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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Downloading From Minidisc to iTunes
KBrothers - Feb 14, 2006 - 9:51 pm
Hi there,
I have an ancient minidisc player and I want to download my music from it to my G4 Powerbook laptop iTunes.
At the Apple store, they sold me a Belkin maximum bandwidth shielded audio cable with a non-USB connector at each end.
I've plugged one end into the headphones jack of the minidisc player (I've also tried optical line/in and mic in, although of course these haven't worked either).
I've plugged the other end into the only round jack on my Powerbook (marked by a symbol with two dark grey triangles pointing into the centre of a circle).
Nothing happens.
Can anyone suggest what I might need to do next?
Many thanks,
Kate.
I have an ancient minidisc player and I want to download my music from it to my G4 Powerbook laptop iTunes.
At the Apple store, they sold me a Belkin maximum bandwidth shielded audio cable with a non-USB connector at each end.
I've plugged one end into the headphones jack of the minidisc player (I've also tried optical line/in and mic in, although of course these haven't worked either).
I've plugged the other end into the only round jack on my Powerbook (marked by a symbol with two dark grey triangles pointing into the centre of a circle).
Nothing happens.
Can anyone suggest what I might need to do next?
Many thanks,
Kate.
baldprof - Feb 14, 2006 - 11:11 pm
If you open System Preferences, and then Sound, and click Input, you will see a way to set the input volume for the line input source. Mine was set at zero by default, and yours may be too. That may explain why your Mac cannot detect any sound to record.
KBrothers - Feb 15, 2006 - 12:29 am
Many thanks for getting back to me so swiftly.
I think the problem in this case involves the fact that the computer doesn't recognise that any device is attached. There's no icon appearing on the desktop, in the finder, or in iTunes when I connect the minidisc player, so I have nothing to work with. (I tried your suggestion above, but the input was set to top volume).
I appreciate your help. Are there any other suggestions you can think of?
Many thanks,
Kate.
I think the problem in this case involves the fact that the computer doesn't recognise that any device is attached. There's no icon appearing on the desktop, in the finder, or in iTunes when I connect the minidisc player, so I have nothing to work with. (I tried your suggestion above, but the input was set to top volume).
I appreciate your help. Are there any other suggestions you can think of?
Many thanks,
Kate.
baldprof - Feb 15, 2006 - 6:21 am
Upon further research, it appears that the design of the minidisk player is such that it cannot be recognized as an external storage device without Sony's proprietary software, which unfortunately is Windows only.
However, you should be able to get analog sound output to your Mac directly from the mini disk player. The problem you are having foing that may be due to the voltage level the player puts out.
I think it's possible that a Griffin iMic make solve that problem for you. You can find information about it here:
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL....8.25.7.11.0.3
I would also suggest checking the Griffin website. Assuming that the device solves the "impedance matching" problem for you, then you would still need software to do the recording. Any software which would enable you to difitize LPs, such as Toast, could do it. Garageband may do it as well, all though I have never used Garageband to record external sources, although I know other who have.
If your Apple store carries the Griffin device, then I would ask them to let you use one to try connecting your player to a Mac to make sure it worked, first, or get a guarantee of return privlege.
But here's your real problem: as great as Sony products are, for that last few years they have acted like only Sony is important. Most of there products use proprietary technology that works only with otehr Sony products. The Minidisk player is one of those. It was only 18 months ago that Sony started making music players which knew what the mp3 format was. So if the Griffin device doesn't work, there may be no solution to your problem.
However, you should be able to get analog sound output to your Mac directly from the mini disk player. The problem you are having foing that may be due to the voltage level the player puts out.
I think it's possible that a Griffin iMic make solve that problem for you. You can find information about it here:
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL....8.25.7.11.0.3
I would also suggest checking the Griffin website. Assuming that the device solves the "impedance matching" problem for you, then you would still need software to do the recording. Any software which would enable you to difitize LPs, such as Toast, could do it. Garageband may do it as well, all though I have never used Garageband to record external sources, although I know other who have.
If your Apple store carries the Griffin device, then I would ask them to let you use one to try connecting your player to a Mac to make sure it worked, first, or get a guarantee of return privlege.
But here's your real problem: as great as Sony products are, for that last few years they have acted like only Sony is important. Most of there products use proprietary technology that works only with otehr Sony products. The Minidisk player is one of those. It was only 18 months ago that Sony started making music players which knew what the mp3 format was. So if the Griffin device doesn't work, there may be no solution to your problem.
KBrothers - Feb 15, 2006 - 8:36 pm
What a fantastically comprehensive answer - thank you so much! I'll try your suggestions out. All the best,
Kate.
Kate.
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