Leland

Nevermind. I see the babelfish translation now and of course you are right. My statement about USB power is also right so I don't care. I don't think I would use the cradle except for charging and frankly, am happy to save the space on my desk near the PC and have one less charger in all the tangle behind it. I would put the charging stand in my bedroom so I can grab the unit to go when I need it. I wonder if you can plug into the line out when it is in the cradle to drive some speakers? I'll have to check some pictures. My problem now is whether to wait for the NH1, buy a 600 next time I go to the US (2 weeks) because I'm impatient, just give in and get an ipod like the rest of the world, buy the new Sony HDD player in Japan this summer, or do nothing for 12 months when all the options will be better. Maybe I'll just get them all :rasp:

I'm not surprised but I haven't tried it because I didn't know where it would put them. Does it make an album for them? Where do they go? Can you drop them onto an existing album and have them go there?

One cool feature of SS2 for those who play music is the ability to attach a text file or a URL to a particular song. I have been using this to keep a copy of the guitar chords or tablature with the song or a link to a tab on a website using the URL feature. I can then make a playlist of all the songs I like to play along with, and have all the chords, lyrics, tabs etc. right there. Itunes cannot do this as far as I can tell.

alcohol, where in the announcement does it describe this change? My ability to read Japanese is limited to some katakana, but the table still seems to describe a USB Cradle as I read it. Also, it mentiones USB power, which would mean that if you are right and have to use only a cable rather than the cradle to do transfers, at least you will still be powered up by the USB cable, not running on battery power. In that case, I wouldn't care too much.

I think SS 2 is a substantial improvement. It is more stable for starters. I was getting lockups with SS 1.5 when transfering in the SP compatibility mode to use MD's in my car where I lack MDLP. But there is still much to be done. Other music software is much more flexible. I would like some ability to make it easier to use for playing along with music with my guitar. The ability to transpose to a different key or to slow down a song without changing the pitch would be great. Also, the ability to generate random playlists is gone, which was kind of fun, and there is no facility to rate songs like itunes does, which would also be nice. Also, even though I have a VAIO and can write CD's, I think this capability should be enabled on any PC with a CD writer, not only Sony PC's. It seems like it can't be about DRM if they let Sony PC users do it.

I can't understand why so many people complain about having an extra copy of the imported file in ATRAC format stored on the PC. With giant hard disk drives costing pennies and most PC's having empty HDD bays inside, I can't imagine worrying about 20 or 40 gigs here or there. I was really pleased with how SS 2 changed the MP3 import feature. At first, I didn't think it worked, because it is instantaneous. Then, it encodes ATRAC on the fly while transfering the music. Except for the first track, the process is multitasked with the music transfer to MD being the rate limiting step, so it is seamless and fast. Also, to my ears, Atrac3 sounds fine. I guess that might be one advantage of being over 40.

Sony officially updated the ship dates in Japan on Hi-MD, softening the blow somewhat by also announcing some new colors. The portables will now be available July 10, 2004. In Japan, when a specific date such as this is given, it is almost always met or exceeded by a few days (meaning earlier, not later), with stock in the shops ready to sell that day. See the Japanese press release here: http://www.sony.jp/CorporateCruise/Press/2...200405/05-0526/

The way to back up files (too late for you now) is with the included back up program that comes with OpenMG, Sonicstage etc. It works fine and allows your backed up files to be moved or duplicated from computer to computer, more than one computer if you wish in fact. Many people don't seem to be aware of this program, but I can't imagine why.

I can't help you, but I can confirm what you see is not unique. My son had exactly the same problem after performing an upgrade from SS 1.5. I suggest completely uninstalling and reinstalling the program. His was fixed but in an unorthodox way: we were in the process of reinstalling windows from scratch to pep up his system and remove some stubborn spyware, something I would not usually recommend as it is very time consuming. But it did fix the problem.

On two of my 3 upgrades, the official SS updater stopped. I just tried again (and again and again in one case) and it picked up where it left off, not losing what was already downloaded. Here's a question; after using the official upgrade, is there any way to use the iceedtee stuff to enable CD-R creation on non-Sony computers? One of my computers is a Vaio, so I know it works there. How can I enable this on my IBM?

Well, if the major feature is to record on a 1GB disc and the disc is not available, that would be a good reason to delay the release. My first MD player only had 60 min blanks, with 74 min blanks promised for the future. I waited several months and finally they came out and could be found if you looked around a lot for a mere US$ 25 per disc in Tokyo. I'd be more likely to buy an Ipod rather than wait, except for: 1. larger size for ipod 2. questionable battery life with no extra battery 3. new ipods promised in the fall 4. have to re-rip 400 or so CD's 5. cannot record

There is no problem moving ATRAC files to a new hard drive or recovering them if your PC goes down. You simply have to use the Sonicstage Backup program provided with the NetMD unit. I have moved my database to several different computers and several different hard drives. If windows goes down, i just restore the database from the backup.

I would also recommend the R-50. That was one of the best units in the history of the lineup. Very sturdy. Big by today's standards. It uses a Li-Ion battery, I'm not sure about the R-35, 37 so that might be a consideration. I wouldn't pay more than 50 bucks though. These are really old.

Also, Hi-MD would be substantially more compact. I find in these types of applications, you want the recorder to be as unobtrusive as possible. Even something 50-100g lighter and physically smaller is enough to make it more pocketable. Without question, wait for Hi-MD. NetMD would work, but you would lack the digital upload of Hi-MD, which would be worth the wait.

Are you referring to a function in SonicStage 2.0? I don't see that option in 1.5.

Scootaboy, I think you make an excellent point and although I have not entirely ruled out the possibility, this is the key reason why I have not bought an Ipod. Sometimes, it would be nice to have any song on a whim, true. Also, if you filter your music too early, you can miss songs that need time to "grow on you". I don't know how many times I have started with two or three tracks as favorites on an album, then later after playing them to death find others I like more than I ever though I would before. But if you are careful to cull only after giving the music time to "cure", you are correct about having a benefit with a disc containing only "golden" music. That being said, can't you accomplish the same thing with playlists on the ipod?

Magic Gate is Sony's polite expression for digital rights restrictions. For memory stick devices, you must have "MG" specified memory sticks to copy music onto them so they are secure from future copying.

I already have a 20 GB Sonicstage database, all ripped in ATRAC3 132 kbps rate. Now, in order to benefit the most from Hi-MD, I need to use Hi-LP, or ATRAC3 Plus 66 kbps. So the question is, will I be able to convert my existing database to make it capable of downloading to the ATRAC3 Plus 66 kbps compression rate (either by transcoding and converting all the existing files or by transcoding on the fly) or will I have to re-rip all my CD's with SS 2 set at ATRAC3 Plus 66 compression? The question is not about sound quality, but effort required to utilize the higher capacity of the Hi-LP compression format.

Well, the release date for Japan was always going to be June. That is what Sony said in the original announcement, so that doesn't indicate any delay for the Japanese market. I think they were trying to accelerate it for the US market to fight ipod and itunes, but it looks like they might be behind schedule.

If you upgrade to sonicstage, it will do a "conversion" of your active .omg database. I'm not sure what it is converting, as once a while ago I did this, then went back to Open MG (can't remember why). Again, if you make a backup with the backup utility and have problems with the conversion from Open MG to SS, you can always reinstall Open MG and restore the database.

Sonicstage is not just for Vaio owners, it is what they are currently shipping with all Net MD recorders. It replaced Open MG. You should be able to upgrade to it. It has proven a bit more stable, and the latest version is much faster. After reading your post again, it sounds like you are still planning to use the same computer, you just want to move the .omg file database. The backup/restore method I mentioned is what I use when I move my database files not only to a new disk, but also to a new computer. If you just want to move the files, try this. First, I still recommend making the backup files, that way if anything goes wrong, you can restore your database. Then, rather than restoring from the backup, just copy the folder with the .omg database to the new drive. Then open Open MG. Look for an option setting called "location of music files" There is a setting for this in Sonicstage 1.5 for sure in the Menu under Options. Change the location to the new drive by using the Browse feature to located the copy of the folder you made on your new drive. Quit Open MG, then delete the original files in the original location. Re-open Open MG and it should find the files in the new location. Since the same computer is being used, it should still work. If it doesn't just copy the folder back, or use the restore function I mentioned. In the case of the restore, you might have to uninstall the program, then reinstall it in order to get the option to point to where the music files reside. I just tried this on my desktop and it seemed to work. Let me know how you get on. Again, to be really safe, make the backup first, but then try the file copy method as it is easier.

To insert some balance here, not everyone would agree with Mr. Teas opinion. I move lots of MP3's to LP2 and even every now and then to LP4. Sure, it is not as good as having the original source CD, but it is not too bad. You should try it first. Everyone has a different tolerance for the effects of compression and recompression. I have seen some NetMD downloader type recorders recently in the US for as little as 80 dollars on open box returns.

Use the backup utility that came with Open MG, then during the restore process, point to a directory on your new drive for the location of the files rather than letting it use the default location. You have to be connected to the internet during the procedure for a verification step. This works with Open MG and Sonicstage both. The backup utility is a separate program called Open MG backup or Sonicstage Backup, not a menu selection in the Open MG or Sonicstage program itself.

Sony already changed this several models ago. My N10 can change manual recording levels while recording.

I think the bass rolloff is determined by the value of the resistors you use for your box. search around for something like that on the web.