[stymie miasma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fr4c you mean 5GB HiMD 5MB would be......yeah

Oh yeah...ooops!!!

 

[Kirosia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Embio how many HD players have a line-in or mic?? love to see you guys with HD's at a gig recording with... I dont know... your laptops?

IHP has a line in/mic. Can't comment on the quality though.

 

[fr4c]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stymie miasma Oh yeah...ooops!!!

haha its alright. happens to the best of us.

 

[Embio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChickenScrtchBoy This is why the NJB3 is the ultimate player.

yeah my mate has one of those, they are HUGE

 

[ChickenScrtchBoy]

better then carrying around a shopping cart full of MD's

 

[Embio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChickenScrtchBoy better then carrying around a shopping cart full of MD's

yeah... 5, huge shopping cart

5x1gig=5gig

i only have 5 gig of Mp3! simple maths

 

[rab10]

First off I own a mp3 HDD Player and love it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Puddleglum I just don't get it, minidisc players seem to fail in most areas of performance when compared to a similarly and often cheaper mp3 player.

* MD, HiMD players are not subject to Hard Drive crashes and loss of memory.

* Recording with a MD with an equipped digital line in, or a mic input, is a breeze, no worry about mics picking up hard drive spinning sounds, or etc.

* Battery life is better on MD Recorder/Players.

* MD, HiMD players are smaller, more portable, shock proof.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Puddleglum bad headphone amp, no line out

False.

I still use my Sharp MD-MS702MK to record live performances, and lectures with great success.

But for the bulk of my audio listening nothing beats my iRiver H120 player for its simplistic plug n' play with Windows OS (it is detected as an external hard drive), easy drag and drop (I don't need any software to interface between my PC and MP3 HDD player), and excellent music playback with extra features.

I used an ipod (3rd Gen) and H120 for over 3 months together and I preferred the H120. And for recording puposes I still use my Sharp MD Recorder/Player over my H120 - because of the smaller size, and better recording capabilities that my Sharp MD offers over my H120.

I would like to see what the new generation of HDD Players and HiMD have to offer. But the Picture/Video/Audio HDD Players that are just being released I am not impressed with. I can currently play Videos, view pictures, and listen to audio with my Palm Zire 71 handheld, and it is way smaller and has a better battery life than most of the new HDD players coming out.

Thanks.

 

[BigFil]

In today's environment portable flash/HD players have most of the advantages except for one that has always been MD's shining spot, portable recording. The new technology will eventually pass it's recording capabilities but we must not forget that MD tech is over a decade old and in many ways can still hold it's own. I have owned a Minidisc player since about 96-97 when it was the best way to record live sets and in many ways still is.. It has served it's purpose but is definately in it's older and dying years when compared to the new portables. I find that I have a fond spot in the audio section of my heart towards MD even as it get's used less and less and the iPod/computer are used more and more.

 

[ChickenScrtchBoy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Embio yeah... 5, huge shopping cart 5x1gig=5gig i only have 5 gig of Mp3! simple maths

And when you don't?

 

[ixeo]

lets see.. comparing MD & HDD based players, i bought MD cause

+way longer battery life
+replacable battery -no need to do surgery to replace em
+line in/out -i use it for recording lectures
+not as likely to get damaged from knocks and drops
+small

now for playback.. personally i dont really listen to all the 1k+ songs i have.. maybe only bout 100 at most. and i listen to them according to mood..so basically i just record the mixes i want to different MD, and pop whichever MD i want in the player and go. so i don't see the need for a HDD based player. least for me.

it all comes down to what you want and which fits you better.

the main cons i can see is the ATRAC format. converting from MP3 -> ATRAC would be a loss of quality since MP3 itself is already a lossy format, and converting it to ATRAC will only further strip details from the songs.

 

[Oink1]

Stuff your iPods....

 

[tattoou2]

Personally I like MD: cheap, durable, reuseable media, the ability to record from CD, tape, MP3, microphone, great for recording live events, long battery life, new HiMDs offer as much capacity as I care about, imo pretty good sound quality for on the go, players/recorders are small, light, and have as many features as one would want.

I own an iPod (3G) and an iRiver H320 and find myself reaching for my Sony 900 HiMD more frequently. My wife also owns a Sony 600 HiMD and an iPod Mini. The Mini has sat on her desk since I gave her the Sony.

Like most everything, MD is an acquired taste and is not for everybody. I think we are very fortunate to live in these times when so many choices and alternatives are available to us.

 

[br--]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffS Actually it's only compressed ONCE, depending on where you're getting your music from. If you're recording directly to the the device (analog or optical) inputs, the device does the D/A conversion and compression. If you go via the computer, it's done in software and then sent over a usb cable. However, if you're taking a raw source like a CD, then there is only one round of compression involved. You would only end up with it being done more than once, if you were converting an already compressed file such as mp3, to a different compression scheme atrac3.

Yes, I know MD audio is only compressed once if it is lossless to begin with. My argument is that you cannot escape compression on MD. All of your audio has to be compressed whether you like it or not. Therefore it is a poor choice for audiophiles.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffS There is a higher bitrate available on MD, that it seems like people are not remembering. ATRAC 4.5 Type R - The last generation of the ATRAC codec, before going to ATRAC3. This is also known as SP compared to lp2, lp4, hi-lp, hi-sp. This is actually 292kbps and sounds GREAT (if you ask me). The only downside is that you can only encode your music to this in realtime on the unit itself (just like 2 years ago). But the soundquality is very much worht it.

I was referring to SP when I said "Even if you use their highest compression which is purportedly equivalent to 256kbps MP3". I have done blind tests and found SP to sound sibilant and have much more noticeable artifacts than MP3 and AAC. 256kbps AAC is way above SP for instance. The point is though, that as an MD user, your idea of the ultimate sound quality is SP (saying it's "very much worth" the sacrifice of encoding in REAL TIME). However, as a HD player user, my idea of ultimate sound quality is lossless. Your format limits you to compressed music.
I wonder what sounds better and is more convenient. Lossless encoding and taking maybe a minute to transfer over an album to a HD player. Or lossy encoding and transferring the album over in REAL TIME. I don't know how sane audiophiles can use MD. It just doesn't compute.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffS you would only need to carry around 63 discs

Rationalization. You just said you would ONLY need to carry around 63 discs. Do you not see how absurd this is? And how this pales in comparison to carrying around one HD player?

Quote:

Originally Posted by CSMR Are the internal DACs so good that lossless is a big deal?

Lossless is a huge deal. When I play lossless albums on my iPod there is an added sense of realism to the music, and I am not constantly picking out annoying artifacts. If the album you are listening to is well recorded, it's a much greater deal than if it is poorly recorded because of the enhanced liveliness you get from the music.

 

[Latexxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by br-- ge deal. When I play lossless albums on my iPod there is an added sense of realism to the music, and I am not constantly picking out annoying artifacts. If the album you are listening to is well recorded, it's a much greater deal than if it is poorly recorded because of the enhanced liveliness you get from the music.

Actually, Hi-MD thingies support pcm audio (~ 90 min per disc).

 

[Embio]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Embio
yeah... 5, huge shopping cart

5x1gig=5gig

i only have 5 gig of Mp3! simple maths

And when you don't?


I buy more MDs