 tracks (need more) and the quality of sound I get when transfer to CD. It never sounds like it does on the MD8. I am thinking of spending $2000-$3000 for a machine. Your suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Loan Shark
 
:D Yo high interest rates Shark:

There are some great buys on digital stand-alones. The new Korg 16 or 32 tracker looks very nice.

But, if you wait until after the first of the year, you may see even lower prices on name gear.

I use the Yam 2816 and like the cool Javelin Car, I don't think they make that unit anymore. They replaced it with the AW16. But, Yam still does the 4416.

Depends on your needs. I also used the MD8, still have one in storage, for a while. It is a nice box but lacks that CD punch and sound quality.

So, Korg or Yam? It's up to you. There are other units to research too. But, hang on until January 2, 05.

Green Hornet :eek: ;) :rolleyes: :cool:
 
MD-8 won't eject - I had the problem too

stodge said:
The disk loader is broken on mine - won't eject the disk. I'll have to call Yamaha and see how much it will cost to fix it. Otherwise it is perfect for my extremely amateur requirements!
Click to expand...

Stodge, I know this is an old post but I had that problem (and I'm sure others on this forum have had the same thing happen) - if it's giving you a weird error code (can't remember the code) and won't eject, that happened to me a couple of times. Apparently, you shouldn't leave a disk in the MD-8 for a long period when it's not being used and that's when the error code shows up. I searched and found a solution which was to turn off the machine (unplug it too while you're at it) pry open the minidisc door carefully and once the disk is out, it should work normally again. Of course, do so at your own risk... good luck.
 
I have 2 MD8's that I rigged to record together using the footswitch and a splitter and I love them! This set-up has been great for working on projects w/ my friends. 16 tracks + a total of 8 extra inputs or 4 stereo effects, not to mention somewhat flexible routing possibilities using the cue. The only thing I don't like about it is the time it takes to bounce things to the PC (real time :( .) I am working on getting one of the old Sony MD drives that connect via SCSI as well as looking into the new Hi-MD players (that work as data storage too) to see if I can speed this up.
 
My hat's off to you, dude!

Eh,... why didn't I think of that?? :eek: Heh.

You are the man!!! ;)
 
which part?

didn't think of linking them, or using a drive?
 
Linking them.

I guess I'd thought of it, for moments in passing, but I'm surely glad to hear you've done it, for real.

I dunno if the Hi-MD will pull the data off the MD8's disc properly, but I think you should demo this, and report back later!

/DA
 
Loan Shark said:
I currently use the Yamaha MD8 machine. I have been very happy with it. The only issues I have now are the 8 tracks (need more) and the quality of sound I get when transfer to CD. It never sounds like it does on the MD8. I am thinking of spending $2000-$3000 for a machine. Your suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Loan Shark
Click to expand...


I went with the Akai DPS 24...very nice machine. sound quality is awesome.


Shark
 
upgrade? oh fhk!!!

Loan Shark said:
I currently use the Yamaha MD8 machine. I have been very happy with it. The only issues I have now are the 8 tracks (need more) and the quality of sound I get when transfer to CD. It never sounds like it does on the MD8. I am thinking of spending $2000-$3000 for a machine. Your suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Loan Shark
Click to expand...

i been doing the same for sooo long..upgrade...
looking anyway. no move yet. :)

love the MD8, but more tracks or digital output would be cool.
recently (over past year or so) added a SP B1, DMP3 and recent RNC.
damn it's the best I've heard in my headphones. the RNC addeed a real
punchy,warm sound...the DMP3andSPB1 last year was whooooa!!fhkngA!

i been round and round and circles....STANDALONE or PC??
oh fhk!!...it'll drive the old porta-heads crazy.

the tascam DP01 sounds to have finally made the Standalone
user-friendly, and don't doubt the quality.
only 8 tracks tho....and i got that. $500 all effects,
full multi-track download. fhkng USB....pc interface
(it don't get easier than USB) 16bit/44.1K...like the MD8.
looked at the Tascam 24/bit 16track is ~$1000
with CDburner "all in one".....but not sure if its user friendly.
been burnt on the Roland840...damn, couldnt deal with it.

PC...well they have every fhkng bell/whistle..gazillion tracks, mix/master..
burn....MP3....but you have to adjust the treble with a mouse!!!
c'mon..who am I kiddin....i'm a solosmuck home recording kind...
i want to play and arrange and press play/rec...and burn one for the car.

really need monitors bad...thats what my guts telling me.
Active Whaferdales...$275 pr...over by "Deepwater" homerec gang special.

i've no doubt i need monitors...yeaaaaa thats the ticket..GO MD8....
 
MD8 tracking

dvance101 said:
I would like to hear what some other musicians think about their MD8's. I have had mine for about 3 years and the only problem I have ever really had was a digital "hiccup" that showed up on the minidisk - We figured that it was due to a minor power surge and fixed the "blurb" by copying and moving tracks over the area of error.

Todays Tip: When recording vocals, I was hardly getting any signal even with Phanton power, so I reccomend a mic preamp (I bought a SM Pro Audio PR8 for next to nothing) - works great and solves the problem PLUS it's an 8 channel unit so you could "technically" use it in a live situation to mic various instruments ALL into just ONE input on your MD8 (maybe for a rehersal or quick demo/dummy track project).
Click to expand...

I was recording a "start-up band" today. Interesting in how easy
pressing play/rec was. Only had one microphone in a bedroom...
kinda punk music...i hadn't touched the thing in weeks.

so anyway, mic placement....amazing the difference it makes.
i'd read books in the old Mono-days, mic placement was an art form.
it was almost and "effect" moving to the wall to the corner to the floor.

enjoyable day recording, makes me wonder why MiniDisc didn't do
better...i'd prefer it in my car too, being smaller and a scratch case
over the cd?
 
I'm still a big fan of Minidisc, and the likes of the MD8.

The MD8 is a superior machine, compared to it's peers,... of which there are very few actual peers.

The Minidisc is "the little disc that could"... ;)
 
MD8 tracking

i just laid down the best tracking to date (for me).
this board has been nothing short of amazing, and only regret
not having the info before (maybe 10years earlier!!!!!).

Hi-Quality cheap stuff...from the gang here.
Studio Projects B1> DMP3 PREAMP> RNC COMP-new> MD8.

!!!Did all tracking thru MONITORS not the HEADPHONES!!KEY!!!

humbly amazed again....all these years back, headphone mixes...
then GARBAGE CAN ASS CRAP playbacks in the car and depression
to follow after all the hours recording.
sometimes it's the small sht that changes everything!!!

moving on-
reading intensely last week or so..... MASTERLINK is a buy item too.
credibilty on this forum is tops.IMO. so saving pennies.

Monitors and an FORMAT upgrade? is in the works...if no layoffs/downsizing
hits soon but that damn MD8 is soooo user friendly. just not SPDIF outs.
 
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