Minidisc Questions

[Devhux]

While searching for a basic MP3 player, I ended up finding a reasonably priced Minidisc player that I'm tempted to buy (Sony MZ-N505S). I do have a few questions though that I figured a few of you could help me with:

1) Do any manufacturers other than Sony make "NetMD" units (those that can download songs from a PC faster than real-time)?

2) What's the sound quality like?

3) On a similar note, how much worse is the quality when going from regular mode to one of the long-play modes? (LP2, LP4, etc.)

4) Does anyone have experience with the MZ-N505S, or could recommend a comparable unit?

[hang10wannabe]

well, sho.gun has a minidisc player and from what ive heard and seen is that their (1) built to last and (2) have decent sound quality, but remember, their media is not wide spread, so think before buying. but none-the-less, their pretty spiffy.

im still saving for my mp3 sony portable cd player :D

[kimchicowboy]

i have an MD player (jvc from 2 years ago) and i love it. solid, metal construction. it fell from a table waist high onto a hard surface and it still plays perfectly.

1) i think the NetMD might be a proprietary thing. haven't seen any others with it. my roomie got a top of the line sharp last year and it didn't have it.

2)sound quality is great. if you want straight digital, use the optical in. but that's real-time.

3)i don't think you can hear much of a difference between LP2, etc. likewise, my roomie's panasonic does LP4 and he's playing songs into his speakers all the time and it sounds fine to me.

4) no experience with that model sony, just the earlier ones. from what i researched before, sharp makes really good ones too.

on a side note, i'd much prefer an MD player over a CD MP3 player. definitely a lot smaller and doesn't skip. discs aren't that expensive and you can record over and over again. hope this helps.

[chrissy]

Originally posted by hang10wannabe
their media is not wide spread, so think before buying.

We carry 5 pks at walmart. You should find them near the 8mm tapes, VHS-C and cassettes.

*sigh

but on the topic, I want one too and was interested in info :) glad you asked!

[Cheesypuff]

people say that the LP2 and LP4 makes a difference when you record other than stereo...but for me...personally...I can't tell the difference.

[hapoo]

Originally posted by kimchicowboy

on a side note, i'd much prefer an MD player over a CD MP3 player. definitely a lot smaller and doesn't skip. discs aren't that expensive and you can record over and over again. hope this helps.


size is the only benifit IMO.
1. mp3 cd players that i've used rarely skip
2. discs are just cdr/rw's, can't get more widespread and cheap than that!
3. you can fit 700 megs of mp3's on one disc
4. you can play your old cd's

[Devhux]

Thanks for the input.

I can easily find MD media here, so that isn't a problem.

I'm tempted to buy this player anyway and simply return it if I'm not satisfied..... we'll see what happens.

Thanks for the input regarding LP2 & LP4. It sounds like the differences would be say, MP3 @ 128kbps, and WMA at 64/92kbps sampling rates (some ppl can tell the difference, some can't... either way, quality is still "acceptable")

Finally, am I correct in assuming that once you write to a Minidisc, you have to delete the entire disc before recording to it again?

[hapoo]

i believe you can erase/record one song at a time.

[kimchicowboy]

yeah. you can do one at a time.

i bought a 20pk of discs from amazon for pretty cheap just to let you know.

also, maybe you should look into getting an MD player with a rechargeable battery and a remote. so you can just stick the sucker in your backpack or wherever.

[ribitch]

spend a little more and get an ipod.

it wont skip, 32MB RAM provides 20 minutes of skipfree playback
you can store 5GB or more on it
its small
its fairly lightweight
you can use it as a harddrive
and its cool

[hang10wannabe]

Originally posted by ribitch
spend a little more and get an ipod.

it wont skip, 32MB RAM provides 20 minutes of skipfree playback
you can store 5GB or more on it
its small
its fairly lightweight
you can use it as a harddrive
and its cool

but.. but ... but ... its 300 dollars :(

[Devhux]

Originally posted by hang10wannabe


but.. but ... but ... its 300 dollars :(

Exactly -- I don't have $500 Canadian to spend right now on a player, which is why I was considering the MD player.

I do welcome to idea of upgrading to the player with the remote though.

[ribitch]

a decent mindisc player will cost you waht, 250 or so after shipping and discs? wait a week or so and get a dell code for a decent deal on the iPod and you will be sitting about the same. Maybe a few dollars more, but not much more

[GraingerGuy]

Nope....it's not going to be that expensive.

Cheesy is getting a NetMD player for around 150 I think....

[Devhux]

Originally posted by GraingerGuy
Nope....it's not going to be that expensive.

Cheesy is getting a NetMD player for around 150 I think....

That would probably be the one I'm looking at too (the MZ-N505S) -- I can get it for $229 Canadian. Add a 5 pack of discs for $20, and I'm still looking at under $300 Cdn (nearly half the price of an iPod).

[yippiekiyeh]

Do yourself a favor, since it's 1/2 the price of an iPOD, save up the other half and then get the iPod.

[RHMMMM]

I own the Sony Sports NetMD MZ-S1 and love it. Sony construction and quality is high and I particularly love the fact that I can throw it around and drop it in the ocean and it still works fine. The NetMD system is alright if you're willing to put up with the proprietary Sony software. Basically NetMD recorders are just normal MD recorders capable of LP2/4 with a USB interface. The Sony software converts your MP3's, CD's, whatever to ATRAC3 compression and sends it to the recorder. I've owned a few MD recorders and loved them all, they're fun gadgets

1) No others make NetMD
2/3) I recommend LP2, the difference between stereo is not that much but LP4 blows and sounds like a 64kbps MP3.
4) I like my Sports version

[sho.gun]

ok I'll speak...

I've owned the sony mz-n707 for a couple of months now and I would definitely recommend it. The netMD feature is great and allows fast song transfers, you can tell the lower quality sound in LP4 mode but it doesn't bug me that much. Battery life is awesome, my 707 runs for a frickin' long time on one rechargable AA battery. The 707 also comes with a charging stand so that's kinda cool. One thing I don't like is that with the sony software, you have to do the whole check in/out of songs. Songs that did not come from your computer cannot be checked in your computer. Other than that I'm really pleased with it, I got it for about $170 or so...

[Devhux]

The Sony software is worrying me now -- is there another way I can transfer songs into the player?

Also, I noticed the one I'm looking at has an optical jack only -- which I'm assuming means that I can only record digitally...... but then again, I have to find an optical cable first.

[speedracer120]

Don't worry about the optical cable. If push comes to shove, order the cheapest shortest one at minidisco.com.

[Cheesypuff]

Originally posted by GuruX


That would probably be the one I'm looking at too (the MZ-N505S) -- I can get it for $229 Canadian. Add a 5 pack of discs for $20, and I'm still looking at under $300 Cdn (nearly half the price of an iPod).

Yeah true that...I think I'm gonna get the mz-n707 for 150 bucks. OH YEAH BABY! OR....I might wait, till I go to Hong Kong for Christmas, and get the MZ-N1 for $220 US!! HA HA HA...I'm unstopable

[Devhux]

Forget my earlier comment about the lack of analog recording -- turns out the input on the 505 is dual-mode (it senses whether you have an optical or analog cable connected).

Only thing missing is a mic input, but since I wouldn't really be recording lectures & such, it should be just fine for me.

I'm picking up the player on Friday, and will toss my opinions in this thread shortly thereafter (probably by the end of the weekend).

[kimchicowboy]

why are you only looking into getting a sony MD?

[Devhux]

Originally posted by kimchicowboy
why are you only looking into getting a sony MD?

To my knowledge, Sony is the only manufacturer making the NetMD recorders, which allow you to transfer songs from your PC faster than real-time. I don't want to be waiting 80 minutes to fill up an MD.

[DaFunkyUnit]

i own the MZ-R500. It came with a USB adapter that lets you record using your USB port as the sound port. Thats about it. The MD player is pretty cool and all, compact and what not, but sometimes it just randomly skips for no apparent reason. Also, mine doesnt have the NetMD thing, so recording is kind of a hassle. Oh, when recording from the computer, you gotta make sure that all other progs that have sound such as AIM are turned off or else you'll here the "ker-bling" sound of IM in your recordings. Thats REALLY annoying!

The cool thing about it is that it only takes one AA battery. :D Recording in LP2 and LP4, well, LP2 theres is pretty much no difference, but going LP4, its kinda like going from 128 kbps to 112 kbps encoding for your mp3s. So its still pretty good quality, i think.

Personally, I would take an Apple iPod over the MD (I have a fireWire port doing nothing on my comp).

[kimchicowboy]

Originally posted by GuruX


To my knowledge, Sony is the only manufacturer making the NetMD recorders, which allow you to transfer songs from your PC faster than real-time. I don't want to be waiting 80 minutes to fill up an MD.
well, my preference is to go digital and use the optical cable to record songs. use different MDs for different compilations. *shrug* i hope you enjoy it though. :)

[mcs328]

Originally posted by GuruX
The Sony software is worrying me now -- is there another way I can transfer songs into the player?

Also, I noticed the one I'm looking at has an optical jack only -- which I'm assuming means that I can only record digitally...... but then again, I have to find an optical cable first.

Yes there is. You can use the software that comes with it but I think www.minidisc.org has an article on alternative software so you don't have to do that check in/ check out.

[sho.gun]

Originally posted by mcs328


Yes there is. You can use the software that comes with it but I think www.minidisc.org has an article on alternative software so you don't have to do that check in/ check out.

Hey, do you have a direct link to it? I can't find anythinga bout alternative software and I hate the Sony jukebox thing :(

[mcs328]

http://www.minidisc.org/NetMD_faq.html#_q81

Here's the link to where I read the alternative/workaround the check-in check out feature. It's called Simple Burner. After reading it though and doing a quick google search it seems the link to download has been removed becuase of some legal eagles.

I guess if you search hard enough *cough* Kazaa *cough* you can find it somehwere.

[Devhux]

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

I eventually settled on the MZ-S1 (Sports model). After playing with it all weekend, I've made the following observations:

1) Depending on the song, I can notice a difference between LP2 & LP4 (I'll probably stick with LP2 for most of my music).

2) The bass boost feature disables itself at higher volume to prevent distortion -- although sometimes it seems to kick in too soon (i.e. when the volume is "too" low).

3) I haven't tried the OpenMG software yet, but doing the Nero + Simpli CD trick works well. Simpli CD is on the same disc with OpenMG Jukebox, so that wasn't a problem. The only drawback is that it doesn't read CD Text info. Considering I'm making compilation discs that Gracenote (CDDB) wouldn't have listed, it makes things annoying to re-enter all my track information.

4) Top-notch build-construction. I haven't dared to drop it yet, but it sure looks solid. :)

5) HUGE hand strap. Either I haven't figured out the trick to connecting the hand strap, or it's way too big. I might post a pic later of what I mean (the manual wasn't too much help in showing how to attach the hand strap).

Overall, it seems like a great player. I might play around with OpenMG later just to see how horrible it is (LOL!)

Thanks again for the great information.