The Logic Off Topic list

Hi Tony! 
   Last I looked, the word generally seemed to be that the choice for 
mobile MD recording was between a few of the nicer Sharp models and 
the Sony MZ-N10 (assuming that we aren't talking about "pro" units).

The Sony N10 lets you adjust recording levels while in "record 
pause", and apparently the older Sony models didn't (supposedly one 
reason why so many people bought Sharps). Some reviews say that the 
Sharps tended to sound cleaner than the older Sonys too, but I don't 
know whether this was just down to default EQ settings or something 
more fundamental.

I got an N10 because of some of the features (can't remember which 
right now!), and am pretty happy with it (apart from the inability to 
dump digitally, which apparently none of them do). Then again, if you 
are comparing it to compact cassette, those don't dump digitally 
either! The display could have done with being a bit bigger.
The N10 record latch is fiddly, but I always put the unit into record 
pause first, then take the pause off to start recording, which is 
straightforward, and lets you monitor and set up levels first. 
There are occasional features that the Sharps have and the Sony 
doesn't, or vice versa, so get a _full_ feature list for the models 
that you are looking at.
 
I did find a certain loss of oomph on /some/ material (heavily studio-
produced stuff with wide-spectrum transients which were probably too 
aggressive for the ATRAC data-compression to render perfectly), but 
on the plus side, you have an alleged 20k bandwidth and no horrid 
tape noise!

Try www.minidisco.com for nice accessories and microphones and stuff.


--- In logic-ot@yahoogroups.com, niall munnelly <aleph@a...> wrote:

> On Wed, Jun 25, 2003 at 08:49:18PM +0100, tony vincent wrote:
... anything i should look for among various models...?
> > any place to purchase from for a good deal?
> 
> 
> sony (and recently, sharp) has "netMD", which is a handy way to 
transfer files (one way) to the MD.
> 
> most MD recorders have optical s/pdif line-ins (i've only seen mini 
optical,
> so your average toslink pair won't work) - you'll definitely want 
that.
> 
> otherwise, see if you can find info about which model has the best 
DAC and
> all that. i'm very happy with my sharp.