A440

If you're just going to rip from CDs directly to MD, use Simple Burner, a real time-saver, and it doesn't fill your hard drive or My Library. Unfortunately you have to rip the whole CD at once. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showt...l=simple+burner

You only get one upload from the Hi-MD, even if it's your music. It's part of Sony's ridiculous "digital rights management" policy, and it seems to tag the disc itself so you can't upload them elsewhere. But if you put Wav Converter or Hi-MD Renderer on that other computer and convert to .Wav files, the .wav files are completely portable. That's a new one for me on Wav Converter. Did you try doing it again after rebooting your computer? (The Windows cure for everything.) If that doesn't work, somewhere on these forums are instructions for completely uninstalling previous versions of Sonicstage, but a search at the moment can't seem to find them. You need to change registry entries, which must be done with care. But I'd guess that if you do that, a new install of SS 2.3 will work with Wav Converter.

1. Is there a general explanation for which format to record in? http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=7989&hl= Hi-SP or PCM should both give you reasonably good quality--PCM is better but takes a lot more space on disc or hard drive. 2. My whole goal is to take my recordings and burn them to CD. Is there another piece of software I need to obtain in order to do this? It's a cumbersome process: Upload-Convert-Burn To upload: Download Sonicstage 2.3 at http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showt...t=0entry42700 (or from www.connect.com) and use it to Transfer the tracks from MD to your computer. To convert: Use either Sony's Wav Converter (from Sony support website) or Marcnet's HiMDRenderer (at http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=6087 ) to change it from Sony's .OMA format to .Wav for editing or burning. 3. What is up with the groups? Groups=Folders, useful if you have separate albums, gigs, etc. Turn it off if you don't need it. If Dex Otaku's excellent advice in the first link doesn't solve your problem, please be more specific about what went wrong with your first attempt: distortion?

I've been using those same mics for the last few months, and they're wonderful. You can hear some results with those mics and settings at livefromMDD (at) yahoo.com, PW 1minidisc1 Take them out for a stroll and record, you'll get some very realistic spatial effects. The only reasons not to do track marks at the time are stealth--the MD is shiny, after all--and the possibility of hitting the wrong button if it's dark or crowded, like accidentally pausing or stopping. If you're standing up in the crush of people at a club, you might be better off just starting it and tucking it away in a pocket on HOLD. But it's up to you--I usually keep the MD in the palm of my hand and make track marks on the spot. You can still insert track marks before you upload, just listen back to it on the MD.

Those are the settings I use, and I have been to some LOUD concerts. Even with my NHF800, I'm still using the Radio Shack gizmo and Hi Sens because when I have recorded without it--Low Sens, Manual 10/30--I've still overloaded on some bass drum sounds. I don't know which mics you ended up with, but if you have the DS70P you have even more leeway because it doesn't pick up all the deep bass that overloads the mic preamp. Just make sure you don't hit the STOP button during the show, because if you do, and start again, the recorder will switch to AGC. While you have light, even it it's outside the show before you go in, set everything in REC PAUSE and leave it on HOLD, then un-HOLD and push the PAUSE button again to start. When it's going, just leave it tucked in a pocket, recording on HOLD, and make track marks later. Don't forget to use a fresh alkaline battery, like a Duracell Ultra.

If you've got a Mac and need uploading, you should think about getting one of the HD recorders from IRiver or Archos or Creative. With MD, you can't use SonicStage, which is the only way to upload music from the MD, on a Mac. If you transfer the music as data files, using the MD as a USB storage device, they're useless without Sony's decryption. If anyone reading this is using SonicStage on a Mac under a Windows emulator, it would be great to tell the rest of us how it works (or doesn't). So your only method for getting music recordings out of the MD is the old analog one: Headphone out to Line In and realtime recording with Audacity or whatever. If you don't have a line in get a Griffin iMic. Silver lining: there won't be any DRM on it when you do that.

BE CAREFUL in what you try to transfer on the Dell if you care at all about having the concert on the disc. If you try to upload tracks you have already uploaded, Sonic Stage may well delete them. It's vindictive that way.

Doublecheck that you're using a stereo plug connecting the mixer to the MD, with two circles (like the plug shown in my avatar), and not a mono plug, with one.

http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=7073

Dex has torture-tested SonicStage 2.3 and didn't lose any uploads. I have not been so rigorous but I have also found it completely reliable. If you are completely paranoid then do an analogue recording (into Audacity or your sound-recording program of choice) before you do the upload, but you probably won't have to. Wav Converter converts recordings that you have uploaded into SorryStage's My Library. You can't convert them until they're in SonicStage.

I don't think a simple extension cord would do what the Radio Shack's volume control cord does, which is to cut down the signal that goes through the volume control (technically an attenuator). But you may not need one at all if Manual Volume keeps you from overloading. If the music is clear at 4/30 then it seems your mic can handle the volume and the preamp was overloading. 4/30 is pretty low. I've been using Low Sensitivity and 9/30 for shows that are really blasting, and that works with my mic. Save your low-volume recording, though, and use a sound editor program (Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net is free) to Amplify it (under Effects) and see if it's usable.

Wendy, I hope things are improving for you. Mic Sensitivity applies to both Manual and AGC, and you can set it to default to Low and leave it there. There's nothing special about the Radio Shack headphone volume control--in fact, I wish I could find something better made--so try yours. Even on full volume, it will probably cut the signal somewhat. Or as Dex says, move the mic further away. Or both....

That is a line in OR optical jack, it takes either a minijack or an optical connector. But it is not a mic jack, which is connected to a preamplifier to boost the signal. The MZN510 doesn't have that built-in preamp. So to record via mic with the MZN510 you would need a mic plus a preamp. The cheapest preamps I've seen advertised, though I have not had any experience with them, are from Church Audio on eBay, around $60. Then you can add as good a mic as you need, from "Stereo Lapel Microphone for Minidisc" on Ebay (a cheap basic mic, OK for conversation) on through offerings from www.soundprofessionals.com , www.microphonemadness.com , www.reactivesounds.com , etc. For the price of a preamp, you could also find on eBay an old model MD, like the MZ-R700 or the MZ-N707, with a mic jack. But those will not do high-speed uploading to your computer--for that you need the new Hi-MDs.

I got a "Stereo Lapel Microphone for Minidisc," sold on Ebay for about $10, and it's perfectly adequate for conversations and interviews. Just don't move it around while recording, any rubbing on the case sounds loud. Here's one listing: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...ssPageName=WDVW

The bottom octave of the piano is 27-54 Hz, so if you want to get all the notes on the piano you need a mic with a frequency response of 20-20000 Hz. I don't mean to shill for Sound Professionals, but they ship internationally and they're better than Sony: wider frequency response, better signal-to-noise ratio. If you don't have a big budget get this: http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/...item/SP-SPSM-13 plus an extension cord so it's not plugging directly into the MD or this: http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-BMC-2 and build yourself a little stand to hold them.

Overloading doesn't sound like static--it sounds like a big blare of sound, obliterating the music. Either the mic or the built-in mic preamp can overload. If it's the preamp that's overloading, which has been the only problem I've had, the Headphone Volume Control/ Headphone Extension Cord (pictured with my sig) pretty much solves it. I use mics that rely on plug-in power, so yes, txguitarman, that should do it assumimg your mic itself isn't overloading. Just plug it into the mic jack, leave the volume knob at maximum, plug the mic into the jack and record. If you fiddle with the knob during the recording you may get static from that. Look at the specs for SPL (sound pressure level). 100-110dB is a loud rock concert, 120 is a jet takeoff; every 10 decibels DOUBLES the sound. If your mic is rated 80-90 dB, then the mic itself may be overloading, so the headphone volume control won't help. Wendy, your explanation is a little confusing. If you are using Auto Gain Control (the default setting), then the Loud Music setting affects that. If you are using Manual Volume, then the Loud/Standard settings don't matter because AGC is off. And if you are using AGC, then setting the Record Volume doesn't affect anything. It's possible that the static is the AGC trying to cope with the volume, so if you are using AGC then go through Rec Set menus (while in Rec/Pause), set it to Manual volume 10/30, and see how that goes. If you push Stop it goes back automatically to AGC. But if you are using Manual Volume then the static sounds like a different problem because it increased when you turned down the recording volume. That suggests that the static isn't the signal coming from the mic--it's coming from the MD itself, either the mic jack or the preamp. I haven't had that problem with any of the four MD's I've owned, and it could just be a loose connection somewhere. If that MD unit is still on trial, exchange it for another one and see if the problem goes away.

Camouflage. Assuming you have little mics, I suggest: Wear a black/dark shirt with buttons and a collar. Put the mics down the front of your shirt and fold the last foot of mic cord (with the mics on the end) over the top button of your shirt and back under the placket, so the mic and cord are completely under the shirt. Once the lights go down, you can pull out the mics, clip them to your collar, pull the plug out and run it along your belt loops and keep the MD in your pocket. If you can do it unobtrusively, put it on REC/PAUSE and set it to RecVolume: Manual/ 10/30 under RecSet. If not, and you have to just turn it on unobtrusively, you're stuck with AGC. In my experience, security folks won't look twice at you. Few people know about MD, and I've sometimes taken my MD into shows with searches--I just tell them it's an MP3 player, and they have no idea otherwise. If you're sitting there in the dark with mics on your collar, it's highly unlikely they'll notice. No guarantees, of course. But security people tend to be looking for troublemakers, not recordists.

At the risk of being redundant, let's go back to basics. MD to PC to CD is three-step process: Upload, Convert, Store/Burn. HeatherD, your first step is to install Sonic Stage 2.3, which is a big improvement over previous Sonic Stages. Then install Wav Converter. OpenMG and WinNetMD are from the previous generation of players, not relevant to Hi-MD. Sonic Stage will transfer the music from your MD into My Library. Then Wav Converter will convert files recorded through the mic jack, which are stuck in My Library, to .wav files that can be burned onto CD, edited by programs like Audacity, etc. If you prefer, Marcnet's software will convert anything in My Library to .mp3 files, which are as portable as .wav files. Mp3 makes the files much smaller, but with some reduction in quality. You can adjust the quality under Marcnet's Output Options under Lame MP3, but I think the default option is variable bitrate (VBR) from 160-320, and that should give you very good quality. If you are burning to a CD and want it to play in all CD players, burn the .wav files (in whatever CD burning program you have: Realplayer, Windows Media, etc.) to a CD as an Audio CD. If your CD player also plays .mp3s, then it's up to you what format you want to use--you can put more mp3s on each CD as a Data CD or MP3 CD. Sony makes it complicated for no good reason, but it's getting easier.

Unfortunately, there's little you can do with your distorted recording. All you have on the disc is the distortion and clipping; there's no good information to extract. On the other hand, Hilary Duff is bound to put out a DVD of the tour sooner or later. The MZ-N707 mic preamp simply can't handle bass, even at low volume settings. Next time, run the mic through the Radio Shack Heaphone Volume Control/Heaphone Extension Cord attenuator (pictured with my signature) and you should be fine. Mic-->RS-->Mic Jack. Sorry about your show, but rest assured you're not the only one it's happened to. It doesn't really matter in a loud concert, but that T-mic will pick up noise and vibration from the MD player. You're better off putting it on an extension cord.

It's not asking too much. It's what MD should have always been about, and we're almost there. But what should be a simple one-step process takes two or three. Upload it digitally to the computer via SorryStage, making sure that you're doing it with the MD plugged in or a brand new battery (so power doesn't run out during the upload), and let SowhatStage run a little after the upload to make sure it has everything all tidied up. When pre-2.3 versions trashed things on me, I'm pretty sure it was after it claimed to be 100 percent uploaded but was apparently not finished. (If it's something absolutely invaluable and irreplaceable, make a realtime copy first from headphone jack out into your recording program of choice: Audacity, TotalRecorder, Cool Edit, WavePad. With Total Recorder you can also hook up the USB, play the disc back through SoggyStage and have Total Recorder record it digitally, eliminating noise from your computer's soundcard, which is likely to be mediocre. Or if you've put track marks on the disc, get WinNetMD, which records each track as a separate file by controlling the MD through SS, but it's analog.) Then you have your choice of re-encoders. Wav Converter will give you .wav files, which are hi-fi but big. You can burn .wav files to CD (with Nero or Feurio or Realplayer or whatever) and have them play in a regular CD player. Wav Converter is fast and seems straightforward, unlike SonicStiff. Instead of or in addition to Wav Converter, Marcnet's program also lets you turn them directly into .wav, .MP3, .FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, etc. For email or whatever, you want them smaller, and you have various choices. The tradeoff is between size and fidelity. Mp3 shrinks them, but the lower the bitrate the less fidelity you have: it's called lossy compression because it makes compromises. At around 192k or 256k, however, they sound pretty good. .Ogg files sound a little better at the same size, but it hasn't caught on like .mp3. FLAC is lossless compression, so the files are bigger--about 1/2 to 3/4 the size of .wav--but sound better. It's not as widespread as MP3, but you can get a plug-in so that it will play back in Winamp or other players. Google "Flac plug-in" (or "ogg plug-in"), they're easy to find. Of course, anyone else who wants to play it back on their computer will also need the plug-in. Portable CD players don't play FLAC, while many new CD players do play mp3. I've been uploading concerts and making .wav files from them, then burning them onto audio CDs for my own storage. To upload recordings into livefrommd , I use the wav files on my hard drive and compress them into MP3 with dbpoweramp http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm Flac would be better--that's what the fanatic live tapers on www.etree.com and elsewhere use--but they probably wouldn't fit that 10MB limit. With the .wav files on the CDs, I could always reconvert to .FLAC if the occasion arose. It's really simpler than it sounds: Upload, Convert, Store. And if Sony finally comes to its senses--probably with SonicSurrender 9.0 in about a decade, when there are only about 3 people still using MD--it should be a snap.

Maybe you have it on Sync Recording, under REC SET, and it is putting in marks when things get quiet. Make sure you have Sync Rec OFF. There is also a Time Mark that inserts track marks every 5 minutes or as set, make sure that is also Off. If it's not those, are you carrying it in a pocket where the Track button could accidentally get pushed? Once you have it recording and all set up, slide the Hold button on.

You're right, clip the mics to each side of your shirt. If you separate them by about 6 inches and point them left and right--like your ears, even better with something in between--you'll get a recording geared for headphones. Point them more forward if you'll be listening through speakers. Higher up is better--no people in front to muffle the sound, no conversations nearby--so you could also try them on a hat or your glasses. If you don't have to be stealthy you could even put them on a pole. And yes, try recording your stereo and experiment with settings: Low and High Sensitivity, various manual volumes, where you have the mics clipped, where you stand in the room. No argument with Gerry Bolda about boosting power to the mics as the best way to open up headroom. But the little attenuator (which doesn't provide more headroom, just prevents the mics from overloading the built-in preamp) will handle most loud music. Gerry, where's that better-grade attenuator you were going to build? Add it to your product line and I'll be the first to get one.

No, it's not good enough. That mic is fairly big and lacks bass response. You can do better. Save yourself some money and get this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...ssPageName=WDVW Or order them through the Sound Professionals site, http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-BMC-2 Either way, get clips to go with them so you can clip them to your lapels, a baseball cap, your eyeglasses, etc. Make sure nothing is rubbing against them. Since your show is going to be loud, also get a Radio Shack Headphone Volume Control (now sometimes called Headphone Extension Cord), as pictured with my signature. It should prevent your MD from overloading. Mic----->RS (with volume all the way up or just a notch or two below)--->Mic Jack. Or you can skip it and use the Low Sensitivity setting, but that's a little more prone to overloading. Push Rec/Pause while you can still read the display before the show. In the REC SET menus, set Mic Sensitivity to High (or LOW if you're not using the RS cord), Rec Volume to Manual, 10/30. Leave it in Pause until the show starts. If you push Stop at any time you're going to have to go through all the menus again. To hear what those mics sound like, go to www.yahoo.com, Mail, Box: livefrommd with the password 1minidisc1 and download the oldest recordings in the Inbox. Or get these, which seem to be the same mics mounted to fit inside your ears for extremely realistic headphone recordings, and use the same settings. http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-TFB-2 If you want to shop around, there are similar miniature binaural/omni (same thing) mics at www.microphonemadness.com and www.reactivesounds.com . If you're too close to the stage you'll get a weird mix, because the PA is pointed to sound better further back. But those mics will pick up pretty much what you're actually hearing. If you can see your display during the show, make sure it's not constantly pinned at maximum--if it is, lower the Manual volume (turn the jog wheel counterclockwise) or lower the RS volume knob. Don't get fidgety with the volume during the show, though, because you'll hear every level change in the recording. You can probably set it to 10 and forget it. And don't forget that if you're a chatterbox during the show, or someone near you is, you'll hear every word.

SonicStage is no fun, but back up a bit: What kind of computer (processor speed, memory) and operating system are you using? What model of MD are you using? MZ-NH1? MZ-N1? Are you running a lot of other programs simultanteously?

Assuming you can hear through the headphones, then the problem is probably with your Windows settings. Go to Settings--Control Panel--Sounds and Audio Devices--Audio . Under Sound Recording, click Volume and make sure Line-In is selected.