New models of MiniDisc have been appearing at a fast and furious rate the last year. Let’s go over the new features.

• More music per disk. New MD models allow up to 5 hours of music to be recorded onto each disk.
• Computer down load capability. New MD models come with the necessary software and USB cables to allow you to download directly from your computer into the MD and at high speed (32 x). The software supports several of the most popular formats including MP3, WAV, WMA as well as downloading directly from your computer’s CD player.
• Grouping function. With the ability to put more music on each disk, grouping makes it easier to move around and find a particular song and organize your music. Grouping is much like using Files on your computer to organize your computer’s documents. Up to 99 "groupings" can be set up.
• Increased tone control. Both treble and bass can each be adjusted up to 8 steps to tailor the tone response that works best for you. There is a standard "zeroes" tone and you can set up 2 presets to any tone setting you like and then easily change between them. Some also have built in speed control capabilities.
• Quick Playback mode. In this setting the MD player stays powered up for up to one hour so activating the play button starts the music virtually instantaneously.
• Long battery life. Up to 56 hours on one AA battery!

New models of MiniDisc systems, like the Sony MZ-N510, have amazing capabilities – especially for their small size. Much of this is possible because of the MENU system now used. By stepping through a menu button you can access the many features of the MD. Older MD models had a larger number of dedicated function buttons on them than the newer models. This had the advantage of easy access to the particular button you might need but with all of the added functions of the new models you would have to have 3 times the number of buttons that these older models had to access all of the capabilities!

If you decide to go with one of the new MD systems, plan on taking more time to learn how to use it compared to the older systems. Once you become comfortable with using the menu system you will find using the new MD players no more difficult than the earlier models.

Components like the Denon DN-C550R and CDR-W1500P allow you to burn CD’s without using a computer. They are used much like using a tape recorder but the end result will be a CD and the advantages that CD’s have over tape systems. Both of the Denon components are dual CD units so you can copy a CD or copy selected tracks of a CD. There are Analog and Digital inputs so you can match your music source to the CD recorder’s input. You can record from various sources onto one CD if you like – it doesn’t have to be done all at the same time from one source. Once you have recorded what you want the disk has to have a "Finalization" done to it. This allows the disk to be used on any CD player. Once Finalization is done you cannot change the disk.

Using a CD player for singing calls is easy – any CD player will work. Patter is the tricky part. Using a CD player that has A-B Looping capability will make patter calling easier for most callers. A-B Looping allows you to create an endless loop in the middle of the patter record that can be easily turned off when you’re ready to end your patter tip. Another option is to make long patter recordings so you don’t have to think about any type of resetting. One change that is rapidly happening is CD players that will play CD’s burned using MP3 files. These have the advantage of fitting more songs per disk.

If your computer has a CD burner or you install a CD burner then you are already set up to make your own CD’s. It is usually recommended to purchase a software program like Cool Edit or Gold Wave so you can get the most out of the CD’s you burn.

MP3 Players – some have hard drives and some have memory cards

Small MP3 players allow you download music from your computer into a small (in some cases VERY small) player that can then be taken to a dance and played through your sound system. The latest generations of these allow you to add a memory card to increase the number of songs that can be loaded into the player. You can also swap out memory cards if you have more than one to increase the number of songs you have available at your dance. Some will play more than just MP3s such as the WMA format.

Examples of MP3 players with a hard drive are the Apple Ipod, Creative Labs NOMAD, and Archos Jukebox. These MP3 players will hold many hours of music – some advertise "10,000" songs. Since the music is stored on a hard drive there is no removable media to work with like CD’s and MiniDisc players. Because so much music can be stored on these players the software allows you to group your music into files much like you would do on your computer. This lets you organize your music and makes for quicker song selection. The ones I have seen all come with the necessary software to down load the music and convert WAV files to MP3 or WMA.