John Flynn
Jan-22-2005, 10:10am
There was a thread some time ago asking about the new Sony Hi-MD recroders and none of the responders had any hands-on experience with the new format. Also, there seems to be interest in general on the board in devices for recording mando music. I just got one of the new Hi-MDs and I though I would follow up on that previous thread.
I have been a minidisc user for some time. I use it to record jams, lessons, practices and performances, as well as using it for portable music listening. My big disappointment was that it would not enable you to upload the music to a PC or covert the files. I initially got an iRiver H320 for Christmas, with the idea that it would be an upgrade, but returned it because I found it very user-unfriendly. I work in the computer industry and I am not technophobic, but I think you have to be a real techno person to get the most out of it. I then ordered the Sony MZ-NH1, the top of the line of the new Hi-MD recorders. I also got the ECM-MS907 single point stereo microphone.
I like the unit and I will keep it. Here are my pros and cons:
Pros:
> The unit is very small and lightweight.
> The "remote control" unit takes some getting used to, but once you learn it is pretty logical and easy to operate.
> The sound quality is so good, it's spooky. Night and day from my old mini-disc and cheap mike. I recorded a lesson with Curtis Buckhannon in his living room. During the recording, a door closed in his house. When I played it back, not only was his playing as close to studio quality as I can imagine from such a unit, but the door noise from his house was so real that I pulled off my headset because I thought a door had closed in my house! I have done a lot of field recording and I have never had that happen before.
> For pre-recorded music, the 1GB disks hold 8 CDs easily in the highest quality recording mode. They say they will hold about 45 CDs in the lower mode. I did a side by side comparison of the modes on some music that had fiddles and female voices, traditionally the hardest to record. I had to really listen intently with a good headset to hear the difference. I decided to use the high quality mode, but for general "portable music" use the lower mode would be fine.
> You can upload the ATRAC-format field recordings to the PC and Sony now has a downloadble piece of software that allows you to convert them to WAV files that can be burned onto CDs, converted to MP3's for posting on the web, etc. It is an unfortunate extra step, but it works very well.
> The MZ-NH1 has a feature that allows you to slow down a field recording without changing the pitch, like "slow down" software does. It works pretty well. I found the slowed-down quality to be not quite as good as with slow down software, but acceptable.
Cons:
> You can't use house current to power the unit when it is plugged into the PC. The power adpator and the USB use the same slot and there is no phantom power option.
> You have to use the charger stand to charge. The older units would let you plug the adaptor right into the MD unit. So when I travel, I will have to lug the stand around.
> The system takes some time to get set up, with software loading, figuring out what all the controls do, etc. It is not as user friendly as the old mini-disc, but then it does have more functionality.
> The Sony help desk people are not helpful. They take thier own sweet time just to tell you company-line stuff like, "uninstall the software and re-install" and then it turns out that wasn't the problem. After three days with the unit, I now know more about the system than these guys do.
> The unit does not come with a case. I bought the optional Sony case, which is not that great. I recommend going to a camera store and finding a good padded case that carries what you want to carry.
I have been a minidisc user for some time. I use it to record jams, lessons, practices and performances, as well as using it for portable music listening. My big disappointment was that it would not enable you to upload the music to a PC or covert the files. I initially got an iRiver H320 for Christmas, with the idea that it would be an upgrade, but returned it because I found it very user-unfriendly. I work in the computer industry and I am not technophobic, but I think you have to be a real techno person to get the most out of it. I then ordered the Sony MZ-NH1, the top of the line of the new Hi-MD recorders. I also got the ECM-MS907 single point stereo microphone.
I like the unit and I will keep it. Here are my pros and cons:
Pros:
> The unit is very small and lightweight.
> The "remote control" unit takes some getting used to, but once you learn it is pretty logical and easy to operate.
> The sound quality is so good, it's spooky. Night and day from my old mini-disc and cheap mike. I recorded a lesson with Curtis Buckhannon in his living room. During the recording, a door closed in his house. When I played it back, not only was his playing as close to studio quality as I can imagine from such a unit, but the door noise from his house was so real that I pulled off my headset because I thought a door had closed in my house! I have done a lot of field recording and I have never had that happen before.
> For pre-recorded music, the 1GB disks hold 8 CDs easily in the highest quality recording mode. They say they will hold about 45 CDs in the lower mode. I did a side by side comparison of the modes on some music that had fiddles and female voices, traditionally the hardest to record. I had to really listen intently with a good headset to hear the difference. I decided to use the high quality mode, but for general "portable music" use the lower mode would be fine.
> You can upload the ATRAC-format field recordings to the PC and Sony now has a downloadble piece of software that allows you to convert them to WAV files that can be burned onto CDs, converted to MP3's for posting on the web, etc. It is an unfortunate extra step, but it works very well.
> The MZ-NH1 has a feature that allows you to slow down a field recording without changing the pitch, like "slow down" software does. It works pretty well. I found the slowed-down quality to be not quite as good as with slow down software, but acceptable.
Cons:
> You can't use house current to power the unit when it is plugged into the PC. The power adpator and the USB use the same slot and there is no phantom power option.
> You have to use the charger stand to charge. The older units would let you plug the adaptor right into the MD unit. So when I travel, I will have to lug the stand around.
> The system takes some time to get set up, with software loading, figuring out what all the controls do, etc. It is not as user friendly as the old mini-disc, but then it does have more functionality.
> The Sony help desk people are not helpful. They take thier own sweet time just to tell you company-line stuff like, "uninstall the software and re-install" and then it turns out that wasn't the problem. After three days with the unit, I now know more about the system than these guys do.
> The unit does not come with a case. I bought the optional Sony case, which is not that great. I recommend going to a camera store and finding a good padded case that carries what you want to carry.