Minidisc user fo' life!!
So I've been trying to decide for the past few days if I should upgrade my minidisc format and get a HiMd recorder/player. I currently use the Net Md format, which, for those of you have no idea what I'm talking about... you know what? Let me start from the beginning.
Ok... these days, people have different ways to enjoy their music on the go. For those who haven't really bothered to catch up to technology, we got cassette playing walkmans. Then if we move on up, there's cd players, still in much use today. After that, we got mp3 players, of which iPod is the indisputed champion. Most people here in this country think that's all there is. But there isn't. There's another little player out there that, in my humble opiniom, is much more versitle than all of them. That would be the minidisc player.
Now, when I say minidisc, I'm not talking about those tiny cd's you might have seen being sold lately. Totally different thing. Mindisc's look something like this:
minidisc
They are actually not much bigger than that in real life. And they are pretty much what you see: a little cd looking thing encased in a plastic covering that's crafted a bit like a floppy disc. Cute (yet cool looking) little things, aren't they? And just like cassettes, not only do they come in all sorts of designs and colors, but you can record with them! Over and over and over again! And they don't skip!!
Now, how much music do you think you can cram in these things? Yes, I know that it says 80 miniutes right on the damn thing, but don't be fooled. That's just at standard compression. You can cram as much as 5+ hours worth of tunage in one, and that's just with the compression that net md formats offer (called MdLp). With HiMd formats, you can add a few more hours to that. But unless you're going for maximum compression, the sound quality doens't suffer much at all! I currently use Lp2 commression on average (that's like the in between setting, between standard, and insanely compressed) , and the tunes sound pretty much like 128 bit mp3's.
Now, these things get used on machines like this:
player
That's the model I'm currently using, though I got some better earbuds and a better remote for it. Anyway, cool looking thing, isn't it? And guess what? It's smaller than what you see on the screen right now. Yep, small, cool looking, and very portable. And they have lots of other models that look way cooler and more futuristic than this one.
Now, I had said these things were versitile. How, you may ask? Well, consider the fact that I don't just get music from my computer, which I'm sure you've figured out by now. Remember, this thing is a recorder, as well as a player. So basically, if there is anything that I hear that I like, and I happen to have my little friend with me, I can get it right then and there. If you got a cool tune playing off your cd player, I can record it. You got somthing great on your iPod, I can record it. Sweet soundtrack from a movie off the tv? Can get that too. Or the radio, or maybe something off a video game... basically, if there is a stereo jack that I can plug my stereo transfer cable to, I can get it. I can even record YOU. If I feel like interviewing you let's say, I can just pull out my MD recorder, hook up a mike, and hit record. Yes, it's that simple. Try doing that with an iPod. There's a reason why NPR actually has it's reporter use these things to do interviews. Really.
Now, you may be thinking (notice, I said "may"... not everyone has the same tastes, I know), wow, these things are cool! Why haven't I heard of them before? Sometimes I wonder why people don't know about them myself... they've only been around since like, oh, I don't know, 1995 maybe?? They've been pretty big in Europe, and in Japan, where they were first introduced by, you guessed it, Sony. But here? hardly a buzz. There are a few die hards like me out here, but for the most part it's pretty much dead tech in this country. There's tons of reasons why, but you can nail it on a few key factors: lackluster marketing, a mediocre sound format before they come up with improvements to it (like with MdLp), the emergence of recordable cd's at around the same time, the emergence of the mp3, really crappy software to transfer tunes from computer to minidisc, limitations on how many copies you can make from your computer (at first), and dumbed down tech brought here while other countries get the top of the line gear. Yeah, there's a whole lot stacked against these things. They're pretty much the Betamax of the music market. Ironic, huh? After all, Sony was the company that came up with Betamax back then too.
And yet, I still like using this format, and don't see myself going to an iPod or anything similar anytime soon. If at all.
The reason is simple: they are just better overal from my prespective. Besides the features I stated above, consider this: one AA battery keeps my player going for 45 hours. On average. It's actual listed time is 48, and that's just at the compression I happen to like playing at. If I wanted to comress even further, then we're talking 56 hours. Oh, and I can use rechargables. Other models use gumstick recharables, and they also last long, around 40 hours. Add a AA to it, and you've jumped it up higher. Two particular players made by Sharp I heard actually went 205 hours before needing a replacement battery. That's around 8 days of non stop playage! Now, that's longevity, and it's something I have yet to see mp3 players match. Worse, if you have an iPod, you're stuck with the battery that's in it. Granted, it can be recharged repeatedly for a while, but once you have to get it replaced, it's gonna cost you a bit of scratch to get it replaced... and you'll have to send it back to Apple to have it done too. On your own dime even. Yes, I know about the warrenty, but honestly, do your really think the battery is going to die before the warranty runs out?
Something else going for md recorders/players: durability. You have any idea how many times I dropped this thing? Well, actually not a whole lot, but enough to get annoying. It still works. Flawlessly. Cd players definitely can't do that; I've gone through 3 of them. And forget an mp3 player; those things can't have any shock damage done to their internal harddrives (if they have one. If they don't, md players still beat them... more later.). iPod users really have to be careful: you have a screen as well as that drive. Anything goes wrong with either, you pretty much lost $200+... AND your music. My unit cost me 80 bucks. Granted, the more advanced models can go into the hundreds also, but I know they can stand abuse better. And if they do happen to break, no problem: I still got my music on the minidiscs. As for the mp3 players that rely on external memory to hold music, well, how much are memory sticks again these days? I'm paying 2 bucks on average per disc, and I tend to find better deals than that. Once again: less money spent, more value in the long run.
Something else I just recently been told by an iPod user: sometimes those things freeze up. Think about that for a second: you just paid prices that ammount to the triple digits for something that is supposed to play music mostly... and it chokes up sometimes just doing that? Granted, many music players have problems sometimes. Records get scrached, and needles skip. Cassettes can get eaten. Cd's can get scrached up, and your music starts skipping and getting chopped up. Mindiscs... actually there haven't been any problems with my minidiscs. They don't skip. They don't get scratched up. They don't freeze in mid play. They just work. And they take a lot of abuse. I've literatlly taken a disc out of my recorder, thrown it on the ground hard, popped it back in, handed the player to the person watching, and told them to press play and tell me if anything got messed up. They press play and listen; the discs keep on going.
They don't take up thar much room either. I keep my recorder in my coat pocket mostly; sometimes in a side belt pouch. I also can keep a case of 5 discs in my pocket. Or I can use my usual set up: recorder in my pocket, 11 minidiscs in my back in a side pouch. True, it's not as portable as an iPod or other mp3 players that give you tons of music at the press of a button. But it's not like this is as combuersom as carrying the same amount of music in cassettes or worse, cd's. I have 2 and a half hours of music in each disks. Times that by 11, and you have a hell of a lot of music. That's way more than enough for me. I don't need to carry 40 gigs worth on me at all times. I wonder at times who the hell does. You certainly aren't going to be able to listen to all of it at once.
Things have gotten better for me on the software front too. Sony finally realized that people hated dealing with crappy and limiting software, so they actually came out with something worth using. Not only does it now run smoothly wihout crashing like the old versions of Sonicstage (the name of the software) did, but now, the latest version allows just about total file tranfters, from minidisc to computer and back again, with no restrictions whatsoever!! No copyright protection BS that kept you from copying your OWN files!! Bascially, that means I can record from a mike, copy the stuff from the disc onto my computer as a wav file, convert it to mp3, and send it out to... whoever!! Do you have any idea how easy it's gonna be to do radio shows with just me and Jit if I ever get a HiMd recorder??
I can go on and on, but I think you guys more than get the point. Minidisc may be dead in this country, but they still kick ass, and I'm still going to rock em. Even while Sony continues to make stupid moves with them (where the hell are the HiMd decks and bookshelf units in this country?!)
Anyways... back to what I was talking about before all this...
I'm thinking about upgrading to the HiMd players. HiMd basically can burn a lot more stuff onto a minidisc, and a hell of a lot faster too. They also can use 1gb discs, which is way more music than I think I need to listen to at once, but I can also store other times on them too, like movies, pics, word files, etc. So basically, they are a lot more versitile than the Net Md stuff. The only reasons why I was hesitant about switching up is pretty much price, the belief, which was proven wrong, that I wouldn't be able to record stuff in the older format for anyone who uses the older stuff (like when I pass my older units down to Jit's son and any children I will soon have), and the fact that there are no HiMd decks and/or bookshelf units being sold in this country, just the older stuff.
But they sure look pretty though, the portables:
mznh1 model
Cool looking isn't it? and that thing it's sitting in, with that little glass pannel? That's it's charging stand.
And this thing is pretty thin too!
side view
Beautiful, isn't it? Doesn't it make the techno geek in you just giggle frantically?
I can pick that baby up for $200 flat. It's actual price is supposed to be around $260 at the very least. What's holding me back is its battery life. Yeah, I know it's rechargable, but come on. 10 hours average???
There are two others I'm looking at too:
rh910 model
It's a nice looking model, and it's packed with features. The battery life is better too, around 25 hours average. Ok, I can life with that....
... but then there's this:
rh10 model
Now that's a sweet looking minidisc recorder. Notice the view pannel: it's lighted! That means I'd be able to view stuff in the dark with it! Also, nice battery life: 33 hours average. Much better.
I can pick that one up for $235, really not much more than the first HiMd model above. The other one I can get for $170. yeah, pretty much a steal, and probbly the best value out of the three, feature to price wise. Might go for it. But Jit needs one too, and I can't get her the same one I get... I know how she is. So... which one for her?
I'll figure it out. But in the meantime, they sure are nice to drool over. Almost as good as a certain sword... :-P
Oh, and just for good measure, these are those Sharp players with the insane battery life I was telling you about. Cry if you want em; they're only in japan.
mdds30-a
mdds30-r
mdds30-s
mdds30-w
mdds70-b
mdds70-r
mdds70-s
mdds70-w
Ok, tis it for the images. Sheesh, the things I do for you people....
EDIT: I had to make links for the images rather than simply have them posted here. My server has been slowing down a bit, possibly because of either image loading or proccessor lag. Till I find out what it is, these will just be links. Hey at least they work....