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A netMD Solution for the Mac?
SmackyTheFrog asks: "I recently purchased a Minidisc player with netMD capability. At first this was fine because I always had my trusty PC near by. Now that I have gone off to college, I no longer have the space for my big beige box and I only have my PowerBook with me. Much to my dismay I discovered that Sony has decided not to grace the Mac with any netMD software. Are there ways to get netMD (ie 3 or more hours of audio) music onto a single minidisc using a Mac?"
Actually this iTunes/Mac zealot started using the iTunes Music Store when he got an iPod - obviating any silliness you describe.
Including "buying WMA music [I] can use directly." Sorry, guy, no problems here.
I cannot reply for the original poster, but there are several good reasons... 1. You don't need a computer to play/record MDs. The basic principles of audio editing are quite simple (title, move, split and join tracks), and some models have very good interface/ergonomy. 2. MDs sound better than MP3 (at the regular compression rate) and MP3 players suck anyway, yes I mean the iPod too. 3. You can record with a tiny MD player. I cannot stress how important this is. If you're a musician, this is one handy tool, much more practical (and much cheaper too) than DAT. You can record your rehearsal or improvisations and edit them very easily, you can make field recordings, interviews, records gigs, etc. There may be more good or bad reasons, but those are three main ones that pop to mind. Although some might not seem very relevant to the Slashdot crowd :(
As an aside, I have to second the question above, why did you buy a minidisc player? I'm sure that as a /. reader, you're familiar with your other options; it seems like unless you got a -really- great deal on it, an eBay'd iPod would have been a better choice.
Oh well. Good luck with that, and enjoy your new toy. _
http://www.tmdc.org/aramk/sandbox/minidisc.html
Here's one excerpt, though you should read the page for all the info:
"Transferring (Analog)
Doing an analog transfer is very simple - first, plug the analog cable from your Mac's headphone out jack into your recorder's analog input (on Sharp model's, this is the same as Line In). Now, open your MP3 player on your computer, and create a new playlist. In iTunes, this is done in the left hand side by pressing the + button.
Now, drag and drop MP3s in to this list and order them how you wish. Once you're done, you might want to add a blank 5 second sound between tracks to better allow your MD player to create the track marks [ Download 5 second blank track ]. Important notes: make sure that the playlist is not longer than the medium yourrecording to; if you're using a 74 minute MD, your playlist must be less than 74 minutes unless you are planning to use LP2 or LP4 compression. Once you're ready, simply press the record button on your recorder and press play in the MP3 program. While it's recording, check to make sure that the sound level is OK. If you think you need to adjust it; do so on the Mac by changing the system volume."
hehehehe was it ever so easy, except on a Mac?
A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.