A440

First, what computer and operating system are you using? What version of SonicStage? If you used the disc that came with the unit, go to Sony's site or Downloads here (upper right) and install a current version of SonicStage: 4.x . Have you rebooted? Try opening SonicStage and then plugging in the MD unit and see if it's recognized. No? Then try: The MDAC Repair Tool from Downloads. It can help with connection problems. Failing that, and if you're sure your USB cord is good--have you used it with something else to check?--it may be a hardware problem. Is there any physical damage to the USB jack?

You may be out of luck. SonicStage is encrypted to your operating system, and if you change operating systems the encryption thinks you are trying to transfer your library to a different computer like a horrible music pirate. Changing back to XP might not even help because it would be another OS change. SonicStage expects you to back up your entire library before doing anything drastic to your computer. You can try removing the Digital Rights Management under Tools/Start File Conversion Tool and uncheck Add Copy Protection. But it may not allow you to do that either.

Are you sure they are real mp3 and not mp4 or something else bought from an online music store?

Money, it's a gas. This means that the club pays Performing Rights Societies (PRS) like ASCAP/BMI, which represents the publishers who own the rights to the words and music of the songs, for the right to have the music performed live in the club. This means that the record company owns the right to distribute its recordings of Pink Floyd--it pays the band royalties. Presumably, since Pink Fraud is not Pink Floyd, the recording company also owns part of the publishing, the right to distribute the songs themselves (words and music, not the actual sounds). So theoretically, the copies you are sharing with your friends are distributing the music, and yes, it's illegal, even if it's free. But in the real world, unless your friends are putting it where someone could grab it, duplicate and sell it--and give me a break, how big is the market for an audience bootleg of a Pink Floyd tribute band when you can get real PF bootlegs or PF albums?--it's probably not going to bother anyone unduly. Pink Fraud may not be able to say yes, legally, because they're playing someone else's songs. So they're just covering themselves legally. And by the way, you are allowed to take photos in a public place, unless there are national security considerations.

"It is easier to seek forgiveness than to ask permission." I see absolutely nothing wrong with recording a concert for your own personal enjoyment. That does not include posting it online, selling copies, etc. But in the purely noncommercial realm, as far as I'm concerned, once the musicians have let it go, it's in the air.

The only MDs for serious studio recording are Hi-MDs because they can record in PCM and upload. The MZ-RH1 is the best, and it will upload your old MDs. Other Hi-MDs will only upload recordings made in Hi-MD formats and won't upload older minidisc formats. But they are all little portable recorders with stereo minijacks, just two-track recording, and little control over input beyond level, mic sensitivity and track making. You'd probably want something more flexible in the studio.

The latest batch of Windows Update security patches for my XP SP2 included one for MDAC. Having once experienced the dreaded MDAC problem with SonicStage, I didn't install it. Has anyone applied that patch? Probably fine, but I'd love to be sure of that.

Don't worry about sensitivity. No sensitivity switch means high sensitivity, which is what you need for voice. Low sensitivity is useful for louder or amplified sounds--and it's not really that useful anyway, since anything really loud needs to be recorded Line-in. When you're recording interviews, the MD units have auto gain control and will give you good clear voice recordings. MZ-R55 has the classic MD recording switch that you just slide--it's easy. This guy did a really exhaustive R55 page a long time ago. http://listen.to/mz-r55 Do remember that these R units will be a decade old and probably used. They are universally said to be sturdy--I've never had one--but you'll want to be careful about the one you get.

I don't know if you are still in the process of recording your vinyl to minidiscs, but if you are, you could also just record them directly into your computer--headphone out of your amplifier to line-in (preferably) or mic-in (if there's no line-in) to your computer, in realtime with Audacity. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows LP2 does not give you very good sound quality. You would be much better off recording into the computer directly.

The connector on the AT804 is XLR, used with professional equipment, when you need a stereo minijack for the MD. There are adapters, but the specs at the Audio-Technica site don't say whether that is an unbalanced mic, which is what you need. The mic jacks on MD units provide 1.5 volts of what's called plug-in power. It's usually not enough to fry anything. For radio interviews, you might want to look at the Sony ECM-MS907. It's a stereo directional mic that gives you two pickup patterns: 90 degrees for straight ahead or 120 degrees for a wider-angle straight ahead. It can also give you true mono, useful for radio mixing. It doesn't have much bass response, only going down to 100 Hz, so music would sound rather thin. But it would be good for voice. Although Amazon says it has an XLR connector, the photo on this site shows a stereo mini jack, and it's advertised as compatible with MD. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller...&sku=150434

Nick Lowe lives! What mic were you using for this? It's nice and clear, but there's very little bass.

My guess is that they make you turn off all electronic devices because they don't want to deal with exceptions--everyone turns off everything. What they seem most worried about is cell phones and GPS signals that can interfere with the plane's guidance system. Google found this subcommittee hearing on the subject--you have to use the cached copy because the original has moved. http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:8Jaks...-20-00memo.html So they do believe that portable electronics affect navigational systems. Here's the official regulation, from this link: http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14...4cfr121.306.htm TITLE 14--AERONAUTICSAND SPACE CHAPTER I--FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) PART 121--OPERATING REQUIREMENTS: DOMESTIC, FLAG, AND SUPPLEMENTAL OPERATIONS--Table of Contents Subpart K--Instrument and Equipment Requirements Sec. 121.306 Portable electronic devices. (a) Except as provided in paragraph b: of this section, no person may operate, nor may any operator or pilot in command of an aircraft allow the operation of, any portable electronic device on any U.S.- registered civil aircraft operating under this part. b: Paragraph (a) of this section does not apply to-- (1) Portable voice recorders; (2) Hearing aids; (3) Heart pacemakers; (4) Electric shavers; or (5) Any other portable electronic device that the part 119 certificate holder has determined will not cause interference with the navigation or communication system of the aircraft on which it is to be used. © The determination required by paragraph (b5) of this section shall be made by that part 119 certificate holder operating the particular device to be used. [Doc. No. FAA-1998-4954, 64 FR 1080, Jan. 7, 1999] But hey--is a minidisc a portable voice recorder?

King G., I've already got too many MDs, but I'd like to know about that link. greenmachine, thank you so much for making these clips. They make clear what compression and AGC do. Nathan, I also use the NHF800 and it is one tough, reliable little gadget. The NH700 is exactly the same unit with a different remote, and I never bother with the FM radio, so you might as well get the NH700. (I got one a year and a half ago as a backup and I've never had to use it because the NHF800 has survived all my abuse.) I indulged myself and got the RH1 to upload all my old MDs. But I'm still using the NHF800 regularly, and keeping the RH1 mostly for playback (Dynamic normalizer has its uses) and uploading. When I want to be ultra stealthy I bring the RH1, but I don't think the price difference is worth it unless you need to upload old MDs. And like greenmachine and others, I very much appreciate being able to use the AA battery in the NH700 and NHF800.

Unamplified? Mic-Mic-in-perhaps 20/30 (but look at the level meter and adjust, with Manual Level). With 25 people you probably need the wider angle, 120 degrees.

The RH910 uses a NiMH battery. The RH1 uses a Li-Ion battery, which is stronger. I'm in the middle of a project where I need the Dynamic Normaliser in my RH1, but once I'm done with it I'll try an overnight recording test for you.

I'm obviously going to have to revise my thinking on single-point mics. The two different kinds of pickups in the MS907 and the physical separation in the Nady provide much better imaging than I would have expected. The MS907 sounds just right for this band. Its shortcoming is that it doesn't go below 100HZ, but you don't have to worry about that with this music. Wait'll they hire a bass fiddle.... The Nady CM-2S, as I said in another post, sounds a little nasal or hollow around the vocals--I imagine the guy singing through a long tin tube. But I don't know if that's the performance (through a PA?), the room acoustics or the mic.

I think that mic sounds quite good. I would be curious to hear it in other kinds of music. Was the band playing through a PA or acoustic? The highs--the mandolin--are very crisp and clear, and the two guitars are nicely separated. The vocal sounds a tiny bit echoey and nasal to me, which would make sense if the singer is using reverb with a mic--otherwise that seems like a bump in the frequency response. And there's no deep bass in the music so I can't tell anything about that, but I see that the frequency response goes down to 30 Hz so it's probably solid down there too. You very neatly sum up a frame of mind I know I have succumbed to myself: "I bought it so it must be good" kind of thinking.

Here's the service manual. http://www.minidisc.org/manuals/sony/servi...vice_manual.pdf

That's a nice sample, KG, and you're right--there's clear stereo imaging. Do you use an XLR-to-miniplug adapter with it? And do you have it mounted or do you use it handheld? Is handling noise a problem? When I've gotten wind noise, it goes through the whole spectrum, but it's probably something like pink noise: the all-frequencies whoosh of white noise with more lower frequencies in the mix. So maybe bass rolloff would help. Teledynepost, a directional mic would help you get more focused samples of sounds you want to isolate, so it sounds like a good idea. And even with small amps and drums, things get loud, so the medium sensitivity of the Nady CM-2S or AT822 would also be good.

King Ghidora, I think we agree more than we disagree, and greenmachine just explained why: Binaural as defined by pros and audiophiles--mics in the ears of a dummy head--and binaural as used by microphone merchants, as a synonym for omnidirectional, are two different things. I've grown used to recording with a separated pair of omni mics, which isn't true binaural and is more flexible. One-point mics vary greatly by design, and you've obviously used different and better ones than I have, with much better results. All I know is that when I switched from a small, low-priced one-point stereo mic to a separated pair based on the same capsules, my recordings suddenly changed from near-mono to three-dimensional. Bigger one-points must have space or circuitry to provide more separation. Sometime I'll have to give them another chance.

It's compatible. From the specs, the mic comes with two different cables, one of which has the miniplug: "3.5 mm stereo mini plug at output end." Audio-Technica also has an excellent reputation, and those microphones are widely used. It gets good reviews on Amazon from people recording music: http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-AT822...e/dp/B0002GFMTQ It's a directional microphone, made to pick up what's in front of it. That may be useful to you if you want to reduce noise from behind you, though not if you want to capture 360 degrees of ambience. (For truly enveloping sound, an omnidirectional microphone is preferable.) The AT822 also offers some flexibility: a choice between a flat frequency response or one that rolls off the bass if you're recording in a loud, bass-y place. And its signal-to-noise ratio looks very good. Whether it's best for you is hard to say. The big question is what you are recording. Loud? Quiet? A performance in front of you? Natural sounds all around you? Also, how will you be using the mic? Mounted on a stand? Held in your hand? (Moving around a directional mic will make your recording fluctuate.) It may well be exactly the right mic for you. But more details would help.

There's always eBay.

Which is to say, you won't be able to play the 1GB disc on your E300, no matter what's on it.

That's pretty much the definition of ambience.... As I understand it, in-ear mics separated by your head are best reproduced by headphones, straight stereo recording (which is what I do--omni mics clipped to my shirt collar) is OK with speakers. I do most of my listening with headphones anyway. Even the M/S design gives you some distance between the mics, which is optimized by having two different pickups at the single point. So that must help the stereo imaging, and the M/S also gives you the option of having true mono if you need it. Still, Boojum had the idea that single points give more ambience, and I don't think that's right. Like King Ghidora, I have also read some very enthusiastic things about Rode mics. Boojum, if you really want to get geeky a good place to start is here: http://www.dpamicrophones.com/ and click the Microphone University tab. A good source for high-end mics and tech information is http://www.oade.com , though it'll drive you crazy trying to find a price on the website. This stuff is out of my price range, so I can't offer any personal testimonials. Also, check out this guy, who records ambient sounds using minidisc: http://www.quietamerican.org/links_diy-mics.html He's very enthusiastic about these mics: http://www.sonicstudios.com/ . So I assume the Sonic Studios guy is better at mic design than he is at webpage design. As the quiet american points out, the best thing to do is consider how you expect to be using the mics most often. I'm always slipping mics into concerts where they are not, ah, welcome, so for me even the CMC-8's are often too big. I do most of my recording with the eraser-sized BMC-2. My recordings with them are in my album in the Gallery--including some live jazz, hard rock and a church choir. At Bonnaroo or other jam-band events you can see the tapers with their shock-mounted pairs of $1000 Schoeps mics in the perfect X-Y configuration, or whatever, but I really think that's overkill. It's a live show. People are going to be talking and yelling, the PA from the stage is just as likely to be a mono mix as to be stereo, and you're just not getting recording-studio sound. A stereo pair and a battery module are all I ever expect to need. I'll have that Lynyrd Skynyrd recording for you just as soon as I can resurrect Ronnie Van Zant.

Single points give less ambience. Mics you can separate like your ears give you a much richer stereo illusion because of the subtle differences between what they pick up--differences that are decoded by your ears. Single point mics sound closer to mono. Audio-technicas have an excellent reputation. My best mics at the moment are probably Sound Professionals CMC-8's with Audio-Technica omni capsules--I say probably because I got them on Ebay and there's no identification on them, but they do have removable capsules. They are very low noise and have a fuller tone than others I use. http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-CMC-8 The mics in the other link, AT 3031 and AT 3032, are each mono mics, so you would have to buy two and find the right connector to make them a stereo pair. They're also five inches long.