Kona702

Is this an easy mod? Or is it difficult. I am average at mod's and soldering etc...but not an expert. I wouldn't attempt it if it was complicated. If you could quickly explain to me what this mod involves I would appreciate it. Thanks, Sean

Azureal, This looks like a great deck (D40) but I just read some specs, and if they are correct, the deck doesn't have a toslink out. This is a requirement that I must have. Thanks for the input though!! It's appreciated! Sean

Hi All!! I just stumbled across something REALLY cool and shocking. Tascam still manufactures and sells a combo MD/CD deck with all the digital I/O's and bells and whistles you need!! (SP and MDLP formats) When I acquire the $650 that is the listing price Im definitely ordering one before they discontinue them. I was floored and excited when I stumbled across the product on Tascam's website. I'm fascinated that they are still making them, they can't be selling many of these because I think the only people that still use minidisc are the few that belong to this forum. Check it out!!! http://tascam.com/pr...cd1mk3/buy_now/ Enjoy! Sean

Hi All!! I just stumbled across something REALLY cool and shocking. Tascam still manufactures and sells a combo MD/CD deck with all the digital I/O's and bells and whistles you need!! (SP and MDLP formats) When I acquire the $650 that is the listing price Im definitely ordering one before they discontinue them. I was floored and excited when I stumbled across the product on Tascam's website. I'm fascinated that they are still making them, they can't be selling many of these because I think the only people that still use minidisc are the few that belong to this forum. Lol!! Check it out!!! http://tascam.com/pr...cd1mk3/buy_now/ Enjoy! Sean

I had no idea they were still making them. I thought they were gone at least in the US by 2009. Were they still making them for other countries I guess? Were there new models sold outside the US after the RH1? I thought this was the last device made for minidisc. And the article says they will still make the cartridges, but you can't purchase them new from Sony's website. Im a little confused and intrigued, and would be happy if someone knew what was going on and could enlighten me! Thanks, Sean

I figured it out. I bought an external soundcard for my laptop with SPDIF out and played the DVD with my laptop. This defeated the SCMS and I was able to record the DVD digitally!! I have another related question. I prefer to record optically from a CD to the MD in HI-SP mode, rather than transfer tracks from sonicstage to the MD. For some reason it sounds better like this to me. I was over a friends house and they had a lot of music on their computer that I liked. So I quickly installed sonicstage on their computer and burned 38 songs to a CD in MP3 format because I didn't have the USB cord for my RH10 with me. When I got home I put the CD in my Sony CD/DVD Changer Model# DVP-NC655P that is capable of playing MP3 CD's. I started the recording with the optical cable attached and the RH10 said "no digital copy." Does anyone know a way around this rather than burning 3 regular audio CD's and recording optically from them? I am baffled as to why I can record a factory CD unlimited times, but an MP3 CD wont record at all due to some kind of SCMS (Serial Copy Management System). Retarded! Does sonicstage encode MP3 cd's with some kind of SCMS? Would the RH10 allow the recording from MP3 CD if I burned them with another program? Or are all MP3 cd's played with a Sony CD player flagged with copy protection to the MD? Anyone's help is greatly appreciated! Thanks for the input, Sean

Hello helpful folks, I have a question. I prefer to record optically from a CD to the MD in HI-SP mode, rather than transfer tracks from sonicstage to the MD. For some reason it sounds better like this to me. I was over a friends house and they had a lot of music on their computer that I liked. So I quickly installed sonicstage on their computer and burned 38 songs to a CD in MP3 format because I didn't have the USB cord for my RH10 with me. When I got home I put the CD in my Sony CD/DVD Changer Model# DVP-NC655P that is capable of playing MP3 CD's. I started the recording with the optical cable attached and the RH10 said "no digital copy." Does anyone know a way around this rather than burning 3 regular audio CD's and recording optically from them? I am baffled as to why I can record a factory CD unlimited times, but an MP3 CD wont record at all due to some kind of SCMS (Serial Copy Management System). Retarded! Does sonicstage encode MP3 cd's with some kind of SCMS? Would the RH10 allow the recording from MP3 CD if I burned them with another program? Or are all MP3 cd's played with a Sony CD player flagged with copy protection to the MD? Anyone's help is greatly appreciated! Thanks, Sean

Darryl, Did you ever get the RH1 working? Let me know if you didn't and I can help

Yes $10 for a new HI-MD blank is good...I've paid up to $25 for one once and I have seen them going for much more. But you have to be pretty desperate to pay over $25 for one.

You're welcome! And ditto!! I don't mind sonicstage at all. I don't understand what everyone's problem/issue is with it. I greatly prefer it over iTunes (now that's a program to bitch about), and I even use sonicstage to make my regular audio CD's for my HI-FI system, I like using it better than Windows Media Player because it writes the track titles/album information to the CD, and my Sony CD changer can read and display the album and track info on the rack unit. Plus I just find the software plainly simple to use... it's idiot-proof, IMO, (other than setting it up initially to sync with your MD/Walkman devices, this can be a hassle with driver installation Etc..) Another kinda cool importing/editing program is the HI-MD renderer by MARC...this is really cool and useful for importing quickly and changing the audio file types. http://www.marcnetsystem.co.uk/HIMDRenderer-1.00-beta4.zip Glad to hear someone else "likes" the software as I do..lol!

Hello all, I have a few questions regarding the HI-MD Renderer. First let me just say I am thrilled to have found software other than sonicstage to manage MD and audio files. It seems like this software has many other conversion capabilities that sonicstage does not. My questions are: 1.) I have an MZ-RH10 and I was wondering if I can transfer tracks to the recorder using the renderer software, if so how do I do this? 2.) Also the MZ RH-10, being a HI-MD recorder, has the capabilities of playing SP and MDLP discs (Net MD Mode.) Now...when I insert a NET-MD disc and connect the device to my computer, the computer device manager as well as sonicstage recognizes it as a Net-MD. When I click on anything to do with Net-MD in the renderer program, I get an error message as follows: "ERROR:[2174-0-7F]: Failed to scan for NetMD devices. Please make sure you have the NetMD device connected. If the device is currently connected then try disconnecting and re-connecting the NetMD USB cable." Could this be that it only works with true "Net-MD Devices?" I wouldn't think so being that the computer itself, as well as sonicstage recognize it as a Net-MD with a SP or MDLP disc inserted. 3.) Is there a "help file" for the renderer software? The link to the creator website is broken. 4.) The encoder seems to be 10X FASTER than sonicstage when transferring files from the HI-MD to the computer. Can I select multiple files at once to upload to my computer? That would be freakin awesome!!! Any help is much appreciated!! Thanks! Sean

I recommend Audacity, Its a free program and there is no degradation and you don't lose any quality of the audio track. Just import the track into Audacity, highlight all the blank audio and press delete. Then export the track to the location you want. Viola! Problem Solved Hope this helps, Sean http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Never mind, found a much easier way...like psycho said you can use Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/. This program supports gapless playback!! Import the MP3 fie into the program and split the tracks where you choose. When you split the tracks with Audacity, you MUST export the finished tracks in MP3 format for gapless playback! They will have gaps if you export as WAV!!.. (You will also need to install the "Lame" MP3 encoder for audacity to create the MP3 files, http://lame1.buanzo.com.ar/) Then import the new files into Sonic stage and VIOLA!!! Problem Solved!! Hope this helps, Sean

You can always record it optically to your MD unit (if you don't have optical out on your computer, burn it to a cd first and use a cd or dvd player with optical capabilities) Insert track marks with the unit, or transfer it back to your computer and use sonic stage to split the track.

Hi Everyone, I need some help, I am trying to record a "Pink Floyd Live" DVD to my MZ-RH10 with the optical out from my dvd player. It says "No Digital Copy," which is fine because the disc must have some sort of SCM encoded onto it. My question is: why can I record CD's with no problem unlimited times to MD's with the RH-10, but not a DVD? I have tried multiple DVD players, I have tried hooking up an external sound card to my laptop with a SPDIF out to the MD, I have even tried hooking my laptop up via HDMI to my tv and using the optical out on the tv to the MD but somehow the SCM signal makes it all the way through to the unit. This is the same if I burn an MP3 CD, and try to play it with my sony 5 DIsc DVD/CD changer model NC655P, it also says "No Digital Copy!" I am kind of shocked because I can record FACTORY RELEASED ALBUMS....AS MANY TIMES AS I WANT from the same unit to my RH-10. Why can't I record audio from a DVD? Why can't I record MP3 CD's that I made...but can record copyrighted factory Albums? This makes no sense to me. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE does anyone know a workaround to this? I can record it via analog in but I want the lossless digital copy via optical recorded to HI-MD Linear PCM. Please let me know if anyone has any ideas...or can explain to me the concept behind this copyright protection. I don't understand how it works. Thanks So Much!! Sean

I just recorded an album from factory CD from my NC655P optically to my MDS-JE630 MD deck (in SP format of course). I could see the tracks when I put the disc in my RH10 on Sonicstage, but as you said it wouldn't transfer them from the RH-10 to the computer. It would only play them through the headphones attached to the RH10 when I clicked the file. In the scenario that I just described with the recording to the 630, the RH1 will transfer these tracks to the PC? I'm kind of disappointed because when I purchased the RH10, I thought that it had this capability. The specs for this device from Sony are very misleading! I had a choice to buy this or the RH1 (was only $50 more!!), but I chose the RH10 because of the 5 Line OLED display which I must say IS GORGEOUS! I would have decided differently and most likely purchased the RH1 if I knew then what I know now. Also, I find that when I record a track with the JE630 in SP format, and the same track on the RH10 (all optical from same source)...that even in Linear PCM, the SP from the 630 sounds better (both compared and played on the RH10 with good headphones). I thought that PCM was supposed to be the holy grail in MD format, but I like the sound of the SP from the 630 better...BUMMER!!!

I actually went out today and bought an external sound card, it is a Sabrent USB-SND8. I am quite impressed with the quality and functionality of this device for the mere $19.99 that I paid for it! I would recommend it to anyone who has a laptop, and wants an S/PDIF output to hook up surround sound to a receiver. Now I can record to the MD from any audio source from the computer digitally, and/or hook it up to my receiver via optical out to watch dvd's and blu-rays in 5.1 surround. Thanks for the advice!!

Thank you for the reply. 1.) Really? You're kidding!! I cannot fathom why Sony made so so many SP and MDLP decks with a digital out, but not a single HI-MD deck with a digital out. This just blows my mind. Why do you think they did this? I can't think of any audio protection restrictions that would warrant this decision. They really messed up on this one I think. Thanks' for the tip about the S/PDIF. I do not have a digital coax, or optical out on my laptop like I did on my PC before it got burned up. However your suggestion gave me an idea: What I'm going to do is hook my RH-10 to my laptop via the USB cable, hook the HDMI output on the laptop to my receiver which accepts HDMI, play the PCM tracks with Sonicstage..and viola! This should get the PCM recording to my receiver in a purely digital signal with absolutely no loss of quality right? Please correct me if I'm wrong. 2.) So you would rather record..say..a CD or Vinyl Album on a deck in SP or MDLP then on a unit with HI-MD in PCM? If I may pick your brain I would like to ask why? I thought the Linear PCM on HI-MD was the highest possible quality you could get? You seem to know much more than me, and most people for that matter about MD, I would consider you an expert. I'm just curious as to why you would choose a lesser quality recording format over PCM? Please enlighten me if I am wrong, is there an advantage that I don't know about? I think I may have just realized why you probably said that...The only reason I could think of is if you wanted to play it through your main stereo from a deck with optical out, rather than from a portable HI-MD? Is that what you're going for? Thanks' Again For All Your Help! Sean

Thanks for the quick reply!

I'm a little fuzzy about what you mean by "legacy recordings." By stating you cant transfer "legacy" recordings to a PC with the RH-10, are you saying you can't transfer optical recordings made on another device in SP, LP2, or LP4 mode to a PC via the RH-10? Is this true? I own an RH-10 and absolutely LOVE IT!!! I can't test however whether or not I can transfer optical recordings made on another unit in LP2, or LP4 mode to a PC via the RH-10 because I lost my standard MD recorder and all the SP, LP2, and LP4 discs I owned in a fire about a month and a half ago :*-(... I still have my minidisc deck that only records in SP mode but I haven't made any recordings on the new discs I purchased after the fire, I have just been using the RH-10 in HI-MD mode, and also using it to record in Net-MD mode in SP from the computer to play back on the deck. Maybe ill try to record a disc with the deck tomorrow in SP and try to upload it via the RH-10 and let you know. Also this is the first I've heard about SACD, I googled this technology and it seems pretty cool. I have a Sony 5 disc DVD/CD changer and I wonder if it will play SACD's. The model is DVP-NC655P. I'm going to download the user manual from Sony's website and check it out. **UPDATE** Aww Bummer!! : The Sony 'NC655P does not play SACDs! One more question: if I can play SACD's with this unit, it has an optical out. Does the optical cable carry 5.1 channels to my receiver? Or do I need to use the digital coaxial out? Everyone's help and feedback is greatly appreciated!! Thanks, Sean

Stephen, My deck is a MDS-JE630 that I bought new in 1999 or 2000...I cant remember. I did some searching for the models you listed for me that play in MD-LP mode and they seem reasonable, thanks for the suggestion. Does anyone know if they made a Minidisc deck that will play in HI-MD (HI-SP, HI-LP, or PCM) mode? That would be just magnificent if I could find one out there for a reasonable price, I would snatch it up in a second! I will never give up on my JE-630 though, it will always be a part of my stereo system! This was the first Minidisc product I ever owned, and I've grown quite attached to it. It is a testament to good engineering. I have never had a single problem with this workhorse (other than the disc sticking once in a while, but it's easy to retrieve, just poke it and move it around a little with a pen or something.) Oh and one more thing, does anyone also know where to find HI-MD discs for cheaper than the price on eBay? They seem to be really pricy and I only purchased two when I bought my RH-10 (which I absolutely love!!) I use regular MD's for the most part with my RH10 for HI-SP and HI-LP recording, but if I want to record a full album optically in PCM (for lossless recording) I have to constantly use the same two discs, then transfer them as WAV files to the computer, then erase the master! I hate doing this but I cant afford to pay $25++ for a disc. Any suggestions? Thanks, Sean

Azureal, I'm also glad to have found this site. I thought I was only one of a vast minority that still embraced this format. It's nice to see other people still use minidisc and help each other with issues. Also I was happy to share the instructions for Windows 8. I searched all over the web and found nothing. When I finally figured out the problem I just had to share it so others did not have to go through the frustration that I did, and what better place to do it. I just hope when someone "Googles" their problem they can easily find this post, as it is so simple to fix the problem, but so hard to figure out how to do so. Thanks for the warm-welcome, Sean

Stephen, And I was just looking at the list of your devices (impressive!), I never knew they made MD car units! How cool!! I definitely HAVE to have one! I wonder if they made a MD/CD combo for the car? I'm definitely going to eBay that sucker right now! Looks like that will be my next purchase to add to my beloved MD collection! Thanks! Sean

No problem Stephen...hope you will be able to use the info, I think you misunderstood what I was trying to do. I'm aware of the quality issues. I just meant if I wanted to record with my computer (on the MZ-RH10) and play it back on my minidisc deck, I must have the disc in SP format. My minidisc deck will not play discs recorded in HI-MD mode recorded with the RH-10. As I lost my MZ-N510 that I used to use for this purpose in a house fire, I had to record to my RH10 in SP format for it to play at all on the deck. You can't record optically to the RH10 in regular MD format (SP, LP2, LP4) to make a disc compatible with the deck, only via usb to the unit!!! (Kinda stupid I think, no idea why they wouldn't design it to be able to store optical recordings in regular format). Another dumb Sony nuance I guess! P.S. Windows 7 has it all over Windows 8. The start menu is GONE on WIndows 8!! :-( The new "start menu" (I use that term loosely) is a bunch of tiles scattered across the screen!!! Seriously..Google: "Windows 8 start menu!" I actually paid an outside software designer $5 and downloaded a program called Start 8. http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/ They made a start menu that can be installed on Windows 8...now it's not so bad. Getting used to it though. Unless you buy a touch screen computer there is no need for upgrading to 8, hold out as long as you can! Sean