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Leland

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Everything posted by Leland

  1. I tested it by recoding a couple ways, but all from the original CD. I previously tried the conversion mode, but for the sake of this test, I re-ripped a couple of CD's from my collection. In one test, I ripped from CD directly to SS in Hi-LP and transferred that to the HIMD. In another test, I ripped directly to SS in PCM mode and then had it convert to Hi-LP automatically during recording. I thought the second method might provide a way to always select what mode to transfer in, but once it converts once, it saves the Hi-LP file and next time simply uses that since it can. If you have two compatible file formats, it still doesn't let you pick which to use. Unless you delete all other options, the only choice is what it picks or 48 kbps, which I think I would never use. So, when I say sucks, OK, I was a little emotional. In many environments it will be OK. The problem is, if I need my whole database to be coded in Hi-LP to get it to transfer at that rate, then I only get that and never better. Sometimes I will want better. My debate has been to go with HiMD, move to Ipod or do something else. The big barrier I have is this SS database of LP2 quality music (good enough for me, I don't mind this quality). By sticking with MD, I don't have to rip all my music again. But if all I get is 16 Hrs per disk, its much better than before sure, but perhaps not better enough. I think what I will do is wait to see if Sony markets their HDD based ATRAC 3 player in the US. That might allow me to use my current database, but with 20 GB (more if other models come out) I can carry everything I want in a tidy package. That might be the best for me. Wish it was easier.
  2. My experience with ATRAC 3 plus at 64 kbps is disappointing. I would recommend the higher bit rate HI-SP mode.
  3. Thanks Gino. Of course that works, but based on my experience, that just means that SS is transferring the music as LP2 (ATRAC3, NOT PLUS) to your MD which will give you half the capacity of what is claimed for HI-MD in Hi-LP mode. I am writing a post about my impressions overall of HiMD based on various factors. Thanks to anyone who might have ideas about my original question, but now it is moot, because I have determined from personal listening tests that HiLP is not acceptable quality (ed: I have since moderated my position on this and would rather say HiLP was dissapointing). What do you expect from 64 Kbps. I guess I was optimistic that this was going to be acceptable. I now have to concur with recent posts that this is marginal. LP2 is good. I can live with that for all my music. Hi LP frankly sucks. (again, editing here, I was a bit harsh based on high expectations I had for HiLP) I cannot understand why Sony doesn't give us control over this, and above all, I can't understand why we don't get an ATRAC3plus option that is at the 128 (or thereabouts) rate. Sad. Back to Gino's suggestion: If you are transferring music at the LP2 rate, great. This sounds good. Any transfers at this quality level or above is fine. Simply don't believe you will get good quality from the HiLP mode at 64 kbps.
  4. Well thanks for the suggestion, but if I wanted to re-encode, I would probably migrate to a HDD system. SO, assuming I want the benefit of Hi-LP capacities, can anyone with a NH600D confirm what I have noticed in my original post, that to do so I either have to re-encode my music or convert the format in SS then delete the original ATRAC3 file, one song at a time? Come on here! I almost never ask for help :ohmy:
  5. I just got a NH600D to play around with. One of my big decisions regarding sticking with MD or getting a HDD based player is that I have all my music in SS so with Hi-MD I don't have to rip all my CD's again. Here's my problem: If I record to a Hi-MD formatted disc from source files that are recorded as NetMD LP2 132 kbps, the disc gets written in LP2 mode, not Hi-LP. I know I am asking for transcoding issues, but Hi-MD might only be appealing if I can get the kind of music densities per disc that Hi-LP affords. Does anyone know a practical way to work around this? I can convert the tracks to Atrac3plus 64kbps, but in order to get the thing to record in Hi-LP after that, I have to delete the original LP-2 file from the SS library. The only way I can see to convert files and delete the original LP-2 version is one at a time. With nearly 6000 songs, that is no more practical than ripping my CD's again. Any ideas?
  6. I have a grey one in perfect condition: no scratches etc. It is a Japanese unit. PM me with some details like what you are willing to spend, how to transact, where to ship, to see if it is workable.
  7. Just be careful. The only Hi-MD unit on sale today is the NH600 which has no MIC input. You will have to wait a few months for models which do. At that point, you will be able to upload recordings from the MD to the PC into SonicStage. How to get them from sonicstage to another format, such as a CD or to a .wav file on the HDD (outside of SS) is yet to be entirely confirmed as nobody has experience with these new units yet. Certainly we do know that if you have a Sony PC, you can write SS files to a CD-R or RW, then rip them to the HDD. Some say the icetee build of SS will allow any computer to write to CD's but I have not tried this since I have a Sony PC at home. HiMD does look like a very good digital recording format for your application. Just hang on for the models coming out soon.
  8. The Japan release date is JULY 10. That is in 38 days.
  9. The EH1 is only a player. It will not record and it will not download music from the PC. If you have not made the MD with some other device, you will have no use for it.
  10. I think they planned a US release first to try to slow the progress of the Ipod. In Japan, MD is more popular than the US, although Ipod is big too. If they had to prioritize one battlefront to begin with, the US is where they are losing the most.
  11. Well, it's possible, but not likely that the software will only be in Japanese. The N10 came out like that in Japan initially, but I doubt that will be the case with HiMD. Several of the units you mentioned will not be available in Japan. For sure the ones in the Japanese announcement, all of which use Li Ion rechargeable batteries. The NH900 might be released in Japan, but I don't know when. It will use the NiMH rechargeable batteries. The units like the NH600 with the AA battery will most likely not be for sale in Japan. These types are usually export only, sold in the US, Hong Kong, Europe, etc. The NH3 differs from the NH1 in that it cannot record from line in or mic in, it only downloads from sonicstage.
  12. I ripped a CD at ATRAC3plus 66 and the same one at ATRAC 3 133. I was surprised at how good the plus 66 sounded. Looking forward to trying it on Hi MD's with lots of music.
  13. I think the announcememt mentions a USB B type connector, so perhaps the tradeoff for not having USB with the cradle is to have a standard USB connection. That would be cool. Regarding the Gold color for the US., best to keep an eye on the Sony web site for the US. If it shows up there, it will be available, otherwise, import from Japan or get the silver.
  14. Fortunately, since I live in Japan, my in dash MD player is also in a company car. My company Lexus LS-430 :smile:
  15. Yes. The date should apply anywhere in Japan. I would start looking a few days in advance, but not expect inventory until the date quoted in the announcement. If you get it early, that is just lucky.
  16. No, Sony did not announce a MP3 HD player. They announced a VIDEO player that can also play MP3 (because that is the sound format from the video compression format and not playing it would be dopey). They do not intend this to be a product that people buying a music player will buy. That is obvious from the price, battery life, etc.
  17. Strong magnetic fields will have NO effect on your MD's. That is unless they are heated to about 400 degrees. F or C, what's the difference?
  18. Exclusive to Japan would be speculation, but so far that is the only place we've heard of em.
  19. To The Stamp: OK, I tried the drag and drop. Directly onto an album or into the album contents if they are being displayed. Very cool. Vast improvement. To Damage: Don't get me wrong, I agree that native MP3 playback would be a good thing. Since it's the defacto standard, many other programs can use it. I've resigned to ATRAC because I've used MD for years, like it and have to use it. Still, when I want to bring a song into Cooledit or through my guitarport software for my POD XT, I have to convert it to MP3 from ATRAC in order to do so. Usually I just find another copy from Kazaa. If I cant find a good one quickly, I burn the file to a CD-R from Sonicstage, which I can do since I own a VAIO PC. BTW, did you know window media player can play the .omg files on your HDD? It won't let you burn a CD as it knows they are protected, but it can play them FWIW.
  20. In theory MO is much more durable than optical. The magnetic properties are locked in unless the media is heated with the laser, so at storage temperatures, it should last a long time. There is an article somewhere on the minidisc.org site that I seem to recall one theorist suggesting MO media could last 100 years or more.
  21. Certainly those types of solutions are available, but if you've ever had an in dash MD player, you realize it is soooooooo much more convenient.
  22. Bad USB cable or connection perhaps?
  23. Sonicstage comes with a backup program that will back up your music database to another location or to removable storage. You didn't happen to ever use that, did you? (Most people don't, but after all the time it takes to rip 400 CD's and organize playlists etc, I strongly recommend it)
  24. I can think of two possibilities: Your hard drive is too full (easy to check) or perhaps the CD has some kind of copy protection and the error message is just too dumb to give you the right story. Do you have much HDD space left on the drive partition where the files are being kept? The default is the C drive, which on many PC's now is small to enable recovery with a second larger partition being a "D drive" with lots of free space. Does the problem occur with all CD's or just one?
  25. My experience is that I can delete them if the MD is connected to the computer and I use Sonicstage to do the delete from the MD's playlist that shows up in the transfer window. I cannot delete the files if the MD is not connected to the PC and I use the MD edit menu to try to delete a song that was transfered from Sonicstage. That is too bad because with unlimited transfers now, it would be logical to be able to delete tracks.
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