Bazirker

To continue this nice thread with myself... I got Sound Forge running and tried out the NetMD function. Strange findings...as best I can tell, you can export tracks to MD only in LP2 mode and only one at a time. The tracks are protected, but there's only a temp file of an omg file on the computer, so check-in/out counts aren't controlled. You do have to use simple burner or sonicstage if you want to delete the song off the minidisc. Essentially, it's worthless unless you mix your own music with Sound Forge and want to listen to it on MD. I guess if you want to export a single mp3 to MD and don't want to bother with importing the file to Sonicstage or going through Dino's method for a single track, then it's useful...whatever.

Allright, I found a trial of it. http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/down...ep1.asp?catid=1 I haven't gotten to try it with NetMD yet, but I have managed to use a keygen that I got off of kazaa to get it working. I didn't even need to, you get like a 30 day trial out of it...annoyingly, it asks for your name and all this stuff and tries to register. I cut my internet connection right when it started trying to register itself online and ended the task, and now the program behaves as though it was registered online even though it wasn't. Yippie.

I hope you're right, because I don't think Sony will ever implement uploading for NetMD...but I hope they will!

Yes. When I use simple burner to make minidiscs from cd's, I get on the md exactly what's on the cd. If two seperate tracks run together with no break, they do the same on my MD. As far as mp3 is concerned, that usually is dependant on the ripper and how precise it was with cutting off and starting the two mp3 files. You can go old skool and playback the source and have the MD record it as it plays. If it's optical from a stereo unit, it should make trackmarks on it's own. If not, you can just make them yourself. What's the DAO method?

I think basically all earbuds are uncomfortable except for EX71-style buds. That's why I basically use only EX71's and my D66's. Hard plastic knobs in my ears aren't comfy.

Other inventions that would be worse than an ashtray with wires and stuff....hmmmmm...how bout the N-Gage?

Anyone seen the recent news? Apparently Sony aquired Sonic Foundry's Sound Forge program and added NetMD support. Has anyone tried it out yet? I'd like to know if it's any better than our present Sony NetMD software. Maybe Sony intends to replace OpenMG and Sonicstage with Sound Forge...lol, that's optimistic... I'm trying to track down a copy of Sound Forge 7.0a...does anyone know where I can find one? I don't wanna buy it, it's way way way too expensive, I just want to try the NetMD stuff with it myself.

I have Nero 6. I pirated Nero for like a year and when they released 6 I figured what the hell, I'll go buy it. It's an incredible program. When you buy Nero, you don't just buy Nero...you also get Nero Express, Imagedrive, Nerovision, Nero Recode, InCD, Nero Wave Editor, and several more programs. I actually think it's an incredible deal and I highly recommend it. IMO Roxio's CD proggies are crap. I have yet to come across any other good CD burning programs just because I've always used Nero.

Ha! Found it! http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.02/sony.html For other articles like this one, get on google and type in "sony vs sony". I found several articles that I hadn't even seen before, I just think that this specific article is the best one. (It's also the most recent....Feb 2003.)

oooooo man....That article was a quite some time ago...I'll see if I can track it down for you, it's an interesting article.

Heaps? I'd say three, all of which are more or less the same... Sonicstage and OpenMG are essentially the same program, they even use the same engine. Simple burner is my preference just because it's the only one that doesn't have silly track protection stuff. Dino's method owns. I don't have much experience with RealOne, but I thought it was even worse than Sonicstage/OpenMG.

MD's sound does not deteriorate over time. That's some kind of fluke, something must've happened when you were recording the original disc a long time ago. Hey NRen, I slightly disagree with your comparison between mp3 and atrac bitrates. I'd say digitally recorded SP sounds like 320 kbps mp3 (essentially perfect), LP2 sounds like 160 kbps mp3, and LP4...well who cares, it sounds like crap anyways, but it sounds something like 80 kbps mp3. By the way, I'm used to mp3's I recorded myself from my own cds using up-to-date LAME encoders. I'm comparing mp3's best with ATRAC Type-S. As kind of a side note...why are all the p2p mp3's so crappy? What are people using to rip their files nowadays, realtime analog recording? It's a mystery to me how people manage to still rip such poor files...

I have also been through a bunch of x-ray machines with my MD equipment and I've never had troubles. And I mean a BUNCH, same MD recorder, same discs, no troubles. Speaking from my limited knowledge, I think it's essentially impossible for an x-ray machine to mess up a recorded minidisc. The reason is that the magnetism of the disc can't be changed or disrupted unless the disc is heated to its Curie point, which an x-ray machine can't do. Have you tried another disc in the MD recorder to see if it still has the same problem with pausing and stuff?

Read my last post here for some more info on them: http://forums.minidisc.org/viewtopic.php?t=497 Which is best? In my opinion, neither program is best, they both suck. Bypass them both using m3u2sb, Nero, and Simple Burner. If you have to use one, I think most people prefer Sonicstage although I personal like how OpenMG has a slightly more simple layout.

Do you mean you want to talk to someone who designs MD units? I don't think anyone on these boards does...look to service manuals and stuff if you want accurate technical information about MD. Here's a good start for more general information: http://www.minidisc.org/manuals/minidisc_training.pdf

If you're in the US, Sony typically releases new models around March of each year. You can usually import them from Japan earlier if you want. As for any word on next year's models, I haven't seen any press releases yet, although it's getting to be about the time of year where Sony starts announcing new MD models. It is possible that there won't be any new models next year, although Sony needs to add uploading capabilities or reduce downloading restrictions if they want to stay competitive in the portables market. I doubt either will happen until the Sony Electronics vs Sony Entertainment battle dies down.

Sony ECM 717? I've never heard of it...but I assume that it isn't NetMD, meaning your discs weren't made using NetMD. If it is, then ignore this next paragraph. Are you trying to delete the tracks off your mindisc or just send them to your computer? The first is possible with OpenMG, and second is not. If you just want to delete the song, do that on the mindisc unit itself. However, if you want to get the song from the MD to your computer...well, that's another story. When you check-in a track to OpenMG, all that's happening is OpenMG is recognizing that it is deleting a track from your MD and adjusting the track count. The only time it can check-in a track is when the track was put on mididisc via NetMD. Checking in a track does not actually transfer music from the minidisc to your computer, so if that's what you wanted to happen, you're out of luck. NetMD is for computer to minidisc audio transfers, not minidisc to computer. I know, it sucks, we're all pissed at Sony for not giving NetMD uploading capabilites. If you want to get the song from your minidisc to your computer, the only way is to play the music on the minidisc and have your computer record it while it plays.

Yeah man! Minidisc recorder/player, paperweight, chick magnet, weapon, and even something you can use to one-up your friends with iPods. :twisted:

Buy the EX71's. They're quite possibly the best $55 I have EVER spent on anything music-related. They're comfy, they sound great, they isolate sound really well, you can even sleep with them in. If you can possibly afford to spend that much (and for really good headphones, the EX71's are dirt cheap,) then drop the cash and you'll thank yourself for it every single time you listen to music with them. They're truely amazing. http://www.audiocubes.com/product_info.php...products_id=387

Dude, I hope you're being sarcastic about that ashtray...lol

Yeah...before I had my N10, I remember defending v-surround on a post suggesting that you probably had to have really really good headphones for it to sound well. Now that I've heard it...oops, I think I was wrong. There has to be some purpose to v-surround...but as best I can tell it just makes your audio sound empty. Has anyone tried it on like a stereo with multiple speakers? Maybe it works really well then, or something. I dunno.

lol That's why I don't use sonicstage, it locks the tracks so you can't edit them with anything other than sonicstage. That means that you can't change track names, delete tracks, add trackmarks, or anything like that unless you use Sonicstage or openmg to do it. I think you can still move tracks, but that's it. Tracks recorded to MD via simpleburner have none of these restrictions and behave like normal MD tracks.

The MZ-R30 is definetly an old dog...in fact, it's way before NetMD's time. Sonicstage is mostly for NetMD recorders, and even then it has no uploading capabilites. As majestic said, just use some program to record it to wave. There are plently of free programs out there that can record wave's via line-in and plenty more that can convert waves to mp3.

You're fine using rechargable AA batteries. A lot of Sony MD units even come with a Sony recharagable AA. In fact, your unit should be able to charge the battery too, just put in a rechargable, plug the unit it and push the charge button (usually stop.)

Hey Bean, what bitrate are your mp3's? You made mention of it being wasteful for atrac to be at a higher bitrate than the original mp3 file, which it is...but if your original mp3 file is smaller than 128 kbps, then there isn't a thing you can do to make it sound better. I personally find any mp3 file below 128 kbps to be generally intolerable, and encoding it to another format isn't going to help. Try starting off with better mp3 files. Also, are you using LP2 or LP4? LP4 (66 kbps) sounds like ass, try LP2 (132 kbps) if you haven't yet.