Just when you thought it was dead, there may be a new minidisc recorder coming out focused on recording live music.
http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=14640
I’ve had my hopes dashed too many times, but supposedly this one will let you upload the recorded files to your PC without DRM restrictions.
You can actually already do this with the current HiMD recorders as long as you’ve updated the SonicStage software to the latest version on Sony’s website.
Steve
Cool, I had heard that but hadn’t confirmed it.
I’m torn between my need for a quality, affordable, portable recorder and my love for the MD format and my disguest with Sony.
While I’m not all that hot on the exact technical specs, it seems to me an iRiver does all this, doesn’t cost much more, and doesn’t require minidiscs.
I had a minidisc recorder some years ago and put a lot of my stuff onto discs, until the thing broke while I was at the Warwick Folk Festival in 2004. I replaced it with a 40GB iHP-140 iRiver, and have never looked back. Recently I purchased a 250GB external hard drive for my PC, so everything on the iRiver is backed up on the hard drive in case of loss, theft or accident.
I think Sony have really lost their way with the iPOD and MP3 player generation, and I don’t know anyone who has a Sony machine. They tried to tie people to using their own special format, and as a result people stayed away in droves. Times were if you didn’t have a Sony Walkman, you were out of fashion, but now the iPOD rules.
The thing about HiMD minidisc recorders is that you can can select recording quality and (given the limitations of your mic and environment) get right up to full CD quality if you use the linear PCM setting. That still gives you about 90 minutes on a 1GB disc. You can get eight hours’ recording at very good quality indeed. The discs are infinitely editable and infinitely reusable. A single Duracell AA will do for 8 hours’ recording, or use the supplied rechargeable (not so long-lasting). You can quickly upload your CD collection to your PC and put it on minidisc. You can upload your own mic recordings quickly, convert to WAV files and burn to CD. You used to lose your original if you tried this more than once with a given recording but the latest software version (always check you have this) has eliminated this hassle. There are no copy protection hassles as long as you’re not trying to make serial digital copies (fair enough?). There’s some slight inconvenience, but for sound quality I believe HiMD beats mP3 players hands down. Recorders are a damn sight cheaper than iPods and the rest. If that’s important to you!
Steve
I guess it’s horses for courses.
I’m not recording in a sound studio, so it’s no real benefit to me to have CD quality recording, if it just means I get to hear the crowd noise, clinking of glasses etc. more clearly. I’ve never noticed any loss of sound quality on any recording I do, indeed I’m usully suprised how good it is considering the limitations of the situation.
OTOH, my 40GB iRiver holds a mountain of MP3s in a box the size of an old casette tape. It takes seconds to put files from the PC onto the iRiver, and they’re immediately playable.
I contacted Sony about this, as it would make a big difference for me. ere is Sony’s response:
It is not possible to convert OMG (ATRAC3 or ATRAC3plus) formatted music files to MP3, WAV, or WMA file format using the OpenMG Jukebox or SonicStage software.
I guess that just about kills it for me.
djm
Supposedly Sonicstage 3.4 supports transfering recorded tracks to the PC. But it’s this kinda of back and forth from Sony that just annoys the heck out of me. I guess it wouldn’t bother me so much if I didn’t love the MD format so much.
cite
http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=14137
I’ve looked at some of the current iRiver devices and it’s not obvious from the summary pages if they still support recording. They should push that more.
Oooh, I just had an idea, get a Ultra-Mobile](http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/umpc/default.mspx%22%3EUltra-Mobile) PC, find a decent mike and install Audacity and I’m good to go!
Maybe if I can sell a guitar I can buy one. 
Sony provide a WAV conversion tool which converts ATRAC files to WAV files so that you can edit in your usual PC program and burn to CD. I’ve done it. No hassle. And I’m computer-useless.
True - I had to click on specifiactions to find this:
" Intuitive five-button control panel (Play/Pause, Stop, Record and Mode Settings "
so it must still record. I’m guessing not that many people actually use it to record - for me it would have been useless without this.
The 300 series appears to be the replacement for the now defunct 100 series that several of us at C&F have (Azalin put me onto it).
The 300 adds the ability to display pictures, which I could use but can live without. It also got rid of the Billy big belly button which we all hate.
Aha, I just realized something, the 300 series doesn’t show up as a product on the iriver america site, although you can find info about it in the support area.
The H10 series seems to support recording only if you buy the cradle for it.
Edit to add…
On the other hand, the 1GB flash based iFP-799</a](http://www.iriveramerica.com/prod/ultra/700/ifp_799.aspx">iFP-799</a)> supports line-in/mic recording. This may be great for recording sessions tunes. For week-long workshops this means I’d have to bring a latop or other device to transfer the recordings to, but for the price you can’t go wrong.
More research required.
I love minidiscs myself but the phasing out of the format is a concearn. There was a similiar thread on another board recently and some folks mentioned getting a digital voice recorder such as the Olympus ws100. You can plug in an external mic and if it’s just for recording workshops and maybe yourself jamming they sound like they might be something to look into. The ws100 goes for about 75. at amazon right now but there’s another model, the ws320, for about twice that price, that can hold 10 times as much…277 hours on LP mode compared to only 27 on the ws100.
OMG! They gave their files an extension that’s an already overused
TLA?! They might as well call them “WTF files”…
What would you guys recommend for Mac users to make field recordings.
MarkB