I'll take that with onions and mustard please....

[crimsonson]

Time to eat my words folks....

A while back there was a heated debate about miniDisc use for field production....

Well the respected Jay Rose of DV magazine just reviewed the most popular prosumer cameras' audio capabilities (XL1, PD150, GL1 etc) - guess what?

DAT performed the best (an old Tascam)
MD second (3 year old portable Sony MZR-37)
then the rest (exception was a Sony ENG cam, which performed much better)


Though the talk was not about DV vs MD - I did say that consumer MD is something I would not rest my reputation on.

Super8Booster
I'll take oinions and mustard please.

The article appears in this month issue of DV magazine but should appear for free at http://www.dv.com later this month.

[gkaplan57]

Hello: I am new here so I don't recall the debate you speak of but, I want to shoot double system using a Mini Disk recorder. The idea is that the Mini Disk does not suffer from the problems tape would have; tape streching or slipping and I think a mini disk just shuts off (not slows down) when the batteries get weak. I would just use a clapper (stick or hands) to sync up the "rushes". There may some adusting (moving the audio track) along the way, but since I will transfer (WorkPrinter) all my footage into Final Cut Pro I think it will work. After, I make some tests I want to see about getting a WorkPrinter transfer unit.

I don't think Mini Disk is as good as DAT, but then Super 8 is not as good as 16mm or 35mm. I have recorded some audio as a test with a Senn ME66 mic recorded it to a Mini Disk and the sound was very good - to me. Feel free to say if I'm headed in the wrong direction...

Larry Roussarie

[crimsonson]

First to get a full picture you should read the article. MD does have some weaknesses.
The particular model did have the frequency response of some of the prosumer cameras [if I remember that info correctly). But the overall sound quality (like S/N) is very good.

Second, most consumer MDs dont have gain control or its non really that useful (some have it but can only be set prior to recording).

Your mic is a very good mic. I frequently use it for field recording.

If you can find an MD with manual gain then you are pretty much set. If no manual gain, maybe a mixer from Radio Shack? Remember the only thing worst than mediocre S/N (signal to noise ration) is a clipped sound. Once a sound clips its pretty much useless.


Good lcuk.

[S8 Booster]

Time to weat my words forks....

Super8Booster
I'll take oinions and mustard please.

The article appears in this month issue of DV magazine but should appear for free at http://www.dv.com later this month.

, and the Canon 1014 XL-S would have eaten them all by breakfast on a K40 Sound Plate,
which is partially true regarding the sound appearance.

No need to eat anything unless you fancy deep fried onion rings with mustard then?

Taking your word for it I basically think it is a bit sad that this is the result because the 16 bit sound technology has that big potential. Unfortunately for consumer products the manufacturers seem to "minimize" the technology, at least the one you do not see and partially also the one you do see to keep the profit up by using mediocre converters and other low end products where the customer do not "see" them and put it into a fancy package.

This is some of the reason why I also do not like the MiniDV in general and the "new" 24P which we discussed some time back too.

Interesting test and I look forward to take a closer look at the details.

TNX & R