MD or not

[marmot]

I have a question if Minidisc is right for me or not. I will be travailing very much, and spending the majority of my time in foreign country’s. Sound quality is my first concern. Along with excellent durability and portability. I have already narrowed my CD Collection to my favorite 40 and burned them to disk. Should I take the next step and go Mini? Price is a concern as I just blow a bunch of cash on my Etymotic ER 4P cans. I would like to keep the cost around $200.

Thanks

malcolm

 

[ColaMan]

Good sites to help you decide along with this one.

www.minidisc.org
www.minidisct.com

www.ubid.com has the sony mz707 for $140. They had the S1 for $80 (which I missed) and the mz505 for $85.

 

[2 channel]

I also travel alot and had the same concerns as you. After taking the plunge into MD, I would say NOT! While MD looks cool and small and everything, it is much easier to cary 50 cds around with you in a nice slim case than it is to carry the same amount of music on MD. MDs are kind of awkward. They do make carying cases for MDs but still, AWKWARD! Your money would be much better spent on a quality CD player and nice bag to carry it in, or maybe a portable amp.

just $.02 from 2

 

[linnem]

I would say MD.

I just went from CD to MD, and yes, it is a hassel to find a good small case, but it is possible.

And the MD sound is so much sweeter then Portable cd players (and much smaller & more durable). I left the MD world for almost 4 years, but came back...missed it too much.

Try bringing 25 discs and a decent AM/FM pocket radio instead. That keeps me happy : )

 

[marmot]

I have an ancient Panasonic pcdp somewhere. Now only if I can find it. Yeah I think that is why I am drawn to the MD, for the coolness factor, I am just trying to convince my self that it would be convenient to.

 

[ColaMan]

There are a lot of pluses and minuses, especially with the new sony netmd models (if you're looking at them).

For the netmd models, the included software does a decent job in transferring cds to mds and converting mp3s, however, the mp3 transfer is somewhat riddled with their digital rights stuff. There are ways to make the process smoother.

Battery life is good. About 48 hours for a single AA battery and LP2 recording, I believe. However, this comes as a compromise to the sound output. So far so good for me though.

A CD player is bulky. I can't put it in my pocket while riding the train.

 

[Mystyler]

I can't fit a CD in my pocket. I can fit a 5 pack of MDs in there though.
Besides, MD sounds better than portable CDs (new ones anyway) and is just some much more...durable.

 

[dudlew]

It depends. If you are worried about damaged discs, MD.
If not, then it is up to you.

I love MD and had no problems with it at all. When travelling with portable gear I always walk with a back pack, so them being bulky does not really bother me much. I like the fact also that when travelling I can record.

All things considered, sound quality straight from a portable? Minidisc.

If sound is your main concern.

D

 

[pedxing]

MD is the only way to go if you want something portable and convenient, but don't want the music to significantly degrade like MP3's.

 

[redshifter]

i took my mzr70 md unit to italy with me last summer. i have no doubt my d777 pcdp would not have made it. it is hard to beat the sound quality of good md units without an amp as well.

 

[mtillman]

Quote:

Originally posted by pedxing but don't want the music to significantly degrade like MP3's.

I suggest you see the Golen Ear thread.

MD certainly looks cool, but it's limited to 80mins/disc (don't mention longer playing times if you're going to complain about compression). And I don't believe the headphone out argument. I actually measured the frequency response of my SlimX - it was totally flat from 20Hz to 20KHz.

mp3 CD players are the way to go for now. As soon as the manufactures get their arses into gear, it'll be 8cm DVDs, but that really is some way away.

The netMD is a bad joke. Some MDs take LONGER to transfer audio that way rather than via optical real time recording. Let's not mention LP modes, eh, as ultra-compression is a no-no. Then there's all that utterly outrageous copy protection nonsense. I'm not touching it with a bargepole.

MD may fit into a shirt pocket, but what about all the disks? PCDPs may not fit in a shirt pocket, but it fits in my jacket pocket just fine - and one mp3 CD is the equivalent of about 7 mini discs...

 

[ColaMan]

It's hard to argue against mp3/cd players in terms of storage. You can store over a 100 songs on a cd.

 

[Duncan]

I'm sat on the fence on this one...

If you're back-packing etc... MDs will be harder to scratch / damage than CDs, and the sound is pretty good whilst on SP mode... but there is something about the old classic PCDPs (I haven't heard an MP3 CD player) that is captivating..

D777 vs N707... I'd be hard pushed to make a definitive choice

 

[averydonovan]

I have had my Sony MZ-S1 sports model MD recorder and have been extremely happy with it. I use LP2 recording mode since it offers the best quality/size compromise. NetMD is limited but it doesn't suck as bad as many people say. OpenMG Jukebox is pretty crappy, but I use RealOne and it works fine. For copying CDs NetMD SimpleBurner works wonderful. It copies a full CD in roughly 20 minutes or less on my ancient Celeron 500 "powered" computer in LP2 mode. I like being able to literally throw the discs in my backpack and not have to worry about damaging. The battery life is outstanding. I use my player for about 3 hours a day 5 days a week and get about 3 weeks of use out of a single AA battery. The sound, even in LP2 mode, is very good.

 

[myself, aka me]

Great... lots of music on a CD. Who cares? Need a computer to get any music on it. I merely need a 3.5mm line cable