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Thinking of buying a new MD...

Hey guys/gals,

I was thinking of buying a MD player but im not sure which one.

I don't have a lot of cash and i don't want anything special at all.

All the MD players now don't eat a lot of battery so that is not a big concern to me.

Now what i need is a MD player that i can record my mixes using the REC output from my mixer therefore it needs a line-in (3.5 mm) i think that's what it is.

Now the most important thing is transfering files from my comp to my MD i need fast transfer like using usb digitally(32x,30x, whatever as long as it's not analog), i hate that analog bs (it takes sooo long).

if i could transfer songs from MD to Computer it would be great(upload), or if you could recommend an MP3/CD player, i don't want anything heavy.

Thanks in Advance.

I think that getting an MP3 recorder would be a better choice. The quality is about the same and you can record basically forever on an MP3 recorder. You are limited to the length of an MD with an MD recorder though. (74 min?) With xmas right around the corner, you may want to ask for one... or at least money toward one!

md is a better choice i think. you have more functions on the md like editing. you also can record 4 cds on one md (mdlp). i have md and its great!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Dj Flesch
I think that getting an MP3 recorder would be a better choice. The quality is about the same and you can record basically forever on an MP3 recorder. You are limited to the length of an MD with an MD recorder though. (74 min?) With xmas right around the corner, you may want to ask for one... or at least money toward one!

Not true. You can record up to 5 hours of music on an MD. And if that's not enough go buy another MD for $2.00 and keep on recording. MD is a more versitile and useful format than mp3. Period. Anyone who has given MD a chance will agree. Sony makes two portable MD recorders that have all the feautres you mentioned. One just has more extras, like car kit and charging stand a stuff. youc an get the lower end one for $130 if you shop around. You can record at 30x speed from the net, fit 5 hours of music on one disc, and you can record directly from your mixer or CD player. Try that with your mp3 player. 1 AA battery lasts FOREVER. I use mine at least an hour a day at the gym, and I only replace my battery about every other month.

i sell mds at an audio store
you got two of the more popular models from sony (there is one newer one from sony, but harder to find)
the mzn505 and mzn707
505 is the base model
comes with:
1. free MD
2. USB cable
3. Software
4. basic headphones
usually retails for about 129-180

707 includes:
1. Rechargable batteries
2. Carry case
3. Car kit
4. Mic and has Mic input for digital voice recording
5. remote control (not wireless)
6. USB cable, free MD, and software to install
7. higher-end sony headphones
usually retails for about 199-270

And MDs are more versatile than MP3 players, less expensive in long run.
Keep in mind that although mp3 players will hold more music (about 20 hours per 64mb) than MDs, after filling up the RAM, you got to delete the music or upgrade RAM. But Ram isnt cheap... it will run for about 80-300 bucks, depending on the amount u get.
MD will go for about 2 bucks. Also, if memory fails or malfunctions, then u got a 90 piece that broke, as opposed to a 2 dollar disc. Keep that in mind.
One final thing...
the only way to record on the two models mentioned above, through you mixer, would be with an optical cable. Meaning that you would have to have an optical output on your mixer,,, if you dont, then you have to record on to your computer, then computer via usb to md. Unless you use an anolog to digital converter, but then your talking extra money (a lot easier to do it the longer way)

Peace,
Ricky

quote:

Originally posted by bachatu i sell mds at an audio store you got two of the more popular models from sony (there is one newer one from sony, but harder to find) the mzn505 and mzn707 505 is the base model comes with: 1. free MD 2. USB cable 3. Software 4. basic headphones usually retails for about 129-180 707 includes: 1. Rechargable batteries 2. Carry case 3. Car kit 4. Mic and has Mic input for digital voice recording 5. remote control (not wireless) 6. USB cable, free MD, and software to install 7. higher-end sony headphones usually retails for about 199-270 And MDs are more versatile than MP3 players, less expensive in long run. Keep in mind that although mp3 players will hold more music (about 20 hours per 64mb) than MDs, after filling up the RAM, you got to delete the music or upgrade RAM. But Ram isnt cheap... it will run for about 80-300 bucks, depending on the amount u get. MD will go for about 2 bucks. Also, if memory fails or malfunctions, then u got a 90 piece that broke, as opposed to a 2 dollar disc. Keep that in mind. One final thing... the only way to record on the two models mentioned above, through you mixer, would be with an optical cable. Meaning that you would have to have an optical output on your mixer,,, if you dont, then you have to record on to your computer, then computer via usb to md. Unless you use an anolog to digital converter, but then your talking extra money (a lot easier to do it the longer way) Peace, Ricky

Hey man maybe you can help me get one i like the extra stuff on the 707 like the craying bag and all the other stuff, and i know what you mean by recording using the the optical it's RCA - 3.5 mm jack that goes in line-in of MD, if you could get me a used one i still wouldn't care as long as it works fine and i get some kind of warrenty.

Let me know what happens..

So i have a question then, can you really just plus your mixer right into the back on the MD player? cause if so that might be a bettter way of etyting my mixes onto my computer and then CD's for friends. Plus just general listening to. Since I have aMac I'm having trouble finding a good soundcard to use with X. Also if I do it this way, then what's the quality of the recording?

quote:

Originally posted by Omad0n So i have a question then, can you really just plus your mixer right into the back on the MD player? cause if so that might be a bettter way of etyting my mixes onto my computer and then CD's for friends. Plus just general listening to. Since I have aMac I'm having trouble finding a good soundcard to use with X. Also if I do it this way, then what's the quality of the recording?

Na man,,, you can if your mixer has an optical output, not all mixers do, cause the MD players, the ones mentioned above only have optical input.
Regular rca will not go into optical, you would have to convert the RCA analog to digital using a box, but that is quite expensive
Usually high end mixers have optical output and input.
I think DJM600 pioneer has it, but im not sure if its only an input. I think certain Rane models have it. Usually studio equipment carries it. Some PC sound cards have optical output, some computer cd players, and almost stand alone cd burners (not computer burners) have it.


DJ Arsalan:
I dont have accessories.. im a sales rep at an audio store that carries the new ones, so i wouldnt be able to get any accessories.
i believe you can purchase a carry case from sony... check their site.

quote:

Originally posted by bachatu Na man,,, you can if your mixer has an optical output, not all mixers do, cause the MD players, the ones mentioned above only have optical input. Regular rca will not go into optical, you would have to convert the RCA analog to digital using a box, but that is quite expensive Usually high end mixers have optical output and input. I think DJM600 pioneer has it, but im not sure if its only an input. I think certain Rane models have it. Usually studio equipment carries it. Some PC sound cards have optical output, some computer cd players, and almost stand alone cd burners (not computer burners) have it.

NOT TRUE! Just last week I recorded about 3 hours on new vynil on MD by plugging my portable MD directly into my mixer using a 3.5 to RCA adapter cable that I got from Radio Shack years ago. Even though my MD input says "optical" on it, it still worked perfrectly. Mine is model preceeding th ecurrent 707.

I still have seen nothing posted that lists what MD has over MP3 records. The Archos jukebox is one of the better ones out there.

USB data transfer
frequency responce is 20-20,000Hz
MP3 encoding at 30-320 VBR (variable bit rate) or you can select 30-160 constant bit rate.

It has all of a discman's features with fast forward, display and search menus etc.

In addition to all of this, the cheaper 10GB version can hold over 55H of playback at 160kbps encoding. The 20GB can hold double that.

It can also double as a portable 10GB hard drive too. It has direct live recording features that you can plug directly into your mixer (with a separate RCA to 1/8" headphone jack).

10GB version lists for $220, and I'm sure you can find it much cheaper.

20GB version lists at $280, again, I'm sure you can find that for much cheaper too.

check out www.archos.com for more details.

So what does an MD recorder offer over this?

Lets See, Sony NetMD has:

USB Transfer at 32x speed
20-20,000Hz Freq. Resp.
Record any bitrate mp3's you want
play, fast forward and all that PLUS:
-split tracks
-join tracks
-add tracks
-delete A-B
-trim tracks
Record directly from CD, Mixer, PC, Mac, DVD, Live (with mic input)
5hrs of music on $2.00 disc (if you need more, go buy another disc)
media is infinately removeable and reuseable
Players are cheaper than a good mp3 player ($120-$150)
Not dependant on a PC

MD is more versitile as a Music recording and playback medium. There is no question about it. Your mp3 player cannot record from any source but a PC. You cannot edit tracks onthe fly, if you want to burn new music, you have to delete whats on there already.

quote:

Originally posted by club4life Lets See, Sony NetMD has: USB Transfer at 32x speed 20-20,000Hz Freq. Resp. Record any bitrate mp3's you want play, fast forward and all that PLUS: -split tracks -join tracks -add tracks -delete A-B -trim tracks Record directly from CD, Mixer, PC, Mac, DVD, Live (with mic input) 5hrs of music on $2.00 disc (if you need more, go buy another disc) media is infinately removeable and reuseable Players are cheaper than a good mp3 player ($120-$150) Not dependant on a PC MD is more versitile as a Music recording and playback medium. There is no question about it. Your mp3 player cannot record from any source but a PC. You cannot edit tracks onthe fly, if you want to burn new music, you have to delete whats on there already.

Okay, the MP3 recorder can transfer at the same speed, it has the same frequency responce, and it CAN record from any live source through ITS line in and does NOT require a PC to record music from.

So the only advantage is that you can edit tracks on the fly and price. Big whoop, I can record over an over again. The two MP3 players I was talking about have 10X-20x the capacity of the MD disks, and you don't have to buy or carry around those discs. It's all internal. You can't subject your HD to the physical damage that you can a disc. And even if the cheaper MP3 recorder does require a PC, most people have them anyway...at least everyone in this forum discussing this topic does. So then you can use your PC to edit your music. The software that is available for that purpose is MUCH better than anything you can do on an MD.

When purchasing a recorder, you basically have to think about what you want it to do and what you already have that can perform the funtions you want to do too. Sure price is a factor, but I just found a 10Gb for $149 and a 20GB for $225. The 10GB has 10 MD discs worth of capacity and if all you really want to do is use it for recording live sets, then you have 55h instead of broken up 5 hour segments. What if you are recording an entire party? You'd have to have segmented discs etc.

Anyway, I'm not saying that MP3 records rule and MDs suck, I'm saying that MP3s are just as good for most purposes and they can dual as a 10GB hard drive if you want to transfer data. That makes it just as versital if not more than an MD recorder.

quote:

Originally posted by Dj Flesch Okay, the MP3 recorder can transfer at the same speed, it has the same frequency responce, and it CAN record from any live source through ITS line in and does NOT require a PC to record music from. So the only advantage is that you can edit tracks on the fly and price. Big whoop, I can record over an over again. The two MP3 players I was talking about have 10X-20x the capacity of the MD disks, and you don't have to buy or carry around those discs. It's all internal. You can't subject your HD to the physical damage that you can a disc. And even if the cheaper MP3 recorder does require a PC, most people have them anyway...at least everyone in this forum discussing this topic does. So then you can use your PC to edit your music. The software that is available for that purpose is MUCH better than anything you can do on an MD. When purchasing a recorder, you basically have to think about what you want it to do and what you already have that can perform the funtions you want to do too. Sure price is a factor, but I just found a 10Gb for $149 and a 20GB for $225. The 10GB has 10 MD discs worth of capacity and if all you really want to do is use it for recording live sets, then you have 55h instead of broken up 5 hour segments. What if you are recording an entire party? You'd have to have segmented discs etc. Anyway, I'm not saying that MP3 records rule and MDs suck, I'm saying that MP3s are just as good for most purposes and they can dual as a 10GB hard drive if you want to transfer data. That makes it just as versital if not more than an MD recorder.

i think you just changed my mind about MD's

oh wanted to ask you is the Mp3 player really heavy

im use to old cd players which weigh a ton but with a hard drive inside is it that heavy ?

I have owned both, so i feel i should weigh in with my opinion. First i bought this:


I LOVED IT. it was great for recording music, it had an analog line in, so i could record right out of my mixer. It also had digital transfer, so i could put my music library on it. It had a huge screen for picking your music, that showed you the title, album, allowed playlists, etc. I got the smallest one, 6Gb, but still, that's tons of space. it was very flexible, lots of good options, even pitch control ffs! (albeit really shitty pitch control)

However, the software sucked, it was slow and clunky, and tried to take over my computer. The recording was good, but only recorded in .wav format, so you had to record to wav, download to computer, convert to mp3, and upload back to the player to get the full advertised 100 hours of advretised recording capability.

There were "updates" that needed to be done, which didn't always make it any better. For instance, one update took the recording, and split them into new files every 10 minutes. so then you download to computer, and it's a bunch of 10 minute mp3s! not cool for recording mixes.

I think that some of the newer "updates" may allow recording directly into mp3, but i am not sure.

the headphones of course, sucked ass, but they were able to drive my DJ cans quite well.

But, the ultimate reason i took it back, was size, and fragility. It would die if you shook it too much, just turn off, at which point you have to wait through a long bootup process. it was also too huge and clunky to carry around while dancing, snowboarding etc.

so, i took it back and bought this:


it doesn't have quite as many features, but i like it more. I CAN record directly from an analog source, the jack autodetects and will take optical or analog. pretty neat eh? i think all the sony MDs are like this, mine is bottom of the line and it does it.

the batteries last FOREVER, like weeks on a single AA.

the recording quality is good, not AS good as the mp3, but still good enough.

it's great having MDs, i have tons recorded with all my favorite sets, and it's so easy to just pop one in.

but the best part, it's SO portable, smaller than a pack of cigs!

my verdict? both are good, MD is better, unless you want to just sit around in one spot listening to mp3s

Hey johnSmith, i havc the same one in front of me right now, but it's not mine just borrowd from my friend to check recording and it seems fine but the only bad thing with that model is the slow transfer from PC to MD. And also whenever i want to put the mix on my comp, (play and connect to line-in in my PC) the volume is so low i don't know why, i used creative sound record, sound forge 5 i just dont know.

I don't want to add 6db gain everytime i record and playback on my comp...

if somethings is scrrewd up and i can fix it please let me know.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Arsalan Hey johnSmith, i havc the same one in front of me right now, but it's not mine just borrowd from my friend to check recording and it seems fine but the only bad thing with that model is the slow transfer from PC to MD. And also whenever i want to put the mix on my comp, (play and connect to line-in in my PC) the volume is so low i don't know why, i used creative sound record, sound forge 5 i just dont know. I don't want to add 6db gain everytime i record and playback on my comp... if somethings is scrrewd up and i can fix it please let me know.

MDs dont have line out... so im assuming u are using the headphone output to put through line in of your sound card... thats why its so low
The headphone out is not to be used as line out... you really cant put stuff on to your pc from you md... its really made to receive, not to send, cause they did not include a line out. Unless, you can put through an amp first, then to your sound card, but that is something else

quote:

Originally posted by club4life NOT TRUE! Just last week I recorded about 3 hours on new vynil on MD by plugging my portable MD directly into my mixer using a 3.5 to RCA adapter cable that I got from Radio Shack years ago. Even though my MD input says "optical" on it, it still worked perfrectly. Mine is model preceeding th ecurrent 707.

cool! my bad then.. hey thats even better .. i honestly did not know that the line in was both optical and normal for the MD. Usually, in electronic components (receivers, mixers), you have a specific input/output, either analog or optical (digital), and the MDs have listed "optical"...but thats real cool. I cant wait to buy one,.

And John Smith, that Sony MZ-R500 MD looks nice! that model we dont carry at the store.

well, the MD i have is the most BASIC sony you can get i think, and it still rocks.

as for line out, no it doesn't have one, but the headphone out works well. I put the headphone out into the line in of my soundcard, and it works great. yes, it is a little quiet, but i can just normalize it after using sound forge.

honestly, it's the perfect tool

quote:

Originally posted by JohnSmith

some fucking bitch just stole it. may they rot in hell.

OMFG! someone stole your md player? for real?

ok sorry i didn't read this whole thread, but i wanted to just talk about the MD cuz i've had it and love it for a while now. ok i have a sony mz-r909, this was a japanese model a year ago and i don't think they ever sold it here in the states, this was right before they came out w/ netMD and its USB connectivity... guess i lost out on that one.. so anyways the reason i got it was because back then, of the sony MD's, none of them had digital inputs but this 909 from japan did and so i bought it (about $275 but it retailed for $350). anyways i got screwed cuz i knew nothing about optical inputs at the time but my mixer doesn't have optical out.. however, my friend's djm600 does have optical out but i never bothered trying to see if it works, mainly cuz my soundcard doesn't have an optical input so it would be useless (remember, no USB at the time)..
anyways, the main point is that I record from my mixer's "rec out" RCA to my sony MD w/ one of those Y-cables (has a red/white RCA on one end and a 1/8" stereo jack on the other). From there i use a stereo 1/8" to 1/8" cable to go from my MD to the "line in" on the computer. yes i know it may not be digital, but hey, my recordings come out bad ass, and you probably couldn't tell the difference if it where recorded analog or digital unless u ran it through some programs and visually scoped out the signal.
however, it doesn't really matter cuz as long as u have USB, u should be fine because i think all the sony MD's have USB capability. just know that it doesn't matter if u can't record digitally through optical cables onto ur MD from ur mixer, just use the RCA to stereo Y-cable and it will still sound just as badass.

quote:

Originally posted by shao OMFG! someone stole your md player? for real?

yes, someone stole it, along with some sweet brand new sony headphones, a rechargable battery, and a kick ass 4 hour mixed set on MD by DJ Ganja

quote:

Originally posted by JohnSmith: some fucking bitch just stole it. may they rot in hell.

What a fucking ****. That sucks mate

quote:

Originally posted by Bachatu: MDs dont have line out... so im assuming u are using the headphone output to put through line in of your sound card... thats why its so low

I'm not certain that this applies to the 505 or the 707, but my MZR900 (a japanese model that wasn't released in the states) allows you to select the output level of the headphone jack; you can choose in a menu whether you want the output to be "line out" or "headphone". I would have thought, seeing as the 505 and the 707 are newer models (the mzr900, like the mzr909, was one of the last sony models not to feature NetMD - USB 32x recording), that you could choose line level output if you needed to.

Can't record to PC through USB

I have the Sony 505 and I love it. It does record from an analog cable also. I use the RCA to mini cable out of my mixer into it. The only downside is what the original question stated. There's no way to get it on your computer without rerecording it to your computer through the analog in of your soundcard. The USB only allows you to take stuff off of your computer and then put it back on. If it originally came from another source it does not work. It's like some deal Sony has w/ the record labels to prevent people from copying copyrighted stuff even though it completely misses. If anyone has found a way around this let me know because everytime I try to send one of my mixes up it says it cannot do it because it's a second generation recording.

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