[joelongwood]

I haven't been around Head-Fi much since I received appar11's red Sony MD player, MZ-E75. The thing is incredibly beautiful. Of course, I had to read all about it, so I started surfing the net and came upon Minidisc-T Forums. I think I'm hooked.
Anyway, I figured I should have a use for all the MD players/recorders I'm anticipating will be coming down the pipeline in the future, so I thought I would copy some of my vinyl records to MD, using a Sony home deck that I've had for a few years and haven't used much.
So I dug out my Thorens TD 125 MKII turntable, set it up, read the MD manual on analog recording, and away I went.
All I can say is.......WOW!
The ambience is retained, as is the smoothness and warmth of the vinyl. Crosby, Stills and Nash's first and second albums sound absolutely stunning. The vocals are a thing of beauty. There is some very slight surface noise (I was a fanatic about cleaning my records before every play), but this only adds to the charm. To minimize the surface noise, I'm using the Stax portable system because of its slight high end roll off. The source is the Sony MZ-R50 using the line-out.
So if I'm not around here too much in the next few weeks, you'll know where I'll be........I have over 1,000 albums.

 

[RickG]

Very cool, joelongwood. I've been into the Mini-Disc fever for years now (just ordered the Sony 10th anniversary version to add to my collection).

I've got a nice analog set-up, a huge vinyl collection, and a Sony MD deck, however, I've never done the "vinyl to MD" thang...

Your post has inspired me to experiment with this capability.

Thanks for the info and I'll certainly understand if you're "busy" for a while!

BTW, I've got a red Sony MZ-R900, and it's indeed beautiful...

 

[nanahachi]

enjoy your new toys, king of all headphones!

glad to hear your positive MD experience, they seem to get a bit of bashing around here. they arent the be-all, end-all of quality and fidelity, but theyre so damn small and convenient

have fun!

 

[gloco]

Cool beans Joe, i've copied quite a few LP's to my MD deck, the sound is quite good, the only bad part is having to split up the tracks.

I take it your enjoying the E75?

 

[joelongwood]

Quote:

Originally posted by gloco Cool beans Joe, i've copied quite a few LP's to my MD deck, the sound is quite good, the only bad part is having to split up the tracks. I take it your enjoying the E75?

Splitting the tracks is actually quite quick and easy......once I figured out how the hell to do it.
And, yes, I'm definitely enjoying the E-75. I'm using it with the D66 Eggos......great match.

 

[gloco]

Quote:

Originally posted by joelongwood Splitting the tracks is actually quite quick and easy......once I figured out how the hell to do it. And, yes, I'm definitely enjoying the E-75. I'm using it with the D66 Eggos......great match.

Cool man, lots of folks here think those D66's are made for MD units. The reason why i find splitting tracks up on my deck a hassle is because the fast forwarding for MD's is not precise (makes big jumps when i don't pause and FF), and it actually FF's a bit too fast for me (when i pause and FF), lol.

Say, what atrac version is that old MD deck of yours? I just copied some tracks from my Taxi Driver soundtrack and they sure do sound great...looks like you got me interested in copying LP's>MD again

 

[joelongwood]

The deck is a MDS-JE330, using atrac 4.5.
I'm already considering an upgrade.......the sickness continues......and expands into the world of MD.

 

[gloco]

Quote:

Originally posted by joelongwood The deck is a MDS-JE330, using atrac 4.5. I'm already considering an upgrade.......the sickness continues......and expands into the world of MD.

I see, mine is type R, i wonder how much of a difference there is, if any, its one of those 5 cd changer/MD combo decks.

 

[SBomm]

This kind of versatility is the greatest feature of minidisc. I've recorded vinyl, casettes, video games, portable radios, CD, MD, computer audio(mp3, streaming audio, etc.) and live F1 cars at the 2001 USGP. It all sounds as good as the source and it's very easy to take along!

 

[scrypt]

Is your luck with vinyl partly due to having a really nice cable? I once tried vinyl xfers with my Technics SL-1200 mk II on a MD and never tried it again. I've much better luck going through my Rotel phono stage, Lucid ADC, Mark of the Unicorn soundcard and into my G4, where I edit with Peak and do CD/MD/DVD transfers digitally from there. Yes, the process is more time-consuming. But it does sound good. I have CDs of IDM and Jungle 12" that sound really sweet.

 

[joelongwood]

Quote:

Is your luck with vinyl partly due to having a really nice cable?

Don't think the cable is anything special. I'm using a 1970's Thorens TT with stock cables and a Stanton 681EEE cartridge into a Yamaha CA2020 amp (1978) and then RS Gold cables into the MD deck. Just finished transferring Joe Cocker's second album, and stand amazed at the sound. Sounds good to me. Digital has a ways to go to catch up with vinyl, IMHO.

 

[jimbobuk]

Quote:

Digital has a ways to go to catch up with vinyl, IMHO.

I've only had brief experiences with vinyl, and those were with standard all in one cheapish hifi equipment in the 80s, 90s.. it was ok at the time...

The folks on HA talk about vinyl and its poor SNR.. some of those people are recording engineers that have made music on both CDs and vinyl... there are even some people that describe that nice "analogue, warm, vinyl" sound as coming from filters present in the cartridges and vinyl equipment...

I've had the bug for a long time of wanting to experience vinyl and see if it really is the ultimate in hifi... up until now i've been denied this by the pains of buying collections twice, looking after vinyl and more importantly having a player that requires access from the top.. I'll have to keep waiting..

I can see though how physically handling vinyl and playing them is a wonderful thing that really trumps the sterile actions required to play a CD...

All i was going to say is that its strange how u say digital has a long way to go yet you are listening to your "transfers" on a digital system... a lossy compressed one at that (albiet a good lossy scheme)

Semi-linked to this are the mass of people who claim that all the new digital audio formats (dvd audio, SACD) are unneccessary... ie.. that no one can blindly tell between a 96khz and 44.1khz.. there is talk that 24bit words are potentially beneficial but that the increase in frequency isn't... i've not got access to hardware that can play higher frequencies or bitrates than 48khz 16bit....

I know one thing.. i wish it was easier to ABX hardware, like it is to test software/codecs etc... blind testing is the only way to fairly see if there are differences between equipment... there was a link to an old sterophile article from the early 90s where standard mains cable was tested against $100 cables.. blindly... statistically no one could tell the difference accurately.. I've spent a fortune on cables in the past... that it could all just be placebo.. is almost sickening... although that placebo accompanying spending of money, and acquiring of this nice kit in itself can be a pleasure... I know i'm not mad keen on testing my recent fixup headphone amp against normal output of my jukebox3... i think it is nicer, stronger bass... but the volume is difficult to match anyways... now i have it, i will use it in all but the most portable of situations... when i make my next hifi purchase i'll have to try and be as critical as i can... i know at the end of the day i'll probably just spend more money than i should do...

 

[tanfenton]

Quote:

Originally posted by jimbobuk The folks on HA talk about vinyl and its poor SNR.. some of those people are recording engineers that have made music on both CDs and vinyl... there are even some people that describe that nice "analogue, warm, vinyl" sound as coming from filters present in the cartridges and vinyl equipment...

Filters intentionally placed to hoodwink the listener? I don't see any--no networks of any kind, no strange series of nip-and-tuck circuits. I could accuse the digital boys of doing the same, but I instead suggest that every piece of equipment interprets. There aren't as many variations on digital's theme as there are on vinyl's partly because half of it, the greatest half, never reaches the medium, therefore leaving less to interpretation.

Still, through the noise of past neglect, people return to the antiquated systems because they have soul. A crackle or pop lasts for a fraction of a second; that completeness, meanwhile, carries through an entire work whose notes sound for a comparative eternity.

NGF

 

[redshifter]

joe,
get yourself a used sony md deck. i picked up a sony jb930 deck with 96/24 adc and dac's and atrac type-r for $150 from a guy at work. you will hear a big quality jump in your analog recording on md using a good deck with atrac r.

i have many of my classic rock and stereolab lp's recorded to md on this deck and it truely does a great job with vinyl. atrac-r even seems to cut down on surface noise.

you've already got the d66 eggos so you're covered for good md headphones.

 

[zowie]

Quote:

Originally posted by joelongwood So I dug out my Thorens TD 125 MKII turntable, set it up, read the MD manual on analog recording, and away I went. All I can say is.......WOW!D

Great TT Joel! One of the best of the decade.

(I'd upgrade the cart)