🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1993Jan6.074202.17403@news.acns.nwu.edu> jland@nwu.edu (John  
Landwehr) writes:
|> 
|> I am considering the purchase of a SONY MINIDISK player/recorder.  I was  
|> wondering if anyone has had experient with connecting similar devices to  
|> the DSP.
|> 
|> I remember a schematic that showed connections to a chip inside a sony  
|> discplayer, but I would prefer not to have to open a minidisk player, and  
|> just use the digital input/output connections.
|> 
|> Ideas?
I got my MZ-1 Dec 23. I've spent zmas/newyrs playing around with it.

1. This is a _very_ first generation Sony device. Several obvious things
are missing (it doesn't even have a backlight button!)

2. It's max recording time is 74minutes (if you can get those discs, otherwise
it's 60 minutes.) This is generally a little short for alot of live recording.

3. The battery is undersized. You get 60 minutes of portable recording with a
brand new battery.

4. The unit uses ATRAC compression. What goes in is _not_ what comes out, even
if a digital copy is made. It is currently impossible to make true "digital"
copies using a minidisc (the effect is much like de-JPEGing a picture and then
re-JPEGing it and then un-JPEGing it again, you don't get what you started
with.)

5. The ATRAC does cause distortion of the music. I've made recordings that had
a sound in them that I'm calling "buried static." I've never heard it before
and I find it kinda scary to think that at any time the MD can screw up a
recording in this fashion.

6. My local dealer dtill hasn't gotten any of the optical link cables. Fiber
optic is currently the only digital linkage option.

7. Operator controls for setting record level and balance for live recordings
are primitve at best. The VU meter is a sum of L and R channels and is crudely
labeled.

A Sony D3 portable DAT costs less and: Runs for 2 hours on it's battery, Can
record 2 to 4 hours on a DAT, has all the expected controls, and comes with
the fiber optic interface cables out-of-the-box, when digitially copying
material what you put in is what you get out. The D3 is also more compact
and you can charge it's battery while using it (with the MD you get your
choice charge battery or use it.) A 2 hour DAT costs $9 a 60 minute MD goes
for $15 locally (ie list price.)

The D3 has a docking bay they provides for remote control. This would allow
the NeXT to run the D3 for you. The MD has no provisions for remote control.

And lastly, my sound field processor doesn't like the output from my MD. Rather
than bringing recordings to life they turn dull, rather dead sounding. I've
found that my sound field processor to be a pretty good critic of recording
quality. The exact same recording played from DAT sounds rich and vibrant,
that same DAT transfered to MD sounds dull and lifeless until the sound
field processor is turned off. If you want _all_ the music you need a DAT
not an MD.

Scotty