A440

Dbpoweramp at www.dbpoweramp.com will convert between formats .

To save wear on my precious MZ-NHF800 I recently picked up a MZ-NH600D cheap on eBay for use as a player. On a whim, I put a live recording I wanted to upload in the MZ-NH600D and connected the USB, and SS 3.0 uploaded the tracks just as it does on the NHF-800. Amazing that Sony actually left something un-crippled.

As far as I know, SonicStage only combines/splits/etc. tracks in your computer once they have been 1) uploaded and 2) deleted from the original disc. As Kurisu suggests, you'd be better off editing in your computer first and then downloading them onto disc. Use a real sound-editing program, like Audacity.

I frequently record speech in Hi-SP (nearly 8 hours on a 1GB disc), upload and automatically convert to .wav in SonicStage 3.0 and and then convert .wav to .mp3 with dbpoweramp (or whatever other converter you want to use). It's just one more step than it ideally should be, and if you convert to 128 kbps mp3 you will have excellent fidelity for speech. MAVickers is getting mashed sound from the extremely low bitrate of 16 kbps, not from the process. MD will do your job fine.

Try closing every other program possible while running SonicStage. Don't browse, turn off your firewall and other background programs, etc. Also disconnect any other USB devices except the MD. SonicStage is a resources hog. Instead of using AutoTrack, why not edit the disc on the player before uploading: fast-foward (while listening) and put a track mark in every stretch of applause. It's good to separate the tracks because if SonicStage refuses one, it might still upload others. By the way, another exciting SonicStage glitch: sometimes it says "cannot convert to .wav" after it has done an upload. If you go back to the uploaded track, left-click on it and use Save as .wav, it will convert nicely.

Forget SonicStage for this purpose, use SimpleBurner, downloadable here. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=5552 Connect via USB, open Simple Burner, pop in CD and transfer.

If you're recording an ultraloud event--loud enough to overload your microphone--then the battery box will give your microphones extra headroom. If you're recording something very quiet, it's to your advantage to go through line-in with a mic and a preamp (not just a battery box) to bypass the noise of the little built-in preamp. In between very loud and very quiet, I don't see the need for an extra box, but there are others who insist that battery box recordings are better in general because they improve the performance of the mic.

I have had no problems with the unit in hundreds of recordings--SonicStage is another story, of course. This recording was Hi-SP, so the Hi-LP bug doesn't matter. And this was a RTFM situation--I took out the battery prematurely. I'm just glad for once that SonicStage wasn't as finicky as usual.

The only uploadable formats are the Hi-MD ones. That seems very unlikely ever to change.

If you do revert to an earlier version, don't go back before SonicStage 2.3, the first decent version. But don't do that yet. Call Sony and be persistent. You will have to go through multiple levels of incompetent people whose job is to get you to hang up. When they tell you they can't help you, then insist on "escalating" your inquiry. You will eventually be transferred to someone who is familiar with SonicStage. Demand a high-level technician. Be as angry as you need to be, and don't be deterred. If they tell you no one ever has reported this problem, which is a complete lie, then insist that they look at www.minidisc.org where this problem is reported regularly. Do not be put off. Tell them that you have taken many hours transferring your music into your library and you expect to be able to use it. You own the CDs; you own the licenses; you have also paid top dollar for a Sony product. Tell them 10,000 people read your blog every day. Tell them your brother is the consumer reporter for a TV network. Tell them that if they expect you to re-transfer your 227 CDs then they can pay you for your time. Threaten to sue them under anti-hacking laws for installing malware on your computer. Tell them you intend to file a complaint with the attorney general. Tell them that there is a "warrant of merchantibility" in your state, which means that when they sell you something it's supposed to work as they promised. Tell them you intend to invoke your rights as a consumer and will publicize your problems with this Sony product. Did SonicStage 3.1 tell you to back up your library before installing it? No? Why not? Seriously, be determined and belligerent. And when they say "Sorry for the inconvenience," as they will about 100 times, tell them being robbed of your time and money is not an inconvenience but a crime. And if they offer other fixes than have been suggested here, please post them and help others out of their misery.

The only remote controls for Hi-MD are the little handheld ones. Sony is not big on interoperability.

NH700 is ideal for you. The RH10 has a far better display--lighted for recording in the dark--but if you can live without that and the NH700 saves you a lot, you'll be happy with it. It records and uploads, and it runs a long time on one AA battery. You'll need an outboard microphone as you would for any MD recorder--but an outboard mic is a good thing because a built in mic would pick up all the whirring noises of the MD unit. Look at the Live Recording FAQs. The preamps of all MD players are hypersensitive to bass, but they can be tamed with an attenuator: a headphone volume control from your local electronics store. With an attenuator if necessary, you can record anything from boombastic rock to birds in the trees.

If you want your friend to be able to play back your recordings on his R90, then you should get a first-generation Hi-MD unit introduced last year: any of the MZ-NH series except the NH600. They will record in the old minidisc mode (SP), which is what the R90 was using. Unfortunately, if you record in SP you can't upload. I am quite fond of my NHF-800. This year's RH models only record in the Hi-MD modes (PCM, Hi-SP, Hi-LP). Those are the only modes that upload. In other words, when recording you can either be compatible with older MD models (which play SP) or you can upload (with PCM, Hi-SP or Hi-LP) but not both.

If you want to upload the recordings onto your PC--instead of recording them in realtime out of the analog headphone jack--then you should get a Hi-MD. You'll need an outboard microphone, which would be essential anyway for recording music. Built in mics are for dictation and speech, not music. They pick up machine noise, too. The recording capability is as good as your mics. Look at the Gallery (very top of this page) and live recording archives to hear some recordings. I recently recorded a church choir, a cappella, with very basic mics (Sound Professionals BMC-2, $29 on Ebay) and it came out well. I recommend, if you can find one, the NH-700 or NHF-800--basically the same unit, but the NHF-800 has an FM radio in the remote. Both came out last year. They are both Hi-MD, capable of recording nearly 8 hours per 1GB disc in Hi-SP mode, and since they're Hi-MD you can upload your recording to the computer. They also run quite a long time on one AA battery--no gumstick necessary. The B10 is ancient, made for recording business meetings, and extra-large for the built-in speaker you don't need. You won't be able to download MP3s onto it--you would have to record them in realtime. Not for you. I don't see a Sharp MD-MT280 in the Browser on the minidisc.org homepage, but the MT290 is also not NetMD, so as with the B10, no quick downloading of MP3s to the unit (and no uploading either). The MT270 has no mic input. Anything from the pre-Hi-MD era is a few years old and possibly used. Digital uploading is the great and long overdue step forward made by Hi-MD. If you really want to put up with realtime recording into the PC for the recordings you make, then get one of the most recent NetMD models (Sony MZ-Nx or latter-day Sharps, like the DR series) so that you can at least download MP3s from computer to minidisc. If it's not NetMD, you'll have to record every song you want to bring with you in realtime.

I had an irreplaceable recording and had just finished editing it on the unit before uploading. I noticed the battery was getting low, so I pushed Stop to save my edits, went hunting for a new battery, came back and....forgot to check if it was done writing the files. Apparently it wasn't. After I changed the battery and pushed the start button again, I got CANNOT RECORD OR PLAY. A colorful period of howling and furniture-smashing followed. Then, in desperation, I plugged in the USB and started Sonic Stage 3.0. Lo and behold, it listed the tracks on the MD, probably in their second-to-last edited state. I tried uploading them, and the first ones did. Then one crashed Sonic Stage. I reopened it and began uploading one at a time. There were a few more crashes, but eventually about 2/3 uploaded. And then--equally amazing--Sonic Stage played back the rest with no problem and I recorded them with TotalRecorder. The disc still generates CANNOT RECORD OR PLAY on the unit by itself. But no matter: I have the material. If it happens to you, don't give up on the disc before trying SonicStage. And I never thought I'd say this, but: Thank you, SonicStage.

You're right--it looks like the only difference is in the housing. I use and love the BMC-2's with these clips: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller...u=217592&is=REG which squeeze onto the end of the BMC-2's rubber housing. I don't think they would fit the BMC-3, so you would have to get the more expensive clips offered by SoundProfessionals. If you're in the US, or a lot of other countries, you don't need to go through a vendor: you can just go to www.soundprofessionals.com . Or nab the BMC-2 from Sound Professionals on Ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...ssPageName=WDVW

If you're using the battery box, are you going through line-in? Then the attenuator might be overkill, or give you overly quiet recordings. The two gizmos are likely also to be working against each other, as the Core Sound warning suggests: the battery box sending power, the attenuator resisting it. I'll report back on the Core Sound version.

After I posted long ago, Dex Otaku did some tests and discovered that High Sensitivity adds a lot of noise from the preamp. I tried what he suggested and he was right, which is why I'm now using Low Sensitivity and just boosting a little more. Your initial question long ago made me try higher levels on Manual Volume, and I'd glad you did, because my recordings have improved.

That excerpt, and the $35, have been holding me back. But Core Sound has a good return policy, and after having yet another Radio Shack fritz out on me at a pretty crucial concert, I think I'm going to give the Core Sound a try. It's the only way to find out if the caveat is just for the electronics purists.

You can try the experiment yourself with your unit. I just left my NHF-800 paused overnight, for 8 hours. It didn't shut off, and it may have gone down by one (of four) bars on the battery meter. It uses just the one AA battery. During the pause, though, you should hit stop to save the first half of the recording. There must be a way you could hide the MD for a few moments to set manual volume again. Everyone else will be playing with their cell phone, camera, etc., so if you don't flaunt it no one will notice.

Please, take my advice and use the attenuator. If you don't, no matter how low you set the record volume, the sound of bass or drums will overload the preamp and your recording will be unlistenable. You can download some attenuator recordings from the mailbox livefrommd at mail.yahoo.com, the password is 1minidisc1. There is no problem with clarity. I use exactly the same mics you do, the Soundpros BMC-2. I have tried using them even at a mildly loud concert--Norah Jones--without the attenuator, Loud Music, Low Sensitivity. And every time the drummer tapped the bass drum there was a big THUD and the recording overloaded and was unlistenable. Use Low Sensitivity, Manual Volume at 20/30 and the attenuator at maximum loudness and you will get a fine, clear recording. Try to do without it, and you'll hate yourself in the morning. Record the opening act without the attentuator, listen at intermission and you'll see what I mean.

The Delta is advertised as directional, not omni--the mics are in an aluminum enclosure that apparently shuts off sound coming from behind. It's also designed either to plug directly into the MD (motor noise, wear on mic jack) or to sit in its "mic pod" tripod--but apparently picks up mostly what's in front of it. You can't lie it on its back, which is rounded, and Reactive Sounds has said it's too heavy to clip to a lapel. All the omni one-point stereo mics, including the ultra-cheap "Stereo Lapel Microphone for Minidisc" sold on eBay, record all around them. You could clip that to something soft and lay it on a table. You get some of the warmth of a stereo recording, rather than the one-dimensionality of mono, but because the two mic elements are so close to one another, you don't get a real 360-degree feeling. Take a look around the sites of www.soundprofessionals.com and www.microphonemadness.com . They have a lot of omnis, including some one-points that are similiar to your ECM-907 with wider frequency response. As for ethics, how about just laying the recorder on the table? You can make sure the level meter is moving.

Hi-MD gives you better capacity because it takes 1GB discs. Although basic MD advertised LP4 (up to 320 minutes per 80-minute disc) you wouldn't want to use that compression on music--more like maximum 160 minutes on acceptable-quality LP2. You also are unlikely to find pre-Hi-MD players that aren't used or way overpriced. I have a NH600D that I got for a low price on eBay to reduce wear on my NHF-800 recorder, and since I'm used to MD it works fine for me as a portable player. But MD just doesn't seem to me to be a sensible option if you're not already interested in the format and you don't have your own MD recordings to play back on it. I just looked at the Cnet review, and the problems they found are common to most MDs: slow transfer (a CD takes 5-10 minutes), only plays ATRAC, dinky LCD display (unless you want to pay for the new top-end RH-10). The new 2d-generation units also play mp3, but since you have to transfer mp3 via SonicStage, it's only barely more convenient. Looks like the Cnet reviewer had trouble finding the menu item to turn off the beep, and he liked SonicStage--neither adds credibility. If you move up the MD product line, you're only paying for the recording capacity you don't need. The jog-wheel/pointing stick combination that Cnet complained about is the same (though remote controls, some backlit, are added) and the size of the units is the same or larger. Models other than the NH-600, NH-700 and NH-800F (the others are recorders of similar size) don't take AA batteries; they use rechargeable gumstick batteries that tie you to a charger or force you to use an outboard battery pack (even larger). If you don't want to be an iPod conformist, take a look at Creative Muvo, or the new Iriver players, or Sony's flash players. Removable media is nice, but the tradeoff is in bulk, Sony's restrictions and a design that many users (like Cnet) don't find easy or intuitive. I don't want to see MD become an obsolete format. But I don't see Sony doing anything--including its late and grudging acceptance of mp3--to make it viable as a music player.

The Xitel is a hardware box, not software. Take a look on Ebay if you really want one. But as Mystyler said, a good soundcard with line-in will do the job. Look at M-Audio.

For a Hi-MD player, get a MZ-NH600D, or NH600 if you can find it (without the D it includes a line-in jack). It downlads from the computer like an Ipod. You can find them new for under $100 on Ebay. It's plastic, like all the Hi-MDs. If you want something metallic, but has far less capacity per MD, you could look for a MZ-N707 or MZ-N910 used. But beware: the microscrews fall out unless you keep them tight, and you'd end up paying just as much for less functionality. If you're just downloading CDs to the MD, Sony's SimpleBurner does nicely. If you're transferring MP3s, SonicStage will make you sorely miss iTunes. There's no alternative software. MD may not be the right format for you, since the glory of MD is recording. If you're used to iPod, why not get a $199 Ipod Mini? Sony is also making small flash MP3 players like the 1GB NW-E107 for under $200. And as with all portable players, dump the included headphones and get some better ones, like Sennheiser PX100 or, if you're splurging, Shure E3.