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Furthermore, it's related to drivers. While plain old 32-bit software if written to standards can usually play nice under 64-bit Vista or Windows 7, drivers have a problem because under the default configuration they must be "signed". In order to use unsigned drivers and have them work consistently you have to actually disable the requirement for signed drivers in the boot table. I haven't seen the latest Windows 7 release (I last played with Build 7000), so I don't know if you can set the compatibility tab to "32-bit" when you're running the host as 64-bit. Here you'd have to resort to VMWare or another related product.

Oops. I've left this topic open longer than I had to. I've got plenty of pre-recorded MDs now (and bluecrab and I made a nice trade in the process, too--sorry, Liz, I should've said that was already taken days ago). I'm good for now. If anyone does have anything extra interesting that they might be willing to part with for an attractive price, PM me. (Moderator closed topic by request of topic starter.)

There may be several options with Windows 7. Although already present in Vista, the Compatibility Tab function supposedly is implemented in a sort of "virtualisation microkernel"--to make a long story short, it's supposed to pretend to be the target platform in a much more precise manner. If that doesn't turn out to live up to the hype, you can also use VMWare and run XP in a virtual machine that way--it even supports passing through physical wireless network interfaces now.

I got an update from one of the minidisc-linux developers. Resolving these issues is definitely one of their goals, but it is still very uncertain whether they'll be able to clear the hurdles necessary to do so--the main one being a full understanding of the encryption scheme used in the various operations. The best thing I got from his response is that it sounds like it is very much a focus of their work and they haven't given up trying to solve this problem.

Well, I said HiMD in the naive belief that HiMD units are newer and thus would be more likely to have the necessary accoutrements. Obviously when you're dealing with Sony, all bets are off. Very useful list, thank you. I guess that would be the other point--what's to be gained by uploading LP2 over optical, anything?

Not never mind. Oops--okay, is that really an issue though? I know I mentioned HiMD, but really I'm talking about uploading content from non-HiMD discs. There are plenty of traditional MD decks with optical out. I guess the next obstacle is to find a good MDLP capable deck--those are currently more scarce than RH1/M200s, aren't they. Sigh. What I will backtrack on is my comment on linux-minidisc. Does anybody have any solid information on where that's headed and whether it can help people with these issues even if they don't have an RH1/M200?

I'm a bit confused about something. It seems like a lot of people are left with the impression that you cannot get transfers of the highest quality in all cases for all formats to and from any particuliar MD unit and a computer (or another MD unit) unless your MD unit is an RH1 or M200. In reality, though, with only minimal additional work, can't you get the same quality from real-time upload/download via optical out? I know, you need to make trackmarks--but isn't that fairly trivial once you have it on the computer? My reason for wanting to know the absolute truth on this matter is that I'd like to consider other HiMD units as uploaders/downloaders--units that are considerably less expensive than the RH1/M200, but have optical out. I guess the other thing I'm not clear on is whether there are any restrictions on downloading--and if there are, in what circumstances. Am I correct in assuming that anything that gets uploaded in real-time over optical is free of any DRM restrictions? Let's leave the minidisc-linux project out of the discussion for now since we don't really know in the end what its full capabilities will be. Personally, I do hope there will be breakthroughs that help answer some of these questions. I'd like to hear people's experiences on this--not guesses or suppositions. Thanks.

I am done being nice: I can buy 20 HiMDs from minidisco right now for $99 shipped--that's $4.95 each. Get a clue.

I'm new to this, so if this is old news or is simply wrong, forgive me. Based on what you are saying--if true--it sounds like SP encoding (at least on older hardware) dropped a considerable amount of information about the signal that it should not have. Even if LP2 is compressed, it may be superior simply because the way it samples the source is superior to the old way. And you are right--this is a bit of a tangent. The moderators will take action if they think it is necessary, though.

Correct (I think)--what I'm trying to learn here concerns the signals that get converted by the remote for display on the LCD...a receive only signal.

I found someone's work on this very topic vis-a-vis the MZ-R3. It's a dead link off of our hacking page, but here's the archive.org version: remote control display interface signaling Pin 1 is ground and Pin 3 carries the display data. I'd like to learn more about the process for gathering this information.

Absolutely--but it's not that conveniently accessed as the bass boost switch. I've got a RM-MC40ELK on the way and I'm looking forward to seeing if accessing stuff gets more convenient as a result.

No, the HiMD discs are worth $70 maximum and his unit is used, out-of-warranty. See my appraisal a few responses back. Chris thinks anything sounds better with bass boost on--a feature his M200 doesn't have.

Well, it looks like the higher ups did experiment with custom Google searches, but not embedded prominently in the forum's interface. I stumbled across it when I saw the link in kurisu's signature: minidisc.org's Official Custom Google Search Unfortunately, it's configured to search the Web by default (just look normal Google Search)--so it wasn't fully baked.

Which one--the little postage stamp sized unit or the big honking one in the mint tin? Click the links--you'll find out.

According to the gear browser, approximately $216 USD.

From Sony's product page: It is a bit larger than your average portable playback device: 2 7/8" x 6 1/8" x 1 5/16" (w x h x d) not including projecting parts and controls More detailed specifications can be found on the product page here: Sony Product Detail Page - PCMD50 The deal breaker for me is that it uses Sony's proprietary memory stick technology for expansion. There is even a model above this with an MSRP of $1,999 USD--it also is limited to memory stick expansion: Sony Product Detail Page - PCMD1 Why does Sony do this all the time? It's infuriating. In addition to the Zoom unit I mentioned earlier, I think Tascam also makes a competing unit. If I absolutely had to have a pro recorder right now, I'd probably be looking at the Zoom H4n or the Tascam DR-100.

One more possible correction--assuming I'm interpreting it right (which is by NO MEANS certain--my head hurts): If you classify the item as an "Optical disc recorder" (not player), the duty is "Free"--irrespective of sending country (destination: U.S.), except in cases covered by Column 2 (which I have no idea what it signifies) then the tariff is 35%--which sounds like some kind of embargo-like policy, so I'm going to assume that's not going to include U.K. [i hate how this forum assumes I want to modify a post if I reply to it too soon] That sounds like a Canada-specific system to me. I have imported many items from the U.K.--and while the shipping has been all over the map, none of it ever included stuff like you're describing here:

Please note, that the following interpretation was gleaned from just Chapter 85 of Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, which covers "Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles". This turns out to be a far more complicated question than I thought. My best current comprehension of the U.S. tariff on these items shows that we have no tariffs at least from the following countries: Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Chile, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, Oman, Peru, and Singapore. Additionally, there are 5 additional abbreviations that they listed under "free" but don't correspond to ISO country codes: A, B, C, J, and P. These denote various additional agreements that cover specific types of products and/or certain geographical areas--usually "developing countries" but also specific free-trade or trade-preference agreements. A: Products of Countries Designated Beneficiary Developing Countries for Purposes of the Generalized System of Preferences This has the largest list of countries that would be excluded from tariffs--but it doesn't include the U.K. B: Automotive Products and Motor Vehicles Eligible for Special Tariff Treatment C: Articles Eligible for Duty-Free Treatment Pursuant to the Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft J: Products of Countries Designated as Beneficiary Countries for Purposes of the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA) P: Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act Some British colonies fall under some of these categories--but not the U.K. itself. So I really ought to take this into consideration before entering into a deal with someone in the U.K.

One of his requirements is to have a play mode button on the unit (not the remote or buried in a menu). The R909 doesn't really offer him any additional advantages vs what he has already.

So is it only Canada that gets screwed on import duties?I assume I can just use a converter for the power. If not, there are other ways. Particularly with newer technology (newer than 1980), once you get past the power supply it's the same. Assuming that's the case here, you might be able to retrofit a North American power supply if you could find one with the right specs.Even if it is in the original packing, if this is a rare enough item and you want it badly enough, I would think that paying extra to have it babied would be mandatory. Then again, I'm not bogged down by Canadian import duties.All moot--since I don't really want it in this case.

*** Poor valuation *** Starting bid $49.99 USD / Buy It Now $299.99 USD Sony MZ-DN430--anyone? *crickets* How about if I threw in 24-discs with pirated music? No? I'll admit the disc case is nice, but I can see why he's selling it--there's no room for the crack pipe. I had a look at his other auctions and the rest seems mostly sanely priced--so this little glitch must be his subconscious telling him he's not ready to let it go yet.

Well, the seller told me it would cost 75 GBP to ship to the U.S.--approximately $120.50 USD. So the total would be about $300 USD shipped. That shipping is FedEx International Express--which I don't quibble with in this case since it's such a large fragile item. However, this is essentially the Sony CMT-M333NT/M373NT but without the built-in NetMD capability (you have to have the pc-link addon which would require another find/purchase). Maybe if it were the Sony CMT-M333NT/M373NT I'd consider it, but still probably not.

I'd like to say that it's a delicious looking device and I'm jealous. The objections I have aren't driven by jealously, I promise. I had already been thinking about modern field recorders as listening devices before you posted this. The problem is we're trying to put a square peg into a round hole. For a listening device, in my opinion, you should find the best unit made for that purpose and if the output is inadequate you should add a professionally made, quality headphone amplifier. Not like the throwaway we were discussing in another thread--more like the quality unit I mentioned at the end of that discussion. However, even before I jump to that conclusion, I think that limiting yourself to Sony's offering could be a mistake. The problem is we don't know. I don't think people review these units from a playback device standpoint. Someone should do head-to-head as-playback-devices comparison of the Sony PCM-D50 with the Zoom H4n--if for no other reason than the Zoom is a 4-channel recorder for 100-150$ less than the Sony. However, I bet we'll find that they're both inadequate to the task since that is not what their design was focused on. I think your disappointments are related to what I said above. I think you hit the nail when you say "...this doesn't appear to be a Walkman substitute...". But you're right about what you're not saying directly, but is coming through loud and clear: it's a darn shame that nobody makes a playback unit with as nice a build quality, ergonomics, and display as these professional field recorders. I agree with only one of your conclusions in your Bottom Line--again, because this is what it was made for. For recording, it's the cat's meow--although it's worth exploring the Zoom H4n as an alternative in this vein. Lastly, there's nothing wrong with Made-In-China these days. For example, long before IBM sold the ThinkPad brand to Lenovo, Lenovo was making the ThinkPads for IBM. I would go so far as to say (flipping the visor down on my riot gear) I've never seen a Japanese-made product as well made as an Lenovo-made ThinkPad. Oh, and I'm sure you're right that there are talented engineers left at Sony--I just wish the marketing heads there would let them make one playback device that's not trying so hard to be an iPod.