by the way my buddy has this track from your sig on vinyl, Novy vs Eniac - Pumpin', awesome track!

in the streets it's gonna rock right.. :P

quote:

Originally posted by RavingLunatic OK.. so, I guess I will go look for an adapter, DC in 3v it says beside so any 3volt should do then? probably a lot more for the sony brand one. as for this copy, it just didn't work out, I think we are going to ditch the idea, erase the disks and start over.. Shockwav, you wanted questions here's a few: -is DJTJ right when he says that the copyright stuff applies only to the digital transfer? because I am using completely analogue here. -the various modes of compression, stereo, mono, LP4, LP2, is it worth using them? -ATRAC in general is this a good format to be using to record DJ sets out of mixers, vinyl through amplifiers with phono preamps out the headphones etc.? and to play back into a computer, record and burn to CD? because that is what I got it for. -Portability, mine seems to skip when i walk a bit, another thing I hoped to avoid moving to digital. do all MDs have this problem? I haven't had a chance to take it snowboarding yet, but I plan on it. that was another reason I bought it. -New MD players, they are supposed to support digital data transfer through USB(mine was advertised to, but doesn't), do you think i should take it back and get a better one? -and related to the previous question, is Sony really the best choice? I have skepticisim for them, being a music label, they are going to be putting anti copying stuff in my way. when using for non coyright infringing use, I don't want my audio quality changed, or invisibly watermarked in any way. do other companys make comparable or even better portable player/recorders than Sony?

shockwav? anybody?

quote:

Originally posted by RavingLunatic OK.. so, I guess I will go look for an adapter, DC in 3v it says beside so any 3volt should do then? probably a lot more for the sony brand one. as for this copy, it just didn't work out, I think we are going to ditch the idea, erase the disks and start over.. Shockwav, you wanted questions here's a few: -is DJTJ right when he says that the copyright stuff applies only to the digital transfer? because I am using completely analogue here. -the various modes of compression, stereo, mono, LP4, LP2, is it worth using them? -ATRAC in general is this a good format to be using to record DJ sets out of mixers, vinyl through amplifiers with phono preamps out the headphones etc.? and to play back into a computer, record and burn to CD? because that is what I got it for. -Portability, mine seems to skip when i walk a bit, another thing I hoped to avoid moving to digital. do all MDs have this problem? I haven't had a chance to take it snowboarding yet, but I plan on it. that was another reason I bought it. -New MD players, they are supposed to support digital data transfer through USB(mine was advertised to, but doesn't), do you think i should take it back and get a better one? -and related to the previous question, is Sony really the best choice? I have skepticisim for them, being a music label, they are going to be putting anti copying stuff in my way. when using for non coyright infringing use, I don't want my audio quality changed, or invisibly watermarked in any way. do other companys make comparable or even better portable player/recorders than Sony?

i'm currently on vacation, i'll be able to answer your questions better when i get back to the radio station

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ok bro, no problem

happy new year, have a good vacation.

I just wanted to add some things to take into consideration.

About the skipping: maybe defragmenting your hdd might help. Just a guess though since Total Recorder handles huge records quite nicely.

Atrac is a psychoacoustic lossy compression scheme (like mp3) so filtering is not a good idea. Especially noise reduction using a so called noise print since it samples the frequency spectrum from a piece of pure noise and then subtracts these frequencies form the rest of the recording. But due to the masking process of the Atrac format these frequencies may be more or less present in the recording than in reality which results in too much or to little subtraction.

I suppose crackle filters which reduce those pops can still be used though (although I know of no click-and-go freeware which has good results)

I think compression (the "make-it-loud" type) can be a good thing. From my experience the volume during the transitions is much louder than a single track (except if he is good at handling the EQs). You might want to limit the signal before normalizing.

Just my 2 €-cents (Hooray! New currency!)

In response of the questions by Ravinglunatic

1) SCMS copy protection
Yes DJTJ is right. The copy protection only applies for digital transfer. It was put there, because with digital transfer it's possible to make bit to bit (=perfect) copies. Big labels don't like you to do that, so they inserted that SCMS stuff. If you make a copy of a copy of a copy... in analog transfer, each time it will add noise and the signal will get worse, so after some time it will become useless.
Pro models (the one's in studio) have an option to deactivate that protection. And some portable MD's can be tweaked so you deactivate that too.

2) compression modes
SP (normal use) works at 292 kbps. For most people that's equivalent to CD quality. Nice.
Most of the time you won't use mono play. It's more used in radio features or any other place where a mic is used.
LP2 (long play x2) works at 292/2=146kbps. Most people won't notice the difference with SP, so it's still useable. Of course there's a difference, but it's still nice enough.
LP4 (long play x4) works at 292/4=73kbps. I'm sorry to say, but the sound isn't great here, so you'll most likely forget this one.

So it looks like you'll be using SP most, followed by LP2.

3) ATRAC is good enough for recording mixtapes. Imagine that most people still record on regular tapes, with lot's of background noise and hiss. It's definately better. But you can consider recording straight to the computer, that's one step less. If your comp is close, I'd record straight into it.

4) Got the MZ-R700 from Sony myself. Hasn't skipped on me yet. Most recent MD players have pretty efficient anti-shock nowadays. Snowboarding? I'd say it'll manage if you're an experienced snowboarder

5) Well personally I got mine without the PC transfer feature. Don't need it. But if you're a person that likes to put mp3's from his comp on the MD fast, it might be useful. If you don't have the pc transfer thingy, you'll have to record it realtime through the optical or line input (if your soundcard the corresponding outputs of course)

6) As far as I heard, Sharp and Sony would be the best. It is said that the newest ATRAC of Sharp is more advanced than the one of Sony. But only audiophiles will tell the difference. Of course those two brands are not the cheapest. I have the MZ-R700 from Sony, and I'm very happy about it. Definately a recommendation. And the SCMS copy protection is in most portable MD's, not only Sony's.


If you need info about anything concerning MD's, visit www.minidisc.org They have equipment reviews/comparisons, tweaks (defeat SCMS on some models and such)...

Hope this helped,
Dj Thy

thanks man!

pretty much what i figured...