XL1S & Sony minidisc 4 track recorder
 

Hi,

I have a question that I hope some one can help me out with:

I just got bought my XL1S a few months ago, a few years ago I bought a Sony MDM-X4. Which is a 4 track minidisc recorder. I am/was a musician and it worked out nicely for that kinda stuff. Now I am dabbling in video and was wondering how I might go about using the 4 track on set to capture the sound and how I could get that sound to the NLE software on my PC and make sure the audio and video sync up. anyone with experience on this one or something similar?

-Mike

Hello Mike and Welcome!

I don't have a specific answer for you (not being a MD user myself) but these past threads might be of some help, failing more immediate replies:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2474&highlight=minidisc

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2719&highlight=minidisc

You can use our Search feature (at the top of the page) to look fo other past threads on the subject, which comes up every few months.

It all depends on the output options of your MD and the input/capture options of your NLE hardware/software. Most NLE apps allow for capture of audio tracks. You might also consider something like ProTools of Cool Edit Pro which allows you capture audio and save it as whatever format AIFF, WAV, MP3 etc your NLE likes.

Can you capture from the MiniDisc device via S/PDIF? Alternatively use an analog connection to your sound card. Then you could sync the tracks in post and mute the camera sound as appropriate.

Note that MiniDisc is 44.1kHz 16-bit, the XL1 sound is 48 KHz 16-bit or 32 KHz 12-bit, depending on which mode you select, so your NLE may have to accommodate these differences if you capture the MiniDisc audio via S/PDIF.

Where to buy S/PDIF?
 

Where can I buy a S/PDIF card for my PC and about how much does one cost?

Thanks

Many sound cards include S/PDIF capability. Some are coax (wire) connection, some are optical. Need to check what your MiniDisc machine does.

I like the MidiMan/M-Audio brand sound cards. They support coax S/PDIF and are much higher quality than the best of the SoundBlaster offerngs. (There are other brands of high quality sound cards too.) Midiman also offers a CO2 coax-to-optical converter at a reasonable price.