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OT: Question for Mac users


mcgoo

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The singer I work with has a Mac (which I know nothing about) and wants to capture some audio from her Minidisk player (Sony MZ-RH10). Is there a free or cheap simple Mac program to record (for real time transfer) that someone can recommend?

 

thanks.

Custom Music, Audio Post Production, Location Audio

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The MZ-RH10 records as MP3, WAV, etc.

 

There's no need to "record" anything on the Mac; the recording is already done. Simply connect the Sony to the Mac via USB and transfer the files over.

 

Edited to update: I was misled by a Sony MD recorder owner, so disregard the information above (left for historical relevance ;) ).

 

I'd go with an 1/8" cable connected between the headphone out of the Sony to the built-in 1/8" input on the Mac and use Garageband (or Audacity) to record the songs.

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mcgoo:

 

My summary answer: GarageBand will allow real time audio recording, and is free on every OS X mac. There isn't an obvious way to digitally transfer the file from the MD, however, but there appears to be a possible solution.

 

Long answer: From what I can find quickly on the web, any suggestions you get about just transferring the digital file to the mac and then playing it on Garageband or similar just won't work. Sony has taken the position that the only software their devices will talk to is Sonicstage, which is Windows only, and may be no longer supported.

 

However, there appears to be an open source java program:

 

Clonk

 

That says it will allow you to transfer the file digitally, but I cannot confirm or deny this.

 

Alternately, if you're just looking to do real time transfer, GarageBand will allow audio input from the built-in mic (or any audio interface you want to connect to the mac) to allow you play the MD player and capture it.

 

Hope that helps some.

 

Tim

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For real? That would be lovely. Looking online all I could find was that it wanted to use SonicStage, which looked to be a real drag (DRM issues even with non copyrighted material, slow buggy transfers that actually pull the files from minidisk to hard drive etc. .... and it was PC only).

 

If you're right that's gonna make me (and her) very happy!

thanks Sven. I'll try & report back.

Custom Music, Audio Post Production, Location Audio

www.gmma.biz

https://www.facebook.com/gmmamusic/

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The MZ-RH10 records as MP3, WAV, etc.

 

There's no need to "record" anything on the Mac; the recording is already done. Simply connect the Sony to the Mac via USB and transfer the files over.

 

Sven, I'm not so sure about this. Many Sony portable recorders, including the MZ-RH10, do not allow easy digital transfer of the MP3 (or WAV or similar...) to any software other than Sonicstage (which is Win-only, and may no longer be supported). They were apparently notorious for this.

 

Can you confirm this is not the case with this Sony unit? I have no direct experience with them.

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ok... update. Hooked it up to a Mac, the mac showed a bunch of folders, but couldn't open them- wanted me to choose an app. I let the Mac search for an app, but no result. So perhaps it won't work as Sven suggested, much as I hoped it would. Although, I am totally ignorant getting around on a Mac, so I could have missed something. Will try Garage Band (I didn't know it recorded audio).

 

thanks again all.

Custom Music, Audio Post Production, Location Audio

www.gmma.biz

https://www.facebook.com/gmmamusic/

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Updated my first post above; short of an open source app that might allow you to bypass the DRM and 'hack' the unit, it looks like it'll be a realtime audio transfer.

 

I'd recommend Audacity for its batch capabilities (if you're doing lots of tracks, it might come in handy), but Garageband is already on the computer and is pretty simple.

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The MZ-RH10 records as MP3, WAV, etc.

 

There's no need to "record" anything on the Mac; the recording is already done. Simply connect the Sony to the Mac via USB and transfer the files over.

 

Sven, I'm not so sure about this. Many Sony portable recorders, including the MZ-RH10, do not allow easy digital transfer of the MP3 (or WAV or similar...) to any software other than Sonicstage (which is Win-only, and may no longer be supported). They were apparently notorious for this.

 

How irritating. I've never heard this before, but if that's true, who the hell would want to buy a Sony?

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ok... update. Hooked it up to a Mac, the mac showed a bunch of folders, but couldn't open them- wanted me to choose an app. I let the Mac search for an app, but no result. So perhaps it won't work as Sven suggested, much as I hoped it would. Although, I am totally ignorant getting around on a Mac, so I could have missed something. Will try Garage Band (I didn't know it recorded audio).

 

thanks again all.

One of the little things I've always found VERY clunky on Macs is that when you do something like you're talking about here, the OS picks all the apps that can't open the file, while graying out the ones that can. There's is a checkbox in the dialog that says "show recommended applications" or something to that effect. Unchecking that box does wonders....
A ROMpler is just a polyphonic turntable.
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A lot of times with a Mac, you can just sweep the file onto the appropriate icon on the dock, and it'll open it up. I don't know if it would work in your case, but it might be worth a try. I open WAV, MP3, and JPG files all the time in this manner.
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