sfbp

Note that most CD-music-reading programs (eg Nero and almost anything that copies a music CD) give you options for what to do about music "errors". There are lots of valid red book music CD's that are not perfect from the POV of a digital program. Thats what EAC is all about, I presume. Anyway the point for Chris is not about the transmission mode but about the reading mode.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Book_(audio_CD_standard)

I'm simply saying that Sony's settings (to produce maximum speed of ripping AFAIK, probably a marketing thing but could always be something more sinister like protectionism) don't produce a good result on any drive I tried. So it's a lot more than just reading the stream, more like error correcting and interpolation. Have you ever studied the Red Book about how CD's are defined? I did a long time ago, and it was clear to me at that time that the way a CD synchs up and the way the digital data stream are read off the disk are very far from perfect.

Well, you explain to me why Sony offers different ripping speeds for its formats (not WAV)? And I feel obliged to add that I have seen (heard) this same phenomenon on a wide variety of CD drives. So much so that I believed that the LP2 format was to blame, whereas it was the original rip that was the problem.

$600 no way. Second hand NH700, $150 max maybe less than half that if you get lucky. Microphone less than $100.

The "errors" I saw from SonicStage's poor (very fast, low quality) ripping were way worse than errors. More like failure to do any of the clever things described in the article about oversampling. These defects happened on disks that every player and every other piece of software regarded as "perfect" Remember, the digital stream on a CD requires quite a lot of tweaking before it can be considered 100% perfect.

Just a second. Isn't it the case that what you get off the CD player is dependent on the reading circuitry? There's not 100% digital perfection IIRC. This is why I had such trouble with PCM ripping with SonicStage, and why some CD players actually work better than others at playing "bad" disks.

Hmm my first CD player (1988) definitely had 20-bit oversampling. See here http://www.sakurasystems.com/articles/Kusunoki.html for some fairly deep stuff about this. 16-bit isn't quite enough resolution as we want a cutoff (Nyquist freq) of 1/2 of 44.1 kHz ie 22.05 Khz. Anyone who has played with sound spectra will know you see response up to 22.05 kHz when it's a CD. So they did some trickery to use effective 20 bit resolution with the available 16-bit DACs. (of course computers like powers of 2, so the next logical DAC size over 16 is not 20 or 24, but 32 which is simply unfeasible). The article (written in 1997) seems to argue in favour of 16 bit non-oversampled. The closest analogy might be like saying LP2 is better than SP because you don't have to play tricks to process the data up to its cutoff frequency? So more isn't necessarily better. Some of the differences between high end MD decks and the rest are in the nature of the DAC and the way it is filtered on the out (analogue) side (Current pulse vs hybrid pulse). Whilst I don't really grok what that is all about, it seems related. You can use cheap digital technology as Avrin says, to interpolate to a higher resolution or you can use a simpler but more expensive system to get nicer sound. Have I got that right?

Thanks for the explanation. So due to saving cost, the time-multiplexed 1-bit simulates a space-multiplexed n-bit, since the DSP chips, just like other CPU's can run orders of magnitude faster (than when MD was first invented). Presumably this is what Sony talks about with "phase shifts"? ie they can manipulate that sound image by playing with the sequencing of those bits......

The problem I had with making Atrac CD's appears to relate the same problem I have seen many times with WAV or PCM files in SonicStage. The symptom is: the track will play, but cannot be transferred. Deleting it from the DB (ie not the file) and re-adding the file always fixes the issue. (There is a secondary issue when the DB knows about more than one version of a track, ie two or more at different bitrates). So the same here. Delete the offending track from SS (but not off the HD) and re-add, and they compress and transfer to Atrac CD quite nicely. The odd part was this happened where SS was pointed at imported WAV files. So clearly something amiss in the db. The big problem with Atrac CD writing is there is little or no feedback. If it works then you can look at the disk created by reinserting it after burning. However if it doesn't you have a blank screen and must re-add all the files you wanted to transfer to it. Yuck. However the results are stunning. It truly is like having HiMD in your car - the equivalent of 4+ CD's on a single disk. I listened to something in my car yesterday on Atrac CD at 256kbps and I can honestly say it was the best reproduction I have ever heard in my vehicle. New head unit from Sony, of course, but the speakers are the factory-installed ones.

Forget mcrew, you want SonicStage. It's not the world's best piece of software but it should do what you want. Be advised you CANNOT transfer from MD to PC using the USB connection, though. There are thousands of sufferers here who will help you when you get stuck.

So it's like oversampling which has been on CD players for 20 years. We all know the 1-bit wars were basically marketing.

Actually this setting is meaningless when the conversion is replacing .oma by .OMA (in the same directory). The reason being that these file names are equivalent in Windows which is case-insensitive in its file names. Follow the train tracks, and you'll arrive at your destination

I reckon whoever placed this listing was doing on behalf of someone with a cold (read "subwud wid a gold")

http://www.minidisc.org/type_r_atrac.html I think this discussion is pointless. I don't know, and if I did, I wouldn't be able to explain it. AFAIK 24-bit applies only to the DAC on a MD unit. You'll never hear 24-bit resolution on a portable, so I don't know why Sharp would claim it. Maybe go and read about hi-quality decks, Chris.

RH1 uses Type-S which includes Type-R. Page 83 of your manual.

I agree. Even after Ultimate install, I still sometimes see the duplicate drivers. The only sure way is to zap them as soon as you see the slow upload.

I suppose it's time, about now, for the joke about leopards not changing their spots.......

ROFL

Well.... not quite true. The (trademarked?) MegaBass goes back to when there were just 3 settings for tone control - Regular, 1 and 2. All the above mentioned before the multi-band equalizer (sound engine?) have this. My pre-MDLP R91 has it. The B10 has it, surprisingly, but of course no USB. I just looked at the MZ-DN430 (why isn't that one in the equipment browser, folks? I did comment on this earlier) manual at http://www.docs.sony.com/release/MZDN430.pdf. It seems you can change the bass and treble "just like an old fashioned radio". There are a couple of presets, which I am betting come all ready to roll. Chris, what exactly are you looking for? The megabass is surely just some preset, no? The headunits (eg my GT510) have something called DSO (Dynamic Soundstage Organizer) but that has more to do with inducing a shift in apparent sound placement, particularly in a vehicle.

Chris already has the PSDN430. It has NetMD and megabass. As does the 510,610. The 710 and 810 are more like the 910, but they do have the disadvantage of using NiMH gumstick.

Probably the N910.

To put offers on remotes into perspective, I have bought most of my remotes in deals like this. They were all absolutely genuine (or at the very worst, perhaps factory rejects, however I sort of doubt this). In every case the seller disappeared after a few weeks or months. My strong suspicion is that Sony may be shutting them down whenever possible.

Most people didn't/don't play pre-recorded disks. However there is a lot to be said for recording on one unit (eg a deck) and playing on another (eg a portable). So people typically make their own selections/compilations, and they find value in being able to play them. However having said that, this unit is from before the advent of MDLP, which further compressed the data so you could get 2 or 4 CD's full of music on a single MD. It is interesting for the radio feature, though.

Heh, I would be tempted to buy that unit off you, how much? Meantime back in reality, you prbly need a file called pa_driver.zip which you can find here on the website. If that's not enough info, come back and we will talk you through slowly. You need Sonic Stage 4.3 for your XP PC. Best version is here