Opinion on Sony mini disc players?

[algae]

Hi all,
I have been considering an Ipod, but just recently a friend told me about
his mini disc player. Sounds interesting but I haven't done any looking
around yet so I thought I'd post here. Where would the sweet spot be right
now in terms of price/performance? Do they all have USB connectivity? Do any
models have a FM tuner built in?
Any advice or websites would be appreciated.
Thanks
Gary

[Malcolm Stewart]

"algae" > wrote in message
news:xoCcd.744907$M95.470841@pd7tw1no...
> Hi all,
> I have been considering an Ipod, but just recently a friend told me about
> his mini disc player. Sounds interesting but I haven't done any looking
> around yet so I thought I'd post here. Where would the sweet spot be right
> now in terms of price/performance? Do they all have USB connectivity? Do
any
> models have a FM tuner built in?
> Any advice or websites would be appreciated.
> Thanks
> Gary

Try http://www.minidisc.org/ for starters.

--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK
http://www.megalith.freeserve.co.uk/oddimage.htm

[Ron]

I also had some of the same questions concerning Minidisc and found some
interesting answers.
Some basics about MD:
- Despite what you read in advertising, the MD does not natively support
MP3. Sony has their own compression scheme called ATRAC. Anything recorded
to the original MD is in this format.
- Some models have built-in FM tuners, however, contrary to logic, you can't
record from FM on all FM models.
- Tunes downloaded to a MD go through a 'check-in / checkout' procedure in
the supplied software. Call it what you want, but it's basically their way
to control piracy of downloaded songs.
- The previous point also applies to sound that may be recorded live via a
microphone or line input. The original MD does not allow file transfer of
audio through the USB cable or any other way to a PC other than through the
line-out or earphone jack in real time. It seems that even the new Hi-MD
units only allow fast transfer of files to a PC that are in ATRAC format.
Sony was to release ATRAC-to-WAV conversion software (not sure if they have
yet).

On the plus side, the sound quality of MD is pretty amazing for a pocket
sized device. It's very popular with people who do live music recording.
Many users, however, want a device with more flexibility regarding file
formats and fast file transfer.

Check out the usenet MD group: alt.audio.minidisc

-Ron

> "algae" > wrote:
> Hi all,
> I have been considering an Ipod, but just recently a friend told me about
> his mini disc player. Sounds interesting but I haven't done any looking
> around yet so I thought I'd post here. Where would the sweet spot be right
> now in terms of price/performance? Do they all have USB connectivity? Do
any
> models have a FM tuner built in?
> Any advice or websites would be appreciated.
> Thanks
> Gary

[algae]

Thanks all:)
G.
"Ron" > wrote in message
...
> I also had some of the same questions concerning Minidisc and found some
> interesting answers.
> Some basics about MD:
> - Despite what you read in advertising, the MD does not natively support
> MP3. Sony has their own compression scheme called ATRAC. Anything recorded
> to the original MD is in this format.
> - Some models have built-in FM tuners, however, contrary to logic, you
can't
> record from FM on all FM models.
> - Tunes downloaded to a MD go through a 'check-in / checkout' procedure in
> the supplied software. Call it what you want, but it's basically their way
> to control piracy of downloaded songs.
> - The previous point also applies to sound that may be recorded live via a
> microphone or line input. The original MD does not allow file transfer of
> audio through the USB cable or any other way to a PC other than through
the
> line-out or earphone jack in real time. It seems that even the new Hi-MD
> units only allow fast transfer of files to a PC that are in ATRAC format.
> Sony was to release ATRAC-to-WAV conversion software (not sure if they
have
> yet).
>
> On the plus side, the sound quality of MD is pretty amazing for a pocket
> sized device. It's very popular with people who do live music recording.
> Many users, however, want a device with more flexibility regarding file
> formats and fast file transfer.
>
> Check out the usenet MD group: alt.audio.minidisc
>
> -Ron
>
> > "algae" > wrote:
> > Hi all,
> > I have been considering an Ipod, but just recently a friend told me
about
> > his mini disc player. Sounds interesting but I haven't done any looking
> > around yet so I thought I'd post here. Where would the sweet spot be
right
> > now in terms of price/performance? Do they all have USB connectivity? Do
> any
> > models have a FM tuner built in?
> > Any advice or websites would be appreciated.
> > Thanks
> > Gary
>
>