Recording with a Sony MZ-RH910 MD

Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 9:15 am

Hello to all. I just bought a used sony mz-rh910 minidisc recorder but, as it came from ebay, it came with little else but the unit and the seller's recorded disc, so I'm trying to figure out how to use it. I went out and bought some blank discs to "start from scratch." I got to the gig to record, inserted said blank disc, plugged into the PA head and pressed record, only to get the message "No track." I tried the used disc, and it at least recognized that there was a blank track, looked like it was recording, but did not.

So I'm thinking at this point that there must be a way to format a disc before recording. It would be best to start with a blank disc and understand how to use the thing. Any suggestions on formatting/best methods/techniques for recording from a PA head or mic would be appreciated.

Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 2:12 pm

It'a always good to go to manufacture website, grab and read manual, most have them. Hear's yours:

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-documents.pl?mdl=MZRH910&LOC=3

Also for all things minidisc:

www.minidisc.org

Marc Twisted Evil

Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 11:54 pm

Rule Number one for any equipment is: KNOW your gear BEFORE bringing it to the gig. (esp used gear.)

Not trying to be flip (i've been in your spot before, really), just making an observation. Thumbs Up

Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 8:12 am

Yeah, Joe H, that's what I was going for. I was so giddy that it came in the mail that day though that it became a rush thing.
And I would check the online manual but my pdf viewer isn't working from home...hmm, tricky. It's a really suave device though-much smaller than expected and hopefully I won't have to resort to leaving less-than-stellar feedback on ebay and reselling something broken (to be fixed, of course). That's another reason not to rush into something like this-you might end up thinking it's broken. not so here_it will work!
While we're thinking about it WORKING, does this board allow for song file attachments? Posting recorded examples would be cool...

Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 9:43 am

Gold, I've got an earlier/older MD recorder/player, (MZ-NF810, silver) it's not much bigger than the disc themselves, amazingly tiny and thin.

Honestly, the thing does a lot (including defeatable autolevel), but it's a maddening menu system. I don't use it much except for dialog recording/interviews, etc., but it's a nice backup system to have. I keep it in a separate briefcase with all its accessories, including the manual/book, and I have certain pages bookmarked/tagged to let me get to certain functions quickly, because I can never remember the blasted things.

The default "hit the record button and go" puts it into auto-level which is pretty yucky sounding, but they figured that's how people would use it. With a pair of dynamic mics (and adapters) or the little Sony stereo condenser mic they sell with it, it's really not a bad little system in a pinch.

But yikes, navigating that menu & set of rocker switch commands can be tricky. I suppose if I did it every day, it would be more familiar.

Hope you can find a book for it online or around the web. In manual-level record, it's not a bad system at all in a pinch.

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 7:04 am

Thanks for the advice everyone.

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