Sony_Fan

Do a full format using windows explorer. Right click on the USB drive in windows, and choose Format, uncheck quick format and click start. This will erase everything on the disc, all content including table of contents. Then formatted to Hi-MD with sonic stage or the unit itself. I've done this several times and I get a consistent 964MB free space on a blank 1GB disc.

I bought 17 standard MDs, a mix of Sony and Maxell brand: 4 of them are 74min and 13 are 80min. All discs are new/sealed, except for 2. Total amount including shipping came out to $22.50. Just wondering if that was a good deal, as I saw people selling 5-packs for $15 (including shipping). I'm just curious why people are overpricing MDs on ebay.

I was browsing through ebay and it seems that people are selling new blank MDs way overpriced. For example, when Target stores in the U.S. use to sell blank MDs, they were $10.99 for a 5-pack. On ebay, people are selling them for more than $15 after shipping costs. It's just not worth it. So, if anyone here has new 80min MDs they would like to sell for cheap (less than the stores) please let me know. Thanks.

What does the DSEE option in SonicStage do? Is it a playback feature or a CD ripping feature?

Thanks for the analysis. Do you mind doing another analysis with SS MP3 @ 192 but with the "Normal" setting and with/without Smoothing? I'd like to see how all 4 graphs compare: -High with smoothing -High without smoothing -Normal with smoothing -Normal without smoothing Currently I import my music with "Normal" and smoothing on. I also use my DVD writer drive, instead of my DVD-Rom drive. I believe the DVD writer drive imports a little slower, therefore more thorough.

But MP3 @ 192 or higher, I don't think the High and Normal setting will be noticeable. Anyway, I imported 3 Madonna CDs using SS with MP3 @192kbps. I turned on the smoothing option, and when I played them back on my RH1, it seemed to have more bass. I'm thinking the smoothing, smooths out the highs so they won't be exagerated, and this gives the impression of more bass. More bass is always good!

I thought the MP3 encoder in SS was really good. It sounds the same as the encoder in iTunes. I would use LAME, but only if it's as easy to import music as it is with SonicStage. I like my programs to find the CD info and cover art. If LAME does not do this, i'm not interested.

Hmm..will try that. But I always use MP3gain to normalize my MP3s to 96dB. So I don't know if dithering will affect the sound quality when an MP3 file is normalized.

What does that mean? I don't know what these techincal terms mean. Pretty much I want to know will the "high" setting give more treble? more bass? Will I notice a difference is I just use "normal."

If I hear noise, then I have to rip the CD again with the Smoothing on. Shouldn't I just keep the Smoothing on all the time to avoide noise in the first place? It says that it will increase importing time, but I haven't noticed any difference in that with the Smoothing on. If that's the case, then what exactly is the "normal" and "high" settings when you import using ATRAC3plus or MP3? I hate the fact that Sony doesn't explain thoroughly what these settings mean and what they do.

..so should I have the CD smoothing on or off??? I'm converting CD audio to MP3 @192.

Sorry, you lost me there. What is Dithering? When I'm importing music should I have "smoothing" on or off? As someone posted, is it only for scratched up CDs?

In SonicStage, go to Tools-->Options-->CD drive settings-->CD importing. YOu will see a window that looks like this: Look at the red arrow. What exactly does this setting do? How does it affect the quality of music being imported?

I know how to use MP3gain. It's so simple, I just entered the desired dB volume and apply it and all the MP3s that I select will have the nearly the same volume. I installed WAVgain, but it's different. How do I use WAVgain exactly the same way I use MP3gain? WAVgain seems more tedious where I have to calculate the volume of each song and + or - dB to reach a desired volume. Help please!

I'm just going to ask for an exchange. I really do like the M200/RH1.

Yeah, I'll send it back. I just have to contact Minidisco on the proper steps to send it back, but i'll have to wait til Monday. I bought the M200 for mainly 2 reasons: 1.) This is possible the last Hi-MD model and 2.) Clear MP3 playback and I can use MP3gain to normalize all my music. Unfortunately, my RH10 MP3 playback sucks and there is no such thing as ATRACgain (somebody please do it).

I just checked their website inventory and they have 46 in stock. I have the M200, so it's identical to the RH1. Should I email them the link of the video to show them the problems i'm having?

I've had my M200/RH1 for about 2 weeks and since then it won't close properly. I insert a disc and I have to push it down hard for it to close. Then when I eject a disc, it doesn't open all the way and I have to lift it and pull the disc out. Is anyone with an RH1/M200 having similar problems? I'm considering sending it back to Minidisco for an exchange. I'm still within the 30 day return period. I took a short video of the problems I'm having. You may need to adjust the brightness when viewing: http://s115.photobucket.com/albums/n295/ch...nt=MOV00719.flv

My MZ-M200 definately sounds a lot better than my g/f's iPod nano. The iPod has too much distortion and doesn't have EQ settings to change manually. You have to choose one of their preset EQ settings. As for the M200/RH1, the highs seem to be stronger than those on the RH10. On my RH10, for best clarity and bass response I set the EQ: 3,0,-1,1,1,3. To achieve this equivalent sound quality on the RH1, i set it at 3,0,-1,0,1,2. Overall I'm impressed with the sound quality of the RH1 where even MP3@192 sounds great. But my old Sharp MD-722 is still the bass king. Sony, when will you learn? I noticed this also, but you just have to turn the treble down one notch. The bass is good though, it feels like surround bass.

I did fix it, so I don't have to use Hi-MD for storage anymore. Just nice to know that if I ever do need to use it, it's there. But my RH10/M200 is mostly for music playback. Screw the iPod!

Have the MP3 codecs been improved in SonicStage from version 3.4 to 4.3? I'm pretty sure the ATRAC codecs were improved but I was wondering about the MP3 codecs.

For some reason I can't back up my personal data with my dvd burner, so i'm turning to my Hi-MD unit to back up data on 1GB discs. My question is, how reliable would this be? I don't want to lose my data. I'm looking to back up about 2.5 GB so i'll be using 3 of the 1GB discs.

No, they sound the same, but the writing head on a hardrive does not touch the surface. On MD, the writing head does touch the surface, therefore some wear/tear occurs. I can see why the recording head would eventually become useless. It would have been better if MD music/data was written using a laser instead of a magnetic head.

Well, what I do sometimes with minidiscs that I have used over and over again, I do full erase of the disc. I put the disc in my Hi-MD player and disconnect the earphones/mics and let it record in PCM 'til the end. That way, there's a huge blank track on the disc. This assures that the contents have been completely erased. Unlike the Format feature, which only erases the table of contents. So by doing a full erase, it's almose like having a blank "virgin" minidisc. Then I use the erase/format feature on the unit to erase the table of contents on the disc and I record/transfer music in Hi-SP or SP (optical in) and the music seems to sound more crisp and sharp.

I understand that, so basically you're saying that a brand new minidisc would produce the same sound quality as one that has been recorded/erased 100 times or more? I believe that a brand new minidisc would always produce more sharp, crystal clear sound than a used one.