Mini Disk

[nanz1]

I have an older Aiwa mini disk player that I would live to record some of my mp3s onto in the mp3 format so I can fit alot of music on one disk. I'm not sure if this possible please let me know how this can be done and what kind of software is needed. Thanks

[DereX888]

MD uses its own format (some proprietary Sony compression), which is actually lower than 128kbps mp3s.
Depending on your MD player model you can use it to record songs on MD discs, or you can hook it up to your PC and record (transfer) pre-processed songs using some Sony's proprietary software.
I can't help you more with it because my short flirt with MD started and ended right in 1997 when I discovered I cant use my cd burner to record MDs

[Jester700]

The format is called ATRAC and actually ranges from less than 128 to the "standard" of around 260. And it sounds about as good as the other codecs at that bitrate - tough to tell apart from a CD.

But no, it's not compatible with MP3.

Now, are you sure you're talking about a minidisc player? Or is it maybe a 3" CD player? I have a Philips 3" CD player that plays CD audio OR MP3s. These I burn in my PC, and can fit 2 full CDs worth of stuff on one disc at 192k/s. If your Aiwa IS one of these, you'd have to check to see if it played MP3 format.

Not to be insulting, but I thought that confusion might be a possibility.

[Madz]

You can't trasfer MP3's to a MD audio recorder directly. You can only connect the portable to your soundcard by either the line out (analog) or optical digital, if you have one. You'd setup a playlist of MP3's in, say, Winamp, and record them in real time to the MD.

To do what you'd want to do, you'd need to get a Sony "NetMD" portable. It'll function as an audio player/recorder but also comes w/ cradle that connects to a USB port & software. Using this, you can transfer MP3's (and WMA's too, I think) directly to a MD (which will be in a data format, not audio). Catch is, you can only play such a disc in a NetMD portable.

[DereX888]

To do what you'd want to do, you'd need to get a Sony "NetMD" portable. It'll function as an audio player/recorder but also comes w/ cradle that connects to a USB port & software. Using this, you can transfer MP3's

thats what i meant when i said by 'transfer'.
My MD player could only record in real time through line in (or mic) as you've said, but I've seen some newer models with usb connector and i thought it finally evolved...

Catch is, you can only play such a disc in a NetMD portable.

...but judging from this i think its not an evolution at all, just example of another proprietary sony bullshit.


______________________________
Offtopic:
NEVER BUY SONY.
SONY SUX.
Since they quit manufacturing TV sets in Japan in early 90's, they don't even make good TVs anymore (thats what they used to), and anything else you buy with SONY logo on it will be same stuff as i.e. made by Toshiba or Panasonic, but overpriced at least 10% just for the logo.

[energy80s]

Everyone here seems to be a bit confused about minidiscs. They are currently only for audio applications, although plans are afoot for a 1 gig disc able to take data and video. A minidisc uses Sony's ATRAC compression which is significantly better than MP3, but then again it also uses a higher bitrate of over 350kbps. The LP2 and LP4 modes offer longer recording times at the expense of sound quality, with LP2 roughly equivalent to a 128k MP3 and LP4 about the same as a good interent stream. NetMD uses a PC to download the auido onto the disc at up to 10 times playback speed, but this is only available in the LP2 mode and cannot be uploaded for the disc back to the PC (again this is Sonys idea of copyright control).

I use minidiscs all the time as they are so much handier and more reliable than CDRs. Until recently all music played out by BBC Radio 1 came off minidisc and Radio 2 still use them for certain playout applications. Although I use MP3 a lot, I've never warmed to it for music playout (it was really designed to allow decent quality audio to be sent across the internet). Minidisc is a far superior format for home recorded audio, and since buying my first MD recorder in 1999 I haven't purchased a single blank casette tape!

[vitualis]

Agreed.

MiniDisc is a superb audio recording format. It is much more flexible than both tape and CD-DA and has excellent quality.

For example, you can create tracks from recorded audio on the fly, reorder those tracks, delete any segment of audio, etc. Try doing that on a tape or CD!

MD as a technology was hamstrung by Sony. For example, a data version of the MD was created as the same time as the audio version and would have held around 140-150 MB. However, Sony being Sony limited the device so that audio MDs could not be accessed on the PC and that you would have to use special "data MD" discs to write data.

This device was released before both Zip and the now defunct Syquest EzyDrive and if it wasn't for Sony stupidity, Iomega probably wouldn't have existed and the FDD would have been replaced years ago.

Regards.

[ofbarea]

The latest incarnation of the minidisc is called Hi-MD. These new devices could be used as external PC storage with 1GB capacity, using the new Hi-MD disks, and with 300MB, using ordinary reformatted disks. With this unit is finally possible to upload analog recordings to the PC using an USB interface. For audio the player supports PCM and the new Atrac 3 plus codec.

I have an older MD recorded (ATRAC and ATRAC3 capable) that I use to tape live performances. Actually MDs recorders are very goods at these tasks. The only complain is the real time transfer from the MD to the PC.

I’m really thinking of buying one of the new Hi-MD models so I could upload very quickly my recordings to my PC. Also I like the idea of using regular MD as 300MB data disks.

If you are into MD just visit the following link:

http://www.minidisc.org/

[LanEvo7]

To do what you'd want to do, you'd need to get a Sony "NetMD" portable. It'll function as an audio player/recorder but also comes w/ cradle that connects to a USB port & software. Using this, you can transfer MP3's (and WMA's too, I think) directly to a MD (which will be in a data format, not audio). Catch is, you can only play such a disc in a NetMD portable.

I think you misunderstood the NetMD functions. NetMDs and the newer HD-MDs DO NOT playback mp3s or wma. They play LPCM and Atrac. If you use a net md, the software converts any audio format you have into atrac or lpcm and then transfers it over to the md. Yes you can store mp3s and wma as data files but the minidisc player will not decode it, meaning you can't listen to it.

I'm sure Sony can make these players(and their network players) play mp3s also but of course Sony is Sony. They like their own format. If they had let their MDs and network players be able to play mp3s, I think this would be serious competition to the IPOD.

[sullen]

The 1GB Hi-MD discs are gonna be able to record around 1.5 hours of PCM audio and you are going to be able to transfer that PCM audio back to the computer via the USB cable. This is the first time an MD unit has had this capability of transfering recorded audio back to the PC. Could be a great system if they can get the price down and get product out. Only model available at retail in the US right now is a downloading model that records from the PC, no line or mic in.

[DereX888]

guys, any *proprietary* software/hardware is a loser from begining.
No matter how good is newest ATRAC format reincarnation, it is still limited to this proprietary piece of hardware (and Im sure the one I had in 97 sucked badly qualitywise, the sound was *way* worse than average mp3s i play nowaday in my car).

As for portability - if you really that often do record live events (illegally most of the time ) then you should get any portable DAT recorder rather than MD player/recorder...
MD is nothing else than packet-writing formatted mini CD-RW, but again - even if you take it out of the case it is still formatted in some sony's proprietary format. Pure idiocy.

Back in the middle of 90's MD was *something* I agree. Just the size, audio compression, even the look of it was very advanced.
But today I think it more make sense to rather get some mini DVD-R/RW portable audio recorder (Sansui, City and some other unknown here but well known in Asia brands make them) and use maximum bitrate mp3 mode if you really need to make bootleg concert recordings (DAT is still the best, but you won't fit any average concert on single tape, and unless you have 2 of them you will miss some part of the concert during tape changing).

[vitualis]

I have to disagree.

Standard MD (not the new Atrac3 file formats) is a fantastic recording format. I don't know what MD player you were using but any recorder in the last 5 or so years (i.e., Atrac1 v4 and above) is transparent to CD.

Recording to MP3 isn't really an option if you want to do in player editing... for example, making seamless tracks, deleting parts of the audio, etc.

I agree that DAT is probably better than the equipment is not only more difficult to find, it also costs quite a bit more too.

In essense, MD is designed to work like a very flexible and advanced audio tape. You can do everything on it that a tape can do (e.g., go to a particular spot and OVERWRITE it with something else). This sort of flexibility is very useful when you actually do recording and not possible with MP3 based recording.

A MD player also tends to have much better battery life and much better portability than any of the other solutions you have just mentioned. I would argue that there is NO other consumer technology that gives its level of recording quality for it's size and portability.

As for "mini-CDRW", the MD is a magneto-optical disc and is extremely well designed for playing and recording in the "rough". With any modern MD player, you can play and record minidiscs while shaking the player with no problems at all. I dare you to try that with any portable DVD/CD recording drive...

MDs weren't made to replace CDs or DAT. There were made to replace audio tape and they HAVE in most parts of Asia. For marketing reasons (i.e., Sony is stupid), they have not penetrated the Western market very well.

Regards.

[Jester700]

Just a couple corrections:
The default bitrate for ATRAC is not 350kbps; its around 292kbps. It is not head and shoulders above other codecs at this bitrate, but competitive. It takes good equipment and a good ear to distinguish between *any* of these at this bitrate and a CD.

The long play LP2 came in last of the tested codecs in this test:
http://www.rjamorim.com/test/multiformat128/results.html

But I like MD a lot as a portable recording format. Sounds good, convenient on location, and decent mics & preamps available.

[ofbarea]

guys, any *proprietary* software/hardware is a loser from begining.
No matter how good is newest ATRAC format reincarnation, it is still limited to this proprietary piece of hardware (and Im sure the one I had in 97 sucked badly qualitywise, the sound was *way* worse than average mp3s i play nowaday in my car).

It depends on what you use this format for. I really like the flexibility of live recording and ease editing capability. There is not other reliable and fast way to do this with such small package.

Now we have the have the option of using the new Hi-MD recorders. With these units I can record in PCM and upload the music to my PC through USB. No more proprietary compression.

Everyone here seems to be a bit confused about minidiscs. They are currently only for audio applications, although plans are afoot for a 1 gig disc able to take data and video. A minidisc uses Sony's ATRAC compression which is significantly better than MP3, but then again it also uses a higher bitrate of over 350kbps. The LP2 and LP4 modes offer longer recording times at the expense of sound quality, with LP2 roughly equivalent to a 128k MP3 and LP4 about the same as a good interent stream. NetMD uses a PC to download the auido onto the disc at up to 10 times playback speed, but this is only available in the LP2 mode and cannot be uploaded for the disc back to the PC (again this is Sonys idea of copyright control).

The last Hi-MD devices could be used as USB storage device. IE: You can copy MP3 files to the disk but the Hi-MD player will not understand them. You can play them from the PC.

MD uses its own format (some proprietary Sony compression), which is actually lower than 128kbps mp3s.

This depends on the compression used. Recordings made in the ATRAC format sound a lot better than MP3 files. Recordings made with Atrac 3 LP2 are similar to128kbps mp3s. Recordings made with Atrac 3 LP4 are a lot worse than 128kbps mp3s, but they are useful for speech. Hi-MD is capable of record in uncompressed PCM.

I have an older Aiwa mini disk player that I would live to record some of my mp3s onto in the mp3 format so I can fit a lot of music on one disk. I'm not sure if this possible please let me know how this can be done and what kind of software is needed. Thanks

It depends on how old your unit is. Does it support LP2 or LP4 recording modes? If it’s too old it will only record in ATRAC format and you can only keep 80 minutes of audio per disk.

I agree that DAT is probably better than the equipment is not only more difficult to find, it also costs quite a bit more too.

I would like to add that the ADC found in recent MD usually are better than the crappy ones found on old DATs machines. If you could carry an external ADC, the DAT will always beat the MD.

Besides the MIC is usually the key component for live recordings. High quality ones could cost more that the MD unit.

[LanEvo7]

MDs weren't made to replace CDs or DAT. There were made to replace audio tape and they HAVE in most parts of Asia. For marketing reasons (i.e., Sony is stupid), they have not penetrated the Western market very well.

The asian market was very accepting of the MD during the mid 90s since there was not a better solution. Nowadays its being replaced by mp3 players. I agree that for professional editing the MD format is great. How much of the population is in that category. For what the author wants to do, he is much better off with a MP3 player.

If Sony hadn't shot itself in the foot and made their players support mp3 decoding, I bet Ipods wouldn't have such a large hold in the market. Instead they want people to was time and hard drive space converting their music into some stupid atrac format.