Soundbox

Just wondered if anyone else was buying any of the new MD albums coming out? It was a pleasant surprise to see, with professionally printed MD's artwork. https://timeslaves.bandcamp.com/album/night-drive Is one of them, if you like your synthwave. From what I can tell, they are made by https://www.bandcds.co.uk/all-others/minidisc-duplication-and-production/ which to me is exciting indeed. Never thought I'd be buying new music on MD, but I am happy, and pleased to support.

Thanks for that. I found that selection in the end and am pleased to say that it loaded fine - I really appreciate the help.

I have a new laptop and of course SonicStage is important, however when I connect my MZ-RH1 I get unrecognised so I update the driver and get this message after a few moments processing https://www.dropbox.com/s/qmhf93bibdjw5qk/20150719_154017.jpg?dl=0 But this does not mean anything to me sadly. Is this something I can overcome or is the MZ-RH1 just not compatible with the HP Envy? Thanks.

I did type Neige but my phone thought it knew better! Added to the dictionary now.

Sony Beige 80's I get from Amazon for £11.50 (that's a ten pack) with free shipping. That's a fair price. 74's are a little dearer for some reason. I see new Sony portables are available for £159 which is not exorbitant.

Try Jim Hoggarth (he posts by that name too) does MD repairs. He is UK based and has serviced most of my portable recorders. Absolutely excellent service and good value.

It was the YMCA in Aylesbury. Cash Converters are another good place. When they sell you a MD deck you often find that they come with a whole mass of used and new blank disks.

For pre-recorded disks eBay is your best bet - but look also at portables for sale as sometimes such disks are thrown in as part of the deal. For blank disks just keep your eyes open - charity shops are a good source. I picked up 18 sealed Sony and TDK disks yesterday for £6.50 which is a decent price.

Jim fixed my 510 around two years ago. As Stephen said, the repairs are quite complex but Jim does know exactly what needs doing and only requires the drive block - saves sending the whole machine. The deck is still working flawlessly today. Does Jim still offer MD service?

I will add that I have been uisng mine for 3 years and have had no problems with the door or controls. I will say that people do in general treat MD portables quite roughly even when they are 'being careful'. I don't think that they understand the finer points of construction that make these gadgets up. I have always 'assisted' the door shut, gently pressed buttons and the jog lever and been aware that firm presses and actions have no place in operating fine mechnaical items. Just use it with care and concideration and it should be fine.

I remember the days...Amazon UK selling MZ-RH1 (brand new) for £190. I bought 3 back then but should have bought more! Even then I knew that the price would be sure to hold - but what I did miss buing in bulk was the Hi-MD disks. They have really gone up in price.

I thought I would share my first transfer done via this method. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFZAzrJZtsY Of course quality is compromised but I do feel that it is better than I got when I used the MZ-RH1 for the USB transfer. What bit depth is the MZ-R30? Using the headphone output of the Sony flash recorder (using something called 'Virtual Battery Technology') makes the MD transfers sound better than playing back on the MD recorder itself. Of course with so many pocket music players supporting 24 Bit there is no need to dither to 16 Bit - just play the full 24. The iBasso DX-50 and Fiio X3 spring to mind.

One thing 192 KHz allows is for greater sound modifications such as slowing down to extremes. I recorded a 192/24 file on my Sony flash recorder (birdsong) and I got some interesting effects when I slowed it right down. As for music, 92 is plenty. Then there is DSD recording - that is 1 bit but at over 2 mHz sample rate.

Just an update - I connected the JB940 to the flash recorder via optical and it recorded perfectly at 24 bit. I then took the SD card and loaded it into my laptop computer to edit it in Sony Sound Forge. I will share the results here as soon as they are ready.

I'm sorry but they are really hard to get. Sometimes you can get lucky by regularly checking on eBay or similar. They were never widely available as my Sony shop only ever carried one twin pack at an expensive £14.99. What supried me is the speed at which the blank disks were withdrawn from sale - under a year from the end of MZ-RH1 production. I don't know why that was.

Thanks for the input. MDietrich, that is exactly what I mean. If there is a possibility of capturing a better quality than the 16 bit the MZ-RH1 offers via USB connection then it is worth the effort. My MD contains the sound of fireworks and celebrations from 2000 and I would like to give it a bass lift in the editing stage. I will try it tonight and report if the single digital copy issue reares it's head. My computer has no optical input and since my Sony flash recorder does I was hoping to make use of that.

The recording was one I made myself using microphones. I want to edit it in the digital domain so if I can capture the 24 bits it will give me more to edit with (well I hope so anyway).

I have a JB940 deck that offers 24 bit on the optical output. I also have a Sony flash recorder that accepts 24 bit on the optical input (at varying frequencies). If I used this method to copy an SP recorded disc to my flash recorder instead of using the MZ-RH1 and the SonicStage converting to 16 bit, would I gain some theoretical sound quality improvement? I have some SP recorded items that I want to save in the best possible quality. Thanks for any input.

I noticed the same, but my problem was not a faulty unit but an external source not having balanced channels and no way of correcting it when using the M10 to record. A balance control is important I feel. I have ended up with the PCM-D100 which is similar but does have a balance control.

It seems to me (at least in the UK) that MD is becoming more popular. The prices on eBay are up across the board, no longer do I find machines for sale in the Cash Converters and even overpriced 'long time lurking' items have sold. What is fuelling this? Most of us here have the machines we want and yet something is driving the prices up. I know that in a couple of recent issues of HiFi magazines they have run articles praising the format but that was only select machines. It is a shame really as I have not seen a tempting bargain for a good few months. The last one was a MZ-NH900 portable with discs and accessories for £20. What are your thoughts on this?

Don't forget that Clas Ohlson have Sony 5 packs for sale, brand new. Also Maplins.

Thank you Stephen, that has explained perfectly.

I have been enjoying my new PCM-M10 very much apart from one thing I cannot fathom out. I hope someone here may know. When importing an album (folder of tracks) to the M10 - using it as a music player when not recording - the folder imports fine, however all the tracks are muddled up. I can open the folder by connecting the M10 to my laptop and set the order correct, but playing back without connecting to the computer they are all muddled. I even put the track number at the beginning of the title - no luck. I have only ever owned MiniDisc and cassette so am not that up on sorting files. Thanks for any input.

I think the problem with the jog control stems from the fact that response is not instant even when electrical contact is made so people push too hard. Use only enough pressure to do the job and it will not be stressed. It does not help to push harder on this button.

Last night I listened to a pre-recorded MD (Massive Attack - "Blue Lines") that I put onto an audio cassette. I played it on my Sony Walkman D6C and to my ears at least that machine has a superb headphone output. It sounds like listening to the headphone output on a full size MD deck with bass energy that is almost limitless. I wonder why such a headphone amp was not used on their MD portables?