New MD recorders! Hooray, ding ding ding, etc

Caj · Post by **Caj** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 11:09 am

Here's the story on Slashdot:

http://slashdot.org/articles/04/01/08/152248.shtml

It appears that the new recorders can also be used as external drives, meaning digital transfers from the MiniDisc to a PC.

OTOH, there's going to be enough copy-protection built in, that I'll want to wait and see. You never know if Sony is going to do something daffy like attach a "copy never" flag to music recorded from a line-in or mic-in.

Caj

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 11:11 am

Exactly, wait and see, but if this is true, i might be going for one of these things, say, next Christmas!

bradhurley · Post by **bradhurley** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 12:09 pm

Provided they even make units with a mic input! A lot of the MD recorders on the market now only have a USB input; you have to pay quite a bit more for one with a mic input.

Caj · Post by **Caj** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 1:42 pm

You also have to be a bit paranoid when reading their ad-copy. When I got my MD recorder, the box gave the false impression that one could download MP3s onto it. I mean, the packaging said it could hold "over 10 hours of MP3s" over a USB connection.

What this really meant was that I could play 10 hours of MP3s on a computer or some other device that really can play MP3s, connect the output to the recorder's line-in, and hit "record." This is about as dishonest as calling a tape recorder an "MP3 player."

We have similar problems when buying any gadget for recording tunes. I've seen MP3 players in the store which can only play, but are packaged as recorders too, because someone in marketing decided that downloading pre-recorded music can be considered "recording."

Caj

beowulf573 · Post by **beowulf573** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 2:20 pm

I would hold me breath regarding digital transfer to the PC. They also talk about new use of Digital Rights Managment (DRM).

I've not head of any change of heart from Sony.

However, I'd love to be proved wrong.

Eddie

brownja · Post by **brownja** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 2:34 pm

Caj wrote:You also have to be a bit paranoid when reading their ad-copy. When I got my MD recorder, the box gave the false impression that one could download MP3s onto it. I mean, the packaging said it could hold "over 10 hours of MP3s" over a USB connection.

What this really meant was that I could play 10 hours of MP3s on a computer or some other device that really can play MP3s, connect the output to the recorder's line-in, and hit "record." This is about as dishonest as calling a tape recorder an "MP3 player."

We have similar problems when buying any gadget for recording tunes. I've seen MP3 players in the store which can only play, but are packaged as recorders too, because someone in marketing decided that downloading pre-recorded music can be considered "recording."

Caj

What kind of MD recorder/player do you have. My sony most definitely DOES let you record MP3's to it.
Pretty fast too, I got all the Flute Geezer/Phlute Phest mp3's on to it in less than 10 minutes.

jb

Caj · Post by **Caj** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 10:54 pm

brownja wrote: What kind of MD recorder/player do you have. My sony most definitely DOES let you record MP3's to it.
Pretty fast too, I got all the Flute Geezer/Phlute Phest mp3's on to it in less than 10 minutes.

Are you sure?

It sounds like you're talking about a Sony NetMD, which lets you quickly record music files from your computer to the MD over a USB connection; but you're not actually transferring MP3s onto the disk. Rather, the music files are decompressed on your computer and then re-recorded in the MiniDisc's native ATRAC compression format.

Functionally, this is the same as playing your MP3 on the computer, hooking up an audio cable from line-out to line-in, and then hitting "record" on the MD. The only difference is that with a NetMD the process is easier and much faster.

My recorder is not a NetMD, but came with a PC-link gadget that basically gives my computer an optical line out jack. In either case I think it's misleading for the packaging to say that the recorder can have MP3s transferred to it. Unless actual MP3 files are stored on the actual disc, then no, it can't.

Caj

BoneQuint · Post by **BoneQuint** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 12:38 am

Caj wrote: ... the music files are decompressed on your computer and then re-recorded in the MiniDisc's native ATRAC compression format.

Functionally, this is the same as playing your MP3 on the computer, hooking up an audio cable from line-out to line-in, and then hitting "record" on the MD. The only difference is that with a NetMD the process is easier and much faster.

Even if it's not recording MP3s, it sounds like at least it's transferred digitally, so there's no signal degredation converting it to analog, then back to digital again. That's a significant plus.

Dionys · Post by **Dionys** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 12:00 pm

Remember, though, that a digital transfer/translation between two different compression formats (or even re-compression) can introduce quite a few artifacts.

Dionys

ToddC · Post by **ToddC** » Sun Jan 11, 2004 11:52 pm

For those interested in more information re. Mini Discs, I have found the following site very helpful (good FAQ's and product information):

MiniDisc.Org.

Cheers,

ToddC

eskin · Post by **eskin** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 12:34 am

Yes, the new units do have mic inputs. I saw the whole product line at the CES show and all but the lowest end unit have the standard Sony stereo mike input.

Zubivka · Post by **Zubivka** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 3:47 am

"I wish you'd stick to MD whistles--really."

Chiff and Fipple Forums

New MD recorders! Hooray, ding ding ding, etc

New MD recorders! Hooray, ding ding ding, etc

Mini Disc information.