Records to minidisc or cd???

I would really appreciate some help...

The old man has recently downsized and doesn't have room for his large hifi and records. What is the easiest (& cheapest) way for him to convert his records to mini disc or CD. He doesn't have a PC.

Regards,

Justin

 

CD-Audio is arguably better quality, and it's prices have now come right down. Try here:- CDRmedia to compare the two. A decent CD recorder can be picked up from ebay for a sensible price, say a Marantz DR6000 for good quality recording and playback, or a Pioneer PDR-609 if you want to get him a VFM new machine which is ok on both.

Personaly (personaly that is!) I find Minidisc to "thin", and lacking a little detail, by comparison with CD recordable. If you want to go for Minidisc, the Sony players are ok, with the MDS-JE480 being ace VFM. Hifibitz are doing it for around £110.

 

CD every time- my Yamaha CDRHD1300 allows me to pop the record on the HD, put the two sides together and make sure it sounds correct before popping it on the CDR at 4x speed. Once you've got one of these, you'll never go back to a "normal" CDR.

 

Thanks very much. I didn't realise CD writers had A/C converters

Have you seen any mini systems around with a CD writer? I'll have a search around now but I haven't seen one recently.

 

I found the Yamaha CDRHD1300 for £399 which looks a good nice and a rather good piece of kit. I hadn't thought about HD as well. Could probably fit most of his albums on that Thanks again :Grin:

 

I started doing this, then thought I bet I can download everything.
Almost all my collection was available to download.
The question is, is it piracy if you download a MP3 version of a record you already own?

 

He can either buy a Minidisc deck or a CD burning deck and a record player with a Line-level output (if he doesn't own anything to get a record deck output to a line level signal). Sony do one.


Minidisc, as good as it's sound quality can be, is a lossy compression method and it's proprietary too, so I'd suggest going for a CD burning deck.

 

I wondered that too! I think the answer is yes, as they are claiming the file shouldn't be transmitted without the authors consent in the first place.

 

you can't just connect a record player to a cdr/md deck. the output level is too low. either put the record player through a 'phono' input on an amp, then out to a md/cdr deck, or buy something like a Bush Mtt1 or Sony PSJ20 record deck that has a preamplifier built in. Then you can connect it to a recorder.

As for which option....i don't think MD is that bad really. The entry level Sony '480 is pretty rough and ready, but if you find a 2nd hand '980 or '940 available they're pretty good. Alternatively, £150ish will get you a Pioneer PDR609 cd recorder or i'm using a £180 Philips CDR796 twin deck cd/cdr which seems to be ok and makes nigh on perfect copies of cds.

 

I'd second (or third etc.) the Yamaha CDRHD1300 recommendation for storage and CD-R compilation - takes the guesswork out and makes great digital and/or analogue copies. There's a 120GB version out now which I'd love to have (my 80GB is starting to fill up...). I'd only say that it's a lot bulkier (deeper) than most full-sized separates, so you need plenty of shelf depth...

As much as I love MD (I own several decks), I wouldn't want to keep my record collection (or the only copy of it) in this format, due to the lossy compression mentioned. MD's great for portable compilations, far better than CD for portability. There's a new version of MD called Hi-MD out now which offers uncompressed recording, so that might be a contender for storage/archiving when they (Sony etc.) start releasing some heavy Hi-MD audio equipment (if ever...).

 

Fair comment about MD. Thanks. Can you not set the recording volume on the Yammy CDRHD1300?

Rozzar is saying the output is too low but surely if you pass it through the amp anyway it should be OK. I never had a problem as a kid copying from record to tape.

 

Yes, you can set the recording level on the HD1300 in steps of 0.4 dB.

What Rozzar means is that the raw output of an unamped record deck would be too low, even with the Yamaha's rec level set to max (~16dB IIRC). You need some sort of amplification of the record player's output before it gets to the recorder, either built in as in the Bush MTT1 (or your Dad's player may have a built in pre-amp), or through the phono stage of a typical hi-fi amplifier.

Anyway, what goes into the recorder must be a line-level signal, otherwise you're sure to get distortion...

 

I think I'm there. His record player doesn't have an amp. So just to confirm...I plug the record deck into his amp. Then from the amp I take out two phono's (red&white analogue) into the HD1300. Is that right?

 

Yes, but please be careful which plugs go where, or you'll risk damaging something or other....

The record deck should be plugged into the Phono input of the amp (if there is one) - but only if you're sure the record player's output isn't amped. If you discover it is amped, use another input - VCR, DVD, MD etc,. and NOT Phono . The Yamaha's red/white line input then connects to the amp's line out - this will probably be on a Tape Out or MD Out loop, or possibly Aux Out sockets.

From then onwards, recording should be a doddle.....

 

Cool Cheers mate. I didn't realise the phone inputs were any different from the MD, VCR etc. You learn something new everyday.