MiniDisk question

Robert Poulton · April 2nd, 2003, 11:42 PM

Well. I take the headphones out to a RCA connection to the audio in on the DV bridge. Then I just press record in Premiere or whatever the program is. You also have to have a video source going but just not record it. So far it has worked great. My problem was it not coming in loud enough. It came in very clear and clean. I was having problems with my Lav mic until I figured out how to use it...lol.

It has worked great so far. I have used it on two voice over projects so far and they sound amazing.

Rob:D

Marco Leavitt · April 3rd, 2003, 12:00 AM

I had seen the DV bridge in ads. Is this a better method than just plugging into a sound card? What does the bridge do?

Robert Poulton · April 3rd, 2003, 01:58 PM

well It wouldnt be better but I was reciving some noise off of my sound card to my mini disc so I cant use it as an option (more of bad feedback). Otherwise I would. No real difference as far as voice over goes and I wouldnt think it would be to much of a problem otherwise.

Rob:D

Christian Van Horn · April 13th, 2003, 12:58 PM

Guys,
Sony doesnt make ANY portable minidiscs that allow digital exporting of material you recorded from a line or mike input. Period. They stopped that feature a couple of years ago. The only work around is a home Minidisc deck with optical or SPDIF outs. There are a few pro Minidisc portables that do, at about 5 times the cost of a 707. Check out the Creative Nomad Jukebox 3 as an alternative. It records WAVs at 44.1 with optical in or 48 with line ins. It allows full exporting of all files. Chris

Paul Tauger · April 13th, 2003, 01:48 PM

For what its worth, I just completed a project which used both music and ambient sound recorded on a Sharp MT-15 minidisk with a Sony ECM-MS907 stereo microphone (I've recently added a Vivanco EM216 stereo lapel mike to my arsenal, but haven't used it in the field yet). I transferred the audio to my computer by capturing through my sound card.

The results were excellent and, to my ear, listening over my editing bench monitoring speakers, sounded every bit as good as the audio captured directly by my VX2000. Though the purist in me prefers an all-digital transfer solution, analog capture is clearly more than adequte.

Marco Leavitt · April 14th, 2003, 10:42 AM

Does the Jukebox support Mac? It doesn't look like it does.

Robert Poulton · April 14th, 2003, 03:48 PM

No it doesn't. I would hope since sony started mini disc that they would at least get on the ball and make it useful. From what I can tell they won't do anything to create a program that can import the files through USB. What a shame look at what they could do if they did. I just wonder if there is another app out there that allows for us to use the USB to import these files?

Rob

Marco Leavitt · April 14th, 2003, 04:43 PM

The only way I can see to do this is to buy the cheapest minidisc deck off of E-bay that I can find that has digital outputs. Go from there to an M-Audio CO3 (http://www.minidisco.com/co3.html) which strips off the copyright protection and from there to an Edirol UA-1D USB connector (http://www.minidisco.com/ua-1d.html).
This seems like an awful lot of trouble and expense, not to mention having to worry about when Sony is going to introduce a new layer of copyright protection. Sony seems so determined to kill off this technology, it makes me hesitant to invest in any minidisc-only related gear. I'm kind of leaning towards loving the format for what it does well (my NZ10 sounds really good!), and putting up with the analog transfer until I can afford to move up to a different technology altogether, like DAT or harddisk. I'm also kind of looking at the ART DIO, which would serve a double function as an analog/digital converter to the minidisk (at least these units have optical in!), as well as ensuring a clean analog transfer to the computer. At some point, I think I would still be able to use it for whatever new technology comes along. It's 24 bit. I like the looks of the SoundDevices USBpre too, but I wish there was a way to power it without the USB. How am I suppose to make a field recording on another media besides a laptop?

Christian Van Horn · April 14th, 2003, 07:28 PM

I'm very sorry, but the NJ3 is currently PC only. It's a shame, as I love mine. The 20Gig version (smallest) records 48 Khz WAVs for 30 hours. Amazing. Just amazing. It's worth gettin' a $100.00 PC just to upload and burn the waves...

Jeff Donald · April 14th, 2003, 07:39 PM

Marco, did you see this post I made this morning?

Robert Poulton · April 14th, 2003, 08:56 PM

very cool. It is a shame that sony is destroying their own invention. Anyways PDA audio. Sounds like a very good thing. Soon you will be able to record everything on PDA.

Rob:D

Marco Leavitt · April 14th, 2003, 09:15 PM

Thanks for pointing out the link. I see Mac users get screwed again. Why doesn't that just figure?

Jeff Donald · April 14th, 2003, 09:27 PM

Quote:

I see Mac users get screwed again

Well, sort of. You can remove the CF card and copy the digital files to your HD. I do that with my digital still photos now, and it's not too much of a hassle. The Sharp Zaraus runs Linux and OS X has X11 so, it's only a matter of time until someone wrote a program that would do it directly. It might even be in the works.

Robert Poulton · April 15th, 2003, 04:40 PM

Mac users from what I know dont get screwed. It just seems that they dont know they can run windows OS on their computer. A guy where I work has every OS on his G3 laptop so he can troubleshoot anything that comes along. So its just looking into the proper options. I think it is to bad that most mac users don't know they can do that. Otherwise I would think that you would be happy that you have so many options open to you.

Rob:D

Marco Leavitt · April 15th, 2003, 05:39 PM

Well, I've heard that people have varying degrees of success with emulations. I've yet to hear of anyone who's been able to run Net MD successfully on a Mac, for instance. But, hey, if it works. I'm all for it.

April 13th, 2003, 12:58 PM	#19
Christian Van Horn New Boot Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Hopewell, NJ USA Posts: 12	How are you importing your recordings? Guys, Sony doesnt make ANY portable minidiscs that allow digital exporting of material you recorded from a line or mike input. Period. They stopped that feature a couple of years ago. The only work around is a home Minidisc deck with optical or SPDIF outs. There are a few pro Minidisc portables that do, at about 5 times the cost of a 707. Check out the Creative Nomad Jukebox 3 as an alternative. It records WAVs at 44.1 with optical in or 48 with line ins. It allows full exporting of all files. Chris __________________ Peripheral Visionary

April 14th, 2003, 07:28 PM	#24
Christian Van Horn New Boot Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Hopewell, NJ USA Posts: 12	The Nomad Jukebox 3... I'm very sorry, but the NJ3 is currently PC only. It's a shame, as I love mine. The 20Gig version (smallest) records 48 Khz WAVs for 30 hours. Amazing. Just amazing. It's worth gettin' a $100.00 PC just to upload and burn the waves... __________________ Peripheral Visionary

April 14th, 2003, 07:39 PM	#25
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	Marco, did you see this post I made this morning? __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

April 2nd, 2003, 11:42 PM	#16
Robert Poulton Major Player Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 245	Well. I take the headphones out to a RCA connection to the audio in on the DV bridge. Then I just press record in Premiere or whatever the program is. You also have to have a video source going but just not record it. So far it has worked great. My problem was it not coming in loud enough. It came in very clear and clean. I was having problems with my Lav mic until I figured out how to use it...lol. It has worked great so far. I have used it on two voice over projects so far and they sound amazing. Rob:D

April 3rd, 2003, 12:00 AM	#17
Marco Leavitt Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Albany, NY 12210 Posts: 2,652	I had seen the DV bridge in ads. Is this a better method than just plugging into a sound card? What does the bridge do?

April 3rd, 2003, 01:58 PM	#18
Robert Poulton Major Player Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 245	well It wouldnt be better but I was reciving some noise off of my sound card to my mini disc so I cant use it as an option (more of bad feedback). Otherwise I would. No real difference as far as voice over goes and I wouldnt think it would be to much of a problem otherwise. Rob:D

April 13th, 2003, 01:48 PM	#20
Paul Tauger Wrangler Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Los Angeles (recently from San Francisco) Posts: 954	For what its worth, I just completed a project which used both music and ambient sound recorded on a Sharp MT-15 minidisk with a Sony ECM-MS907 stereo microphone (I've recently added a Vivanco EM216 stereo lapel mike to my arsenal, but haven't used it in the field yet). I transferred the audio to my computer by capturing through my sound card. The results were excellent and, to my ear, listening over my editing bench monitoring speakers, sounded every bit as good as the audio captured directly by my VX2000. Though the purist in me prefers an all-digital transfer solution, analog capture is clearly more than adequte.

April 14th, 2003, 10:42 AM	#21
Marco Leavitt Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Albany, NY 12210 Posts: 2,652	Does the Jukebox support Mac? It doesn't look like it does.

April 14th, 2003, 03:48 PM	#22
Robert Poulton Major Player Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 245	No it doesn't. I would hope since sony started mini disc that they would at least get on the ball and make it useful. From what I can tell they won't do anything to create a program that can import the files through USB. What a shame look at what they could do if they did. I just wonder if there is another app out there that allows for us to use the USB to import these files? Rob

April 14th, 2003, 04:43 PM	#23
Marco Leavitt Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Albany, NY 12210 Posts: 2,652	The only way I can see to do this is to buy the cheapest minidisc deck off of E-bay that I can find that has digital outputs. Go from there to an M-Audio CO3 (http://www.minidisco.com/co3.html) which strips off the copyright protection and from there to an Edirol UA-1D USB connector (http://www.minidisco.com/ua-1d.html). This seems like an awful lot of trouble and expense, not to mention having to worry about when Sony is going to introduce a new layer of copyright protection. Sony seems so determined to kill off this technology, it makes me hesitant to invest in any minidisc-only related gear. I'm kind of leaning towards loving the format for what it does well (my NZ10 sounds really good!), and putting up with the analog transfer until I can afford to move up to a different technology altogether, like DAT or harddisk. I'm also kind of looking at the ART DIO, which would serve a double function as an analog/digital converter to the minidisk (at least these units have optical in!), as well as ensuring a clean analog transfer to the computer. At some point, I think I would still be able to use it for whatever new technology comes along. It's 24 bit. I like the looks of the SoundDevices USBpre too, but I wish there was a way to power it without the USB. How am I suppose to make a field recording on another media besides a laptop?

April 14th, 2003, 08:56 PM	#26
Robert Poulton Major Player Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 245	very cool. It is a shame that sony is destroying their own invention. Anyways PDA audio. Sounds like a very good thing. Soon you will be able to record everything on PDA. Rob:D

April 14th, 2003, 09:15 PM	#27
Marco Leavitt Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Albany, NY 12210 Posts: 2,652	Thanks for pointing out the link. I see Mac users get screwed again. Why doesn't that just figure?

April 15th, 2003, 04:40 PM	#29
Robert Poulton Major Player Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 245	Mac users from what I know dont get screwed. It just seems that they dont know they can run windows OS on their computer. A guy where I work has every OS on his G3 laptop so he can troubleshoot anything that comes along. So its just looking into the proper options. I think it is to bad that most mac users don't know they can do that. Otherwise I would think that you would be happy that you have so many options open to you. Rob:D

April 15th, 2003, 05:39 PM	#30
Marco Leavitt Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Albany, NY 12210 Posts: 2,652	Well, I've heard that people have varying degrees of success with emulations. I've yet to hear of anyone who's been able to run Net MD successfully on a Mac, for instance. But, hey, if it works. I'm all for it.