A440

If you have made recordings on your N1 and want to upload them, the ONLY unit for you is the MZ-RH1. It has the best sound quality and the best design, and it is the only unit that allows uploads (to PCs only, not Mac) from old MD formats: SP, LP2, LP4 . Uploads and downloads of your own recordings are unlimited. The one exception is if you have MDs full of tracks downloaded from the PC (like songs from albums). You cannot upload those recordings. The RH710 has line-in only, not a mic jack. It will upload its own recordings but NOT old MD recordings. If you get one make sure to use the latest version of SonicStage, not the disc that comes with the unit.

Just to make sure you know: The DH10P is a player (and camera) only. It downloads music from the computer via USB but doesn't record in realtime--no mic-in or line-in jack. http://www.minidisc.org/part_Sony_MZ-DH10P.html

What's on the disc? Hi-MD recordings (PCM, Hi-SP, Hi-LP) should be detected, yes. Legacy MD recordings (SP, LP2, LP4) may not be. Only Hi-MD recordings are uploadable to Macs.

From the RH1, old MD recordings CAN be transferred to PCs via SonicStage if they were made in realtime. Tracks that were transferred from a computer to an old MD (via NetMD) cannot be uploaded.

What unit do you have? The Mac-compatible units are MZ-M10, MZ-100 and MZ-RH1.

Sounds like something got disconnected, nothing more. The Boost Box has a lot of cord hanging out of it--wiggle it to see that some connection hasn't gotten loose. Check its battery, too. Etc. If recording could be disrupted, the truly paranoid musicians would do it all the time, and they wouldn't wait until they found someone recording. How do you like the Archos, by the way?

Well, the good news is that the C-Media Wave Device is the Trust card. I have no experience with the company or the card. Reviewers at amazon.co.uk seem pretty disgruntled. http://www.amazon.co.uk/TRUST-SC-5250-5-1-...D/dp/B000177Z5K You might just experiment. Since the optical part is outboard, maybe it's Aux?

The only thing you can do is record out of the headphone jack in realtime. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=7070 NetMD recorders do not let you transfer files to any computer from the disc. They were made to take files downloaded FROM the computer to minidisc. And the only downloading software, SonicStage, was for PCs. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=10493 The only unit that uploads recordings from old MD formats--SP, LP2, LP4--is the new MZ-RH1, which is also Mac-compatible.

Total Recorder will work like Audacity and record analog from the soundcard input, true. But it's different with Hi-MD and regular MD. A Hi-MD hooked up to the computer, with SonicStage controlling playback, will play through the computer speakers. That's a digital signal coming through the USB to the soundcard, and Total Recorder can grab that sound digitally on the way to the soundcard. A NetMD hooked up to the computer, with SonicStage controlling playback, plays through its headphone jack--not through the soundcard. So Total Recorder can record the analog signal through line-in (if the computer has one) or mic-in on the computer--but it's not intercepting a digital signal. A more convenient method is to use MD Recorder in Hi-MD Renderer, which uses SonicStage to control the unit via USB and makes a separate file from each track on the MD, recorded out of the headphone jack into the computer.

A realtime recording can be analog or digital. The optical out is a stream of digital data being sent out in real time. It should give you a measurably--though not necessarily perceptibly--more exact recording than the analog line-out. You said your soundcard has optical-in. Otherwise you could use something like this: http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Transit-main.html And then you need a cord to connect the optical out to the optical in, and a recording program--like good old free Audacity--installed on your computer. In settings for your soundcard (Settings/Control Panel/Sounds and Audio Devices/Audio) you have to make sure your soundcard is sensing the optical stream for Sound Recording, and then you should be ready to record.

With tracks that SonicStage has misued, you are going to have to do it in realtime, yes. As long as the tracks will play on the disc itself, you're fine. SonicStage isn't just for uploading (though that's pretty much all I use it for). With a Hi-MD unit connected to the computer, SonicStage will control playback on the tracks and play them back through the computer--the sound comes off the disc, through the USB and through the computer's soundcard, where it can be recorded. Hi-MD Renderer's MD Recorder uses SonicStage's control of the disc to play back each track one by one and record it to the computer as a separate track. Since you're not uploading--just playing back--SonicStage won't mess with the tracks on the disc. Editing before upload was a huge problem in old versions of SonicStage. No one has complained about it for a while, and Dex Otaku did some serious testing and had no problems. You can edit on the disc. Assuming you can upload, though, you can also use SonicStage. Once you highlight an uploaded track, all the Edit commands should become available. Edit includes Divide, which should allow you to chop out applause, etc. Then you can rename or re-number your uploaded tracks to put them in the order you want. Keep the original disc for a while to make sure you have the original running order in case you want to upload again. Audacity isn't so difficult. Open the file (.wav or .mp3) and just hold down the shift key to highlight the section you want to play with. You can zoom in to see the waveform very precisely and make a very exact cut. You can cut a selected section, copy it, add effects (like a fadeout), etc. And unlike SonicStage, it has an Undo command in case you make a mistake.

Yes, extract it to a folder where you can find it. A zip file is considered an archive. WinZip unzips that compressed archive file so you can use it. Open the new Hi-MD Renderer folder and click on the .exe file. MD Record is on the bottom. But first, get rid of that old SonicStage--uninstall it--and download a 4.x version from Downloads or 4.0 from here: http://s23.quicksharing.com/v/9374647/Soni...200_UN.exe.html Hi-MD Renderer needs SonicStage.

Also: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=7070

All of greenmachine's advice is excellent, although I don't think the MZ-N707 has a microphone sensitivity option--it's always High. Don't worry about it. Let me offer a few specific recommendations on battery module (Microphone Madness) and recording level (18 to 20 out of 30, or about 2/3 of the way up). If you're in the US, get this battery module: http://www.microphonemadness.com/products/mmcbmminminc.htm and connect mic--battery module--Line-in. Sound Professionals has similar ones, but this is small and about $10 cheaper than Sound Pros, or it was the last time I looked. (If you're in Europe, get one of greenmachine's battery boxes!) The battery module starts using its battery power when the mic is plugged into its jack. So leave the mic unplugged from the battery module as much as possible--don't store them connected. I don't know how long the batteries in the module last, but it's quite a long time--maybe 100 hours of recording. Manual Volume will give you much better recordings, and it's worth using, although you have to re-set it each time you start recording--the unit always defaults back to AGC. Although it seems complicated the first few times, you'll get used to the sequence of clicks pretty fast. I tend to use 18 to 20/30 and it works well for most amplified concerts. Here's how: With a disc in the unit and the battery module plugged in to Line-in, hold PAUSE and press REC. Then Menu/REC SET/Rec Volume/Manual. Set the recording level at 18 to 20/30, 2/3 of the way up the bars. That should give you some room if it gets extra loud. Leave the unit on Pause and HOLD with all its settings correct. When you want to record, push the PAUSE button again to un-pause and start recording. ---------------------------------------------- There's one other method, the attenuator (that's a picture of one in my avatar). You can get the Radio Shack Headphone Volume Control (US) or Maplin VC-1 (England), a volume control on a cord that lowers the signal going into mic-in. Mic--attenuator (at full maximum volume, not turned down at all)--Mic-in, also with manual volume at 20/30. If it gets really loud and you're watching your levels, you can use the volume knob on the attenuator to lower your recording volume--but you will hear the change on the recording, and you may get a little static from turning the knob. The attenuator is the cheap and imprecise method of doing what the battery module does better. Its only advantage is that it gives you a record-level control that the MZ-N707 doesn't have while recording--though it's better not to change volume during recording. On the other hand, if the battery in the battery module runs out, as it will after months of recording, it's nice to have an attenuator in your pocket too.

The difference is between re-recording, in realtime, and transferring a digital copy of the file. With optical out you can record in realtime. With the RH1 you can transfer the file as a digital file via USB.

Interesting that the two Etymotics are different. They certainly do their best to confuse things. I don't think you're going to find a lot of professional sound engineers paying much attention to these low-level consumer phones. A music professional would likely find both of them unlistenable. From the specs, it looks like one is louder than the other to suit the modest amplification of some portable players. So you'd want to get the more sensitive one, the 6i, for minidisc. If you can find frequency-response curves for both Shure and Etymotic--and I doubt you can, because the frequency response will depend on the shape of your ear and the companies can't figure that out for every ear--then you can see which one is flatter. The flattest curve is technically better because it is reproducing the music more precisely. Without that kind of technical information, you are going to have to try them. Numbers are not going to give you the answer. Look at these specs from Etymotic. ER6 50 Hz - 6 kHz ± 3 dB; 20 Hz - 16 kHz ±6 dB ER6i 50 Hz - 6 kHz ± 3 dB; 20 Hz - 16 kHz ±6 dB What they are telling you is that in a middle range, 50Hz-6Hz, that the frequency response is almost flat, very accurate, within 3dB. Outside that range, below it and above it, there is more variation, within 6dB. The bottom note of a piano is 27.5 Hz, so between 20 and 50 are some serious bass notes. And between 6 Hz and 16 Hz are the overtones that greatly shape the sound of instruments. Will you like the Etymotic's interpretation of those overtones? You have to try it. The Etymotic specs say they ER6i are less accurate than the ER6. But maybe the tradeoff for volume is worth it, or the inaccuracies make music sound warmer. Shure doesn't even provide that information, because each person will hear the phones differently. If one were clearly better than the other for everybody, only one would have survived the market. But read actorlife's post. He has a lot of headphones and doesn't use his Etymotics much because he doesn't think they have enough bass. I tried better Etymotics and also didn't hear full bass. There's a pattern here. If you want to read a lot of debate on this try http://www.head-fi.org and http://www.ipodlounge.com . And some people will say the Etymotics are "clean" and "understated" and others will say they have weak bass. IEM's (in-ear monitors) are not the best headphones for bass to begin with. But in my experience, the Shures (E3 and E4--I haven't tried the E2) work better than the Etymotic 4P (I haven't tried the ER6). If you look on eBay and have a little patience, you can probably find Shure E3 (gray) or E3c (white) for about $100. That's what I'd recommend.

I don't think Total Recorder will be much use to someone with an old MD. Total Recorder records what's coming through your soundcard. With Hi-MD, you can play back the disc through the computer and through the soundcard--so it's a good realtime backup recorder for ultra-important Hi-MD recordings. (Uploading is so reliable now that I don't use it.) But with NetMD (or Hi-MD playing old MD formats), even when it's connected and controlled via SonicStage, you're still playing back out of the MD's headphone jack, so Total Recorder won't help. Hacking to line-out is still an analog output. Another analog method for getting the recording off the disc with a NetMD portable is Hi-MD Renderer (in Downloads) and its MD Recorder function. Connect the NetMD to the computer twice: via USB (to control the playback through SonicStage) and with a stereo plug-to-plug cord from headphone out to computer Line-in, and let Hi-MD Renderer play the disc back track by track, recording an individual file for each track.

It all depends on what unit you have. MD portables (except for the very early ones) don't have a line-out or an optical out--just a headphone jack. Those require realtime analog (headphone out to PC line-in) recording. Some MD decks do have optical out, and with those you can record digitally to a PC, assuming you have a soundcard with optical in. Hi-MD units--MZ-NH* or MZ-RH*--can upload digitally to PCs. MZ-M10 or MZ-M100 can upload digitally to a Mac (and I think to a PC too). MZ-RH1 uploads to Mac and PC. I'm assuming you don't have a Hi-MD. If you have the $330 to spend, you can get the MZ-RH1, the only unit that uploads recordings made in SP, LP2 or LP4, the old minidisc formats.

ER6 is also called the ER6 Isolator. Same thing. Tech facts won't tell you anything. You have to hear them and use them. Especially with inner ear monitor (IEM) headphones, the way they suit the shape of your ear is going to be the most important factor in sound quality. But you can look at the way they are built. The Etymotic are on thin wires. The Shure are on a thicker cord that seems sturdier. I tried the more expensive Etymotic, ER4P. They had no presence at all in the bass. The Shure in a lower price range, Shure E3, sounded much richer to me. Most people who do write about the Etymotic ER6 or ER4 say the bass is "clean" or "precise" or "not exaggerated." What they mean is that it has weak bass. But you need to see how it sounds for yourself.

Mods, why not put a link to CDex in Downloads?

Dbpoweramp music converter is in Downloads. The information page on Lame also lists other ripper programs--scroll down. http://lame.sourceforge.net/links.php But why not just use SimpleBurner in Hi-SP to transfer the CDs to MD?

Install SonicStage (get the latest version from Downloads) and upload the recording. If for some reason that doesn't work, you should always be able to record it in realtime out of the headphone jack. You must have some incorrect setting on the Microtrack, or just a bad cord. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=7070

The MZ-RH1 will upload old MD recordings via USB--no re-recording necessary. Not cheap, but totally digital. Remember, also, that the old MD recording was compressed to begin with. Even a bit-perfect copy may not sound stunning.

The fact that it's only the left channel suggests that somewhere, something is mono rather than stereo. It could be your audio cord. Does your cord have two circles around both plugs, like your stereo headphone jack (or the one in my avatar?) One circle is mono. Even if you do have a stereo cord, I would suggest trying a different one in case one channel isn't connecting. It could also be your computer's input jack. Is it a white line-in jack? Or a red microphone jack, which is mono. Meanwhile, why are you using that connection, recording with Audacity, when you have the NH700? You can upload your live recordings with SonicStage through the USB connection--hook it up, look at the tracks on the MD and use the red arrow to Transfer. If recordings you have uploaded via USB are only coming out of the left channel then maybe you are recording with a mono mic. Or it's not fully plugged in so only one channel is connecting.

Here's a longer discussion of this same problem. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=11523