[Howie]

My gf likes to record in MDLP mode and I don't know if this will make any difference so I'll just mention this.

Anyways can anyone tell me how to make the best MD recording? Is recording using the portable MD unit itself to be avoided? I think having a dedicated MD recorder deck would be best but besides that would recording using the portable MD unit be any good? If so would it make a difference whether it's connected to a nice minisystem or a discman if it's capable?

 

[Azumandus]

Well you right to say that using a dedicated MD deck is the best. But I also gotten very good recording using my schools cd player deck. I think anything that has a real good line out would sound good. Also using digital out would record the cd perfectly since it's digital with digital. But am with a MD Deck would yield the best results.

 

[OneMalt]

If you really want the best possible recordings, avoid MDLP. Period.

Theoretically, given the same generation of ATRAC, a recording on a portable should sound as good as one from a deck. In reality, you generally find better components (transformers, DACs, etc.) on a deck that just might give said deck a slight but audible edge.

As with any recording medium, the better your source, the better your recording.

 

[Howie]

Okay. I understand that the better the source the better the recording and I'm thinking any decent deck/system/discman that sounds good would yield good recordings. But how is recording using the portable MD unit any good? I mean is it decent enough for most MD users to not try buying an MD deck or is it bad enough that buying an MD deck is a must have kind of thing?

 

[OneMalt]

I'm a moderator at the Minidisc T-Station "T-Boards" and a regular poster at Minidiscussion and alt.audio.minidisc and it's my experience that most minidisc fans do just that - record from their portables. I believe that there are far, far fewer of us that use both portables and decks. It's probably just a simple matter of economics.

 

[meithkiller]

Quote:

Originally posted by Howie Okay. I understand that the better the source the better the recording and I'm thinking any decent deck/system/discman that sounds good would yield good recordings. But how is recording using the portable MD unit any good? I mean is it decent enough for most MD users to not try buying an MD deck or is it bad enough that buying an MD deck is a must have kind of thing?

I've had MD portables for about a year and a half, and just finally got a combo MD/CD deck this month, mainly for convenience sake. I am very happy with the sound quality of recording digitally to a portable MD player, but it is a pain in the butt to do titling on a portable, and the new combo deck does high speed dubbing. So from a sound quality perspective, I am satisfied with portable copying, but not from a convenience perspective.

-Keith

 

[Howie]

I was looking into getting a minisystem for my gf that can play both cds and mds. But since sound quality is essentially the same I should save my money and get a good minisystem and use the MD portable as the recorder right?

Would getting a Denon UDM5 3cd minisystem be better or getting the top of the line Sony discman with optical out be better?

 

[meithkiller]

If the Denon (or other) minisystem has an optical output then you are all set, but if it doesn't, you might want to look at one of Sony's cheaper PCDP's with optical out, I've seen them for as little as $70, or you could get a used one on ebay for about the same.

-Keith

 

[Howie]

Getting a better sounding minisystem would theoretically allow me to make better recordings right? (even though what I'm hearing is probably due to differences in speakers)