MDs - I hate SONY!!!

[oshta]

What are SONY playing at!!!

OpenMG - Lamo software, so when you add a track with it you can delete it excepy using the same porgram on the same computer (dont try to reinstall the OS!!)

Sonic Stage - Realt no better and still falls over when you try to using it (especially with win2k)

Simple burner - OK(ish) but only copy form CDs, and only in LP2 or LP4 (my player only suports SP and mono)

WHY!!!!

Ok so as everyone sayeds all the music piracy is losing sony trade, so why dont they try and reclam some lost profit my selling good MD players rather tham making it harder for the people - so thay just buy and MP3 player!!!

- and the annoying thing is because they've patented it all there not just cocking it uo for themselfs - there going to KILL MDs - and there gud!

[Ethos]

I borrowed a friends Sony MD player for a week and i thought it was very good. 70~ tracks on lp4 (sound difference is very little). One batterys lasted me for agees, must of been 25 hours plus. In general a very decent experience of MD players, I agree the software is a tad buggy though....

[unrealrocks]

MiniDisk is low quality on its full quality 132Kbps ATRAC format, it starts to sound appauling any lower (sorry, I like high quality audio). MD is a good format for portable as quality isn't really needed through small headphones but I've played with one and compared to my MP3 player it takes ages to copy an album onto MD via there software!

I'm sticking with large capacity MP3 players for now!

[Ethos]

I agree the sound quality would sound terrible with a decent set of headphone or through some speakers But with small "in ear" ones it sounds fine! I'm after an mp3 player at the moment, dont wanna spend all that money on and i-pod though any suggestions? (Sorry to hijack!)

[Aaron]

netMD is a waste of time, in my opinion.

A decent MD player will set you back £200. For £250 (less if you're a student or teacher), you can get a 10GB iPod. Even if you put the raw .wav files on the iPod, that's around 14 albums of CD quality music. Even reasonably compressed mp3s, that figure rises to at least 100.

The only place the the netMD player has the iPod beat is on battery life, and some of the other HD-based mp3 players are far superior to the iPod in that respect.

MiniDisc will be a dead format soon, if you ask me. There's nothing it can do that mp3 can't and the lack of choice keeps the pricing of portable players artificially high.


Ethos: If you're looking for a flash based mp3 player then the Creative Muvo players are excellent, IMO.

[Ethos]

Im really looking for a hard-drive based one, 5 gig+ really! Needs to have a good battery life too, im not gonna want to be changing batterys every few hours tbh.

[oshta]

Originally posted by Aaron
MiniDisc will be a dead format soon, if you ask me... ...IMO

Yeah - possablly !!!

-but the music industary have invested quite a bit in it!!

- you what fine any theater etc or recording studio with out an MD player
and a lot of small "DJs" are using them

[Stoo]

Odd, I've never had a problem with minidisc at all, there is very little difference between the MD and CD sound.
Or are you only talking about NetMD?

[oshta]

yeah i know - IMO the qulity is fine even on LP2 - you "can" tell the diffrence at LP4 - but thats what the DJ that does are 6th form socials uses (not that we care after a "few" drinks )

[unrealrocks]

Originally posted by Stoo
Odd, I've never had a problem with minidisc at all, there is very little difference between the MD and CD sound.
Or are you only talking about NetMD?

M8 - If you are an 'audiophile' like myself there is a great deal of difference even on the standard setting if its been optically been recorded from any source!

MD is used alot for DJing as its small but I've never seen recording studios use MD before - maybe for band precopys but never for base data - its going alot to HDDs and dat tapes but alot use various weird formats!

[DsW]

Originally posted by Aaron
MiniDisc will be a dead format soon, if you ask me. There's nothing it can do that mp3 can't and the lack of choice keeps the pricing of portable players artificially high.

Are you talking about MD v solid state + HD or ATRAC v MP3?!

MD is a brilliant recording medium and it will be a shame to see it die out. It provides a near enough CD quality portable recording medium that can fit in your pocket and doesn't require a PC to use. It was a welcome replacement for cassette tapes and was around for years before cost-effective solid state and HD based devices came to the consumer market.

In other words it served a purpose and continues to do so for now.

Solid state and HD based devices are now prevailing due to falling costs etc. but remember - this is just another evoution of the audio market and it is inevitable that the current batch of MP3, solid state and HD equipment will be superceeded by superior technologies.

cheers,
dave

[pmk24]

having a net md myself and having used the software (that takes over your computer when it can) it does its job at a portable sterio fine imo, nice peice of kit that you can store a good number of songs on and media is dirt cheap

[Ethos]

Any suggestions for decent hard-drive based mp3 players then chaps?

[Rythmic]

A quick google leads here:

http://www.mp3players.co.uk/site/uk/...e_players.html

I personnally have an old Creative JB3 - great battery life, excellent sound quality, crap software (I use Notmad explorer instead, which is cool), and too big though!

[Stoo]

ipod or the philips one..

I was thinking about the creative muvo2, but it's only 1.5 gig and you can get a 10 gig ipod for only £50 more..

[Howard]

Creative Jukebox Zen NX is the one I've ordered. 30GB for £210 ish. FAR FAR better value than the iPod, which I hate.

IMHO Minidisc is pointless nowadays with MP3 players being far more versatile, and the MiniDisc format, ATRAC is not as good quality as CD or a well ripped MP3. I'm also an audiophile like Unrealrocks, and there's nothing I hate more than a craply ripped MP3 or otherwise