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Re: what's the diff. between mp3 recorder & mini disc?

Subject: Re: what's the diff. between mp3 recorder & mini disc?
From: "Danny Meltzer" dannymeltzer
Date: Sat Apr 7, 2007 7:25 pm ((PDT))
Hi Dave,

There's no hard and fast rule that all minidisc recorders are better
than all MP3 recorders.  Every piece of gear has tons of pluses and
minuses and that's largely what we spend our time discussing here.

That said, a recorder that records only MP3's and is $200 is probably
going to have less forgiving electronics inside than a good Minidisc
recorder that you can grab on ebay for less.  Once you start moving up
the equipment ladder digital recorders get better.  I've not directly
used the Zoom.  It might be a good device though I'll say you will
probably want to get an external mic.

In the price range you are looking at [well really at all price
ranges] the thing to consider is the quality of the preamps in the
device.  Some inexpensive minidisc recorders have very nice sounding
preamps when paired with the right microphones.  Some of the cheaper
MP3 recorders have somewhat noisy preamps by comparison.  Of course
the extra time and expense of getting discs and loading them into the
computer versus just loading the MP3's or wav files might outweigh the
difference in preamps.  That's something you'll have to decide for
yourself.

You should note the difference between MP3's and wavs.  The former is
a highly compressed audio file format.  The latter is an uncompressed
format.  Compression affects the quality of the audio.  Most digital
recorders will record MP3 and wav.  Some only do MP3.  I'd get one
that does both.

Many of us on this forum have websites where you can listen to various
recordings with different gear.

Danny

> 
> jerkabobber wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > Hello all. Thanks for those of you that provided me some starting out
> > advice. I really appreciate it. I looked into everything you've
> > advised. I found that the majority of you use mini disk recoders..
> > highly recommending them. The Sony MZ RH1 mini disc rec. seems to be
> > the "cheapest/common" item to record. Why? It is slightly out of my
> > price range, but I would get it regardless, anything beyond that would
> > be too much money :(
> > Some of you mentioned that I wouldn't be able to start at around 200-
> > 350 dollars. I now see through researching that that's true, unless I
> > bought a mp3 recorder...
> > Not knowing anything about this stuff, I figured a digital-mp3
> > recorder would be fine. With out getting to technical, whats the
> > difference in sound quality between a mini disc recorder and a mp3
> > recorder? Is it that much where the mini disc is THE way to go?
> > Someone said that I would be disapointed with mp3 recorders.
> > 
> > For instance, I found the 200 dollar, Samson Zoom H2 digital audio
> > recorder, would this recorder be comparable to a mini disc recorder?
> > Like the Sony MZ RH1 mini disc rec?
> > 
> > To look at it, it's at
> >
http://www.photoethnography.com/blog/archives/2007/03/info_samson_zoo.h 
> >
<http://www.photoethnography.com/blog/archives/2007/03/info_samson_zoo.h>
> > tml
> > 
> > In the meantime, I'll look into the "getting started" area on the
> > forum for some answers as well. I just like directly taslking to
> > people :)
> > 
> > Thanks everyone!
> > Dave
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >
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> > 
> > No virus found in this incoming message.
> > Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> > Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.26/750 - Release Date:
4/6/2007 9:30 PM
>






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