[BC] Mini Discs - Good or ? (newsgathering)

[dean tiernan]

essage: 1
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 2006 19:46:02 +0100
From: Goran Tomas <goran.tomas at email.htnet.hr>
Subject: Re: [BC] Mini Discs - Good or ?
To: "Broadcasters' Mailing List" <broadcast at radiolists.net>


--- At 18.1.2006 12:21, Mark W Earle wrote: ---

> >We're looking in to portable Mini disc recorders for some on - site news
> >and comments gathering. Comments? The small Sony's in the 350-500 range
> >are what is under consideration.
>   

I strongly suggest you go with solid state recorders. MiniDisc is 
mechanical and therefore by definition prone to problems. Though Sony 
portable MDs seem to be of good built quality, there's is nothing 
that a news person/reporter can't brake in a pretty short period of 
time. Besides solid state recorders makes transferring to PC a breeze.

There's a wealth of units available to choose from (which was not the 
case a few years ago): HHB FlashMic, Marantz PMD-660, Sony PCM-D1, 
Tascam HD-P2, Nagra Ares-M, M-Audio Microtrak, AEQ DR 100, Edirol R-1...


Regards,
Goran Tomas 

************************

Speaking as a former digital audio prod manager and current freelance reporter, may I STRONGLY agree with Goran. The new Cingular Itunes phone would be a better idea than a mini disk. I like the HHB Flasmic....all in one idea very much. Harris sells the unit which works with a PDA....it as far as I am concerned is the perfect newsgathering tool, an HP wireless IPAC and PocketRec. Now its not cheap, but many people already use PDAs...record, edit and transmit from the Palm size device...absolutely. 

I do not like moving parts...there are many times (even now, when I am running after someone and a whirling disk is not gonna take it. I know some of my cohorts disagree, but I covered the World Series with a codec, that had audio editing built in and it was great, I had ready made edited mp3 or mp2 or even .WAV to upload. Also with SD memory that can be popped out and into a reader.......there is just no way I would ever use minidisk. You get back to the station, plug your sd memory disk into a read, drag and drop to Audition and fly...

Think mic, cables, batteries, disks on one hand. Mic, cable, batteries on the other. No comparison. The time savings alone is worth the initial investment (in my not so humble opinion).

-- 
Dean
www.Audicy.net
www.DeanTiernan.com