A440

"Gone with the Paste" "Scratchbusters" "Swabber-Man" "Back to the Toothpaste" "The Dot-Matrix Display Reloaded" or maybe just "Screen Saver"

Translation: Nobody's going to steal (nick) it from you because no one knows what it is. Whereas the iPod is a lot more recognizable.

Sounds like you have Sync recording enabled. Look under the Rec Settings menu, it's one of the last ones, and turn it off.

I use two modes for live music. One, as I was using with the MZ-N707 and the MZ-R700, is High Sensitivity with the mic attenuated (its signal lowered) by a Radio Shack Headphone Volume Control. This still works fine on the NHF800. Now, with the NHF800, I have also started using Low Sensitivity and Rec Volume on Manual set to 12 or 13. Since that's one less gizmo to go through, I may make that my usual mode.

The recording side of the MD experience is always impressive. Unlike the careful folks above, I often record with the MD in a pocket. And I still don't get skips. Getting stuff onto the disc is easy. Getting it off the disc is getting easier thanks to marcnet.

Good old free Audacity will Normalize, look under Effects. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

You really should try not to send so many redundant posts. You don't have to get fancy to record speech. If you can hear the lecture from where you're sitting, you should be able to record it. A battery box is to provide more flexibility in recording loud sounds---you definitely don't need that. A preamp is to amplify softer sounds clearly, so unless you really can't hear the lecture at all, you probably don't need that either. And if you can't hear it, a preamp is not going to work magic, since it will also amplify all the noise around you. Getting a better seat will do more for you than spending a bundle on mics or preamps. If you're in a big lecture hall that's echoey, get a directional mic, a cardioid, like this one: http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/...item/SP-SPSM-16 But if you're at meetings that will have people all around you, get an onmidirectional (or binaural) instead. http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/...item/SP-SPSM-15 I'm sure www.microphonemadness.com and www.reactivesounds.com have similar choices. Sony mics, like the DSP70, are also possibilities, but I think they're overpriced. I do recommend getting a mic on a cord rather than one that plugs directly into the MD because the direct plug-in mics will pick up the whir of the machine. And just about any little microphone, including the kind that used to come with old Aiwa or Walkman cassette recorders, should also work. If you have one lying around, plug it into mic-in and see how it works. Play with the Hi and Low Sensitivity settings under REC MODE and see what you like. Higher-priced mics and the other gizmos are for recording music, which has a much wider frequency range and more nuances of fidelity. For your needs, simple is better.

Trying to make Sony feel bad is like trying to get President Bush to admit a mistake. Not likely. Let me clarify a little, since I was using my terms a little loosely. I used SonicStage 2.2 to upload the mic-recorded tracks to the computer, not Wav converter (though I consider the uploading part of the Wav converter's add-on to SonicStooge, maybe I'm wrong). It got most of them, slowly. Then, as far as I can tell, SonicStage erased the tracks it had transferred when I closed it after the conversion. It's remotely possible I clicked on something authorizing that, but I deeply doubt it--I'm very careful about this stuff. And don't worry, Dex, I haven't been reading your posts for nothing. I did a backup first.

Well, I finally gave Wav converter a try and I'm completely disgusted. It was a full 1GB disc of a conversation, recorded at Hi-SP, and it took more than an hour to convert and upload. Then it decided to erase most of the uploaded tracks from the disc, and it left one 51-minute track registering "Cannot Play." Sony should just allow drag and drop of its precious .oma files, ready to be played and then converted later if necessary, rather than converting them all on the way between computers. And it's beyond insulting that Sonic Stage takes control of my precious data and then screws it up. Sony itself may be obsolete before Hi-MD Renderer is.

www.soundprofessionals.com sells battery boxes and does international shipping. If you don't have Radio Shack in Sweden you can also get the Variable Attenuator (same as headphone volume control) from Soundprofessionals.

Amazon has the NHF800 for 219.94 at the moment. A pair of basic binaural mics (from the usual suspects like www.soundprofessionals.com or www.microphonemadness.com or www.reactivesounds.com) will run you under $100. It's not quite below $250 total, but it will do your job quite well. The NHF800 will give you as much fidelity as your mics can provide.

Whether you make a digital recording with your computer or with a CDR recorder, you still have to get it out of the MD. So you're still recording analog, because the only way out of your MZ-N10 is from the headphone jack, and that's analog.

Seriously, I don't mean to underestimate the labor, expertise and--equally important--quality control involved in putting together a good mic, preamp, etc. Little things like the rubber shrink tubing (or whatever it's called), the clip mounting and the mic housing can make a lot of difference to the usuability and durability of the mic, and the matching of the pair of mic elements is important to getting a good recording. I'm glad there are pros to do it.

Even if you keep the volume low, you still might have distortion with low bass notes on the MZ-N707--I always did even at low volume. Gerry Bolda would know the electrical engineering better, but I think the mic preamp just overloads with loud bass. Either use the headphone volume control into mic-in or go for the battery box into line-in. The headphone volume control is a volume control knob on a cord, and you can control volume into the MD with it while the buttons are locked. You'll get a feel for it after a few shows without having to read the meter. If you're recording superloud music you might get away with just putting the mic into the line-in, but it's a gamble.

The MZ-N707 doesn't have a Mic Sensivity switch (even if it's hacked), and loud bass makes it distort. Simple solution: the Radio Shack Headphone Volume Control, pictured with my signature, $6.59. They may also be calling it Headphone Extension Cord now, just make sure it has the volume-control knob. Plug the mic in to the cord, plug the cord into Mic In , turn the volume control nearly all the way UP (unless the music is totally blasting, then turn it down to about halfway), and your mic's sensitivity is now lowered enough to record LOUD music with the MZ-N707.

Maybe I was jumping to conclusions, but many of the specs I've seen for mini-mics online match the Panasonic capsules exactly. For its more expensive mics, Sound Professionals specifies that it uses Audio-Technica capsules. Just out of curiosity, what does Church Audio use? I've seen your products on Ebay and the prices are great. I'm particularly interested in your mics and in your preamps, which look like a real bargain. Are other preamps overpriced?

Linzq, you will definitely have to experiment, since every room and situation is different, but here are a few settings to try out for starters. If they work, use them. If not, feel free to ignore them. The only criterion is what works for you in your situation. I often record loud music with Auto, but classical has more dynamic subtleties that you might be better off capturing with Manual. Suggestion for Manual volume: Go into Record Volume and then Manual and use the volume control to set it to 12/30. That may be too low, but it will give you plenty of headroom, and classical music needs it. Set the Mic Sensitivity on Low. I find that High can overload and also gives a kind of warts-and-all sound, while lowering the sensitivity gets rid of distracting threshold noises--breathing, pages turning, etc. For placement, you want to put the mic where an ideal listener would be. That's probably in the front row close to where you're singing, where most of what the mic will pick up will be direct sound. The further back you go, the more natural reverb the mic will pick up, which will make you sound fuller but blurrier. Similarly, if it's right in your face you're not going to get the room's natural warmth. Perhaps you could have the pianist play solo while you listen and record in various places in the church, and see what sounds best to you. Try closing your eyes as you listen to avoid visual cues. If you aren't going to have time to make your own tests before recording, but there are other concerts in that church, take the MD along and record some tests that way. You can try the Rec Volume and Mic Sensitivity settings during your own practice sessions to see how they affect the sound. Record part of the session with Manual, then stop the recording and let it revert to Auto, and see how the difference sounds to you. Remember, every time you Stop you're going to have to go back into the menus and reset to Manual. Above all, don't worry. If you're in a room with good acoustics, that's 90% of the battle right there, so you've got a great start toward making a recording you'll like.

All the recording Hi-MD's do PCM recording, but only 90 minutes fits on a 1G MD. You might also want to look at the Edirol (www.soundprofessionals.com has it) if you have the bucks, but it records on seriously more expensive compact flash cards, and I don't think it has the track-mark feature of MDs. http://www.edirol.com/products/info/r1.html

It may be something more complicated, no doubt, but how was the battery strength? This happened to me once when the battery was near its end and the MD was stopping and starting. Also, is it possible you were hitting the pause button inadvertently? That could give you those gaps and the multiple tracks.

Using the unit alone, you're in the Menu after you hold the menu button for five seconds. Then you need to use the rocker button in the center of the wheel. Display and Edit are Menu options. When you push the center button straight down (vertically, into the unit) it gives you submenus for each option. You can Display: Lap Time or Rec Remain, for example. To go down the list of menu options (and submenu options), rock the button up (if it was a clock it would be toward 12) or down (toward 6). Some menu options don't appear unless you have a disc in the unit--probably the Rec modes among them.

That's what it's supposed to do--lower the incoming signal--and it lowers it a bit even with the volume all the way up. The HVC works like a replacement for the missing Low Sensitivity option on models like the MZ-N707, where it acts like a buffer against the overload from loud bass notes. No need to use it if you're getting what you want without it.

You'll also have to see if the web retailers will ship to Australia. Without an adapter, you could always just stick to batteries. I don't think I've used the adapter yet with my NHF800. If it turns out you can't find a compatible adapter, then definitely get the 700, which runs on a basic AA battery, rather than the 900, which has a rechargeable that would require plugging in. That was what decided me on the 800 (no 700s available at the time)--the AA form-factor battery.

Have you held the Menu button down for a full five seconds? It takes a while to switch into the menu mode. Do everything you can on the unit before plugging in the remote at all. No Track just means there's a blank disc in the unit.

Just don't get the NH600 ! That's mainly for downloading music from the computer, and it doesn't have the essential mic input.

OK, I know it's a pipe dream, but does anyone know if (a) the volume control changes the recording level and ( does it have a track button? The big ebay photos have a plug in the way.