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try here I cannot vouch for the contents but they looked clean enough and similar enough when I downloaded it.

Sorry I wasn't 100% awake when I posted that. Try here: http://forums.sonyinsider.com/index.php?showtopic=22188

I'm afraid that the downloads section here has gone AWOL, which is the only place I ever knew to get it. Perhaps some bright spark could upload a copy and point you there. I had a look and came to the conclusion the best place might be on the CD you received (if you got one). Note that you will need SonicStage of some variety installed as well, unless you're willing to do some geek-type stuff with installer packages.

Interesting! Me too (junkie). So there *is* a reason for the possession of my N505, strange because that was something I thought I had tried Of course I have some decks that do this, so I haven't cared until now, but what you say about the B10 is undoubtedly true. After you posted I discovered that my EH70 does indeed do speed control, but I needed the right remote as the MC40ELK that I was using wouldn't do it. It's just as you say, the pitch does not vary. Strange that Sony would describe "speed control" as pitch control. Of course there are applications for each.

Anything that makes the disk blank, suspect a busted overwrite head. The one machine I have fixed for this complaint did indeed do a lot of crashing and bumping before I fixed it. It played ok, sort of, but the broken ribbon cable impeded free motion. Best to get it apart and see if you can see mechanical faults before suspecting anything with the electronics adjustments, IMHO. Good luck. Stephen

I've not yet seen a PORTABLE that that the pitch+speed change feature (like slowing down a tape). However this may be lack of experience. So far every single time I've encountered it (the feature you need) the model has been a DECK, whereas the "speed control" is what you get on portables? Check?

Yeah, I have yet to find a service manual for my JB980. It seems to have acquired some other quirks during the heyday of Sony's protecting downloaded recordings, too. You have a fair bit of *other* equipment there too. Just out of curiosity which deck did you use?

Interesting. I'm away and will try some things when I get back home in a few days. Don't give up.... yet. One thing I found recently that hugely affects the behaviour of the RH1/M200 is the "Disc mode" (MD or HiMD). This has to be set with no disk in the unit.

Hmmmm, Home XP SP3 might be a problem (like running a ferrari on 2-stroke if you take the metaphor). Sony always says you have to run SS in administrator ("power user") mode. And I think the SP3 changes might have had some effect on that, as they did for Vista SP1. The default properties of your everyday user might just have changed.

Hi Zoe, there's some information here: http://minidisc.org/cloning_procedure.html Good luck. Also you can take a look at the links in raintheory's sig namely http://forums.sonyinsider.com/index.php?showtopic=21860 Cheers Stephen

Yeah, I had a look at the manual after giving my initial response. But there's something funny there. I recall exactly the same thing, some combination of record settings that did strange things. Try all the setting combo's, starting from "all features off" and I think you'll find the one that works. Another symptom of this "neverland" was that I couldn't change the microphone recording level.

try turning OFF sync. Sync doesn't work with digital in, only analog in? And if that doesn't fix it try turning off Group Rec. Those settings interact with each other in rather unpredictable ways I think.

I think I've posted what I believe to be the solution before. http://forums.sonyinsider.com/index.php?showtopic=24567&view=findpost&p=169073 This was an NH900 but I think they are all similar. The NiMH batteries seem to need to be woken up. At issue appears to be resistance in the charging circuit that indicates to the auto charging circuit that the battery is charged. (not sure exactly how but I prodded and poked until it seemed to work). The other tip is that some Japan-made models (mine is the MZ-R91) seem to do a better job of charging a "dormant" battery. Once the battery is awake, the kindest thing you can do is to recondition it by running it down as far as possible and charging again. You may find (hopefully will find) that as you repeat this, the battery eventually holds more charge. So far I have 100% success rate with reviving dormant gumstick batteries. I have never had to throw out a used one. Notes: 1. If the battery gets hot during charging exactly once, this is a sign that it has revived. (I don't think it will get hot every time) 2. There is a small danger that during heating (by charging) NiMH batteries will swell and in the worst cases explode. I've never had the bursting, but I had one battery swell. If you are going to charge IN the unit, check on it every 5-10 minutes when you have a doubtful battery, and if there is any sign of being difficult to remove it (due to swelling), let it cool down for a few hours and try again. I think the swelling is some Hydrogen gas being released. I had it explained to me that sometimes the NiMH crystallises in such a way that the ability to charge is kinda "frozen". The heating corresponds to the NiMH (which should be a black powder) returning to normal function. 3. The resistance thing (where I heated the terminals) needs to be very carefully done. Your objective is to get the guck off the contacts so that a proper charging voltage gets applied to the battery. Some of the contacts are part of the MD unit, and of course the actual battery terminals have a habit of getting coated in crap (sometimes green crap from decomposition) themselves. Cleaning with a knife or contact cleaner may be enough though, applying external heat is a last resort.

I was idly wondering today, looking at this http://nadelectronics.com/products/hifi-amplifiers/PP-3-Digital-Phono-Preamplifier whether one could persuade HiMD to play back into whatever software is intended to catch the result of such a device (and there are turntables eg. Ion that have a USB plug and work similarly). This is a matter for the #linux-minidisc project, and I will ask them properly, though I sort of mentioned it in passing a week or two back. Of course this is digital IN, not optical OUT, but no matter, it's in a common cause, especially now that more and more receivers (I just got one) have optical and/or coax SPDIF in (and in some cases out).

I think you need to know the power supply in both places. Isn't Italy 220V? As long as Latvia is, too you should be fine. Now I think about it, I am not sure that a 110V version of this was ever made - my own runs off a transformer 110->230V. So should be fine. I wish you good luck with your transaction, as it is an excellent unit IMO. Can you be covered by Paypal guarantee? Stephen

The review on the PP-2 was fantastic. Sounds like the ticket. But for now maybe I take Avrin's advice (what's new???) unless I can get it for cheap or trade in my new receiver for one with phono after all. Thanks Stephen

Really? So finding a new standalone decent phonopreamp is a hopeless quest then.... There's a guy on ebay selling an NAD PP-2, would that be any good? Do those NEW units that still have a PP included use decent circuitry or not? One unit I looked at was the Sony STR-DG1000 (and 900 too) but I really haven't much idea whether reading the circuit diagram will tell me anything.

What about this one? http://www.mclellandmusic.com/en/showpro.asp?id=331&lb=18

No, I got something that claims "Its quality easily matches or exceeds that of the phono preamps found built into older stereo components". Load of ***p. No names, I don't want a flame war. PM me for the real details. I'll give the one you show here serious consideration. Thank you. Edit: Well my enthusiasm for that didn't last long, the review (Amazon, I am sure you can find it) read like a carbon copy of my complaint to the makers of the other one.

Can anyone help? I just had a horrible experience with a third-party phono preamp. It's not close to specifications: the channels are mismatched (and it changes as you vary the gain), there is terrible hum, and the sound is basically awful. I compared with the existing sound from my Kenwood, and there's no way I would ever trade in the latter now until I find a replacement. (To make matters worse the Ebay seller is acting all dishonest and saying that they only accept "defective* returns, hahaha, so yelling and screaming ensued as they claim it's not defective). The problem arose because I am getting a new receiver that doesn't have phono input. I guess I should have been patient until finding one with all the other things I wanted in a receiver AND phono input too, but I wasn't...... So I need to know if there exists a properly balanced, hum-free, high-quality RIAA-corrected preamp for a moving magnet cartridge for not too much money. Clearly an alternative is to lug the Kenwood, the turntable and one MD deck down to the basement to use until such time as I run out of vinyl to convert.

Update: I just tried the CD (it lay around on my desk all week, I was so disgusted) in my D-NE320 Sony walkman player. The titles showed up fine. Admittedly this was only "regular" CD tracks, not MP3s that had been converted. But in the MXD-D400, there are no titles, at all. Extremely weird because Nero burns the same CD perfectly, and the titles show up in both devices. What does Nero know that SonicStage does not?

There's one in germany http://cgi.ebay.de/Portable-Minidisc-Recorder-Sony-MZ-NH700_W0QQitemZ180424826774 ending in half an hour.

I have seen NH700 for as little as 20 pounds, and several between 30 and 40. Another option if you just want something to play back, is the MZ-DN430. I just saw the first one of these today and they go for $15-30 if you are lucky, brand new. Quite decent sound indeed, but only a USB for input, and only headphones (no remote) for output.

Having revived an N505 with exactly this (button) problem, I can be reasonably sure that the difficulty with the buttons is resistance/cleaning. You need to get it apart, and to spray some contact cleaner into the buttons themselves without getting it all over a. the outer lid and hence making the unit sticky and smelly for a while b. any of the mechanism. I don't think one has to be a rocket scientist to encompass this - however the procedure is not for the faint of heart. The commands to the unit depend on detecting changed resistance (same thing with the remote). If they are dirty or there is poor voltage from the battery, you will see this. One clue that it is the case is if you find it always does better on the charger than just with the battery. Even take the internal battery out completely, and just try it on the charger, to see if I am right The eject may be as simple as the main case screws are too loose or too tight. It's also possible the spring that the clamshell must be pushed again to close it has popped out. I suppose it might be broken, but I would guess that displaced is more likely. Not sure how it got like that, though.

After a lot of (internal) back and forth on this issue, I have tentatively decided that HiMD units play LP2 and lP4 back better than the NetMD units themselves. All HiMD have Type-S. For durability and good looks, it is hard to beat the MZ-N910. But for only playback, the HiMD player-only unit I have, the MZ-EH70, is a treat. And you can also make a HiMD disk that holds about 6 times as much stuff, at the same exact data rate (LP2), namely 16 hours, and listen to exactly the same music on it.