Mini-Disc Recorder for Super-8?

[Scott Spears]

I'm thinking about buying a mini-disc recorder for recording sound with my super-8 movies, so what do people recommend? My other choice is the Sony Walkman style DAT recorder.

Also, are there any concerns when using a mini-disc recorder?

Scott

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[MikeBrantley]

I'm not up to date on the current models and prices, but my former Sony MD recorder had one annoying feature that I would want to avoid. It emulated a tape recorder in that it always started recording at whatever playback point you stopped at -- so when putting in a disc with previous material on it, you could easily record over stuff. Very dumb! I replaced it with an Aiwa unit that does not do this. When you press Record, recording starts at the end of previously recorded material in a new track.

I don't think other Sony decks did this, but I'm not sure. The model I had (a really tiny one but I can't think of the number) probably isn't made any more.

Good luck! My article on the subject is at http://www.super8filmmaking.com/s8sound.htm and a great online resouce for MD info is http://www.minidisc.org/



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--Mike Brantley

[mattias]

if you're not planning on using a mixer, you'll need one with balanced inputs with power feed. otherwise they say sharp makes the best md's for recording. i have a low end sharp, and it does indeed record better analog audio than a similar sony a friend om mine has. there's this rental place around the corner from where i live, where i get a shotgun, a boom and a small mixer for $20 a weekend, and i record on my cheap consumer md. am i crazy? i think not. :-)

[Matt Pacini]

I use a sharp MD-MS702B, and so far, it's great.
I must say though, I haven't used it all the way into an edit session.
I mean, I've tested it, and recoreded stuff, but I haven't used it in an actual shoot yet, and synced the audio, etc.
But it's pretty nice, and not very expensive.

Matt Pacini

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[rollemfilm]

i use the marantz pmd 650. it's a great machine that has xlr inputs and phantom power. i first choice was the small pcm dat recorder from sony, but i decided against it because of the inputs restrictions and that you need to use (i think) the rechargable that comes with it. with the marantz, you can use either aa or nicads. the mini disks themselves are as cheap as $2.00 each. better than cassette. and the best thing is random access of the tracks. my one concern however is that the shell casing is not very hefty. but, when you're slinging a recorder and a mixer over your shoulder, it's a blessing. even though it's very expensive, it's really cheaper than dat machines of the same design, just a bit more than the sony pcm dat. i use a blooper made by the film group. if you ever decide to use one of these, make sure you tell them that you want one with a phantom by-pass, otherwise you will get a power feed back and no power to your phantom mic. i guess the phantom power in these are fairly complex.
the one real complaint is that it does eat batteries. i don't know why this is since there are not that many moving parts. the drain must come from the internal memory and phantom powering needs. you are locked into one sampling rate at cd quality. if you really need extreme high end sampling you may want to go with a dat. since the machine has analog and digital out, for me it has not been an issue. infact, the less i need to worry about the better. otherwise, i am very happy with the recorder. hope this helps.

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[rollemfilm]

with my recorder i have two options. analog out or digital out. so far, i have only used the analog out. we have been doing this because we need to pull back the audio, and it seems easier to dub the audio in non-drop frame and the video is inported into the avid as drop frame. (or is it the other way around?)

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[Nigel]

I have used MD but I still think that DAT or Nagra is your better choice since they are more widely recognized within the industry. Also I have heard although I have never run into any problems that the Compression Algorithm used in MD can be a bit of trouble. Good Luck

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[8th Man]

How does one get the material into the computer in post? Do they have usb ports or something?

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PRM

[rollemfilm]

the compression problem was something that the first md recorders seemed to have a few years ago. with the marantz there is no problem, and i doubt that marantz or HHB would build professional recorders if there was a problem. dat tape is good, but you still get drop out. and i would say for mastering music, use dat. but for field recording, the mini disk is a dream come true.

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[rollemfilm]

oh yes, my first choice would be analog. nothing really beats it. i still use cassette when i can. but i can't afford the great Nagra or the tape, wish i could.

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