RustyRoses

You. Are. KIDDING. Me. *bangs head against desk* So another case of RTFM, literally the first thing I usually advise others. Well, apologies for entirely wasting your time. I have used this unit for years, I put it down for 12 months, and suddenly I've forgotten how to tie my shoes it seems. Thank you. Not just for humouring me, but for being so pleasant in your pronouncement of my mental infirmity. I hope that, if nothing else, the next time someone googles "I can't edit my recordings on my Sony MiniDisc Recorder" they can read this and realise "you need to use the remote, not just the unit" and "maybe read the manual again?" as a nice simple solution!

So I have one of my non Hi-MD discs that I recorded around 20 years ago. Whether the protect tab is open or closed, there is no Edit menu. However I can press record and record onto the end of it.

I will double check with other discs. In the mean time, where would I check the WP switch? And wouldn't it say "PROTECTED" if it thought it was?

If I go into Options -> Disc Mode -> MD, then pop out he disc and pop in my regular formatted MD with recordings already on it, there is still no edit menu. To reiterate, I'm recording via optical in, I am not doing anything with a USB cable. Therefore I can't see what that would limit my edit options or only allow me to format a Hi MD disc periodically. Seems to me that there is an internal, physical failure that is occurring here?

I’m going to be trying to build a couple of these. I’ll let you know how they go. if it goes well, I can make them for others on here too.

Popped the disc out, popped it back in - Edit -> Format still the only option, but this time it lets me choose yes or no -> Yes has formatted it again.

I've just re recorded another couple of clips, all fine, but again, the only option under Edit is Format. This time it said NO EDIT, which is what it was doing earlier.

OK, cool, so this is the current situation. Record to a blank, Hi-MD formatted MD: Yes Set tab to protected -> Press Menu -> Press Edit > "PROTECTED" flashes. Set tab to unprotected -> Press Menu -> Press Edit > Format is the only option on the list. Press Format -> Select Yes -> ....and it just formatted the disc?! So in trying to respond to this, and having done nothing, it has formatted the disc. I don't understand why. I have another disc here that was recorded in standard SP, with standard formatting, and I cannot edit it or format it. The edit option isn't available. I've never been able to format discs like this tho in this device, I've had to format them on a standard deck, then reformat the blank as a Hi-MD before recording.

Hi all, so a bit of a weird one this. I've tried to search for someone having a similar issue, but I couldn't find anyone - apologies therefore if this has been solved before. I have previously been able to record, format, edit and title HI-MD formatted discs on my NH1. I haven't used it for a year or so, and have come back to find that it's lost functionality. I can play discs fine. I can record onto blank discs that I have previously formatted (via optical in, I don't use sonic stage). I can T mark tracks. The unit can tell when the disc is protected or not and won't do anything when it is. However if I go to edit a Hi-MD formatted disc I just recorded on, I only get one option in the Edit Menu and that's Format. If I try to format it says No Edit. I cannot divide, title, delete tracks, nothing. I'm mainly confused because it will record, but it won't edit? Is this a dead magnetic head? Thanks.

Here is some additional information about the driver: SONY Hi-MD WALKMAN USB Device Driver Version: 5.1.2535.0 Driver Date: 7/1/2001 Under driver details, we have mentions of the files: disk.sys / PartMgr.sys / pro_strg.sys

Thanks for the input - the unit is set to Hi-MD mode all along. Ah, now a NetMD driver - that's not something I've come across yet. Any idea where I can download this? Cheers! [Update] I've found a Hi-MD driver from 2006, so I'm going to give that a go PA_Driver.exe is the file [Update] It was already installed, no change.

So very kindly, a member of our forum, Ralph, sent me the Data Cable i needed for my MZ-NH1 recorder! Woo! I've been playing and recording (via optical in from my MacBook) for a few weeks now, and there's nothing up with the player. Even the battery is in pretty good nick. I followed the guide on the forum regarding SonicStage 4.3 Ultimate V2 and installed it on my MacBook using Parallels. [Please Note: I've run XP on Parallels to use several pieces of software for about 3 years now, very successfully.] The Good News Both Mac OS and Window XP can see the Hi-MD recorder, XP can see the files on it, delete them, add to them and tell that it's a 290mb disc. SonicStage can see that there's a player connected. This leads me to believe that all is working well in many respects. The Bad News Well, it tells me that it can't transfer to the disc, because it's been initialised by another device. Ok, sure, lets go to the Device properties and clock that Initialise button... "Initialization of the media failed. (Error Code: 0000662e)" So I uninstalled SonicStage, reinstalled and nope, same thing. If i delete the system files on the MD directly via file explorer, they delete fine. It will then say it's a 290MB disc, but when i try to transfer, it says that it cannot transfer, because the group number is set to -1 ? If i try to format the disc directly via file explorer, it gives a blue screen and crashes windows. Now I know that running it on Parallels adds a level of uncertainty about this issue, but it seems to me that the issue had something to do with SonicStage. I can import CDs to it perfectly fine, set all the options, nothing else is a problem, just formatting the disc. To Confirm: I can Format the MD on the MZ-NH1 fine, I also have a MD Deck that doesn't take Hi-MD and can also format the MDs. Whether the MD is formatted as Hi-MD (290mb) or MD (170mb) the result is the same... Help?

Just to clarify, I'm following another member's workflow to atrac by applying my own 15.5khz cut before converting.

I see, thanks for the info.

An update - I still don't have the right USB cable (for now) but in the mean time, I've begun converting my music collection to FLAC from CD and Vinyl, dumping my MP3s. My father in law had a load of used and unopened blanks, so I'm sorting through those at the moment. I've got about 50 in total, most are Sony and Sharp with lots of the 10th Anniversary clear ones and transparent purple 80min Sharps. I have a single 1GB disc at the moment. Until I pick up the correct USB cable, I'll be using a TOSLink cable with 2x Mini TOSLink adaptors between my MacBook and my MZ-NH1 on Hi-SP. It's not the 352kbps version of Atrac, but it's the best I can do at the moment. I'm also eyeing up a Sony PHA-1a and a pair of OPPO PM3s...

thanks for the extra links - looks like everyone's just ordering them from Aliexpress themselves and passing them on with a markup.

Thanks for the link NGY. If i have to get one from Aliexpress, i will, but i'd rather grab one that's already in the UK if possible....

Yeah, it isn't.

This is the MZ-NH1's Data Cable which allows the transfer from PC to MD in 352kbps Atrac http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SONY-MINIDISC-MD-USB-DATA-CABLE-LEAD-FOR-SONY-MZ-NH1-MZ-NH3D-MZ-N10-MZ-DH10P-/272485513297?hash=item3f7166f851:g:DusAAOSw5cNYQWID I contacted him, and he has none left :/

Well, a quick update - I managed to score an MZ-NH1 for a good price, however I now need to source the unique data cable :/ Currently there are none on eBay...

Thanks for the info everyone! Regarding bitrates, I'm looking for portable fidelity, so I'm happy to try out 352. The interest in pre recorded is as much about nostalgia and collecting my favorite albums, as listening to them, but as I will be getting hold of some, I'd still like to know about them as recordings. I have most of them on CD and vinyl anyways, so I could make my own copy and compare, for the fun of it.

I've had a quick look, and I see there's a 352kbps flavour of ATRAC3plus and that it can be created on your laptop and "downloaded" to a HI-MD device. Anyone have experience with that here? Also, am I right in guessing that this function is only on HI-MD recorders, and not HI-MD players? Thanks

Wow, thanks for the knowledge dump, I appreciate it! I will look into Hi-SP and ATRAC for sure - tell me, are all the pre-recorded albums using the same recording settings? I guess there are no HI-MD specific albums, right? They'd have to play on every MD player to meet the licensing requirements? Syrius - thanks for the offer, but that's about £100 plus shipping more than I hoped to spend .

Hi all, Now in my 30s, I have fond memories as a teen of recording albums to MD and typing out all the track names. I never could afford to buy an album new. I was later seduced by the iPod and now I get all the music I could ever want through Spotify on my Galaxy S7 Edge... However, it's just not the same. I'm certainly starting to notice that I don't listen to "good" quality recordings anymore. So I thought I'd pick up a few old albums on MiniDisc for the nostalgia, and looked into getting a good MD player again. This is where I discovered what happened after I left MDs behind - HI-MD! Considering that I still have CDs in storage and Vinyls too, that my record deck can record over USB to WAV format, I'm keen to get some PCM tracks onto one of the last gen MD portables. So where do I start? Am I going to have to pony up £350+ for a unit and £35 for 1GB discs? Eep! And man, the cost of some of the pre-recorded ones... Thanks! Cris Ps: I'm based in the UK, and these are the Albums I'm looking for. Frank Sinatra Collector's Series Massive Attack Mezzanine Bob Dylan Blood On The Tracks Jeff Wayne Jeff Wayne's Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds The Beach Boys Greatest Hits Madonna Ray Of Light Queen Greatest Hits II Pet Shop Boys Discography (The Complete Singles Collection) AIR The Virgin Suicides Genesis Turn It On Again (The Hits) Madness Divine Madness AIR Moon Safari Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells Enigma The Screen Behind The Mirror Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells II William Orbit Pieces In A Modern Style Massive Attack Blue Lines Chicane Behind The Sun