RE: MD: First Mini-CD player available - Beatman
Official product page for Beatman Mini-CD player http://www.freecom.com/ecCategory_one.asp?ID=8009type=DRIVE%5FIN Beatman detailed links ordering http://www.freecom.com/ecProduct_detail.asp?ID=134nr=16194 $127 Euro = $111 US $152 Euro with shipping = $133 US total 103mm l x 95 mm w x 29 mm h MZ-R900 is 75 mm l x 75 mm w CD players are 155 mm l x 130 mm w So this player is in between a CD and MD player, but I think a Mini-CD player could have a smaller area than a MD area -- what is the area of an 80 mm circle vs. an MD rectangle? http://www.freecom.com/ecProduct_detail.asp?ID=137 $35 Euro for 25 Mini CD-Rs with jewel cases = $21.91 US = $0.88 US each 185 MB, 8 CM diameter Press release: http://www.freecom.com/ecnewsitem.asp?ID=451 Heavy Demand for New Freecom Beatman Berlin, July 2001. Export demand for the new Beatman mini CD player, the revolutionary portable MP3 mini CD player, has exceeded all expectations, according to manufacturer, Freecom Technologies, based in Delft, The Netherlands. By restructuring its production logistics Freecom is able to assure European markets that Beatman supplies will be readily available from August onwards. In recent years Freecom has established a reputation as a leading manufacturer of high quality multimedia storage solutions for the computer hardware market. Its main target group to date has been 'early adopters' who have been particularly keen on the external CD writers in the Traveller and Portable series, now in its second generation. Freecom is targeting this user group to meet their demand for innovative, practical and cost effective ways to listen to MP3 music. The Beatman is the result of this product development and fills a significant gap in the market for building a personal portable music library. The surprise has been the almost immediate mass market appeal of the Beatman that has sent demand soaring. Peter de Waal, Product Manager for the Beatman at Freecom Europe explains: We certainly expected Beatman to become a favourite with the mass audience down the line, he says, but our launch to the more specialist market has been picked up by the mass media and generated much wider demand than we planned for initially. That's great and we have rapidly adjusted our production schedules to take this into account and meet demand with the minimum delay. Naturally we are delighted by the response, adds de Waal. The increasing availability of music on the Internet and greater awareness and use of the MP3 format have also encouraged change in the storage market. Now, mini CDs offer a practical alternative to expensive MP3 memory chips and provide much higher music capacity, storing some 850 MB of data or 210 minutes of music. MP3 music files are simply downloaded from the internet, using the free software provided with the Beatman. A CD rewriter is used to burn selections on to mini CD's which can then be played anytime on the Beatman. So, in contrast to the majority of portable MP3 players, the Beatman offers a music lovers a chance to build and personalise a truly portable listening library in a light an convenient format, played on the new trend-setting Beatman mini CD player. ___ Comments please? My initial take is that mini-CD players will eclipse portable CD players, portable MP3 players, portable cassette players, and portable MiniDisc players. Michael Hoffman http://www.amptone.com/audio - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word unsubscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
MD: copy protection on cd's
Howdy all, no this isn't the smcs discussion any more it's something even more evil IMHO, i'm curious about this latest trend from our favorite people out there the RIAA http://www.stereophile.com/shownews.cgi?1094 anyway with this being implimented, i'm curious if anyone has ran across one of these cd's and tried to copy it to a md digitally? I have not purchased an audio cd in quite a while since i've not heard anything i like recently so i dont have any with this protection on it. I am mostly curious if it transfers over to the MD in a bad way? what i'm asking is does this distort digital recording also not just people ripping to MP3? and what about on cd/md combo decks that can do 2x and 4x recording (if there are 4x recorderd i forget) anyway if anyone has any info it would be appreciated. - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word unsubscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: MD: First Mini-CD player available - Beatman
Michael Hoffman wrote: Comments please? My initial take is that mini-CD players will eclipse portable CD players, portable MP3 players, portable cassette players, and portable MiniDisc players. Personally, I have no interest at all in those Mini-CD players, even though they now play MP3's. It may be physically small, but still suffers all the drawbacks of CD-R/RW, such as the inability to copy/move/edit tracks, to record 1 track at a time, etc. Basically it is the same thing as regular CD-R/RW MP3 players, just smaller. I don't have any interesting in purchasing one of these until it becomes a widely accepted standard. If this doesn't happen, then I'll never get one. For me, MD still seems like a more elegant solution. If NetMD is as good as I'm hoping it is, I would definitely prefer NetMD recorder over a Mini-CD player. I have the habit of hearing 1 new song on the radio that I like, I download the MP3, then I record it to the current MD that I've been listening to in the car. I do this frequently. I would hate to have to wait till I have a small collection of MP3's before I can burn them to a Mini-CD. Shawn - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word unsubscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: MD: md-l-digest V3 #72
In message [EMAIL PROTECTED] Simon Mackay wrote: Most HiFi VCRs do support this form of recording. This can be done by selecting LINE-IN on the VCR and hooking up a radio tuner to the audio inputs. You don't hook anything up to the video inputs. This isn't true of VHS HiFi machines I've tried in the UK: they need a video signal at the same time, or they simply won't record. Probably the video is required for locking the speed of the tape transport. But you can feed them with a dummy video source in parallel with your radio -- even an old games console will do, if it outputs something approximating to a broadcast waveform. Up to a few months ago I used MiniDiscs for recording radio, but now I use a PC with digital satellite card, streaming the DVB data direct to hard disc. In Europe, digital radio programmes are broadcast in mp2 form, mostly in stereo at 128, 192 or 256kbit/s, depending on the broadcaster, although there's one mono DAB station hereabouts that's at only 64kbit/s. A hard disc of the capacity routinely fitted to new PCs could record continuously for two or three weeks, Windows permitting. I cut up the recordings afterwards with MP3 Butcher (it handles mp2 too) and use CD-R for any I want to keep; it's possible to get 6-10 hours of stereo on to a single CD-R, depending on the data rate. Cost of the recording medium is incredibly low and playback quality is identical to the original broadcasts -- which cannot be said of MD recordings. I switched to using CD-Rs when a two-hour programme I like suddenly became available in stereo. I could have bought an LP-capable MD machine instead. But its recordings would have been unplayable on my other MD machines, which would have thus instantly become useless. Richard Lambley - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word unsubscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: MD: Recording MDs with microphones...
On the subject of building your own mixing system for MD, what do you find lacking in commercially available mixers that would prompt you want to build your own? I can see that battery power and small size could be requirements not met by many mixers. In addition to the requirements you mention above: 1. Plug-in power for inexpensive, high quality electret microphones. 2. Reduced number of physical controls through software. (Use a few rotary encoders to replace a lot of potentiometers.) 3. Adjust levels *before* the A/D to prevent overload while maximizing dynamic range. Most modern MD recorders have fixed gain *berfore* the A/D; not a good thing! Also, why add the A/D? Are MD's converters lacking? (Or is it that the digital out is an advantage if it results in the automatic level control being bypassed.) The extremely low voltages and long battery endurance of modern portable MD players must be made at a trade-off to audio quality. Also, their small size makes proper shilelding and isolation of the analog section difficult. One other advantage of one of the Crystal Seminconductor A/D chips I've been looking at is that it incorporates a metering circuit that gives an accurate digital readout in 1 dB steps down to -70 dB. While working on a unrelated project a few years ago, I used a 16 character x 2 line LCD as a high resoltion analog bar-graph meter with software controlled ballistics, as well as for its normal text display function. What other features for MD would you look for in a mixer design? Since the proposed design would be software controlled, it could adjust the channel level trim automatically for optimum performance. The design would sort of be like a modern point-and-shoot auto-focus camera. - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word unsubscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: MD: Recording MDs with microphones...
Curiously, I am currently contemplating designing a small digital mixer for location recording (not specifically to MD, but entirely usable with it). My day job is DSP design (both hardware and software) for recording studio equipment (www.cedaraudio.com); my hobbies are performing and recording classical music (oh, and furniture making...). It recently occurred to me that a small digital mixer is quite feasible as a DIY project with careful design. Other complicated bits (such as FPGA designs and firmware) can be distributed in binary form. 3. Adjust levels *before* the A/D to prevent overload while maximizing dynamic range. Most modern MD recorders have fixed gain *berfore* the A/D; not a good thing! It is technically correct that to maximise ADC performance you should do the gain control before the ADC; however, with modern ADC chips you can get extremely good performance (up to about 100dB dynamic range, depending on details) with this analogue gain control being pretty crude (I am planning 3 or 4 settings spanning approximately a 50dB range). I agree that most small MD recorders do this to keep the cost down with little regard to audio quality, and probably don't even have the crude analogue gain switching that I suggest. The performance I'm aiming for will not be the same as that obtained with truly professional ADCs costing megabucks, but the DSP will be second to none and I expect the unit overall to be good enough for producing commercial CD releases. The unit will be portable but not battery powered. I'd expect the parts cost to be of the order of $400 to $500 for a 1-off. My project essentially comprises 8 XLR mic-line inputs, each with switchable gain and phantom power. The resulting audio is passed to a DSP which has independent level and pan controls for each channel, a master level control, and a parametric EQ on the output. It would be possible to have EQ on individual channels but it would make the control surface either expensive, or fiddly to use, and I'd rarely use it in my application anyway. As well as the digital master out (dithered/truncated as necessary) there is a separate analogue monitor out which will drive headphones, but which is really designed to drive a pair of active monitor speakers directly. This monitor out normally follows the main mix, but also allows solo and PFL functions which don't interfere with the main mix (which is what gets recorded). There will be decent level meters on the monitor out. The control surface will probably comprise 9 faders (8 inputs plus a master), plus an LCD display, soft keys and opto encoder to set other parameters. The make-or-break of this project probably depends on whether I can get a hobbyist electronics magazine to publish the design. The purpose of this posting is too see if there is significant interest in this forum that I can use as leverage with potential publishers, so let me have your comments! While working on a unrelated project a few years ago, I used a 16 character x 2 line LCD as a high resoltion analog bar-graph meter with software controlled ballistics, as well as for its normal text display function. Good idea, and one I have used too! Christopher Hicks - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word unsubscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: MD: Recording MDs with microphones...
Christopher Hicks wrote: Curiously, I am currently contemplating designing a small digital mixer for location recording (not specifically to MD, but entirely usable with ... My project essentially comprises 8 XLR mic-line inputs, each with switchable gain and phantom power. The resulting audio is passed to a DSP which has independent level and pan controls for each channel, a master level control, and a parametric EQ on the output. It would be possible to have EQ on individual channels but it would make the control surface either expensive, or fiddly to use, and I'd rarely use it in my application When I record a group, I usually put up 4 mics in an A-B X-Y configuration, and then the occasional spot mic when needed. I often use eq on the individual channels to blend the sound from the mics, so I'd really love it if there were individual channel eq. The make-or-break of this project probably depends on whether I can get a hobbyist electronics magazine to publish the design. The purpose of this posting is too see if there is significant interest in this forum that I can use as leverage with potential publishers, so let me have your comments! I would absolutely love something like this. Even without the eq on individual channels. The other thing I'd love (while you're in the designing mood...) is a small portable D/A converter with an eq in it. It would take in optical or coax S/PDIF and then have a digital eq, and then output a line level signal. Perhaps if you just added a digital input to your mixer above, which would also be useful as an alternate clock source. -steve - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word unsubscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: MD: Recording audio to video tapes
Gary Gilliland wrote: 4. VHS Hi-Fi is not digital and is usually implemented poorly for critical recording in all but really expensive pro decks. Whether it's digital or not is largely irrelevant here. What matters is the sound quality, and I don't think MP3s are going to give you incredibly better sound quality. As I said before, the drawback to that is 2 or 6 hours to a tape. I agree that at 6-hour speeds the sound wouldn't be as good as at 2-hour speeds, but the audio quality doesn't drop at all as much as the video quality between SP and EP. At standard speeds (2-hour), even on a mid-level hi-fi VCR, IMO the sound of VHS is better than MP3. But if he's not looking for the best sound quality, and just wants to review some radio programs, then 6 hours of VHS is a pretty good way to do it, and certainly a lot easier that dealing with recording/ripping MP3s. As for finding content, some VCRs (my Mitsubishi is one) allows you to place index marks on your tapes that work just like track marks. Not all do, but if you do it's a great feature. las [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: While I'm sure that Dan F. knows that VHS Hi-Fi is not digital, I don't think he realizes that the problem with MP3 is usually the hardware and not the format. Not sure what this means, Larry. MP3 is compressed audio, but not only that, even at the highest bitrate it's inferior compression to our beloved ATRAC. In my mind, that makes the problem the format, since even the best hardware is limited by the format. Perhaps Dan has very high end equipment, but as impressed as I was with Hi-Fi video when they first came out (both VHS and Beta) I don't think that the sound quality is as good as many of the cuts on the MP3 CDs that I make. Perhaps it is our systems. Certainly possible. But I don't have high-end video equipment, just a nice Mitsubishi Hi-Fi VCR (although an older model from when Mitsubishi was the cream of the consumer crop for VCRs ;) ) - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word unsubscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
MD: recording internet radio
Does anyone know of any software that allows you to do timed recordings from internet radio stations to MP3 files: I keep missing my favourite programmes on BBC Radio 4 because they are on when I am out. I have an ADSL internet connection, so if I can record them from the internet radio stream to MP3, I can then easily put them on to minidisc to listen to later in the car. Regards, james James Day Email:[EMAIL PROTECTED] - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word unsubscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: MD: Recording MDs with microphones...
|-Original Message- |From: Timothy Stockman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] |Sent: Monday, July 30, 2001 6:40 AM |Subject: RE: MD: Recording MDs with microphones... | snip | |1. Plug-in power for inexpensive, high quality electret microphones. |2. Reduced number of physical controls through software. (Use a few rotary | encoders to replace a lot of potentiometers.) So you need an LCD display, too, as part of the user interface. |3. Adjust levels *before* the A/D to prevent overload while maximizing dynamic | range. Most modern MD recorders have fixed gain *berfore* the A/D; not a | good thing! Absolutely. So you use the LM1973's you mentioned in a programmable gain configuration, right? Are these parts quiet enough to work with microphone-level signals? | |One other advantage of one of the Crystal Seminconductor A/D chips I've |been looking at is that it incorporates a metering circuit that |gives an accurate |digital readout in 1 dB steps down to -70 dB. While working on a unrelated |project a few years ago, I used a 16 character x 2 line LCD as a |high resoltion |analog bar-graph meter with software controlled ballistics, as |well as for its normal |text display function. Are referring to the CS5360 or the CS5334 ADCs? I think these chips consume ~350mW. I assume that you mix 6-8 channels of analog down to 2, then digitize. So with 6 analog channels, each with programmable gain (and possibly eq), and the other circuitry and microcontroller you're well over 1/2 watt--roughly 20 hrs. with 3-4 AA cells-- is this what you have in mind for a portable MD system? I guess that's not bad, but I would think that you would want to use Crystal's CS53L32 for this application, which brings power consumption down for this system. You lose the peak detect metering, though. | |Since the proposed design would be software controlled, it could adjust the |channel level trim automatically for optimum performance. The design would |sort of be like a modern point-and-shoot auto-focus camera. | Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean here? Also, I would think that some MD titling interface built into the mixer might be a nice feature that would distinguish your mixer from anything else that's commercially available. - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word unsubscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: MD: recording internet radio
I do that quite often actually. www.digitallyimported.com is my favorite. All I do is hook up my MD recorder to the line out of my soundcard (no USB on my home PC), start a stream, check the rec volume level, and let er rip. I use LP2 compression so I basically get a 160 min mix that you can't buy in stores. :D Man I love technology. --- Mike Lastucka, B. Tech [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://sites.netscape.net/element5/ 2048 bit DH 0x16DC15CD From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: MiniDisc_List \(postings\) [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: MD: recording internet radio Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 19:34:50 +0100 Does anyone know of any software that allows you to do timed recordings from internet radio stations to MP3 files: I keep missing my favourite programmes on BBC Radio 4 because they are on when I am out. I have an ADSL internet connection, so if I can record them from the internet radio stream to MP3, I can then easily put them on to minidisc to listen to later in the car. Regards, james James Day Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word unsubscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED] _ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word unsubscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: MD: recording internet radio
=== = NB: Over 50% of this message is QUOTED, please = = be more selective when quoting text = === I got this same problem, but I use dialup. What program will actually check if sound is really coming through or not? The shows I like to hear are the shoutcast variety that won't maintain server connections unless something is on the air. So, any macro I could make wouldn't be able to say, OK, no sound, try reconnecting until something is heard, then start recording. At 07:34 PM 7/30/01 +0100, you wrote: Does anyone know of any software that allows you to do timed recordings from internet radio stations to MP3 files: I keep missing my favourite programmes on BBC Radio 4 because they are on when I am out. I have an ADSL internet connection, so if I can record them from the internet radio stream to MP3, I can then easily put them on to minidisc to listen to later in the car. Regards, james James Day Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word unsubscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word unsubscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
