MDLP, what did I miss? (1 Viewer)

[Anthony GT]

I've been enjoying my MD equipment for the last few years but not following any news on the media. Now I see that they have MDLP which allows more minutes on a disk at a lower quality.

If I want to use this do I need to buy a new deck or portable recorder that has the MDLP feature? Are the disks the same? Please enlighten me!

Thanks!

Anthony

 

[KeithH]

Anthony, MDLP is a feature that certain players have. It stands for Minidisc Long Play. There are two MDLP modes, LP2 and LP4. LP2 allows you to fit twice as much material on a minidisc as it normally afforded (i.e., 148 or 160 minutes), while LP4 allows you to fit four times as much material (296 or 320 minutes). Thus, a normal minidisc is used, and the LP2 or LP4 mode is engaged on a compatible player for recording. All of Sony's current home and portable players have MDLP. A player must have the MDLP feature to play minidiscs encoded in MDLP.

None of my minidisc players have MDLP, but many say that LP2 sounds acceptable. The regular recording mode sounds better, but LP2 is reasonably close. LP4 is said to be poor for recording music. It is said that LP4 is generally suitable only for recording the spoken word.

 

[Anthony GT]

Keith,

Thanks for the info. I figured it would be too much to hope for that a simple software upgrade would allow my current MD equipment to do MDLP.

It would be nice to have double the recording time for music but not at the expense of having to buy all new equipment.

Anthony

 

[KeithH]

Anthony, no problem. I agree with you. While I feel MDLP would be fun to play with, it has never been compelling enough for me to upgrade hardware.

 

[Paul D Young]

I've got another question regarding MDLP. Can I record more than one format on the same disc?

For example. If I have a 50 minute album and I want to put on another hour of "bonus" tracks that are of lesser quality, then can I record the 50 minute album using regular Minidisc recording and then switch the quality to cram on another 60 minutes of lesser quality in the remaining 30 minute space? (Using an 80 minute MD)

 

[KeithH]

Paul, I asked the same question here once before. As I recall, you can change formats on a single minidisc (standard ATRAC, LP2, and LP4).

 

[Tony Kwong]

minidisc.org has a FAQ on MDLP
mdlp FAQ
that should answer all of your questions.
Depending on your deck, some of them can extend the time if you change the pitch control while recording and play back. It's a handy thing for weird CDs that have more than 80 minutes.

 

[Phil Tomaskovic]

I have a Sony JB940. Yo can switch recording mode on the same disc. You have to stop recording and then switch recording speed and hit record again. You can't switch on the fly. So essentially every track can be at a different speed. Never played with the pitch control.

 

[Rachael B]

Is the MONO MODE on the old Sony 920 the same as LP2? It doubles recording time. Hmnn....?

 

[KeithH]

Rachael, LP2 still is stereo. So what would LP4 be? Half-mono? Would only half of one speaker be used?

 

[AaronD]

Anthony,

The only MD player I have is a portable and I record most things in LP2 in order to make mixes. I think the quality of LP2 is only slightly less than Standard mode. For casual listening I have no problems with it, even through a pair of Sennheiser head phones.

I guess it depends on where you usually listen to your MD's. If it's mostly in the car or through a portable I think MDLP is really worth it.

-Aaron

 

[Rachael B]

:wink: Keith, I think that constitutes MINI-MONO!

 

[KeithH]

Rachael, good one. Ah, mi-ni-mo-no. *Said like Dr. Evil.*