Yamaha MD-8 A Great Example of Older Recording Kit: A Recording Session
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- Опубликовано: 27 сен 2024
- The Yamaha MD-8 came out in 1998, and was the updated model of the four track version, the MD-4. Both machines made use of the Minidisc Data format, introduced in 1993.
This machine was about £1000 in 1998, a lot of money back then, but you got some good features: three band EQ with swept mid on each channel, two aux sends, two stereo returns and multiple routing options. Moreover, the storage medium was a removable disc, meaning recording space was limited only by the number of discs you bought!
The MD data discs are still available, not as cheaply any more, but available...
In this demonstration, I also use a stereo compressor, and a cheap reverb unit, which further augment the sound. Channels 1 and 2 of the MD-8 have XLR inputs with phantom power, and insert points, where compressors, EQs, etc., can be put into the signal chain.
The good bit about 8 track recording is that limitations of tracks do create a much more thoughtful approach to recording and creating.
Enjoy and Share!
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We recorded all of our material on a Yamaha MD8. BEAUTIFUL MACHINE. Merry Christmas.
I’ve just had a listen to your tunes! Great sound and creativity...
Merry Christmas to you too!
I use to love recording on my Tascam Portastudio. The sound was so organic. I had everyone coming to my parents house to record (I was 15~16yos) doing metal, pop, rap, and even a trumpet sonata at one point. I didn’t notice how good it sounded until I bought a Boss BR8 and later BR1180CD. You miss the natural compression from the tape. Ahhh….the good ole days.
Anyone that has the opportunity to record in a well equipped reel to reel tape studio, should jump at the chance because its an experience unlike anything digital can offer, and I am a fan of digital too.
Great video! I have 3 working MD8 recorders. Bought all second hand. On the first recorder there was an issue with channel 2. The main board was defect due to the phantom power. NOT in the manual, but you should disconnect the phantom power first before (off) taking the XLR pug out. Many MD8 recorders have this issue (only on channel 1 or 2). So I bought a second one. Fortunately with some MD data disks. Put the best parts together to get nr. 1 one right. And it was! Than I felt sorry for the second one being broken. So I bought a third machine wit terminal recorder issues. Switched the main board and got the second machine up and running 100%. And I bought a fourth MD8 recently because it was affordable second hand. Works 100%. Now I am trying to get some stuff recorded. But I find it difficult with the MD8 to get to know all it's potential. The manual is not easy to read. Maybe someone can make a English lingual tutorial one day? There is a Japanese one, but as I don't speak Japanese, that is impossible for me to understand. Thanks for the video an keep up the good work!
You sound very skilled with fixing these machines. Our is in really good condition but now has an error 80 and sometimes an error 07 message. It simply won't read the disks , even one that was brand new. Any suggestions on how to fix?
@@PooDotStinkPants Dear PDSP, I have one machine that also gives error 7. I think the problem is in the recorder itself. Impossible to repair, for me anyway. It may be caused by the laser losing power over time. I have an other Sharp MD recorder with the similar problem, I solved that by buying an extra machine with another problem. Gambling the recorder would be OK. So I combines 2 machines with faults into one good working machine. There are MD-8 's available that have defects. Cheap to buy. Due to the way it is build, swapping components is not difficult.. That could solve the problem.
Still have my BR900 that I use often, great little recorder 👍
Hey could you do more videos on this unit like showing editing parameters ex. Bouncing, arrangement of song and moving them around ect . Show the Md8 screen too thanks King great video too
I still love my MD8... Although I have a BR600, and a Roland 880EX I find the menu driven features take the creativity out for me... Nothing like an analogue board on the MD8 twist at turn just a bit on the fly. The other 2 great machines with built in effects. The MD8 is set up with Boss effects pedals for effects, generally just reverb and maybe a guitar effect like chorus. So when the I do scratch recordings, its usually on the BR600 with the on board mics and one guitar input, then learn the song and record it on the MD8. I bounce down to stereo out to a Zoom H2n recorder... Then the SD Card into the Mac for export to Blog, FB or whatever. I no longer use the CD recorder at all. I loved you demo!
Do you know if connecting a Yamaha MD8 to an Apple Mac via a Sonic Port VX would work to transfer the music to either CD burn or digital files? Not tech savvy here, all we want to do is get the music from the disks. Thank in advance for any help provided.
Im young only 52 set me up with a package so i can see old teck works lol !nothing wrong with this at all i love it.
I love the limitations of obsolete tech! Just got an Otari MX5050 SHD 8-tracker. I wanna set it up just like you have.. basic compression and fx. Fun!
excellent Dan,thank you
great music!
I had the 4. And i bet i can make a decent albums with that and a computer.
As you know, i still have mine, and its been brilliant, recorded 3 albums with it,plus lots of demos. Its quicker and easier to use than most computer systems, and teaches the value of being able to actually produce music, rather than copy and paste it. Ive only not used mine for 6 years cos ive no outlet for my composisions anymore, but its all still plumbed in with the gear exactly like you have here!
Record more stuff!
Great stuff mate, I have 2 of these units and a SONY MDM-X4 4 Track ....
I'm a massive fan of the old MiniDisk tech.
I totally agree with you on the quality of the Sound Fidelity of these units.
Keep up the great work, it's worth subscribing to your channel just for the Nostalgic Value
... Greetings all the way from Joe in Tasmania / Australia
I chose the Fostex DMT8 v2 (not the VL) over the other rival brand models, because of the uncompressed waveform audio. Also the operation was closer to using tape technology but coupled with modern editing and sync methods. The Yamaha had excellent features but audio compression meant track bouncing was undesirable, and the non-bounced sound was already thin and harsh in the usual compressed way.
Yes - it was a toss-up between facilities and tech. I too had a DMT-8 as I had external effects and a desk..
The only point of contention I have is that minidiscs disappeared from the US market eons ago, to my dismay because I loved recording music onto them as well, but if you have enough serviceable discs at your disposal, you can make a huge case for having one of these instead of going the DAW route. Sidenote: I saw someone in the comments talking about the Boss BR-8; I still have mine but am missing over half the zip discs I used in my projects. 😢
Yes and there are also quite of lot of MD-8s on eBay for “parts only”. Basically drive failures. I’ve still got some ZIP discs somewhere for my EMU sampler...!
Привет ! Для любого технаря поковыряться в этой штуке будет полезно ! Собираюсь купить такую.....Звук не хуже чем на подобных цифровых портастудий....
I have one of these and love it. I’m challenging myself to do a whole recording on it. Maybe even release it on cassette.
Nice! Cassettes are trying to make a comeback....
Won't happen!
Hey Dan
I love Your Work .... maybe because we're of the same vintage and we both appreciate the fun of using old tech
I love all My MiniDisc Multi Recorders
I was wondering if there is a way of Synch'ing 2 Yamaha MD-8's so that they Behave as ONE 16-Channel Multi-Track Recorder
.... maybe this is done through the MIDI ports but I wouldn't know how to do this,,,,
Can You shine a light on this Dan ? .... Thank You
There’s a menu on the MD-8 about MTC (midi time code). You should be able to set this up on both machines so one is the master and the other, slave…
Love these videos where you use older stand alone recorders. Can you show a video where you master in a PC DAW? Just wondering how good you can get a song... if its as good as just recording on a PC DAW.... thanks.
Just tell me how they were able to fit 32 tracks onto a Micro-Sd card ! ( TASCAM DP 32 SD )
Do you know if connecting a Yamaha MD8 to an Apple Mac via a Sonic Port VX would work to transfer the music to either CD burn or digital files? Not tech savvy here, all we want to do is get the music from the disks. Thank in advance for any help provided.
Does anyone know if it's possible to rack mount one of these due to limited space?
I have a feeling it’s slightly wider than the standard 19”
@@DanBakerMusic You're right it's a shade wider. Will have to figure something else out!
These only take md data disks right? I was just gifted one and was disappointed to see i can only record two tracks on regular md. Also how do you connect this to pc?
Yes it’ll accept both disks, but standard MDs have a different format so will only support two track recording. There isn’t a link to PC unfortuately, so you’d have to do either two channels at a time into a stereo sound card, or if you have an eight channel interface, you could transfer all at once in real time…
Another inspiring video Dan. I have a Zoom Mrs1608 HD recorder. Just trying to figure out the best to connect up and export files to GarageBand.
Lol we are having the same issue but with the MD8. No idea how to export the files from MD disks to Garageband. Did you find a solution?
I have an MRS1608 also.
Great machine with everything you'll ever need. My only problem is that i never bought the optional usb card at the time. The only place is an ebay ultra expensive japan import. The only way to get my music out is through the L&R RCA outs into an interface, then into a PC or burn it onto a CD. But the machine itself is probably the peak of all HD recorders. Amp sims, built-in playable drum machine with velocity pads, steel chassis, made in Japan. All of zoom's later models seem like down grades.
Are the MiniDisc multitrack cassettes still available for purchase? This would be a great fresh way to come up with new ideas when needed.. Thanks!!!
You’ll have a job finding them but they can be found. Expensive though!
You can pick them up off eBay but usually from Japan so not cheap with postage.
I have a serious issue at the moment. Over 20 years ago I recorded my songs that I wrote on an 8 track minidisc mixer recorder. It's taken me 20 years to finally get it back off a family member. And now I don't have anything to play it on or to try and digitalize it. Is this something you could help with at all? I'm beyond frustrated as I spent money on players and now after googling I've realised that it won't play and I get error because its on a data format 😭
Sounds like you have the same problem as us. Are you getting an error 80 or error 07 message which prevents the disks from being played? It's annoying to have the disks but no way to play them/ transfer onto another medium.
@@PooDotStinkPants I think my problem is my minidisc was recorded on a mini disk recorder so need to source one of those 😭
@@animalslostandfoundinkentl8448 yes I think it's the same for us, it looks like we have to buy the actual device that can play the disks, thanks for replying and good luck, let us know if you have any success.
Great song, thanxs
Hi. My MD8 broke years ago, but I still have the data discs with my songs. Does anybody know how to save the data on pc and maybe use it in a DAW?
Regrettably you’d need an MD8 to rescue what’s on disc. Helpfully though, as the MD8 has individual outs, you could theoretically record all at once (assuming 8 inputs on audio interface) to DAW.
I’d do it for you but the MD8 in this video now belongs to someone else...
Oh dear, looks like you have the same problem as us, did you find a solution?
Hi Dan, Happy new year, how are you?
I've done a lot of work with the MD4 Yamaha. It was very practical. I have hundreds of songs recorded most of my own. But more than 15 years ago it broke and everything I had done is lost. I'm looking for one to buy, the idea is to save these musics transferring these files to a computer. A question, if you can answer. I have the MD4 and I'm trying to buy an MD8. , both use the same minidisc?. Do you know the difference between MD4 and MD4S?. Thanks in advance
Hi there-I di believe the MD-4 and 8 use the same 140MB Datadisc. If you’ve got four track recordings, the MD-8 will recognise this and show the first four tracks only. Whether the MD-8 will reformat to allow an additional four I don’t know, but it would certainly be worth another machine to rescue your recordings.
@@DanBakerMusic Thank you friend
Wow, great video. Have you ever considered reviewing the Yamaha aw-44 series or the Korg D16 and D32 series? This was great stuff.
Damn, you went from a decent but kind of normal video to excellent once you started singing. Awesome voice!
Aw cheers Bravin! Glad you enjoyed the video...
The MD8 is a magnificent machine. I have seven of them. I only have two gripes, firstly that they won't take the recent Minidisks, which could give them longer recording capability, and secondly that they were designed before USB ports became available. But hey, what wouldn't I have given for one of these back in the 50s when I was recording on reel-to-reel ?
Totally - I think these machines are great. It’s just such a shame that tech races on and leaves them with niggles...
Wow, you are very talented Dan, love that style and beat! Guitars and voice sound really, really good!
Thank you very much!
Hi Dan, great video and very informative. I recently picked up a Tascam 2488mk1 for free from a guy who couldn't operate it. As you will know it's the 24 track model, and it's a beast of a machine. I also still use my little Fostex x-30 4 track cassette recorder which sounds great too. Happy recording my friend. Paul.
What a great find! They’re great machines…
@@DanBakerMusic They certainly are.
Yep - still using my Boss BR-8 and BR-80. No latency.
I then pipe those tracks across into GarageBand. Sounds absolutely fine 😃
Hi, I would be interested on what type of tracks you export to GarageBand, also what type of interface do you use? Many thanks
@@KennyBobo125 Hello mate!
There’s probably a quicker and more high tech way of doing it, but I just record onto the old gear with all the effects and stuff that sounds good, then create a mono or stereo instrument track, connect the old gear to the interface and record it onto GarageBand in real time. Then I snap it into place on the grid and tart it up if needs be. I’m really REALLY old school, but it works for me.
My very limited brainpower just can’t cope with any sort of latency when I’m recording, hence doing it mostly on the old 8 tracks then putting it onto the daw for the big track count and editing.
Sorry, I use an old Apogee Duet as an interface, but I’m sure any reasonable interface would work just as well.
Hi Andy, thanks very much for getting back so quickly . I am definitely going to make more of an effort to use my old gear for the basic recording. You provided some useful info cheers , Ken
I had a BR8. While it was okay the BR1180CD I got a little later was really not bad. Tons of Boss effects and mic sims. Decent compressor effects.Drum machine built in on its own stereo track. Plus a built in CD burner. Oh ~ and a mastering track and mastering effects. Really cool for the time.
Old school gear rocks. We use 4 Fostex D80s, providing 32 channel recording, and they are still highly usable multitrack recorders. Great vid.
wow wow awesome . ive got korg D8 .. still using it with my maudio pci card :)
Smooth vocals man, thanks for the walkthrough and inspiration!
Hey! quick question, how could one transfer the tracks form the MD8 to a cpu for mastering?
I think unfortunately one cannot do this. You have to play the mix back onto a computer, track by track. If you only have a two channel interface, one trick is to (and if there is enough recording time at the beginning of the song on the MD), is to set all tracks into record, and record a single clap. This will then allow you to line up the tracks on the computer DAW. I had to do that once with someone’s four track cassette, and it worked!
One thing about hardware multi tracks is no latency.
Absolutely...
great demo sir