A440

"No Track" should mean you have a blank disc. Try recording something on it--just push the Record/Enter buttons and get some silence through Line-In--to see if it's usable that way. If it will record a track, and play back with the time-display changing, that's good--at least your disc is OK. Then connect to SonicStage, select Hi-MD under Transfer and see if SonicStage recognizes the track. If it will you're back in business. But that's the optimistic scenario. Another possibility is that SonicStage is having one of its database problems after your crash. First try running the program ojbsir.exe, which is in your SonicStage folder (just Search for it with Windows)--you need to be connected to the internet. If that doesn't work--says it can't find the internet connection or something--then try running the MDAC repair tool from Downloads at the top of this page and, again, see if SonicStage will recognize the disc. If you're still having trouble, the next step is thoroughly uninstalling SonicStage with these directions, particularly Step 3: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=8071 and reinstalling it--might as well upgrade to 3.1 while you're at it. Unfortunately, system crashes and system restores can make SonicStage very touchy.

Looks like you'll get another chance at Neil Diamond....

Just about any mic that plugs into your MD will do a decent job recording speech. No mic will "eliminate background noise." That depends on you putting it in the right place to pick up more voice and less noise. But you can eliminate many sounds from behind you by using a directional or cardioid mic, rather than an omni mic . You can get a one-point stereo cardioid mic like this: http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/...M-16&type=store or cardioids from Sony like the Sony ECM-DS70P http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=1627436 or the Sony ECM-719 http://www.minidisco.com/ecm-719.html Shop around for price on the Sonys. For ultra-cheap, you could get the "Stereo Lapel Microphone for Minidisc" that's usually for sale on Ebay, though that is an omnidirectional mic and will pick up more sound from the room. You should use AGC for recording speech--that's what it's for. Go through Mic-in and try both High and Low sensitivity and see how they work with whatever mic you choose. High will give you more background noise, but Low may not pick up everything you need if you're not close to the lecture. Try it at home when you get it-- start the MD and speak from across the room.

My PX100s work fine with my NHF800, so I assume the NH900 would work the same or better.

It's a short silence in the track, and I think a bit of the music is gone. I haven't tried editing around the silence, since I can't edit the one that didn't upload. You may get lucky, as Dex did, and have a disc without any defects. If you put track marks in as you go, the most you'll lose is a a song.

You've deinstalled and cleared the registry according to the pinned FAQ? You've reinstalled SS 3.1 completely from the Sony online installer? You've run ojbsir.exe from your own SonicStage folder? You've run the MDAC repair tool from Downloads? You've rebooted, unplugged the USB connection, opened SonicStage and then plugged in the USB connection to the NH600D? You've unplugged any other USB devices? Maybe it's all your A/V codecs. Try uninstalling them and then adding the latest version of what you need when you use them.

How about on the unit itself? Menu/Edit/Erase/Erase All or Format.

It looks like the big difference between the BMC-6 and BMC-12 is in the signal to noise ratio. If you're going to be recording quiet sounds and need maximum fidelity, then spend the extra $$$ . Otherwise, you'll probably be happy with the BMC-12.

Uploading. The glitch stops uploading and SonicStage playback. It doesn't stop playback from the unit via headphones. If I didn't have track marks, and wasn't aware of the glitch before trying to upload, the whole show would have been locked as uploaded and impossible to edit.

I assume you can use Sonar as a recorder. If for some reason you can't, download Audacity from the Downloads section at the top of the page here. It has a big red Record button to click. Look for a line-in jack on your soundcard. You need to connect from your cassette's Ear Jack to Line-in. Probably with the same 3.5 to 3.5 cord. You may also have to tell your computer to record via Line-in from the soundcard. That's in Windows: Start/Settings/Control Panel/Sounds and Audio Devices/Audio. Open Sonar, click record, start the cassette, look at the levels and adjust.

You just need the basic 3.5 cable that's in greenmachine's photo. You don't need any special brand--generic is fine. It shouldn't cost more than a few pounds.

AA battery life is extraordinarily good--3 or 4 hours of recording at least. The MD is acting the way it does with a nearly dead battery. So let's hope it's just a bad battery. Try a Duracell. You can find a three-volt adapter at Radio Shack or someplace like that, just bring the MD along and make sure the plug matches.

Try a different brand of battery for starters. Also, do you have any problems plugged into AC power?

You can try hard-drive recorders from Creative (Nomad Jukebox), Archos and iRiver, or the compact-flash card recorder from Marantz.

Well, that solves the mystery. She set the volume of the attenuator at 50 percent? No wonder it was so quiet, she had it virtually silenced!!!!!! It attenuates all that you need at 100 percent. Then set Manual Volume at 20/30. For your ECM 719, please report back on how it does without attenuation. And greenmachine is absolutely right, take a look at the levels duing the show. Here's hoping it's ideal.

Try closing and opening SonicStage if you haven't already, see if you get a bunch of Untitled. If not, using Windows, search your computer for Untitled and see if you come up with some .oma files. Those should be them. Click on them and Sonic Stage should play them . You're much better off with SonicStage 3.1 . Carefully uninstall SS 2 according to this FAQ http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=8071 and install SonicStage 3.1. It will date-stamp all your uploads (2005-05-26) so you can find them.

There are so many apples-and-oranges comparisons going on here that even I'm starting to get confused. If you have a powered mic, skip the attenuator and go through Line-In. No attenuator ever needed for line-in because there's no preamp to overload. If you have a mic that doesn't pick up a lot of bass (low end of frequency response 100 hz) then try going directly into mic-in. Maybe the preamp won't get enough bass to overload. Ditto if you have a low-sensitivity mic. You'll just have to try and see. If you have a sensitive mic that draws plug-in power AND has bass response (low end is 20 hz) either use an attenuator into mic-in or use a battery box into line-in. Attenuator method will give a louder recording but is theoretically noisier and may overload the mic itself if you're recording something ear-damagingly loud. It works fine for me at 95 percent of loud rock concerts--listen to my Gallery recordings. Battery box will be cleaner and have more dynamic range but will be considerably quieter. Look around the Gallery for battery-box recordings. Experiment. See what works. One size does not fit all.

That's a great price for a Cmoy. I got one on Ebay from another seller for a little bit more, and it does improve the sound and pump up the volume. But for airplanes, save up some money and get some Shure in-ear phones.

Lots of people, myself included, have had this problem. First, try reinstalling 3.1 completely. The online installer will tell you it's already installed but tell it to do it again anyway. If that doesn't fix it, follow these instructions to completely uninstall SonicStage and clean up what Sony leaves behind (Step 3), and reinstall again. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=8071 If that doesn't work, then look in Downloads (top of page) for the MDAC repair tool and run that. Knocking on wood doesn't hurt either.

Makes perfect sense to me, atrain. The idea is to turn the analog cassette recordings into digital recordings, and the computer (with a decent soundcard, which Mikio has) can do that just as well as the MD, plus the possibility of filtering noise before re-transferring.

I haven't tried Mic-in with a battery box, since the conventional wisdom is to go through Line-in. Anyway, Mic-In doesn't allow you to stay in Manual either. Neither did my Sony MDLP recorders, MZ-R700 or MZ-N707, so I'm surprised yours did unless it was a Sharp. I use Mic-Attenuator-Mic-in so I can't help you with Line-in settings. Bring along a little MiniMag flashlight or keyring LED flashlight, or use your cell phone for illumination while you reset to Manual for the first time. Your fingers will learn it pretty quickly.

Put a recorded disc in the MD unit and connect to SonicStage via USB. When you go to the Transfer button, does the MD show up and are the tracks listed? And have you tried the MDAC repair tool in Downloads (top of this page)?

Which SonicStage are you using? Get 3.1 from Sony or from Downloads at the top of this page. Also run the MDAC repair tool from Downloads.

First, plug an earphone into the Ear Jack to make sure something is coming through when you play the cassette. Turn up the volume. Once you know you're getting something out of the headphone jack, use the cord in greenmachine's photo to go from Ear Jack into line in. Push Record and Pause simultaneously and play the cassette to check the level and adjust if necessary, then rewind the cassette, un-Pause and you're recording.

You can hear the ill effects of bass rolloff here. http://www.giant-squid-audio-lab.com/gs/gs...ry1.htm#samples Try the Avril Lavigne for maximum nasality. There's no point in getting good mics if you're going to chop out the bottom end of the music before it reaches the MD.