Ian Stirling wrote:
In alt.music.mp3.hardware wrote:

Hi, My organization is considering making recordings of
conferences/lectures that we do and one our people attend (Our main
thing is disseminating information relating to aquaculture). I am
trying to get them into it but since they barely have a concept of it
they aren't willing to put much money into it yet.

So. I am trying to track down an easy (I am the "techy-est" here,
kidna sad), cheap recording solution which I thought would be something
like a Mic and mp3 player/recorder (like some of iRiver's). But i


Iriver flash players, or indeed any other player with MP3 recording (PCM
recording may be less suitable) and line-in, combined with an external
microphone will give you a professional quality sound recording.
Expecting the internal mic to work well is perhaps a bit optimistic,
though it may be adequate to your needs.

Be warned that *very* few MP3 players do MP3 recording. Most only record
in a rather low quality ADPCM format. An external mic makes them sound a
bit better than the internal mic, but not a great deal better.

Regards,
Steve

In alt.music.mp3.hardware Steve Underwood wrote:
Ian Stirling wrote:
In alt.music.mp3.hardware wrote:

Hi, My organization is considering making recordings of
conferences/lectures that we do and one our people attend (Our main
thing is disseminating information relating to aquaculture). I am
trying to get them into it but since they barely have a concept of it
they aren't willing to put much money into it yet.

So. I am trying to track down an easy (I am the "techy-est" here,
kidna sad), cheap recording solution which I thought would be something
like a Mic and mp3 player/recorder (like some of iRiver's). But i


Iriver flash players, or indeed any other player with MP3 recording (PCM
recording may be less suitable) and line-in, combined with an external
microphone will give you a professional quality sound recording.
Expecting the internal mic to work well is perhaps a bit optimistic,
though it may be adequate to your needs.

Be warned that *very* few MP3 players do MP3 recording. Most only record
in a rather low quality ADPCM format. An external mic makes them sound a
bit better than the internal mic, but not a great deal better.

True, which is why I stated MP3 recording. The iriver will do MP3 recording
at up to 320K (IIRC) (though not with the "disk drive" firmware)

Ian Stirling wrote:
In alt.music.mp3.hardware Steve Underwood wrote:

Ian Stirling wrote:

In alt.music.mp3.hardware wrote:


Hi, My organization is considering making recordings of
conferences/lectures that we do and one our people attend (Our main
thing is disseminating information relating to aquaculture). I am
trying to get them into it but since they barely have a concept of it
they aren't willing to put much money into it yet.

So. I am trying to track down an easy (I am the "techy-est" here,
kidna sad), cheap recording solution which I thought would be something
like a Mic and mp3 player/recorder (like some of iRiver's). But i


Iriver flash players, or indeed any other player with MP3 recording (PCM
recording may be less suitable) and line-in, combined with an external
microphone will give you a professional quality sound recording.
Expecting the internal mic to work well is perhaps a bit optimistic,
though it may be adequate to your needs.

Be warned that *very* few MP3 players do MP3 recording. Most only record
in a rather low quality ADPCM format. An external mic makes them sound a
bit better than the internal mic, but not a great deal better.


True, which is why I stated MP3 recording. The iriver will do MP3 recording
at up to 320K (IIRC) (though not with the "disk drive" firmware)

iriver make a number of models, both disk based and flash based. The
ones I have seen only do ADPCM recording. Can you specify the models
which record MP3? A friend was looking for a player which will record
stereo MP3s and we couldn't find one. None of the iriver models
available here (Hong Kong) seem to offer anything more than ADPCM.

Regards,
Steve

In alt.music.mp3.hardware Steve Underwood wrote:
Ian Stirling wrote:
In alt.music.mp3.hardware Steve Underwood wrote:

Ian Stirling wrote:

In alt.music.mp3.hardware wrote:


Hi, My organization is considering making recordings of
conferences/lectures that we do and one our people attend (Our main
thing is disseminating information relating to aquaculture). I am
trying to get them into it but since they barely have a concept of it
they aren't willing to put much money into it yet.

So. I am trying to track down an easy (I am the "techy-est" here,
kidna sad), cheap recording solution which I thought would be something
like a Mic and mp3 player/recorder (like some of iRiver's). But i


Iriver flash players, or indeed any other player with MP3 recording (PCM
recording may be less suitable) and line-in, combined with an external
microphone will give you a professional quality sound recording.
Expecting the internal mic to work well is perhaps a bit optimistic,
though it may be adequate to your needs.

Be warned that *very* few MP3 players do MP3 recording. Most only record
in a rather low quality ADPCM format. An external mic makes them sound a
bit better than the internal mic, but not a great deal better.


True, which is why I stated MP3 recording. The iriver will do MP3 recording
at up to 320K (IIRC) (though not with the "disk drive" firmware)

iriver make a number of models, both disk based and flash based. The
ones I have seen only do ADPCM recording. Can you specify the models
which record MP3? A friend was looking for a player which will record
stereo MP3s and we couldn't find one. None of the iriver models
available here (Hong Kong) seem to offer anything more than ADPCM.

IFP-395t is the one I have, and I believe the IFP-8 and IFP-7 series too.
Generatlly the models with "line in" support MP3 recording.

Steve Underwood wrote:
Ian Stirling wrote:

In alt.music.mp3.hardware Steve Underwood wrote:

Ian Stirling wrote:

In alt.music.mp3.hardware wrote:


Hi, My organization is considering making recordings of
conferences/lectures that we do and one our people attend (Our main
thing is disseminating information relating to aquaculture). I am
trying to get them into it but since they barely have a concept of it
they aren't willing to put much money into it yet.

So. I am trying to track down an easy (I am the "techy-est" here,
kidna sad), cheap recording solution which I thought would be
something
like a Mic and mp3 player/recorder (like some of iRiver's). But i



Iriver flash players, or indeed any other player with MP3 recording
(PCM
recording may be less suitable) and line-in, combined with an external
microphone will give you a professional quality sound recording.
Expecting the internal mic to work well is perhaps a bit optimistic,
though it may be adequate to your needs.


Be warned that *very* few MP3 players do MP3 recording. Most only
record in a rather low quality ADPCM format. An external mic makes
them sound a bit better than the internal mic, but not a great deal
better.



True, which is why I stated MP3 recording. The iriver will do MP3
recording
at up to 320K (IIRC) (though not with the "disk drive" firmware)


iriver make a number of models, both disk based and flash based. The
ones I have seen only do ADPCM recording. Can you specify the models
which record MP3? A friend was looking for a player which will record
stereo MP3s and we couldn't find one. None of the iriver models
available here (Hong Kong) seem to offer anything more than ADPCM.

Regards,
Steve
I have the Iriver IFP790. It will record a very high fidelity mono
signal via it's built in mic, or stereo if you use line in. Again, the
quality is very high, more than enough to catch a lecture, and its even
good enough to record a live concert. You can adjust the quality of the
voice recording from it's best of 160 kbps at 44khz, down to 8 kbps at
11.025 khz. You can also turn on or off auto-gain control as well as
other features. When the IFP records, it does so in it's native IRM
(Iriver rights management) format. When you download the recordings to
your PC, the Iriver music manager software then offers to convert the
IRM file to MP3 upon export.

Hope this helps.

CD

"Steve Underwood" wrote in message
...
Be warned that *very* few MP3 players do MP3 recording. Most only record
in a rather low quality ADPCM format. An external mic makes them sound a
bit better than the internal mic, but not a great deal better.

The Sony HiMD (high capacity minidisc) recorders have a linear PCM recording
mode, that's essentially the same as what you get on a CD. The HiMD blanks
are about $7, but you can find the lower capacity (original "80 minute")
MD's for less than $2 each. I recently bought a 10 pack of Memorex MD's for
$15 at MicroCenter. In Linear PCM mode, an "80 minute" MD can hold 28
minutes of audio. A HiMD can hold 1 hour 34 minutes of linear PCM. If CD
quality is overkill (for recording lectures), the next best mode, Hi-SP can
fit 2 hours 20 minutes on an "80 minute" MD and 7 hours 55 minutes on a
HiMD. Hi-SP is Sony's ATRAC3plus at 256kbps, which is a pretty high bitrate
for a compressed format.

For field recording, HiMD isn't a bad way to go. The discs are cheap
compared to flash memory, and the HiMD unit itself is cheaper than a (high
capacity) HD based unit with a decent recording capability. On top of that,
your field recordings can be transferred back to your PC through USB.

http://www.minidisc.org/

Jeff
--
Remove icky phrase from email address to get a valid address.

For field recording, HiMD isn't a bad way to go. The discs are cheap
compared to flash memory, and the HiMD unit itself is cheaper than a (high
capacity) HD based unit with a decent recording capability. On top of that,
your field recordings can be transferred back to your PC through USB.

Are you sure of that? I'd heard there was no way to transfer back the
recordings except through the analog port. What is the transfer speed?
Note also that if you transfer in ATRAC form, you're left with the
proprietary ATRAC format. Is there a fast way to convert ATRAC to MP3?

I recently gnashed over this question for a while and ended up buying
a Marantz mp3 recorder that's nice for music recording, but is way more
cumbersome and expensive than a minidisc recorder, just to get around
the stupid ATRAC stuff.

In article writes:

The Sony HiMD (high capacity minidisc) recorders have a linear PCM recording
mode, that's essentially the same as what you get on a CD. The HiMD blanks
are about $7, but you can find the lower capacity (original "80 minute")
MD's for less than $2 each.

In Linear PCM mode, an "80 minute" MD can hold 28
minutes of audio. A HiMD can hold 1 hour 34 minutes of linear PCM.

That's good info. I wasn't aware that a HiMD recorder could use
standard MD blanks in the PCM mode. That's under $5/hour for media as
long as your subject matter can stand to be interrupted every 28
minutes. The way we solved that problem with Nagras (or Revoxen or
Ampi) was to use two, starting the second one before the tape ran out
on the first one, splicing if necessary.

But what can you do with the recording to get it to a more practical
medium? A shelf full of HiMD disks is likely to be useless in another
ten years, and I don't mean because of deterioration, but because
it'll be too hard to find something to play them on. CDs are a little
better in that respect because it's strong in the consumer market.
There were "issues" with making file transfers from original
recordings on the standard Minidisk. Are these really non-issues with
the HiMD, or is it necessary to make a real time transfer to another
medium?


--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

(Mike Rivers) wrote:

There were "issues" with making file transfers from original
recordings on the standard Minidisk. Are these really non-issues with
the HiMD, or is it necessary to make a real time transfer to another
medium?

My understanding is that one can make a digital copy through USB from
the recorder to the computer using the Sony SonicStage software, but
after the second copy the file is automatically *deleted* from the MD.

So the best way to do it is make a digital copy, and if there is any
problem (eg: power goes out), make a realtime audio copy *before*
attempting a digital copy.

Problem with that method is that there is no Hi-MD recorder/player
with digital outputs. So this safety copy has to be made analogue out
of an 1/8" socket, less than ideal obviously.

All transfers must go through SonicStage.

-- robin

On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 12:37:52 -0500, robin wrote
(in article ):

(Mike Rivers) wrote:

There were "issues" with making file transfers from original
recordings on the standard Minidisk. Are these really non-issues with
the HiMD, or is it necessary to make a real time transfer to another
medium?

My understanding is that one can make a digital copy through USB from
the recorder to the computer using the Sony SonicStage software, but
after the second copy the file is automatically *deleted* from the MD.

So the best way to do it is make a digital copy, and if there is any
problem (eg: power goes out), make a realtime audio copy *before*
attempting a digital copy.

Problem with that method is that there is no Hi-MD recorder/player
with digital outputs. So this safety copy has to be made analogue out
of an 1/8" socket, less than ideal obviously.

All transfers must go through SonicStage.

-- robin

check out the digital recorders from Olympus. Several have USB sockets for
file transfer.

Ty Ford



-- Ty Ford's equipment reviews, audio samples, rates and other audiocentric
stuff are at www.tyford.com