sfbp

Why not go look? I don't know any useful model numbers.....

However, it's trivial to put a different model in (either change the link, or search in English - may require a change on the site) to look for that. There's LOTS of stuff - if you recall there were about 6 MDS-W1 auctions. Same method of searching.

The vast majority (especially decks and older MDs) tend to have mostly English interfaces anyway. Go take a look at Buyee. For example eh-70, probably the most durable HiMD ever made: https://buyee.jp/item/search/query/mz-eh70?translationType=1

None of this stuff has been available NIB for a while. If you're really determined, the best place is Yahoo Japan which you can access via Buyee or From Japan. It's the ONLY place to find models that were never released outside Japan.

huh? The only output from the radio is to the headphone socket. The only power to the radio is through the 4 (?8) prong socket that goes (or DOESN'T GO) into the unit. It won't work. The only unit it was designed for was the NHF800 (and you can sub an NH700 if you have the radio) or the NF810 (ditto ditto an N710). I have definitely found some units I can force it into, but most no way.

yup. the plug has extra fins (the sockets for which) missing from nearly all MD units.

You can't put the radio remote into the RH1's socket. Even if you could, the radio would be completely independent, just another analog source to record from line in.

Taking the last first: Yes, the times are all listed in terms of how much content you can have on a disk, in the manual. Wiping them can be fun as the HiMD "track" shows up in a normal deck as unwipe-able. This by design. You can wipe them in SS, or in an old deck that doesn't understand TrackProtect flags in the TOC. As to wiping the disk, I honestly believe that the answer is NO. I had endless trouble until I got a deck which is completely PC-agnostic and therefore doesn't care about rights management.

Sadly, the mechanism Sony came up with for making a completely blank disk includes the necessity to preserve the "rights" information for deleted tracks back to the PC. You can monitor this by seeing exactly how much free space there is on the disk according to SS. This means in turn that once there's a fault on a disk, you're stuck with it. This isn't a problem with a hybrid disk (legacy formatted to Hi-MD) since a real erase in a real deck that predates HiMD will get rid of everything. It's also not a problem if you have an Onkyo deck. But the 1GB disks cause silly problems especially when the unit is run off battery power at record or edit time. It's minimised in the RH1 but all the earlier HiMD units come with a sticker with that warning about using lots of power. You should be able to do "format" ("initialize") but unfortunately, they decided to do the rights recovery even then. When you consider that "true PCM" isn't that desirable (for MD it was really just another marketing gimmick) in 16-bits-only, you don't try to send PCM to the MD. You'll get a far better playback (from already recorded music) with 256 or 352 kbps. PCM is nice for recording live, provided you don't need to amplify the sound post facto. I just worked on an under recorded concert (automatic recording by preset equipment that I don't own). What saved me is that the recording was in 24 bits. This meant that digitally amplifying the signal (in Sound Forge) by 16 or 32 didn't make the signal sound patchy. If I only had 16 bits to start with, this technique likely wouldn't have worked.

https://buyee.jp/item/search/query/mds--w1?translationType=1

Oh, that's a shame. I'm sure you told us all this, and I forgot (about the data transferred NOT being all the data that is there but only silence).

Not exactly. But if it does duplicate the binary data, then: a. this is what OP needs (sounds like he's making an SP release) b. for MDLP disks, another deck will be used to clone the TOC, but the data will have been copied. "Recovery" to me means getting data off a disk which is unplayable. I would hazard a guess that if the MDS-W1 copies such a disk, the result will also be unplayable.

Speaking as a non-owner of an MDS-W1, didn't we speculate that one could easily TOC-clone the catalogue of an MDLP disk onto the destination? Cheers Stephen

The MDS-W1 does what you want for SP and MDLP disks. HiMD isn't such a problem because as long as you unprotect them, uploaded files can be made to a new disk that looks a lot like the old one.

Enough already....! you, sir, cannot apparently take a hint. Final warning. Three strikes etc etc etc

Really? You can go in both directions, to and from the PC?

That site is one place to look. Only 2 downloads per day allowed. I think the rest has to be done with search engines. I assume you already checked minidisc.org and here in the library.

Any fluctuations visible by eye are nothing to do with the signal. If there's a good connection, you will see a steady light. Period. Remember that the only formats that MD can process are: 32Khz; 44.1Khz (native); 48Khz. The outliers are converted to 44.1 by some resampling that Sony built in to almost every recording device. The other problem is that many devices put out a signal with one or both of the copy bits (SCMS) set. In this case you need a stripper. The easiest way to get this functionality is with a PC that has optical in AND optical out, since most sound cards allow you to control the SCMS setttings for yourself. Stephen

Try the service manual here https://elektrotanya.com/panasonic_sj-mr100.pdf/download.html

NetMD driver (NETMD052) for all 32-bit Windows, View File This driver will install in place of ALL known 32-bit NetMD drivers (eg NETMDUSB.SYS, NETMD031.SYS, NETMD033.SYS). It is to be used on all versions of Windows, including 7 and 8. It WILL NOT work on Windows64 (the usual version for Windows 7 and 8)in any version of Windows. For that you need the (pinned) upload called "NetMD Driver 64-bit Win7 or Vista" elsewhere in this downloads section. To get the benefit of fast NetMD upload on the MZ-RH1 (and MZ-M200) you must follow the steps in the first post here: Ignore that step if you have never installed a NetMD driver before (you will know, if you are reading this) on this computer. If you don't do this on a system that has been used before with the "standard" drivers from Sony, your uploads to the RH1 will be TEN TIMES slower than expected. This will undoubtedly shorten your temper as well as the life of your precious RH1. Please note: there will be a signing error during installation because the contents of the .INF file have been edited (relative to when Sony originally compiled it). You must ignore the error at install time, either by disabling checking of driver signing, or by overriding the default behaviour which may be to ASK whether you wish to ignore the signing error. Without this step you can not install the driver. In Windows 8 signing is forced on, and you have to (temporarily or permanently) make it optional. In earlier versions of Windows it is optional (on request) or may be turned completely off (not recommended). It's ok to turn signing off temporarily to install this driver, then set it back to its former condition after the install. The error will be something like "STOP: are you sure you wish to proceed?" or some such terrible-sounding warning. It's quite safe, FOR THIS DRIVER, to ignore that. There's no change in the driver itself, only the information file which allows it to be installed on more units. I hope this is useful. Submitter sfbp Submitted 01/17/2013 Category Drivers  

NetMD Driver 64-bit Win7 or Vista View File These are the drivers you will need to get NetMD devices to work with 64-bit Windows 7 and Vista. For Hi-MD devices in Hi-MD mode, no driver is needed, however for NetMD mode you will still need this. Compatible models: NetMD: MZ-N1 LAM-1 MDS-JB980 MZ-N505 MZ-S1 MZ-N707 MZ-N10 MZ-N910 MZ-NF810/N710 MZ-NF610/N510 MZ-NE410 MZ-NE910/NE810 LAM-10 AM-NX1 MDS-S500 AM-NX9 Sharp IM-MT880/899 Sharp IM-DR400/410 Sharp IM-DR420/DR80/DR580 Kenwood DMC-S9NET Panasonic SJ-MR250 Hi-MD: MZ-NH1 MZ-NH3D MZ-NH900 MZ-NHF800/NH700 MZ-NH600/NH600D MZ-N920 MZ-DH10P MZ-RH10/M100 MZ-RH910/M10 MZ-RH1/M200 Others: C7NT L7HD 333NT/373NT (Note: PCLK functionality will NOT work with this driver set, so no M-Crew is possible unless you use the XP virtual machine in W7 Pro or Ultimate) Here's a video one user posted in the forums. Thanks muchly, "proudofmylife" A word to the wise: if you want to see what is actually depicted (text), recommend watching on youtube rather than in this window here. That's an option if you right-click the screen shot here. That will allow you to view in full screen, thereby seeing the details quite clearly. Submitter sfbp Submitted 02/04/2011 Category Drivers  

I never had any trouble with the RH1 as a playback device. Try something other than PCM.

Trust me.. PCM mode for transfers (not live recordings) is a waste of time, IMHO. Use Sonic Stage to create Hi-SP (you can set it up to concert automatically) and send that through USB. Optical in works best with a deck. There's reasons for all this: 1. PCM uses a lot of power both on recording and playback. I've had endless arguments with one individual who was insistent he could hear the difference on his headphones. I didn't believe him. 2. Players and rippers all take a very variable subset of the "real" data on a CD (which is close to 20 bits in most cases, hence "oversampling"). To get 16 bits that sounds good, the algorithm is very special (read up about dithering). There are settings in Sonic Stage but I am not sure they make much difference. 3. ATRAC (and ATRAC3/+) is a 24 bit mantissa, 8-bit exponent logarithmic format. That's why a recording of SP can sound better than the original CD. Especially with Sony's ripper set to "High Quality" (which takes longer). 4. Sonic Stage can also generate Sony AAL (Atrac Advanced Lossless) which is a great source to: a. regenerate a CD b. make a nice listenable recording on MD with not too many bits. I suggest AAL with the lossy part being Hi-SP (256kbits/s). AAL is a useful format because it's not protected by encryption. So no fuss with File Conversion Tool. Having said that one of the best ways to get lots of music onto a MD is to use a deck and record from optical at LP2 (132 kbps), and then upload that to the PC. I've uploaded a fair amount of LP4 (66kbps) this way and it sounds terrific. More bits doesn't necessarily mean a better sound. Oh yes, one more thing... SP doesn't transfer properly. You may as well use LP2 and get 2x as much music.

Ah yes, so does OP