Sony - Yes, I know...

[Two hands31]

I have yet another question about multitrack recorders. *I've decided the BR-8 is probably not good for me, since I need a lot of tracks, and the ability to record many at a time (4-6 preferably). *I'm looking at digital because it gives more versatility, etc. and I noticed in an old Musician's Fiend catalogue a Sony Minidisk multitrack recorder. *Anyone know how good these are? *I'd prefer minidisk or zip disks, but harddrive would be ok if necessary, as long as it's possible to transfer to PC easily. *Any recommendations and comments welcome!

[caprile]

if you don't need mobility, i'd recommend getting a decent soundcard and recording in your PC. There's great stuff like Cakewalk designed specifically for guitar players, which has features like notation capabilities and midi editing using a 'virtual fretboard'. *The best part of PC recording, IMHO is that you can get a cd burner for real cheap (here in chile you can get a 12x one for about 100 usd, and a blank cd for .25 usd), which will give you a universal format.

[Two hands31]

caprile on 6:12 pm on Mar. 24, 2002
if you don't need mobility, i'd recommend getting a decent soundcard and recording in your PC. There's great stuff like Cakewalk designed specifically for guitar players, which has features like notation capabilities and midi editing using a 'virtual fretboard'. *The best part of PC recording, IMHO is that you can get a cd burner for real cheap (here in chile you can get a 12x one for about 100 usd, and a blank cd for .25 usd), which will give you a universal format.

I've thought of PC, except for a few things:

1) *I need mobility. *lol

2) *I can't afford a PC.

3) *In Canada, those prices you quoted for CDs and CD burners are about 5x that much. *

And about Cakewalk specifically:

4) *I play a lot more than just guitar. *lol

[JESTER700]

The Fostex VF16 has its drawbacks, but 16 tracks and 8 ins at once (2 XLR) are cool. *At $700, maybe less if you can still find them. *The replacement, VF160, gives you a burner and not much else for way more.

Uncompressed recording is the way to go if you can; minidisc uses ~5:1 compression (like a 256k MP3).

[30yroldpig]

STAY AWAY FROM MINIDISC RECORDERS

They sound like Sh*t and are not worth the money. Save up a little more before buying. Don't waste your hard earned money on something that's gonna be replaced in 1-2 years.

If you need mobility...you'll need to spend a little more $$$. Look into used fostex or roland recorders. You get pretty good bang for the buck. Since you are a lucky fellow canadian, *check this place out for used deals. Browse regularly.

STAY AWAY FROM MINIDISC RECORDERS
STAY AWAY FROM MINIDISC RECORDERS
STAY AWAY FROM MINIDISC RECORDERS

Did I make Myself clear :glare:

[JESTER700]

For tracking, I agree. *Any bouncing adds generations, which hurt quality, especially in early ATRAC 2 models. *But as a record once & playback format, minidisc can be nice - I have a Sharp mini portable that's a year old (ATRAC is Sharp v6 or something) and it sounds great.

[30yroldpig]

Seriously? Sorry Dude, but IMHO ATRAC simply does NOT cut it even on a first pass record:glare: ...I've woked on sound FX libraries recorded to minidisk and ATRAC and ewwwwee...nuff said :glare: :glare: :glare:

(Edited by Pat7 at 11:31 pm on Mar. 24, 2002)

[JESTER700]

Yup, seriously. *I mean, it isn't 16 bit PCM HD (I DID say go uncompressed if possible). *But it IS very portable and convenient, and IMO not CD quality, but darn close. *How old are those libraries? *The ATRAC revision used in recording really makes a difference. *Anything before 4 isn't gonna be a very good representation, especially the really old ones like v2.

Also, certain sound FX will rile the encoder more than music will. *Rain, for example, is often used as a "worst case" sound *to test MP3 revisions, and I'd assume the same for ATRAC. *Do you have the same experience with music tracks?

[30yroldpig]

JESTER700 on 12:08 am on Mar. 25, 2002

Also, certain sound FX will rile the encoder more than music will. *Rain, for example, is often used as a "worst case" sound *to test MP3 revisions, and I'd assume the same for ATRAC. *Do you have the same experience with music tracks?

I had the same experience with music tracks. But I will admit that these were recorded with the older version of ATRAC. However I still think that ATRAC revised sounds no good. It's like a
"good" MP3...

As for the FX, there where tons of them, car pass-bys, thunder, rain and field recordings of nature scenes (i.e summer day in a horse field in Austria. The compression was very evident!)

I still think twohands would be better off with a used 16 bit uncompressed hard-disk recorder-editor than a new minidisc recorder.

[jeffrey]

I have the first generation Yamaha MD8 and love it. I don't have any problems with it. *shrug*