Tagged As: Drum N Bass Arena
Question:
I am considering buying a mini-disc recorder and am wondering if there will be any improvement in sound quality when recording mixes (compared to tapes), I know that records are an analog source so will the digital recording make any difference? if not is it worth it for the edit facilities alone?
Answer:
just did the very same thing, got meself a Sharp CD/MD combined job. Very happy with it, advatanges, well all your masters are stored digitally, play back is that much crisper, no loss of quality over time, etc disadvantages, need to find a good cheap source of 74 min tapes if you are gonna be sending out mix tapes to promoters/mates, etc.... Mini Discs are MUCHMUCH better than Cassettes... Go look at www.sony.com. They should have some technical info up. But Mini Discs ARE NOT better than CDs... as far as quality goes... But in my opinion this doesn't make a big difference EXCEPT for mastery... Most people probably cant here the difference between CDs/MDs... get the Grooverider show every 2 weeks on MiniDisc, & the sound quality is not lacking in any way. i HAVE experienced the thinning of sound with various CD-2-MD recordings i've made, but all u have 2 do is manually set the peak levels. on home units, this should be a breeze, but on the portable units (like i have: Sony MZR-50:), in the owner's manual it says to make sure the loudest peaks don't go above a certain number of levels... those little rising/descending lines that follow the sound source (III I I). find a tearin' track (Dillinja, Alien Girl, Ram Trilogy, etc.), & set the levels 2 whatever the OM may specify/recommend (i think the Sony unit is 12 lines). thus far, it hasn't dropped out during the shows! once set, the constant sound source will keep the levels constant, but beware of space between tracks, when it comes CRASHing back in, the MD unit may self-adjust the levels, sounding as if someone turned down the volume! i made this mistake when recording ny own tracks directly from the computer studio i used, & the lower frequency bass notes (of the UTMOST importance in drum'n'bass, eh?!?) were barely audible unless u had the volume up very high, which caused high peaks on 2 tape. experiment with some heavy stuff, check choons that have big empty drops, then come crashing in, or tracks (not nec. d'n'b) that START abrasively, & watch = LISTEN the levels VERY closely... & if the mix turns out 2 your liking, maybe drop a fellow MD owner a copy*
Add to favorites