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Everything posted by sfbp
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Very interesting! Does that include other formats like WMA?
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All reports are that MP3 on second generation units doesn't sound so good. YMMV. That's why Sound Forge 9 is suggested. The biggest problem with MP3 is that there are a gazillion variants (VBC/CBR, joint/real stereo, and on and on) and also many bit rates which don't sound so good. If it works for you on the 910, great.
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If it's coming from the unit, it might be a good idea to take the cover off the drive itself and observe the movements of the head when it's making these noises. Only if you feel reasonably technically competent. I'd hate for you to ruin a working machine. One clue can be if the minidisc inserted is getting hot. That may be a sign the drive is out of alignment (or Laser Power maladjusted, or both). Have you tried DISABLING the NetMD function by the switch on the front panel? If this is connected to PC's USB but the wrong driver (you may need the 64-bit driver since most Windows installs are 64-bits nowadays), it's just possible this is some weird artifact of the PC and the JB980 arguing over that USB cable.
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https://www.amazon.co.uk/Terratec-SoundSystem-Aureon-Internal-Sound/dp/B009RGA18E https://www.amazon.co.uk/StarTech-com-PEXSOUND7CH-Channel-Express-Digital-Metallic/dp/B00X7B2NY0
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If it worked in 2003 under XP, it will work in 2019 under Win7-32 and Win10-32. Surprise yourself with a fresh install of W7 - cost you nothing. At the end of it you will probably have the drivers that you can then extract and feed back into XP. Sony's support is (mostly) irrelevant, it's Microsoft's that you should care about. THEY don't want to deal with XP, which is why Sony blanked the hardware (under agreements with MSFT most likely). Microsoft's support for W7 ends in January. That's tomorrow (though I think the official cutoff date is the middle of the month). I've just done something quite similar with an IBM laptop from the mid-noughties. It runs W10 just fine (except that it's limited to 2GB which is all the hardware supports).
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Try here. You may not not find the model you have but dollars to doughnuts there is a common set of components. For example the words "Conexant Audio" flashed by somewhere there whilst I was looking around. It's mostly a matter of trying different options. Successive OSs (7,10) have done this a bit more smoothly, although the price to be paid is that signatures are checked for validity and even drivers that you know SHOULD install, do not. However that behaviour is overrideable. I suspect you are about to become an expert on PIDs and VIDs. Sony is VID 054C, however for all I know (not much about Vaios) the sound card would be under its own vendor, Conexant. Good luck!
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I'll look some more. But you should have no trouble with Windows 7. I recommend installing it BEFORE it finally goes out of circulation sometime next month. Running XP is like going hiking in the mountains with no compass and wearing sandals instead of boots. In my opinion, anyway. All your existing software should be installable on W7, there's no reason to resist it now. Trust me, Microsoft really really wants people off of XP, and I agree with them. The last decently designed OS was probably Windows 2000.
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Here's the wireless driver: http://drivers-04.blogspot.com/2007/11/sony-pcg-9w1l-vgn-ax580g-wifi-wireless.html However you probably found that already. I'd be surprised if it (the driver set for your model) was specialised though. You say you want to run XP. How about trying Windows 10 32 bits (or if that is too great a shock, Windows 7 32 bits)? You might find that solved your problem....
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That's rather a complicated statement, covering many different formats. If you want to use HiMD on the RH1, then it *should* work out of the box, provided you can play the tracks from SonicStage. If you cannot play them, try deleting from database and re-adding. If you want to make MDLP or SP disks, that's another issue entirely. You need to read about installing the NetMD driver (probably 64-bit). There are so many references here, I shan't repeat the information. The file you want is called NETMD760.zip (and of course the zip file's contents, .sys .cat .inf). Hope this helps! Note that if the "disc mode" on the RH1 is set to MD instead of HiMD, you WILL need the NetMD driver anyway, no matter what. You can get around this problem by changing the disc mode, but honestly you are better to bite the bullet and install NETMD760.
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You can transfer to your PC the optical (TOSLINK) output from your JB930. But for this you need a special I/O (Sound) card in your PC. If you don't have one, I highly recommend the German-made Terratec models. You also need something to capture the audio but that is not such a problem. Most likely you should make WAV files (1411 kHz, CD quality) and then later on you can encode to MP3 once you figure out what parameters you need. Good luck!
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Sorry, but the answer given you is absolutely unreasonable and cannot be relied upon. If your minidisc is in HiMD format, and the recordings were not protected at time of transfer originally, or were from optical or microphone/line inputs only, then the answer is correct. If your recordings were SP or MDLP format then the answer is FALSE, unless your MD unit is the MZ -RH1 (also known sometimes as the MZ-M200). If your recordings were by transfer (from SonicStage) and were not decrypted ahead of time (the default) then you are out of luck EVEN with the amazing MZ-RH1 or with HiMD recordings. So you had better tell us exactly what format your recordings are in, what they will (and will not) play on, and what equipment you have at hand. Otherwise a general question gets a general answer which is wrong. Happy Holidays!
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There are three generations of HiMD: 1. NH700, NH900, NH1, NH600 and some more 2. RH10/910, M100, DH710 (actually it IS just possible this is 3. since it came out later.... comments?) 3. RH1. Ability to play mp3: 1. doesn't play without conversion 2. plays rather badly 3. plays very well Hope this helps!
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Minidisc Deck Recommendations - JB-930/940 or Tascam MD-350?
sfbp replied to Arr-Nine-Hundred's topic in Minidisc
There's no ATRAC3 PLUS on the JB980, sadly. It's one of the very few decks that provide USB connectivity (as opposed to portables which do). Hang on to that MZ-RH1 - they have become quite valuable, since it is the only model which allows uploading of standard (SP, MDLP) disks to a computer. If you need a deck (non-portable) with HiMD (ATRAC3+), the only option(s) is by Onkyo. You can find the relevant listings here -
NetMD requires good power independent of the USB. When there's no 3V power connector, you **must** have a fresh alkaline battery. Rechargeable battery will not be good enough. You're right to think there may be another explanation. Check that the scratch area Sonic Stage uses to write files is permitted. Here's a tip: the one format that will NOT need conversion is MDLP (actually LP2 and LP4, as well as the almost unknown LP3).
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looks like a language/regionalisation/character set thing to me. What is your default language on that machine? Are you using the language bar AT ALL?
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Partially Solved: MZS-R5ST gone dark
sfbp replied to Zeugitai's topic in Technical, Tips, and Tricks
Something like this should do the trick, I think. My unit is not using a special Sony charger.. anything should do. https://www.ebay.com/itm/6V-DC-2-5A-2500mA-AC-Adapter-Wall-Home-Charger-Power-Supply-Cord-5-5mm-2-5mm/371702687591 -
Partially Solved: MZS-R5ST gone dark
sfbp replied to Zeugitai's topic in Technical, Tips, and Tricks
I don't (of my own knowledge) know what NiCads look like when they go off (: But some expert out there will probably confirm that greenish colour is the Nickel, which indeed is the colour of most nickel salts eg NiS04 and NiCl2. So you need a rechargeable battery delivering the right voltage. Not sure if NiMH can be substituted as they will have different charging characteristics. Interesting that the power for the portable is Lithium, so the NiMH era was completely skipped by this machine. -
Partially Solved: MZS-R5ST gone dark
sfbp replied to Zeugitai's topic in Technical, Tips, and Tricks
I can see the corrosion from here. That's the most important thing that you will have to deal with. -
Sorry, this is not the right forum for this. We have only very general awareness of Vaio, and then only when the Vaio has a inbuilt MD drive.
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sharp MD not working - looking for repair/help
sfbp replied to Jim Nagle's topic in Technical, Tips, and Tricks
Especially for decks, I have a strong prejudice in favour of Sony. Why? Because they're so well documented (service manuals) for fixing. You need to see something on the cover or faceplate that says MDLP. -
As I suspected, you need the same NetMD driver as everybody else, the first or second in the downloads link at the top of the page. However, I am mildly surprised this interfered with the 1GB disk, since it uses no drivers at all (other than what's already in every copy of Windows). It is possible you will need to UNinstall some existing NetMD drivers, but I wouldn't worry about that until we are completely stuck. To get the NetMD driver installed you can read elsewhere how it is necessary to turn off driver signing for long enough to install the files you get here. Unfortunately we are not able to attest to being Sony, and signing the driver with some other identifier (as suggested by one bright spark) leaves whoever trusts THAT identifier as open to malware from it. So we're stuck with overriding the security for just long enough to install (and then after a reboot it reverts but the driver is now working). Welcome to our community! I zapped your second user, no need for a fresh user for each and every post, thankyou.
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We need details. Your post says the equivalent of "I don't know how to ski down the mountain. Please help me". Well, to solve that problem we'd need to know which mountain, how good a skiier (and your skis) you are, and so on and on.... Computer Type of disk inserted in the RH1 Version of Windows, and bitness (32- or 64-) Driver installed We also need to know full details of the last system which DID work, and how your current setup differs. I could speculate endlessly, but perhaps the most likely thing has to do with a change in Windows version. Most likely you need one of the drivers from our downloads section. We can tell you which one when you give us some details.
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Yet more apologies from moi. However we all know that CR20xx last for 5-10 years. So it wouldn't be the end of the known world to throw one in, remembering to do the same in 7.5 years' time. I have replaced so many Li rechargeable batteries from different portable devices lately that I almost think Sony's use of them might be in effect a mis-design. Here's an affordable one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/5pcs-MAXELL-ML2016-3V-Rechargeable-Button-Cell-Battery/264217699607
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Sorry for the misinformation when I responded (I told you I was out of it), I suppose I meant "CR2032" in a generic sort of way since that is what SOOO many devices use. Thank you for the correction, Kevin. I have some 2016's too so I think I will go examine them. Yes! It looks like 20 is the diameter in mm, 16 is the thicknessx10 ie 1.6 mm. They are just a thin version of the 3.2mm (2032) which are a bit more common. The odd configuration is my car-clicker (Dodge) which has 2 x 2016 in the same space as 1 x 2032 - obviously they needed more voltage for some reason I cannot fathom. Are you sure the one you're looking at is 16mm diameter? One more thing... these ARE dirt cheap, less than $2 for 5 of them - see here: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=CR2016+lot&_sacat=0
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Great stuff if you're up for it. Are you sure it's as simple as a key? I got the strong impression (if I believe Nielsen's response) that the difference between versions of Gracenote is functional. However it's eminently possible that they did this on purpose to invalidate things like Sonic Stage. If that is the case, then it should be trivial to fix. It also would mean they lied to whoever asked the question about that. OTOH if it requires translating all requests and responses (ie both directions) to marry the old client to the new server, then it may be a bit more than a couple of weekends to implement - which is so far why I haven't tried myself. It's even possible, if there's a security string that all you have to do is substitute it and somehow sign the SS binary (either for install, or for execution, I'm not sure how things fail in this day and age, being an old timer from when real patching was routine) which we all use. I agree that if all that's going on is a security string then you can do exactly what you say, too. PS. One more thing - AAL is lossless! It has a lossy part but when combined with the rest makes it lossless. Oops I see you wrote AAC. Nevermind...