A440

Sound Professionals' battery module is this one: http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/.../item/SP-SPSB-2 It looks a little bigger than the Mic Madness one, but it might be better because it gives more power to the mics, 12V instead of 9, and it's obviously compatible with SoundPros' own mics. Sound Professionals has a 30 day return policy (for things returned in new condition), so try everything out and make sure it's working in your situation.

You need to find out what the connector is from the soundboard. Whatever is coming out of the soundboard --large headphone jack, RCA plugs, minijack--needs to end in a stereo miniplug (like your headphones). You can probably just plug in and hit the record button--that will give you AGC, which should be fine for speech--but if there's any way you can do a sound check beforehand, to see that something is coming out of the soundboard and the level meters are moving, that would be even better. If you want to get fancy, you could use Manual Volume, set at about 18/30. But use AGC (the default) for starters this time and see if that suits you. For a much more extensive guide, check this out: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=7989

I don't have my Audition installed in this computer at the moment, but look under Effects and see if it has noise reduction (or check the help file). The free program Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ has noise reduction under its Effects. Basically, you give it a sample of the ambient noise alone and it subracts those frequencies from the recording. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it just sounds weird. Audition must have a similar function--you just have to find it. Do you have the microphone clipped to the speaker's lapel? Sitting on a table or something, it will pick up room noise, but if it's a few inches from the speaker's mouth ambient noise shouldn't be a problem. Directional mics are called cardioids because they have a heart-shaped pickup pattern, or shotguns if they pick up very narrowly in front of them. I doubt you need something as specialized (and bulky) as a shotgun mic. Here's a good source for microphones: www.soundprofessionals.com A little clip-on lapel mic--even a mono mic if it's wired to a stereo plug for your MD--should do the job. Also, how about turning off the air conditioner or fan for the length of the interview?

I say use what works. For me, that's Simple Burner--it's pretty fast, it doesn't clutter my hard drive and it has never caused me software problems. EAC is supposed to be more accurate, so if you really want all those .wav files on your hard drive, go ahead and use it--freeware is a wonderful thing. But it will be slow.

Please explain exactly what your problem is. What happens when you open SonicStage?

The only playback from a NetMD is out of the headphone jack. You have to connect the headphone out to Line-in (preferably) or Mic-in (if that's all you have) on your computer and make a realtime recording. Your recording software will not pick up the MD through the USB connection. On NetMD that is one way only, from PC-->MD. You should be able to use SonicStage to control the playback, but it will not come through the computer--only through the headphone jack. Please read that post more carefully.

A lot of PCs just have a mic-in jack, so to record a CD through Line-in would mean getting a Line-in interface for USB (M-Audio Transit, Griffin iMic, etc.). Of course, they are only a fraction of the price of a Hi-MD.

Recording. Recording. Recording. If you're planning to record, then Hi-MD is still your most economical choice. Since you want a microphone input I have to assume that you're doing recording. You could get some dinky flash recorder or a HD recorder that's as costly (or more) than a MD unit, but you won't have the combination of convenience and fidelity you'll get with MD. There's also the ever-raging question of sound quality for playback. If your main use for the MD is to play back mp3s, then maybe sis is right and you should get an mp3 player since the mp3 playback on the RH910 is less than optimum. But if you're ripping CDs to minidisc for playback--that is, if you're playing back ATRAC files--then MD is fine, and if you have a bunch of old MDs that you want to play back, you need MD. And definitely hold out the possibility of converting her vinyl to CD. That's much easier with the RH910 than it was with your NetMD: just record in PCM (for best fidelity), upload, convert to .wav and burn. Does she think you can do that with an iPod? One more thing: consider the 1st-generation units, like the NH700, still only $150 at http://www.minidiscaccess.com/item.html?PRID=1553220 It has realtime SP (and LP2 and LP4) recording in case you have friends with old-school MDs. However, it will not upload recordings in those formats. My poor old MZ-NHF800 (basically the same unit) has taken a lot of abuse.

You've run into the reason minidisc never caught on in the US--no drag-and-drop, no uploading from NetMD. Sony was incredibly clueless for a long time. If you like the format, your best bet would be to sell that NetMD on Ebay and get a Hi-MD instead for $150. http://www.minidiscaccess.com/item.html?PRID=1553220 You'll get CD-quality recording (PCM) and it can upload through SonicStage, which has been improved greatly since the days of OMG Jukebox.

http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showt...amp;#entry57531

The AMD 64 does 64-bit processing. Is there some setting you can change so that Simple Burner runs in 32-bit mode? Do you have a NVidia graphics card? Some NVidia drivers can conflict with SonicStage, so you may have to get a different version. Search these forums for Nvidia. Also, are you sure your CD drive is OK? Have you tested it reading or burning CDs with other programs?

Does this include the information you need? http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=72

I'm really surprised you're having trouble with Simple Burner. SonicStage has been slow to improve but Simple Burner has always just worked for me and apparently most other people. Do you have programs that might be conflicting with it? Particularly skins or graphics-intensive programs? Also, possibly, security programs or music players (though I have at least 8 other media players--WMP, Winamp, Foobar, Quintessential, Creative, RealPlayer, Quicktime, Nerovision--and have no conflicts). Take a look at Task Manager (press CTRL-ALT-DEL just once) and see what else is running that might be conflicting with Simple Burner. Google some of the unfamiliar program names. Have you ever looked at all the programs loaded at Startup with Start/Run/msconfig/Startup (tab) Uncheck the unnecessary ones, like qttask, Adobe updates, etc. I have a HP printer that installed half a dozen things to run on Startup that were completely pointless--you may have some other programs that were sneaked in there that you don't need. I'm not saying Sony makes the greatest software. But I always considered Simple Burner a success.

With Mic-In you shouldn't get any auto track marks except the ones you wanted at 4:00. One other question--could there have been something in your pocket wedged up against the Pause button? So that perhaps you were accidentally Pausing and un-Pausing it during the recording ?

There are some service manuals halfway down this page: http://www.minidisc.org/part_Manuals.html But, unfortunately, not for your unit. Perhaps your father could look at a service manual for another Sharp unit and get some ideas. Age may simply be taking its toll on that unit.

If you were just getting auto track marks after 5 seconds of quiet, that would be normal. But losing music is not. That should not be happening. I suggest you send it back under warranty.

Another vote for Audacity. I have a fancier non-free program, Adobe Audition, and I find myself using it very rarely because Audacity does everything I need. Audacity has two functions (under Effects) to raise the level of quiet recordings: Amplify (just what it says--you choose how much) and Normalize (which raises the level of the recording closer to its peak via Audacity's built-in guidelines). What's probably happening to you now is that your program is amplifying everything, and because the applause is so much louder and/or closer to the mic than the music, it's being amplified to where it overloads. Normalize might amplify with a little more finesse. The real quest is to get higher levels to start with. Are you recording with Manual levels? They're much better than the default setting of Automatic Gain Control. Press REC and PAUSE simultaneously (levels shown, blinking 0:00 time display) and then Menu/REC SET/REC Volume and switch to Manual. Then choose a level--I use 20/30, but I have different mics, so you'll need to experiment. Un-PAUSE to start recording. Unfortunately, the NHF-800 always defaults back to Automatic, so you have to go through that routine with each recording. If you're being stealthy, you can do it all outside the show, leave the unit on Rec-Pause and then un-Pause it either on the unit or with a remote control. If you can watch the level meters during a show, raise the recording volume so that the peak of the music is between the two little dashes. Don't fidget with it: you'll hear every change, so just find a volume that's usable and leave it alone. I use various binaural mics with a battery module, and for loud music I rarely have to amplify afterward. For quieter music, raising the manual level--sometimes as high as 25/30--makes a loud enough recording. One last thing: Which version of SonicStage are you running? Please, for your own sake, upgrade at least to 3.4 (available from Downloads here) or 4.0 from Sony. With 3.4 and above, you can re-upload the tracks if there are any problems. Most older versions--I don't remember 3.2 or 3.3--do not allow that. SS 3.4 also has a built-in .wav converter that probably works more directly than Hi-MDRenderer, which was Marcnet's genius workaround in the bad old days. I suggest uploading and then converting the tracks you want to .wav in a separate operation. That won't solve your level problems, but should give you optimum conversions.

Wouldn't we all? Unfortunately, that's not a circuit, that's an analog-to-digital converter plus controls plus hardware to write the data to the SD card, and, by the way, won't you want some kind of display with that? The device exists. It's bigger than an Altoids tin. http://www.rolandus.com/products/productde...px?ObjectId=757 There are also small flash memory recorders made by companies like iRiver, and pocket hard-drive players that double as recorders. Someday, perhaps soon, one of them will be as reliable, high-quality and recording-oriented as minidisc.

What are the other differences between the two installations--especially skins and security program?

Can you tell which MP3s aren't working? Do they have long or unusual titles? Try giving them shorter titles with conventional characters. SonicStage is touchy about titles.

Format all you want. Sony says MD is supposed to be rewritable a million times.

Don't count on it. First you would need new discs that no one happens to be manufacturing. Then the firmware in existing units would have to handle more than 1GB worth of files--which seems very unlikely to me. No other manufacturer besides Sony has even tried making a 1GB disc, and Sony is now busy with other, higher-capacity formats for devices with more potential popularity than minidisc. If you want something with better odds, buy a lottery ticket.

Also, if you have the old computer, you could try this: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=16088 Excerpt: * In SonicStage, go the the menu "Tools" and select "Start File Conversion Tool". * If it opens up, click Next and then UNSELECT both options ('Delete Files' and 'Add DRM'). Click Next and the tool will start converting all drm-ed files to non-drm-ed files. * Search for the "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\SonicStage\Packages\Optimized Files" folder. The files you need are in there. Create a desktop shortcut for your convenience. * Back up the files to your medium of choice

http://www.geocities.com/greenmachine_audio/ Or find a post by greenmachine, like this one http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=11254 and send him a PM.

Does the R500 have a Format command under Edit? That should blank the MD. Otherwise, do you still have the NetMD unit? You could connect to SonicStage or SimpleBurner and delete tracks via the computer.