Mini Disc Players?

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I would like to establish what a mini disc player is, is it defined as an ipod? or Walkman?
Sorry for this stupid question but I need to get one and was wondering what would be good enough brand to use for sound effects on stage any advice? Please not what you buy in the toy shops
Also does it take Mini Discs as in computer mini discs and can I burn my effects from normal CD to mini discs?...Help will be appreciated on this subject...Remember I'm poor so don't start offering me things that cost thousands, unless someone is kind in donating one to me:D ..Huh! (fat chance of that happening)...(Just kidding)...Thanks
 
MiniDisc is a failed digital audio format developed by sony in the 1990's. It was supposed to supplant CD's but never really took off. http://www.minidisc.org/part_What_are_MiniDiscs.html
You're going to struggle to find any minidisc players. Speak to the people at your local audio shop who are Sony Distributors, maybe they will be able to hook you up.
 
Thanks very much for the info... If that's the case I'll just stick to a CD player less complications...What about an ipod?
 
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BobJones said:
MiniDisc is a failed digital audio format developed by sony in the 1990's. It was supposed to supplant CD's but never really took off. http://www.minidisc.org/part_What_are_MiniDiscs.html
You're going to struggle to find any minidisc players. Speak to the people at your local audio shop who are Sony Distributors, maybe they will be able to hook you up.
Click to expand...

Never took off outside of Japan. Still very popular over there although
everyone now wants the iPod. :)
 
I still have a Sony MD player. It was great but havent used it for ages. The only downside was the capacity of the discs. They are about the same size as a PSP disc. Excellent audio quality. Used to copy CDs onto MD via the fibre optic output on a DVD player and the sound was incredible even on the headphones. Could also carry it around and plug it into aux ports on hifis etc.
 
I saw some MD players at HiFi corp a while back - have not been there for ages so don't know if they still have stock. They also sold the disks. A walkman might be the way to go but don't get the cheap and nasty ones, they suck. An iPod might be the way to go. It connects to sound systems easy and its also easy to keep music organised via a PC.
For the full shpiel on MD, look here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minidisk
 
Great thanks for all the info, I would now say that the ipod is the way to go,
unless I can get a MD player and MD's, I need to find out which would be the easiest to hook up to a sound system and get the best sound quality from the two. What Any suggestions and where can I get one, the problem with the ipods they are expensive and I see it as a waste because I'm only going to have about 40 different sounds/effects so what do you think?
For those who are experienced with this sought of thing,which way should I go?...Looking at quality. Reliability and wear n tear.
Only sensible remarks please!...Thanks

What are the capacities of the MD's?
 
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After reading the Wiki on the MD, that seems to be an excellent choice - 80 min capacity - recording up to 45 hours via compression (ATRAC). And the fact you can record on the go it would seem....
 
Apple and most MP3 player manufacturers deliberately cripple the recording quality in order to please the RIAA.

If you want to record decent quality sound :

Don't get a Sony Minidisc!
Sony made it impossible to transfer the recordings in digital format to your PC - you have to recapture the recording with your sound card in your PC.
digital on MD => analogue to PC => digital on PC

Don't get an iPod!
Most of them don't have recording capabilities and the ones that do are crippled such as a maximum of 32 kHz sampling rates.
Even the iPod recording addons only support 8 bits per channel which is terrible for music.

Don't get an MP3 player that does direct encoding to MP3 like iAudio or iRiver players.
Even though they may have a line-in and can encode directly to 128 kbps (iAudio U2,U3) or 320 kbps (iRiver T20/T30,etc) the quality of the encoding is bad for music.

The solution :
If you want to do decent music recordings and don't want to pay a lot of money then the only solution at the moment seems to be the Gemini iKey or Gemini iKey Plus.
The iKey records to any UMS USB device so you can plug in a flash drive, external USB hard drive or into you PC and it will capture at CD quality WAV (16 bits/channel @ 44.1 kHz) or to MP3 (320 kbps for the iKey Plus).
The MP3 encoder is high quality and not like that found in some of the MP3 Players with line-in.
The iKey plus has a mic pre-amp with phantom power so you can plug in a high quality studio microphone and do some decent recordings.
There is no playback feature but it's meant to be a capture only device - not an MP3 player.
They cost about R1000 to R1500 in SA.
http://www.ikey-audio.com/ikeyplus.htm

The only other one I'd recommend is the M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 but that's expensive.
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MicroTrack2496-main.html

I'm going to try to get an iKey Plus when I can afford to.
Thank the recording industry for this nonsense. :mad:
 
Thanks everyone but I think that there's a point being missed here...I'm not using it for recording I'm using it for play back only. The effects will be recorded onto the discs via studio and will be played back by MD player via PA System
 
adsl3g said:
After reading the Wiki on the MD, that seems to be an excellent choice - 80 min capacity - recording up to 45 hours via compression (ATRAC). And the fact you can record on the go it would seem....
Click to expand...

Thanks adsl3g,
That's what I needed to know, thanks for the info, although Paul_S had some very good info on the recording side, I really just want to use it for playback...Hell if I want to record, I will get it done Professionally...My agreement with PF is that we are not allowed to do any recordings or make CD's I have been given special permission to use the sound effects that's been sent to me from the UK...So basically I'm using the system strictly for play back...Thanks very much for all the useful info
 
I don't think you should lock yourself into minidisc at this late stage. Its essentially legacy technology.

If playback is what you are after, then you should go with an ipod or ipod nano since it supports Apple lossless format and up to 320kbps on AAC and MP3.
Just make sure that you use a line out via an apple dock or these from Sendstation, cuz the headphone jack isn't a proper lineout in the current models.

An entry level 2gig 2G nano should be just fine. The screen gives you good control plus you can setup playlists to line-up your effects. If you want to be fancy you can get remote control using the universal dock and the apple remote control.

IMHO the only people who complain about ipod sound quality are those that rip at very low bit rates in lossy formats. GIGO.
 
BobJones said:
I don't think you should lock yourself into minidisc at this late stage. Its essentially legacy technology.

If playback is what you are after, then you should go with an ipod or ipod nano since it supports Apple lossless format and up to 320kbps on AAC and MP3.
Just make sure that you use a line out via an apple dock or these from Sendstation, cuz the headphone jack isn't a proper lineout in the current models.

An entry level 2gig 2G nano should be just fine. The screen gives you good control plus you can setup playlists to line-up your effects. If you want to be fancy you can get remote control using the universal dock and the apple remote control.

IMHO the only people who complain about ipod sound quality are those that rip at very low bit rates in lossy formats. GIGO.
Click to expand...

Thanks very much for this info...It's nice but far too expensive for me...
 
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BobJones said:
MiniDisc is a failed digital audio format developed by sony in the 1990's. It was supposed to supplant CD's but never really took off. http://www.minidisc.org/part_What_are_MiniDiscs.html
You're going to struggle to find any minidisc players. Speak to the people at your local audio shop who are Sony Distributors, maybe they will be able to hook you up.
Click to expand...

Ahem.... MiniDisc was and still is POPULAR in Japan where virtually every kid owned a MiniDisc player in the 90s and they still sell well over there. Of course now everyone wants an iPod :).
 
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