OK, so I’ve held off getting a MiniDisk recorder and now there are these spiffy MP3 recorders like the Nomad Jukebox 3 with 20 megs of hard drive, but the Nomad seems to require a powered microphone which goes for some $200 or so from SoundProfessionals, but you can record a ton of music, as opposed to the MiniDisk that needs discs and loads very slowly onto your PC.
Sharp MiniDisks have good input level control, but I cant tell if the Nomad has input level control…anybody know?
Of course, price is everything, so if anyone has a Sharp they dont use anymore or even an MP3 recorder that they dont use and can give me a good deal for, lemme know, cause Im trying to figure out what kind of microphone to get too (if I get a minidisk player, I dont need a powered mic, but if I go MP3 I need the mic/amplifier rig which is a whole different bowl of guacamole).
Thanks. Hope everyone had a great St. Paddy’s Day!
I’m not inclined to get a mini-disc because of the “copy protection” built into it – you can not upload music directly to your computer. At best you can play the music out the headphone jack and record it through your sound card.
I also can’t see using the mini-disc for anything other than session recording. Something like the Jukebox I think I would use more regularly for listening to music ala my CD Walkman.
BTW, are you sure that you need a powered mic for the Jukebox – or rather, that you don’t need one for the mini-Disc?
Someone either from SoundProfessionals or Minidisco told me that MP3s like Jukebox dont have the internal “stuff” (I’ve forgotten the technical lingo) for an unpowered mic, but that MiniDisc recorders like most Sharps do. So forexample the standard Otterbox microphone arrangement (with no powered amplifier modification) is fine for MiniDisk, but for Jukeboxes its just easier to get the powered mic rig, forget the Otterbox (Jukebox doesnt fit well in it anyway) and use a standard cameracase to hold both. I guess the folks that made the Jukebox assumed most people using the line in would be using a powered source.
I have a Nomad and a Sharp minidisc recorder. I would get the minidisc for recording. Its smaller and designed specifically for recording. The Nomad will record if you get one of those amplified boxes from Sound Professionals, or so I hear. I experiemented some with recording on the Nomad with an amplified Radio Shack mic. It was kind of a cumbersome process. The best feature to the Nomad is the built in ability to slow down (to a maximum of half speed) any track you are trying to learn. I transfer the minidisc recordings through my sound card using a program called RIP Vinyl and then separate out tracks using the Amazing Slowdowner. Then I transfer the MP3s to my Nomad. The sound quality is pretty good. definitely good enough to learn the tune from. Hope that all helps.
I haven’t used a portable mp3 recorder, so I can’t give any opinions on them.
However, my Sony portable MD recorder works like a charm. It’s small enough to fit in the bag I take to the local session without adding a significant amount of weight and the recording quality is definitely good enough to learn tunes from.
Unless you put it too close to the accordian player.
I usually record in two hour mode, the quality is better than four hour mode, and keep a few spare blank disks around.
You’re right that the big negative is transfering the data to the PC, @#%$&^* digital rights managmenet. You’d think they could tag it if it was recorded from a mic and let you do what you will.
Right now I edit the disk and then transfer a track at a time, but I’m considering next time transfering the entire disk and editing the resulting wave file. Big hard drive.
I have a Sony MD recorder, and I must admit they are slick little devices, although I’d much rather have digital files that I can transfer directly to a PC.
Aside from copy protection, Minidiscs have some other issues: they are mechanical, and on some models you’ll pick up noise on the mic. Recording seems to take a lot of battery power, and if power is lost in the middle of a recording, you can lose all the data. Not quite ideal for recording a day of lessons far from a power outlet.
Presently, given the choices we have now, I’d just buy nothing. MP3 recorders look like they will take a little time to acquire all the features we want. Personally, I’d just want a recorder that saves to a small but large HD as raw PCM, no on-the-fly compression. I could compress in software later, with more control over options, and lord knows these drives are getting large enough to hold hours of raw CD-quality audio.
i just bought a jukebox 3 about 4 ours ago and bought an amp.mic with it. if the mic. quality isn’t that good, i can still plug in a better one at the amp. have a look at the mic at: http://www.digimania.be/en/prod_det.asp?ProductID=209 ,is that what you’re looking for? this mic costs only 35 euro’s incl.amp
Thanks for the info, everyone. As usual, it appears that there is no one clear winner here.
Hey DLambert, when you recorded using your Nomad, did the thing allow you to set/change/specify the recording levels the way the Sharp supposedly does?
I just received this incredible present from Tyghre, and HAVE to say I LOVE it…
We already have a minidisc recorder which has come in VERY handy for recording, but we have other issues about our burgeoning CD collection and the need to haul around a canvas bag of CDs in order to play what we want where we want it. “Where’s the Mary Bergin?” “I don’t know, maybe at work” “Well bring it home.” or “Did you bring the new Mahler?” “No, its back in CT” “What about ‘Riding with the King?’” “That’s in the other car.”
The Creative Nomad Jukebox makes it pathetically easy to copy music… LOTS and LOTS of music…to this one itty-bitty thing and play it for 14 hours before recharging its battery. When I say LOTS of music, I’m talking about 80+ CDs worth. I have over 24 CDs already copied in one day (it takes about 5 minutes each!), and have gone from 20 gig to 17 (about 5 of them are only partial tracks).
When you start the process by putting a CD in your PC’s drive, if you’re hooked up to the internet the software will try to find the album and track info. So far I haven’t had any CDs (except for homecuts) that couldn’t pull up info. You have the option to add album/track info to the internet and can of course change this info on the Nomad too.
As mentioned above, the Nomad has the ability to slow down music, so I can take it outside, away from my computer, take a whistle, and practice new music anywhere at any speed! There are other cool features, such as environment settings that make the music theoretically sound as if it had been recorded in an average living room (somewhat deadened sound) or bathroom (BRIGHT), or cathedral, theater, garage, …etc. It can be set to overcome ambient noise (car, train, airplane settings) or to equalize volume so there aren’t dramatic highs and lows (the instructions suggested this for late night listening).
Don’t ask me for price…it was a gift…but OMG it’s a major step up from toting around a CD player!
I just bought the creative nomad jukebox 3 and I was wondering if one of you could give me a couple of powered mic recommendations. And how powered does it need to be? will a 9 volt mic do fine or will I need to go for something more powered than that? thanks.
