Minidisc Recording Levels?

[Nick Danger]

I have my minidisc player connected via Analog RCA IN/ OUT and have been setting recording levels so they are just shy of the RED. Does this seem correct to you MD owners out there?

Sounds good to me and puts out a great signal to my tape deck and R2R.

 

[Elite-ist]

I shoot for the -4dB range for peak recording input levels to MD. While recording from Digital sources such as CD, those levels will be easy to keep within range. But, once you record from analog sources such as vinyl, it may be a different story, as there is usually a huge range from softest to loudest sounds. Blame the sound engineers for the new CDs being produced today. I try to keep at least 2 to 4dB shy of the dreaded "red range." The nice part of it is, after your recording is completed you can go back and use Scale Factor Edit to either increase or decrease the sound output on a particular track. My Sony deck can do it in 2dB increments.

Nando.

 

[Nick Danger]

I shoot for the -4dB range for peak recording input levels to MD. While recording from Digital sources such as CD, those levels will be easy to keep within range. But, once you record from analog sources such as vinyl, it may be a different story, as there is usually a huge range from softest to loudest sounds. Blame the sound engineers for the new CDs being produced today. I try to keep at least 2 to 4dB shy of the dreaded "red range." The nice part of it is, after your recording is completed you can go back and use Scale Factor Edit to either increase or decrease the sound output on a particular track. My Sony deck can do it in 2dB increments.

Nando.

Thanks for the info. I will try to keep my levels a little lower and see what I come up with! BTW, which model MD are using?

 

[Elite-ist]

I have a Sony MXD-D5C which has a five CD changer combined with a MiniDisc player/recorder. Although I have a Pioneer Elite MJ-17D, I am more tuned into this Sony. There are plenty of tips us MD enthusiasts could provide - like, recording in stereo mode and not one of the other LP modes for better sound resolution. It helps to use both the analog and digital inputs from analog and digital sources, as you won't spend a huge amount of time resetting your recording level inputs as you change to different sources through a patch bay, or router. You can independently set the digital recording level from the analog recording input level.

Nando.