Mini Disc To Mac, Transfering audio Options

[titania100]

Newbie here, please forgive if my question does not belong.

Does anyone have suggestions on how to transfer mini disc audio onto my G4?
USB2, firewire 400, 800, Mac OS X(10.3.4), 1 gig ram, 1.25 ghz, infinite hard drive space.

It looks like I need a USB on one end and an RCA mini on the other. There is also a port on the mini recorder labelled "optical."

Thank you!

[drjimuk]

On my sony MD walkman, it has a usb connecter, and I then use sonic stage take take the MP3s off which is easy... or you could get some sort of interface to connect to your mac but might be abit expensive... erm... the line in on your mac? theres tons of different ways but it depends how much cash you have/what quality you need...

[smokinshaman]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that Sony's Sonic Stage software is not mac compatible.

Titania100 you might look at maudio's Transit usb interface. Check it out at MAudio Transit (hope that link works)

It was designed with your exact use in mind.

Take it easy,

KC

[drjimuk]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that Sony's Sonic Stage software is not mac compatible.

sorry if i'm wrong

[titania100]

Thank you.

My minidisc is the Sony MZ B100 - specs can be found at
http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/Touri...B100/index.html

I don't see a USB connection on the minidisc itself, I have a line in (optical),
Mic (plugin power), DC in, and on the wired remote another jack labelled "sound" where I plug in my headphones.

My recordings are of meetings, not music, so losing a bit of quality is not an issue, as long as I don't completely lose much clarity of speech & volume.

I'm wiling to spend up to $150.00.

I appreciate your response.

[titania100]

I just checked out the M-Audio site and it looks like it could be a solution.
What a great forum this is, thanks people!

[jayzen]

Its my understanding that with many miniDisc "walkman" style players, they specifically do not include a digital out to prevent piracy. I thought that you had to buy an MD deck to get it out digitally (for most).

My MD only has a headphone out (line level out). At first I was just connecting this out to the "sound in" on my Mac (stereo 1/8" to stereo 1/8"), but this was using the mac soundcard to convert the sound again, and that's not such a great idea.

Now I am just going analog out from my MD to my breakout box (motu 828mkII with a good quality stereo cable with one 1/8" plug on one side and two 1/4" plugs on the other. The sound gets re-converted to digital, but it sounds a lot better than using the Mac sound card, and a lot less noise.

This may not help you, but I don't know how to get out digitally from a player without using a deck - if anyone finds out I'd be pleased to know as well.

-jason

[red_wedge]

This may not help you, but I don't know how to get out digitally from a player without using a deck - if anyone finds out I'd be pleased to know as well.

With a line out only you are limited to a line signal, and if a G4 doesn't have an input the cheapest option is Griffin's iMic USB interface. This is fine if quality is not important.

If the minidisc is a more upmarket model it will probably have an optical out. On a Mac it's then possible to use a USB interface with optical in (eg Firewire 410 from M-Audio) to import full quality audio. That's what I do

[titania100]

Thanks for the profusion of replies!
My MZ-B100 is one of the more upscale models and does have an optical jack. So, with the M-Audio on order, I may be on the way to a solution. I record meetings and interviews, so I'm not too concerned about fidelity.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks again!

[Dimora]

*sore subject for Clo*

I contacted Sony about the new HD-minidisc's USB transfer capabilites and there will NOT be a Mac compatible program for the USB transfers. Of course you could always plug the out into an audio recorder but for that price you shouldn't have to. Nor, I feel, should you have to spend extra cash to buy the M-Audio converter. *very sore indeed* Sorry if that seems stingy but I was waiting for the new HD Minidiscs for a looong time only to be greatly disappointed by Sony (yet again ).

Anyone want to help start an opensource project to make a mac software for USB transfer?

[red_wedge]

Anyone want to help start an opensource project to make a mac software for USB transfer?

such a project already exists, but it's not been going anywhere for ages:

http://www.sorted.org/~pete/Xmd/faq.html

[Dimora]

But that's only for analoge and SP/DIF connections, my beef is with the lack of USB transfer particularly for those of us without SP/DIF capabilities

Thanks for the post though red_wedge!

[midiwife]

Hi there, yes this digital transfer is my main aim as well.

I've been eagerly awaiting the new HiMD recorders from Sony so I can transfer my field recordings straight to my mac without the need for an intermediate analogue transfer. My old Sharp MD has no optical out so the 410 option is no good in this respect.
My solution was to buy an iRiver i-HP 120 MP3 player and recorder. It can record at CD quality, is a 20Gb HD, an FM tuner and has an internal mic. It also has optical in and out and connects to a computer via USB. Sounds incredible right?

Sadly though, the recordings aren't great. There are dropouts every so often, very small but they sound as clicks. Plus, recording from the inbuilt mic is useless as the drive makes a racket. Plus, the mic input is for the supplied (pretty crap) mic. Using my Sony ECM Z90 (I think - the recommended stereo mic for walkmans etc) the level is very low. Plus, there are no record level meters. So, all in all, it's pretty poor for the use I bought it.

Also, although it connects via USB, the software for cataloguing MP3s etc on it is PC only! This is a real pain.

BUT... If you connect it to a Mac, it just appears as a separate external HD (I've only done this under OSX.2.8). That way, you can just open the disk icon and drag your files across to the mac. It's not a sophisticated method but it works just fine. In fact, I use it extensively now as a portable 20Gb HD to swap files from work (on a pc) to my mac at home.

So, my feeling is that if the Sony HiMD machines conform to the Mass USB storage protocol, we mac users should be able to just connect them to our machines and drag files back and forth. As far as I understand it, Sony have said they will work as removable HDs as well so we should be ok.

If anyone knows different, I'd be glad to know before I get my hopes up too much. I love MDs for their sheer reliability and ease of use. Plus, they're discrete!

Regards to all.

[Dimora]

So, my feeling is that if the Sony HiMD machines conform to the Mass USB storage protocol, we mac users should be able to just connect them to our machines and drag files back and forth. As far as I understand it, Sony have said they will work as removable HDs as well so we should be ok.

I was thinking the same thing, but then you have cases where some digital cameras with flash cartridges and USB connections can't be recognized as drives by the OS. So it makes you wonder if the HiMDs would work the same way or turn out in our favor. I'm probably flawed in this thinking but that's just my experience. Don't think we'll really find out until someone shells out the $300 for one of them though

[aut207]

Hi, I'm new to the mac world and i read all the previous messages. I am too looking for a way to transfer my music from MD to my mac. i have a newer MD player which connects via usb but the mac doesn't read it or it doesn't show up as being connected. can you transfer the music into the itunes program or is there any other software available to download. i'm still learning how the macs work. thank you.

[Dimora]

Hi, I'm new to the mac world and i read all the previous messages. I am too looking for a way to transfer my music  from MD to my mac. i have a newer MD player which connects via usb but the mac doesn't read it or it doesn't show up as being connected. can you transfer the music into the itunes program or is there any other software available to download. i'm still learning how the macs work.  thank you.

Well folks, there's our answer

aut207, you have one of the HiMDs that just came out I assume? It looks like the OS won't recognize the MD as an external drive (of sorts) Unless someone makes a third party program that will allow for USB transfer for Macs we're pretty much out of luck

If you have an audio recorder with the proper cables you could connect the out (it's digital yes?) to the recorder and get it to your computer that way. Other than that....we're hosed

[divan]

this is what sony deliveres with the hi-md

Supplied Accessories

• MDR-027LP Headphones
• 1 (one) HM-D1G Hi-MD disc
• SonicStage® Software CD-ROM with MD Simple Burner Application
• USB Cable


i presume that the application is WIN-only
... well sony as is

go kick your local sony-dealer for mac-software
(they should have anything if they want to stand up against the ipod)

greeetz

[Dimora]

I had asked them that too when I initially inquired about the software. They said it's not likely there will be a mac compatible program. I am guessing for legal reasons seeing that their Sony Vaio uses Windows. Their analysts must think that they'll lose profit if it was for both platforms....which is preposterous...increased consumer audience = increased revenue. Afterall, iPods are for Windows too.....silly rabbits...lol

[aut207]

well, that's a bummer, but thanks for the information. i was really looking fwd to transferring all my music over. Guess we'll just have to wait.........

[silsurf]

Hello,

I am new to MD as well.

I read through the thread and it all makes sense. I ordered an iMic and I think I will be in good shape for my needs.

I do have a question about my MD player.

It is the Sony Net MD Walkman MZ-N707 type R

I purchase dit used without a manual, so I was hoping to get some thgouths on the port layout.

1. There is a standard stereo mini headphone jack.

2. Directly next to it is a small flat input I have never seen, looks almost like a mini USB

3. There is "Mic (Plug in Power)"

4. Line In (optical)

5. Last one is the Sony to USB, I don't know what it is called, but it is the same port as my Canon Digital Camera and Palm Palm Pilot, with a USB on the other.

Am I correct in assuming that the headphone jack is the only way I can get data off the unit?

Any and all thoughts appreiciated.

Henry

[red_wedge]

The simple answer to this is "Sorry, no". Sony refuses to make a Mac compatible software, and their magicgate protection is seemingly impossible to crack, which is the problem for open source solutions such as XMD above, which incidentally, was trying to transfer stuff via USB, but they appear to have given up. Someone - pete bentley I thnk - did manage to create an control program so you could control the minidisc via a software panel on OS X, but that's all so far)

So, in short, no. MiniDiscs for Mac users are just minidiscs. So, if like me you spent a lot of money on a top model, most of its functions are useless.

You could try using Virtul PC to run the Sony PC software, but I seem to remember that that doesn't work either. I've not tried that though.

[Dimora]

Someone - pete bentley I thnk - did manage to create an control program so you could control the minidisc via a software panel on OS X, but that's all so far)

You could try using Virtul PC to run the Sony PC software, but I seem to remember that that doesn't work either. I've not tried that though.

Yikes, now the Virtual PC not working is seriously lame.

Red_wedge: You don't happen to know a URL for Pete Bentley's OSX software do you?

silsurf: I believe your are correct. I know the small slot your talking about. I think the cable that goes with it ends in a USB connection but the Mac OS won't recognize it when you plug it into your computer (same problem with some digital cameras) so the only way you can get audio from your MD is from the headphone jack

I had heard that the iMic gives poor results when trying to record for iPods or Minidisc's, let us know what your end results are!

[red_wedge]

XMD: http://www.sorted.org/~pete/Xmd/

Looks like it died in Dec 2002! But when I tried it around then it worked, in its limited way.

[webchannel5.com]

came across same problem.. with minidisc portable... however, a few home deck models have digital outs.. record in the field then digital out to digital in from a home mini disc deck.
good luck