A440

When you're getting levels and the display is blinking (which means it's paused), push Pause again to un-pause. Blinking should stop, timer should start counting up and you should be recording. After that, pushing Track during recording will start a new track without stopping the recording (gapless). Pushing Pause during recording will pause and start a new track (also gapless, but no recording while paused.) Pushing Stop will save the data.

There's always the MZ-NH700. Takes a good old AA battery and, in my experience, has survived a few drops to hard floors. http://www.minidiscaccess.com/item.html?PRID=1553220 The M100 is higher-priced than the RH10 only because it's Mac compatible. Save the $$ if you don't need that feature.

And now it's 51,000.

NetMD units like the MZ-NE410 don't upload. The USB connection is one-way, from PC out to MD in, for the MD to be used as a player like an iPod. There's no way around it--it's in the hardware. The only unit that will upload the recordings from your MD deck is the MZ-RH1 because they are in the original MD format. No other unit will upload them, including previous Hi-MD units. You might as well record with the RH1, too--you can get CD-quality PCM sound (90 minutes per 1GB disc), better than the compressed formats on your deck. At $330, the MZ-RH1 is about half the price of a realtime CD recorder, and a lot smaller. Other Hi-MD units (MZ-NH**, MZ-RH**) will also record in PCM and upload their own recordings. The cheapest one around is the MZ-NH700, about $180 from http://www.minidiscaccess.com . Its other advantage is that it runs on a regular AA battery. But only the MZ-RH1 will upload your deck recordings. Otherwise, the only way to copy them is to record them in real time out of the headphone jack.

Here's a good place to start: http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/...tegory/110/mics They have in-ears and lots of others, depending on your budget. For acoustic music, just plug them into the Mic-in jack. For amplified music, go through Line-in with a battery module, either from Sound Professionals or here, another good microphone source: http://www.microphonemadness.com/products/mmcbmminminc.htm Set your RH1 to Manual Volume under REC SET, and try about 20/30. Look at the levels and adjust it once if need be, but don't keep fiddling with it--every change will be audible. As long as you can see the level meters moving toward the middle of the scale, you'll be fine.

OK, it's frustrating. OK, it's stupid on Sony's part. But pardon me if I think everybody's whining is a little exaggerated at this late date. NetMD never promised you could transfer from minidisc to computer. You probably knew that, or should have, when you got the MZ-N707 that you've been using for four years. It's a hardware limitation, not a software choice. You can sulk, you can continue to play the MDs you have on your MD player or any other MD player, and if you're really eager to transfer them you can get an RH1. Sony finally, belatedly offered a solution. It's up to you whether you think it's fair or economical. It will work, however. Even if you recorded the LPs in SP, you have already degraded their sound quality because SP is compressed. You'd be better off re-recording them in a lossless format. You could do that directly to your computer, through a Line-in jack or a $40 Griffin iMic (USB connection). Your turntable doesn't upload to your computer either. Maybe you'll want to boycott that manufacturer as well. How dare they! Jen, you could find someplace with a 30-day no-questions-asked warranty, get your hands on an RH1, be very gentle with it, upload your discs and send it back. That would teach Sony a big lesson. You'll have to find a computer where you have administrator privileges--that's a latter-day, security-crazed Microsoft/Windows restriction, not Sony's fault. OMG wasn't made for the Vista operating system, since Vista didn't exist at the time. That must be Sony's fault too. If you do get an RH1, use its own disc (the RH1 version of SonicStage 3.4) or SonicStage 4.x. OMG is completely obsolete and good riddance to it.

That's a Digital Rights Management problem. SonicStage thinks, correctly or incorrectly, that there are limitations on transfers for those tracks. Were they bought from an online store, or transferred to the disc using NetMD on another computer?

The Portadisc is a professional unit that I've never actually seen. The descriptions online say there's USB out, but I can't tell what goes through the USB. Can you upload files from the disc through USB? It also has digital out. So for maximum sound quality, even if you need to re-record in real time, you would want to use the digital out. as long as your computer has a digital in. Unless you wanted the expensive alternative: the MZ-RH1, the only unit that can upload tracks in the old MD formats. Those are digital uploads, as good as what's on the disc. A cheaper way would be to get an old NetMD unit--anything starting with MZ-N**, and you don't need MZ-NH***-- on Ebay. Connect the USB to the USB port and a minijack-to-minijack cable to Line-in (or, if it's not there, Mic-in) on the computer. Then use Hi-MDRenderer, from Downloads (upper left) or near the top of Software, and its MD Recorder function. A USB connection plays back one track at a time, ahd Hi-MD Renderer starts a new file for each track. It's realtime, it's slow and it's analog--not digital--but it's cheaper than buying the MZ-RH1.

It's cheaper to operate a mailorder website than to pay rent/remodeling/staff/property tax/maintenance at a Sonystyle store. I'm sure that's what the extra $20 is for. Then again, minidisco may charge shipping

You have to separate the mic from the recorder on a cord or you'll get the whirring of the disc. It's not as loud as the HDD noise on the H120, but it's definitely present. I don't know why Sony even makes those mics without cords, since everything in use when they appeared--cassettes, minidisc, DAT--made mechanical noise. I'm not a Mac user, so I have no idea about the OSX software, but it is still more limited than SonicStage on a PC. Other people have been writing about the Mac software here: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=16424

That blog post is only about recording voice. The crucial question for me is what kind of recording quality you get recording something more complex like music. I mean, if you want a good voice recorder for recording grandma's reminiscences, you'd be fine with an Iriver T30 and just using its higher-bitrate mp3. I happen to think the analog-to-digital converter in Hi-MD units sounds better than the one in the the iRiver. But I don't think it's a great enough difference for you to switch over, deal with SonicStage and learn a whole new interface when good flash units might be less than a year away. Another advantage of MD over either iRiver or iPod is that you can pop in a new battery. (It's easiest with the NH700 or NHF800, which take a AA--the RH1 takes a more expensive gumstick that you'd have to keep recharged.) How dependent do you want to be on a rechargeable? Rockbox on the H120/H140 and a minidisc with a good remote control (the RM-MC40ELK) have come to be pretty similar: pause, level control, time, making tracks, etc. It seems the iPod and Micromemo give you: On/Off, at least according to this review: http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/ipod/revi...order-for-ipod/ Sounds fairly promising but: Battery runs out after 3 hours. From the recording, it seems to have a fixed gain, not user adjustable or Auto Gain. And look at Comment #13 and below: Mic-in is mono, not stereo, and a stereo mic comes through the left channel only. So your $300 iPod plus Micromemo is as good as a little voice recorder, only using the space of PCM files.

I have an H120 with Rockbox and I prefer my RH1. That may be in part because I started with MD as a portable recorder rather than the H120. So add a grain of salt to the following. I prefer MD recording. Hi-MD is a better music recorder; it just sounds better on music (mic-battery module-line-in). With an external mic for voice recording, held more than 2 feet away from the unit so you don't get the occasional whirring noise, the built-in preamp of the MD adds far less noise than the H120. Yes, you can send folders of MP3s to Hi-MD. They're called groups, but it's the same thing. However, the drag-and-drop convenience of the H120 is replaced by the slightly more cumbersome SonicStage. SonicStage isn't as bad as it used to be by a long shot--it's stable now--but it's not drag-and-drop. I use my RH1 mostly for recording, not playback, so I can't tell you much about the nuances of playlisting. If your primary use is as a player, then I don't recommend Hi-MD--get a 2GB flash player with drag-and-drop. But as a voice recorder, the RH1 mic jack and preamp are superior to the H120 (and presumably H140)--much quieter. The H120 built-in mic doesn't have much preamp noise, but it picks up all the disc noise, so I find that pretty useless. I like my RH1 as a music recorder for features like track marking as you record or during playback (Rockbox now has something similar) and level meters (Rockbox has those too now), along with the recording quality--again, this is for music, which is far more complicated than voice. For a nice little voice recorder (built in mono mic) and music player, you could track down a 1GB iRiver T30 (red) for under $100. The buttons have a learning curve, but it does record voice nicely through its built-in mic, and has simple mp3 drag-and-drop. How hi-fi does your voice recording have to be? That's really the question. The RH1 will give you superb fidelity, but at some cost in convenience. Frankly, if I were you I would use the H140 until it dies. It seems to me that a great flash recorder--large capacity, drag-and-drop, on-unit editing--is one more product cycle away. Also, check out the Edirol R09 and the Zoom H4 flash recorders. I don't want them because they have built-in mics, but you might prefer them to the RH1.

Unfortunately, it's not a Mac compatible unit. Hardware limitation. You need to find someone with a PC, or an Intel Mac with Windows, and have them install SonicStage. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=10493

Because I once bought something from minidisco, I got an email announcing this. http://www.minidisco.com/SonoPak?j=9442232 What better way to guarantee a muddy, bad-sounding recording than to put the microphones at waist level? Well, I guess you could put them on your shoes. For a preview of what they'll sound like, crouch down sometime at a concert. There's a reason our ears are on our heads, not our hips. And as for stealth, putting the recorder in an external waist pack is just about asking to be searched. They must have a lot of n00b customers... EDIT: Decent price, though, on the Shure E3c, $130 .

Sorry, I rarely use my MD as a player, so I'm a bit rusty on this stuff. The importing functions are under File/Import/Scan Files/Settings--at least in 3.4, which is what I'm still using. You're telling SonicStage where to look for music files--and, more important, to leave the rest of your computer alone. Uncheck C: and open up the + signs to direct SonicStage only to the folder you want to add to My Library. SimplerMD automates two processes: making a virtual CD with Nero and then sending it to MD via Simple Burner. To troubleshoot, why don't you try separating the two processes? But first, since nothing happens at "Erasing MD," make sure SonicStage is detecting the MD unit. Everything with transfers to the unit runs through SonicStage--even other apps--so the unit has to be detected. Open SonicStage, connect the USB, connect the unit and give it a little time. The unit will say PC-->MD on the unit display once the USB is plugged in--that just means it knows the cord is connected. Click on Transfer and see if the MD unit is in the drop-down menu. The MDAC Repair Tool, in the Downloads section here, may help if the unit isnt being detected by SonicStage. But let's hope it's detecting the unit, anyway. Disconnect and close SonicStage to free up system resources. Make the virtual CD by opening Nero and going to Nero Express, and it should say "Which recorder would you like to use?" and the drop-down list should have an Image Recorder with a (virtual) drive letter (mine is G:, but yours may be different). Nero will burn files (from whatever folder/folders you select) to a virtual CD that you can then copy to MD via Simple Burner. The Protected bit is one of those unfortunate remnants of Check In/Check Out. It was, at the time, a good idea, so that you wouldn't erase your only copy of the track. Now it's pointless, another weird Sony software holdover. Try raintheory's idea of using Simple Burner instead of SonicStage. Perhaps Simple Burner assumes you own the CDs so erasing the track from the MD wouldn't be a disaster.

SonicStage 4.x still has remnants of check-in check-out, but it allows an infinite number of them, so you can transfer anything in My Library to as many discs as you want without checking back in. You shouldn't have to go the roundabout Nero way any more for music files, but you do still have to import the files to My Library. What kinds of files are you trying to transfer? .mp3 should be easy--just Import (make sure you are ONLY importing the folder you want to import by un-checking the C: drive in the Import options, or SonicStage will start chewing on every sound file in your computer). Audio books often have some kind of encryption, and you may still have to use the Nero method with them. Once you have a disc image, you should be able to import that into SonicStage and transfer easily, or just send it with Simple Burner. Also, check some mechanical things: Make sure the write-protect tab of the MD is completely shut, and try a different USB cord (from a PDA or camera).

Yes, it does. The only minidisc units made for uploading are Hi-MD. Your NetMD or older units never uploaded, with or without SonicStage. Until Hi-MD, all the music transfer was one-way, from PC to MD. And the only Hi-MD unit that will upload pre-Hi-MD recordings--SP, LP2, LP4--is the new MZ-RH1. However, despite what Sony told you, if you can get your hands on one, you can upload those old recordings. The only recordings the RH1 will not upload are ones transferred through NetMD, which you didn't use. Realtime recordings from old MDs will upload. OMG is absolute software garbage. Uninstall it completely according to the Software FAQ here: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=8071 If you do get your hands on an RH1, get SonicStage 4.0 from Downloads here: http://forums.minidisc.org/downloads/details.php?file=21 Now if you can just borrow one from somewhere....

You could start with musicians' stores, like http://www.guitarcenter.com , http://www.musiciansfriend.com , http://www.sweetwater.com, http://www.zzounds.com , etc. , though they may be more on the sturdy side than the collapsible side. Photo equipment stores might also have something more portable to hold lights, like this (courtesy "collapsible microphone stand" from Google): http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller...5602&is=REG Also from Google, this might be just your baby: http://www.audioimplements.com/mic%20stand%20page.htm Depending on how small your mics are, you could also rig something up with anything that telescopes and extends: a car radio antenna, a pointer, etc.

King G., everybody has been lucky and unlucky with cheap discs. I had a pack of Hi-Space, and half of them malfunctioned. Other people here have regularly complained about Memorex and Maxell, so I tossed them in. Some Maxells have plastic shutters, which promise trouble. Joanne, I hope you'll give Audacity another try. When you open it and click the red button, it should simply start recording, and you'll see a waveform of what's going into it. In the top middle of the screen you have a choice of Mic Volume--recording through your computer's mic jack--or Stereo Mix, recording the mix coming through the soundcard (which can be the CD drive, computer sounds, etc--click on the little speaker icon in the taskbar, probably bottom right of your screen, to see what's going through your soundcard). Feel free to ask for help. It's geeky and a little intimidating to start with, but once you've got it set up, it should be very easy to use.

That about sums it up, though I haven't had any problems with instability since version 3.2 . I just use SonicStage for uploading. For a computer player, I use Winamp or Quintessential. For ripping CDs to transfer to my iRiver T30 flash player--which is simply drag-and-drop, no WMP needed--I use EAC or iTunes (though I am definitely not a fan of iTunes, which is also slow to start up and keeps trying to cheat by adding qttask.exe and Itunes Helper into Startup). Sony seems wedded to SonicStage not only for its neglected minidisc but for its flash players, and I really don't understand why they don't overhaul the whole program and make it drag-and-drop. Are their electrical and mechanical engineers really so vastly far ahead of their software programmers? So it seems.

Ditto to Low Volta's post. Bass is generally not a problem recording through Line-in. Just get a battery module and if the recording sounds particularly bass-heavy to you afterward, change the EQ on playback--turn down the bass, turn up the treble. You still have a realistic recording on the disc, not one that has been diminished by bass rolloff. Here in the USA, my basic setup is these mics: http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-BMC-2 with this battery module: http://www.microphonemadness.com/products/mmcbmminminc.htm I like the BMC-2 because they're about as stealthy as you can get: small mics on thin wires. However, there are plenty of other microphone choices--look for 20-20,000 Hz frequency response and the best S/N (signal-to-noise) ratio you can afford. I recently used my setup at a BIG BOOMING TECHNO SHOW (Ricardo Villalobos, Sven Vath) and I didn't even have to EQ it for a good-sounding playback. Bass roll-off = bass ripoff.

Just to restate raintheory's post in case it's not clear. Recorded from CDs in realtime, yes (though with the SP limitations as described above). Transferred from CDs via SonicStage/OpenMG/Real/Simple Burner, no. Sony thinks that would make you an evil music pirate.

http://www.archive.org/details/etree http://bt.etree.org/ They may want lossless recordings and have nitpicky requirements for labeling, so be aware.

A reasonable question. It looks like they call everything in that category a battery/filter module, even if there's no bass roll-off. Then the description usually explains that there's no bass filtering. The mini classic, which I use, has no filter. The CBM-1 description explains it has no filter: "This battery module which has no bass roll off (bass reduction) is recommended were the recorded sound has little to moderately loud bass content." I don't think a bass roll-off filter is necessary or desirable. Bass roll-off may possibly be useful for recording through the mic input, which has a preamp that overloads with any significant bass. But recording into Line-in, which is what you'd be doing with the battery module, you are much less likely to overload from bass. In fact, if you do overload from bass, it's probably the mic itself overloading, which the bass filter won't affect (because it's later in the chain). Unless you know exactly how bass-heavy your concert is going to sound, and unless you can adjust the bass roll-off to the right frequency, bass roll-off will make your recording sound weak and tinny. It is better to get a good, full-frequency recording and then--if it's really bass-heavy--equalize the recording afterward. You can get much more flexibility with an editing program than you can with a bass filter. And you can't restore the bass if you've filtered it out before it's recorded.

Maybe this will help. http://www.minidisc.org/manuals/sony/servi...vice_manual.pdf Have you considered staying out of service mode?