MiniDisk -- pro quality or not?

hiya,

I just set up a more or less pro-quality home studio (couple of synths, drum modules, pre-amps, compressor/limiter, pro CD recorder) to create some Drum 'n' Bass and Acid Jazz sound. Unfortunately I could only afford a Yamaha MD-8 8-track minidisk recorder. I can master on the CD, though.

How far can the MD recorder take me? I listened to some songs over and over again and can't tell the difference between MD and CD recordings. If I master from MD on CD, would the quality be sufficient to send my stuff out as demos to get signed, to DJs or record stores? Or do you think I should get a decent hard disk recorder or something else?? What would you suggest? Need you help!

thanxxx!

Use only ONE criteria to judge sound.

Your ears.(well, ok - that's two)

MD is a very stable, viable media that sounds so close to CD quality - not many people can tell the differance. To be honest, the weakest link in your studio is not the MD - it's the mixer section of the MD8. It's ok, but ONLY ok.

You can make very respectable music demos with that gear, so my advice is to mix with open ears and see where the music takes you. Concentrate on making the MUSIC as good as you can. Producers are not as interrested in the "recording" end of your demo. Make the song sell itself, and everything else will come along in perspective.

Good luck.

thanks a lot, Uncle Dave!

Your PC is your hard disk...get a good sound card and Cubase, Cakewalk, etc. If your PC is at least a Penitium I 166 you will get more tracks at pro quality...minidisk is not pro.

thanks a lot for your reply, guys!

I actually don't want to use a computer (even though I have a powerful one) to create/record music. I lov my rack-mounted gear and the stand-alone synths, drum modules, etc. I also put my tenor sax solor on top of what I create -- mixing everyting together on a large mixer gives me sort of a "live feeling". Only when I tweak the knobs it feels like I really make some music. I even don't use midi other than synchronizing to a master bpm.

Here's my follow-up question:
why is minidisk not considered pro? When I listen to md sound, I can barely hear the difference compared to a CD. MD is still far better than vinyl, is it? Some artists (e.g. Fat Boy Slim) only use their vinyl collection to rip off beats, sample sound, etc, and create their own sound. You can actually hear the hiss and cracking on their track. Even if they master on a high-quality medium, it's still the vinyl quality, right? Thanxxxxx :-)

last question before I'll stop bothering you :-)

If I want to replace my Yamaha MD-8 multitrack recorder with a decent 16 track recording system, what would you recommend other than a computer? Am I better off with a 16-track digital workstation (including mixer, effects, harddrive) or is it better to use a 16-track high-quality stand-alone digital mixer, some outboard effects units and an external hard disk recorder?

"The difference is that a MiniDisc uses a digital compression technique called ATRAC (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding) when storing music.

The ATRAC technique compresses the data by a factor of about 5 to 1. ATRAC is a "lossy" compression algorithm, meaning that it changes the music very slightly upon decompression".

The fact that CD recording is professional and cheaper...alot cheaper...the disk are free...I would go with CDRWs. The more you master, the more you will be able to tell the difference. Obviously, a professional can make a cassette sound better than many of us using CDs. When it comes to editing/mastering, how would you do it without a PC or Mac?

It still comes down to "how it sounds" Forget the compression ratio's and the frequency specs .... if you can't hear a difference - then there IS NO DIFFERENCE !
The ears are everything in this business of music - stop reading, and start listening.
I still use MD's for some things, and CD's for others, and MP3's and WMA's for others still - it's all good ..... in it's place.
The only advice I have about the future of MD is that I fear it may not be here as long as the CD format. If I didn't already own MD gear .... I doubt that I'd spend too much on building a studio around it. I still like hard disk systems with real mixers, with REAL knobs, and REAL sliders .... it's so much easier than a menu driven system .... at least at the moderate level. At the pro level ($40,000 and up) then I might prefer a different set up.
For my hard earned money - a Tascam digital 8 track (VSR880) with a Mackie 1604VLZpro, TC finalizer & effects and a modest monitor set up (Sony 100watt home stereo powering EVENT 20/20's and Optimus bookshelf's) is plenty to produce very respectable recordings. The engineer, human ears and experience are far mnore valuable than the media used. Remember Sgt. Peppers ????????
(NO one would use that gear today)

AAAAGGGGHHHHHH!!!!! UNCLE DAVEEEEE!!! You forced me to read..."It's all good"....I cringe everytime I hear someone say that (about every 10 seconds on MTV)...

I'm better now...sorry Uncle Dave...my bad (as you kids say today)

Kids? I have four of my own (actually three and a MAN)- haven't been called a kid in a long time .... and just for the record - my usage of "it's all good" was not intended as the overused context that the "kids" use today - reread the post ... you'll see that I was just showing that the collective nature of my comparison of MD's CD's and WMA files were all, in fact good - in their own proper place. (splitting hairs?)
This sounds so stuffy when typed, but I hear ya - I hate the overuse of phrases too. If I had a nickle for every time my daughters said "like" in the WRONG context - I could(Like) retire and (like)buy a Genesis, but I'd (like)hate it, I'm sure !

or..."Like chill dad, it's all good"....aaaagggghhhhhh. I realized your reference when I first read it, didn't help...I get the same feeling when people do the "raise the roof" with their hands...I feel better now...you give the best advice on the board.

[This message has been edited by WS (edited 06-23-2002).]

This board has so much help available - I'm proud to contribute. I get back more than I give in advice and support.

Hiya Uncle Dave,

if you are getting a lot of help from this board -- just imagine how "newbies" like me would be lost without it! In fact you are a GREAT member with tons of useful tips & hints :-)

This is a special place. Let's not forget that.

"Wa-da-ta!, Sine your pitty on the runny kine!, Sipitai!"...Pootie Tang

Uhhhh, ok, I guess.