Sony net MD

[Milo]

anyone know much about these as i'm considering one at the mo.
I know it connects to the comp for quick music transfer (32x i think) and you can do this with MP3's but does it store the digitally on the MD or convert them to analogue and take up more space?
I don't think it's possible to get a MD writing at 32x so surely it must store and read them as digital music?
Surely if it stores them digitally I'll be able to have loads of music on a lil MD without all this MDLP compression stuff?

Thanks for any info in advance!
Milo

[TiN]

MDs are digital anyway (and so are CDs)...the data stored on MDs are highly compressed, and the MDLP format even more so.

They're not *that* expensive nowadays, but I mainly dub MDs for the player in the car, which is rather old and doesn't support MDLP so I really can't be arsed with it.

Go for it.
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TiN
dotgems.net

[Milo]

I couldn't remember the right word so i used analogue.
I meant does it convert the MP3's to normal CD/MD audio or does it store them digitally? A 650 meg MP3 storage space would be quite handy! Maybe it'd even act like a mini hard drive? but maybe i'm expecting too much

[andrew]

I know its in the sun but this review shows how good the new md recorders are

https://www.thesun.co.uk/section/0,,2001310000,00.html

personally i think md is the best audio format out there.

[Milo]

But do you know anything about the Net MD, where it can be connected to a comp and music downloaded to it?
I've always had them on my desirable list but never really had the cash going spare.

[TiN]

Sony did produce an MD-based removable storage device once, but scrapped it soon afer it was released (it was expensive and the special MDs could only contain about 200meg of data). Sony use their own file-format and encoding method (ATRAC?) which is often better quality than MP3 and a smaller file size too.
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TiN
dotgems.net

[Milo]

Yeah, it is ATRAC i think. Their software converts MP3 and others to this.
Why did it need special discs and recorder? Surely it'd just be a case of new hardware/firmware to write the data but the writer itself would be the same?

I can't get to that link cos my IT dept have blocked it?!
any chance someone could copy the main text and plonk it into a text document for me?

Cheers

[TiN]

[Milo]

eek, maybe it's just me in a rush here at work.
How much music can it store in this digital (ATRAC?) format? is it more than normal audio in the normal mode?

[TiN]

A normal MD should store the same amount (time-wise) as a normal CD, and I think that's how ATRAC works - the compression algorithm is based on the length of the sample, rather than the original file-size.

As for "why the special MDs"...well, as I've said, the music is squeezed onto an MD, rather than just "put" on there, and it's a lot easier to compress a stream of data reliably than chunks of data. So, in order to store data (files, programs etc), the structure of the MD (i.e. the underside that is "burnt") needs to be completely different - the data is not compressed.

There is/was also an MD camcorder, which I followed (and drooled over) for a little while, but the fact that each MD could only store about 10 mins of high-quality video was a bit crap!
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TiN
dotgems.net

[Milo]

I thought ATRAC is only on the newer Net MD's and Sony digital players.
MD's use the same distance between grooves as CD's-measured this in physics once before. They hold the same amount of data as they are double sided.

[TiN]

[Milo]

Oh
For years i've been thinking that they were, doh!

[TiN]

It's ok, but do you really think that MD recorders could be so cheap (relatively speaking) if they had dual lasers?

So are you gonna get one then?
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TiN
dotgems.net

[Milo]

That's a good point, and i really should have guessed by the fact that there's no way there's a hidden, miniture laser in the lid of the thing!

I'll be getting one in a couple of months, i'll wait for the "revolutionary new" Net MD thing to get old, and maybe another company will bring something out like it.

Cheers for the info.
Ads

[andrew]

[Milo]

Cheers mate, don't have time to read that review at work but i'll check it out when i get home.

[skippy]

Hi
I got a Sony Net MD - the MZ-N707
I download a lot my songs off Kazaa, or the others i just get off my CD's
Sony supply a program called Open MG-Jukebox with the player. All you gotta do is either browse through your PC files, and find the songs where you stored them, or select the drive u have put the CD into. It then converts the music files (in whatever format they are in - MP3, .wav etc) into ATRAC. It then records them onto normal minidiscs.
To record a 1 hour album into ATRAC and then onto the disc takes about 5 minutes or so.I record them on LP4, and the qualities fine, and i can store 3 - 4 albums on 1 disc.
Oh yea it connects through a USB port.
Probably repeated everything that has been said already, but im tired, and cant be assed to organise it all in my head
Its all really easy to use, and i would recommend them

Chris

[Milo]

Nice one, thanks mate.
I didn't realise that MD's could write that quick though!

[Bhaal85]

I am now gonna confuse things even more. They only transfer upto 32x if you have usb 2.0 posts, not the standard usb 1.0 ports. By the way, I am thinkin of sellin my md that supports mdlp 4. its a sony md mzn505.[/i]

[Milo]

Well my old motherboard'll prob only be USB 1 so it'll be a little slower.
Sorry mate, i was really after a net MD

[TiN]

I think the fastest that USB 1.0 can muster is 4 -6 speed (that was the case with CD-writers anyway) but that's still faster than direct dubbing.
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TiN
dotgems.net

[Milo]

I can live with 4-6, but as it'll be in ATRAC the amount of data transfered per audio second is less so it should be more like 12-20...i hope!
We'll find out when i get the thing.
or if i'm a speed freak i'm sure there's a PCI USB2 card out there for not too much money

[Demonic69]

About £20
it'll still only bee 4x but you'll be sending less data
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Back on a Blade. Just feels so right.

[TiN]

It's funny that you should mention that ...'cos I've got a nearly-new (bought about a year ago, but not used) USB 2.0 card that I don't need...it's a Belkin and has 4 ports...
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TiN
dotgems.net