Bazirker

NetMD software is once again irritating me with how much it is being a pain... I've been using Sonicstage for awhile and I wanted to give Realone a shot. I already have all my cd's on my computer in omg format and I want to send that to md. Well, I don't know why, but I can't get Realone to recognize omg files as valid music files that can be transferred even though it clearly works with openmg files. I downloaded the sony devices plugin and it can recognize my md and stuff, but why can't it transfer omg files? I have a bad feeling that you have to have a non-omg files present for the program to first conver to omg in order for it to recognize the file...

After searching around for the best value IN-CANAL earbuds, I think I'm going to end up buying Sony EX-70's. They're available on Sonystyle for US$50 and can be found on eBay for around US$45. Anyone know a cheaper place to buy them? Or, even better, anyone know of some in-canal type earbuds that are higher quality but not higher budget? $50 for a pair of buds is a hell of a lot of money considering you can buy a decent pair of buds (such as The Plug) for less than half that amount. So, any ideas?

I think they are the only ones...I didn't know RealOne required the original file in MP3. You sure you can't just use wav? That sounds really weird to require an original mp3 file...

Ah, thanks Sugo! I get it now. Better late than never...

OK, I went and did some research and figured out what the differences are between gracenote and freedb. I got an idea on how t use freedb with sonicstage...is there any way that the program can be faked out so that it thinks it is accessing gracenote when it is actually accessing the freedb database? Hey Josh, to make your freedb search easier... http://www.freedb.org/freedb_aware_apps.php

I'm a stupid American, I don't know what that is. (sarcasm...not ALL of us are idiots...just most. Honestly, I don't know what that is, I don't speak German or anything)

WOW, THAT WOULD RULE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Really, that is wonderful news if it's accurate. Where did you see this? Converting directly from mp3 to MD would make me sooooooo happy...

Whoa, why are you converting them to wav then mp3 then omg? Why not go straight from wav to omg? And by the way...I was reading earlier stuff in this post, and I honestly must admit that I don't know much about how online track titling works. How is it that FreeDB works differently from Gracenote? Do you download a big file to your comp full of cd names or something? I thought they both just accessed the internet and got track names...

*Whistles* Wow, that's pretty impressive...although that is quite expensive! I guess I'll look into the self-assembly one, it'd be a fun project.

Well, the only Sony site I know of to get things directly from Sony is via www.sonystyle.com While they're expensive and have a limited selection, I've bought stuff from MD units to my laptop from them and haven't had problems. However, because they are significantly more expensive, they do seem to be a good bet.

SCMS stripper? Explain, please. I didn't know that could be done...

No prob dude. I have also done some questing, and to no avail. I feel ya...

Motorola? What MD parts does motorola make? Unless MD's recently got cell phones built into them and I'm just out of the loop, I'm not aware of any motorola parts that could be in an md unit...

Ah, I understand now, sorry about the confusion. Sony software does indeed use Gracenote for cd info. I think that Audiograbber can record music in atrac3 (if you have the codec,) BUT I don't think it's the same kind of music format that OpenMG or Sonicstage records in. As a result, I HIGHLY doubt that you'll be able to check them out to MD, although I believe that any music program that can read wav files will be able to playback these files (if you're thinking of using the recording method I've heard of before.) Please post your findings if anything interesting happens, and good luck!

Here's a bit of "Sonicstage vs OpenMG Jukebox vs Simple Burner" FAQ! Sonicstage actually isn't very different from OpenMG at all; they both run the same program engine, so the fundamental ways that the programs work are identical. OpenMG is more user friendly. Sonicstage tries to be more user friendly but just ends up making you mad because you have to click a button everytime you want to edit something instead of just letting you do it like OpenMG does. Really the only thing Sonicstage has over OpenMG is that on some people's computers, Sonicstage is more stable, and that Sonicstage can change LP2 files to LP4 files on-the-fly when sending them to MD. Well, and I guess Sonicstage is more visually appealing (at the expense of functionality, as stated above.) Here's how both programs work. First, the programs run five different kinds of audio files: mp3, wma (windows media,) wav (windows wave format,) cda (CD audio,) and omg (ATRAC3 audio.) The programs can transfer any of these types of audio to the minidisc player, but only if it has first been converted to omg. So, for you to send an mp3 to your minidisc player, it must first be converted to omg format before the program can transfer it (because omg is the type of audio that minidiscs play.) So if you want to be able to quickly transfer audio to your MD, you first need to import mp3's to the program so that it can create a database of omg files and you need to record cd's onto your hard drive via a program. This isn't too big of a deal, except it takes up lots of hard drive space (at LP2 quality, one minute of music takes roughly one megabyte of hard drive space.) I have a 60 GB hard drive on my laptop, so that isn't really a problem for me. However, older computers with smaller drives might have an issue. I loaded all 180 of my CD's onto my computer at 132 kbps (LP2) quality and that takes up a little under 10 GB of space. OK so now that you have your music ready for transfer, here's how the actual PC>>MD part works. First, open up your program and connect your minidisc player. Next, if you are using OpenMG, click the transfer tab. If you are using Sonicstage, click recording assistant, then select music drive as the source and netmd as the recorder. (This one of the reasons why OpenMG has a simpler interface; it requires less clicking to get to the same step.) Finally, music from the window on the left and click "check-out." The music will be sent to your MD at a rapid pace. Now the bad stuff. When you put a song on an MD, you check-out one copy of the track from the program. When you delete a song off your MD using the program, you check it back in. Each song has a check-out count limit of three, meaning when you check out a song, it's count goes down, and when you check a song in, it goes up one. This means that you can only check out a song three times without checking any back in. This isn't a big deal unless you want to put the same song on more than three different minidiscs. To me, what is a big deal is the restrictions on a track sent to MD. Once a song has been sent to the MD, you can't change the name of the song or delete any part of it. (If you don't already record your own music, then this shouldn't bother you at all.) So, the track becomes protected and you can't modify the track outside of moving it on the MD. A slower but much much cooler method of making minidiscs via NetMD is using the Simple Burner application that comes included with OpenMG (and possibly Sonicstage, I haven't bought a NetMD unit that came with an english version of Sonicstage. Either way, Simple Burner can be downloaded too.) Simple Burner takes tracks off a cd and moves them directly to minidisc without making files on your computer, without using check-in/out limitations, and without any track protection restrictions. I look at it as what NetMD should be; faster recording with no limitations. It is possible to record computer audio files to minidisc via NetMD using simple burner. Read this link to see how: http://forums.minidisc.org/viewtopic.php?t=880 Here's a link to a thread with sonicstage/simple burner download information: http://forums.minidisc.org/viewtopic.php?t=609 And here's a link to download OpenMG Jukebox: http://forums.minidisc.org/viewtopic.php?t=482

OK, but still, how does that make them different? Golden, his point was that different brands interface with each other just fine. A pair of sony headphones vs a pair of aiwa headphones doesn't make a difference as far as brand is concerned. A headphones jack is a headphones jack.

Thanks for the elaboration, Leland...I explained all that on another post just the other day, but I couldn't find it to post the link and I was to lazy to re-type it. As a side note, 105 kbps isn't really LP2 or LP4 mode...it's actually for network walkman stuff (Sony mp3 players.) I don't really see the point in using it (it won't save that much hard drive space in comparison to LP2 mode.

If you recorded the original cd in LP4 mode on your computer, it won't let you check it out in LP2. You'd just take an LP4 recording and make it take up more space on a minidisc without a gain in quality. (The original file is LP4, the computer isn't smart enough to make the music sound better when you add more data.)

Nope, no limits at all. It doesn't require extra hard drive space to store tracks (as long as you delete the image when you're done,) the tracks aren't protected, and you can check out tracks until you're blue in the face. Great stuff, huh? I almost never use anything other than simple burner for these reasons.

Yeah, if you delete them manually and not through openmg, openmg's database will freak out because it can't locate files that it thinks still exist.

Well, it is rather unlikely, but it is technically possible for sony to make an md player that is capable of reading everything from the current atrac format all the way to ogg vorbis. Now recording, that's a little different; they might have to pay for liscence using fees or whatever for the codec. Or maybe not. I don't know. But, I doubt that'll ever happen...although I suppose it would be kinda neat if we could transfer mp3 directly to md without conversion. Personally, I'd hardly ever use that function because I hardly use mp3 at all.

Early statements in this thread suggest that ex70's and The Plug don't sound that good...anyone have other suggestions?

Yeah dude, now we have to beat you...or something like that, right? Naw j/k What's a barmy army?

Take a look at this thread, there might be useful info on there for you. It starts giving different optical out solutions for recording from a computer. http://forums.minidisc.org/viewtopic.php?t=158 (EDIT: Like an idiot, I forgot to post the thread. So there it is.)

NetMD is the ONLY way to make a recording faster than 1x...unless you have laser eyes, and then you can make your own "pre-recorded" dics if your eyes are fast enough. Sorry dude, you're out of luck. That's why I think NetMD is so cool, it's not that there is anything wrong with realtime, except that IT TAKES A LONG TIME! If it really bugs you, check out NetMD. Word is you can get an MZ-N505 online for US$88 from uBid. As a side note, micronics is for titling minidiscs and helping you make your realtime recordings. Unfortunately, it really doesn't do anything more than help you make titles without having to enter it on the md unit.