A440

USB hubs have often been a problem with SonicStage, so maybe it's the same with the Mac software. I hope connecting directly makes your freezes go away.

Is your hard drive close to full? Possibly the software needs room while it's converting the file, and some cache somewhere is overloaded. Similarly, do you have a lot of programs running simultaneously? It probably also needs considerable processor power.

That would be an interesting experiment--presumably the cardioids would lose some of the echoes. Maybe you should bring along both pairs and try them during the opening act. If you use the Pause button I think it will hold the settings so you don't have to take the unit out. But there are some very sweet spots in the Mercury Lounge, some just a few feet from bad spots. Against the wall, under the light fixture, often seems pretty good, strangely enough. Or back by the sound board. You can also try getting there early and standing on the banquettes. Throw some tomatoes at people if they get there first.

Maybe In from the Storm was using Etymotics, which ought to be renamed Microphonics--it's like they're designed to amplify the inevitable microphonic effects. The Shure E3 and E4 are made to loop over the top of your ears before going down to the player, and they also have a stiff cord. Both tricks cut down on microphonics. I walk around with my E4s all the time, and I'm not bothered by cord noise--or the horns of cars heading toward me bent on my destruction. You don't want to have the cord bouncing against anything, but if you have the MD unit on your belt or in your pocket there's no problem. Have a friend in the USA? You can get the E4, which are wonderful, for $183 from http://www.dbuys.com . The E3 aren't bad, but after the E4 I couldn't go back. E3c and E4c are Ipod-white, E3 and E4 are dark gray.

Try not to double post. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?s=&am...st&p=108292

With amplified music you can go Mic-Battery module--Line-in. That's how I do nearly all my concert recordings. These are the mics I use, about the size of Jelly Baby jellybeans: http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-BMC-2 and this is the battery module, about the size of a keychain remote: http://www.microphonemadness.com/products/mmcbmminminc.htm That's a 9V battery module, stronger than your 1.5 volt AA and way smaller. Very stealthy and hi-fi. They're not the only choices by any means, but if you're recording music with any bass in it, look for a frequency response of 20-20,000 Hz, which your Sony doesn't have. (The ECM-MS907 is 100-15,000 Hz.) Before you buy Giant Squid, which does advertise 20-20,000 Hz, listen to the sound samples on their website. They sound awful to me--possibly because they're using bass roll-off without mentioning it, but there's no bottom to the recordings (check the B-52's or the Blue Notes) and the vocals are hugely exaggerated. Yes, you should get a Hi-MD unit like the MZ-NH700 ($150 at http://www.minidiscaccess.com), not so much for the mic jack (though it's excellent for interviews) but because you'll be able to upload your recordings to a PC. (If you have a Mac, save up for a while and go for the MZ-RH1.) However, if you are recording amplified music you'll probably want to get a battery module and go through line-in anyway, because loud music often overloads the built-in mic preamp.

I'm not sure there is a 4.0 CD. I just received my brand-new RH1 today and the CD is SS 3.4. Somewhere, though a search doesn't find it, there is a list of all the files downloaded during a SonicStage 3.x install, and how you could fish them out afterward and save them. Maybe someone else remembers it and knows how to find it.

Personally I dislike the NH900. I had one and sold it after trying it for a while. For recording, it has the PAUSE and STOP button on two sides of the SAME rocker button, a surpassingly idiotic design choice. So when you're recording stealthily, in the dark, etc., you could accidentally STOP your recording and lose all your settings. The RH1 saves your recording settings: all you have to do is push Record and you've already got Manual Volume Control and your last volume setting. RH900 reverts to Auto Gain Control, which is no good for music. Also, the NH900 has an unlit display behind smoked plastic. And you'll have to tape shut the battery latch to keep it from opening in your pocket. Other people have also reported that the buttons start malfunctioning after some use. As far as I know, the Line In/Outs are the same. The Line-in jack accepts a miniplug or optical; Line-Out is a menu switch going through the headphone jack. And of course, the RH1 will upload standard MD recordings and the NH900 will not.

There would be a slight improvement because the transfer is digital rather than analogue. But for speech, you're right--I don't think it's worth the price difference, as long as you have a decent soundcard in your computer. Since you're familiar with SoundForge you can probably do some noise filtering or normalization if you think it's necessary. I still recommend getting the NH600D, because it's recent and probably little used or still new. Connect headphone out from the NH600D (volume all the way, equalization off) into Line-in with your basic plug-to-plug cord. But get any unit described as NetMD (MZ-N***) that looks good to you. I also recommend that you get the Hi-MD Renderer program (free, but if you feel like sending MarcNet a donation, he's been outclassing Sony all by himself for years). http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=12683 With its NetMD Recorder feature, you install it alongside SonicStage and also connect the computer to the USB connection on the NH600D. Then you can control the playback through SonicStage and record individual tracks instead of having to edit them apart later.

When were the speeches recorded? Do you know what kind of unit they were recorded on? If not, what kind of discs are they on: 74, 80 or 1GB Hi-MD? The best thing for you would probably be to look on Ebay for a MZ-NH600D. They can be found for under $100, but look closely at condition, seller feedback, etc. The explanation is a little complicated, so hold on to your hat. There are actually two kinds of minidisc players: regular MD (before 2004, plays 74-minute and 80-minute discs, recorded in the formats SP, LP2 or LP4) and Hi-MD (plays all three kinds of discs, plays back everything, records in PCM, Hi-SP and Hi-LP). (Actually there are various generations of both types of players; the earliest MD only recorded in SP.) Any Hi-MD will do a direct upload of its own formats--PCM, Hi-SP, Hi-LP--using Sony's free program, Sonicstage. You can get a full install of 3.4, which will be all you need, from the Downloads link on the upper left. Regular MD means either playing back in realtime, and recording out of the headphone jack (with Soundforge or other recording program) or buying the MZ-RH1, the only unit that will upload the SP, LP2 and LP4. If you have a Sony store near you, take your disc and pop it into a player. Look at the display and see what the recording format is. If the format is SP, LP2 or LP4 and you're willing to take the time to record in realtime, you can find old regular MD units (I prefer MZ-N707 or MZ-R700 but just about anything with a three-digit number will do) or the MZ-NH600D (Hi-MD player) on Ebay. The MZ-NH600D will play back everything and, if it does turn out to be a Hi-MD recording, it will also upload.

Jaylen has already said this, but it may be confusing so I'll elaborate a little. If you want to transfer music from computer onto a disc in NetMD modes--SP, LP2, LP4--then any Hi-MD will do that. However, if you want to make real-time recordings--through a microphone or through line-in--that will play back on the old MD unit, your only good choices are the NH700 and NHF800. (Don't spend the extra money on the NH900, a troubled unit.) Those are 2004 or first-generation Hi-MD models. In the 2005 or second-generation models, with numbers beginning with RH rather than NH, Sony took out realtime SP, LP2 and LP4 recording--though you can still do the NetMD transfers--and added half-decent .mp3 compatibility, which is useless to you because your car MD unit won't play straight mp3s. And then, to scramble everything further, Sony put SP, LP2 and LP4 recording back in its new RH1, and also fixed mp3 playback. Jaylen is also right that your Sony Store guy or gal won't know any of this.

Be careful recording with mono tieclip mics (one band around the plug, not two) because you will only get sound in the left channel. The Sony 907 is supposed to be good for what you're doing because it's directional, which will help you isolate your dialogue from ambient sound, and because you can get a true mono signal out of it and then place your dialogue anywhere you want in a stereo mix. Do a search on this site for that model and you should find more information about it. I suggest you look at http://www.soundprofessionals.com and then call them up and talk to someone about your specific needs. They've been helpful and knowledgeable when I've talked to them. Obviously they have their own stuff to sell but I find they're pretty objective.

Sorry, but I'm going to offer you more choices, not less. Are you talking about canalphones, which go way in and seal off the outside world, or earbuds? The thing about canalphones is that how they will sound and feel to you is extremely dependent on the shape of your inner ear, which is very individual. One place to look for comparisons is here: http://www.headphone.com/guide/by-headphon...r-monitor-type/ (There's also an earbud page.) I haven't tried them, but many people here are fans of the Panasonics. I did try the Sony ex81 and thought they were pathetic. You should add Shure E2 or E2c (one's gray, one's Ipod-white) to your list. Those provide a lot of isolation from the outside world. You can find them for around $75 US, which should still be within your budget. I have used and enjoyed the next steps up, the very good Shure E3 and the excellent Shure E4, though not the E2. I use E4 now, but they're about twice your budget. The Etymotic ER-6i is also in that price range. Some people are totally sold on Etymotic, but I have no love for them, from their weird, fragile, noisy twisted-pair cord to their lack of bass. There are fans here of the Sennheiser MX450--earbuds, not canalphones. And headroom likes the Ultimate Ears, which are within your budget too. http://www.headphone.com/guide/by-applicat...tudio-white.php

Simply, use them when you care more about directionality than about bass. For instance: If you're doing an interview with one person. If you've got a very noisy audience behind you. If you're recording something like a string quartet or a songwriter-with-guitar that doesn't have significant bass. And definitely use fresh tomatoes and a little extra red pepper in the gazpacho. Me, I consider omnis to be the all-purpose mic, especially for live music.

Hi-MD recorders and downloaders are backwards-compatible, which means they will make and play NetMD discs that would work in a car unit. You just have to use 74- or 80-minute discs and set SonicStage to make SP or LP2 discs (if your car player can handle LP2) when it transfers music. The new 1GB Hi-MD discs will not play in older units. You're probably not going to find NetMD units at a SonyStyle store, since they were discontinued in 2004 when Hi-MD came out.

After 5 years you may just have to replace the unit. It won't be worth repairing professionally. For the price of the repair you can get a new Hi-MD that will play all your old discs and is better in every way. Like this one: http://www.minidiscaccess.com/item.html?PRID=1553220 Things don't last forever.

There's no way to turn off the Auto Track Mark function on Line-in--when it senses 5 seconds of near-silence, it inserts a mark. But all you have to do is upload and use the Combine function in the Edit menu. Highlight the tracks you want combined, click the button and go do something else while the computer grinds away. The important thing to remember about Combine is that you MUST highlight the tracks in the order you want them combined, from first to last--not from last to first. There's no Undo for the Combine function. (Though if for any reason it gets messed up you could always upload the original tracks from the disc and try again.)

There is no transfer rate on player units. There are no inputs. Those are only to play back discs you made on another unit. That's why they're so small. The best retail deal I know about for Hi-MD is still this one for the NH700 for $150. http://www.minidiscaccess.com/item.html?PRID=1553220 It's the full-featured Hi-MD, with recorder (mic and Line-in), fast transfer, etc. Those units are also new on Ebay for slightly less. Both the Ebay ones and the Minidisc Access ones are from close-outs in Australia, and you can find new ones on Ebay. The photo is sneaky, because it doesn't show the quarter-inch bulge of the AA battery in the back along the top. But the unit is still pocket-sized and mine has been taking constant use and occasional abuse since 2004 with no problems. If you don't care about recording, look for units with D in the number, like NH600D (Hi-MD). You can probably find those for under $100 on Ebay. The MZ-N420 is the super el cheapo NetMD model, and probably not all that sturdy.

Have you tried uninstalling 4.0 completely and following the FAQ here to get all the remnants out? http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=8071 Then install 3.4 again with this: http://forums.minidisc.org/downloads/details.php?file=21 And if you still get the same error, try the MDAC repair tool one more time. No guarantee that it will work, but it's worth a try.

I think I'm having deja vu. http://www.digikey.com/

People haven't had much luck in the past with virtual Windows emulators. However, according to this thread Parallels with Windows works. You may not even need a new Mac. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showt...mp;#entry107961

Check and see if you can connect one of your units to the computer, open up SonicStage and have it read the disc. Occasionally a disc that won't be read by the unit will be readable with SonicStage. By the way, I don't understand your elaborate CD-transferring process. You've been taking a lot of unnecessary steps. You could import them directly into SonicStage, with track names from CDDB, if you wanted to keep ATRAC files on your computer. Or you could use SimpleBurner (came with your units, or downloadable from Downloads here). You insert the CD, SimpleBurner gets track names from CDDB and one click sends them directly onto the disc, without leaving copies on your computer. It's only about 5-10 minutes per CD.

Database? See if this helps. http://forums.minidisc.org/downloads/details.php?file=8

We concentrate on minidisc here, a different kind of gizmo. But Google is your friend. http://www.agoraquest.com/forum.php http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/wwwboard/messages/136454.html

http://forums.minidisc.org/downloads/details.php?file=95