A440

It's not "off-the-catalogue," it's a small homemade project. It's the kind of thing you can do yourself if you get the parts and have a steady hand with a soldering iron (which I don't). The parts themselves aren't expensive; you're paying for the time, care (microphone elements vary widely and need to be matched) and skill of the builder. The inexpensive mics that Sony offers for minidisc are relatively big, add self-noise and don't pick up enough bass (most go down only to 100 hz). So other mic makers, small and large, fill the gap. Microphones similar to greenmachine's are easily available in the United States from Sound Professionals, Microphone Madness and Core Sound, and in Canada from Church Audio. People elsewhere have either had to pay a lot more or hope that hobbyists selling their own homemade versions on eBay would live up to their claims. Now that greenmachine is selling them it makes it a lot easier for people elsewhere in the world to afford them. If you do want to sneak these mics into a concert, they're small and concealable. If you don't, they still sound good and are very versatile.

Two possibilities: First, try the MDAC repair tool in Downloads. http://forums.minidisc.org/downloads/details.php?file=8 If that doesn't help, look through Zonealarm's settings and change them so it DOESN'T load on startup. Ditto with your other spyware programs. If they don't have obvious controls, you can do START/RUN msconfig and uncheck them from the Startup tab. Even shut off, they could be blocking something. Reboot, try the SonicStage business immediately, and restart Zonealarm and spyware blockers so you're secure again.

Get dbpoweramp from Downloads or from http://www.dbpoweramp.com/ Make sure you install the mp4 codec from its Codec Central tab. Convert it to .mp3 at a high bitrate (>192), or .wav if you've got lots of hard drive space. Let SonicStage convert that to ATRAC.

Greenmachine is modest about self-promotion, but a pair of his handmade omnidirectional mics will probably serve your purposes for both speech and music. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=14388

Tony P People are flinging a lot of confusing terms around. You want a nice handheld field recorder. For the moment at least, Hi-MD is exactly what you want. If you are using NetMD to record nature then any Hi-MD recorder with a mic input--NH700, NHF800, NH900, RH910, RH10--is going to be far more convenient and hi-fi for you. In addition to doing everything the NetMD could do, including playback on all your old discs, Hi-MD 1) records in PCM, which is CD quality and far better than SP 2) uploads to your PC with no quality loss, and can then be transferred for permanent storage to CD, DVD, hard drive, etc. No more realtime analog recording to transfer from MD. It won't upload your old discs, though--just new ones recorded in Hi-MD formats. And you won't be able to play back the Hi-MD discs in your minidisc stereo, though you won't need to for transferring. The one potential downside is the microphone preamp. I've never had a Sharp, but I've gotten the impression that Sharp preamps are a little quieter than the ones in Sony units, and for nature recording that's important. What setup do you use to make your recordings? If you already are using an external preamp, then Hi-MD is better for you in every way. Even using the built-in preamp, it's probably better, because you're getting noise through the analog re-recording process, and with Hi-MD your transfers are digital instead.

If you're already into minidisc, then sure, it makes sense to use it for playback. Along with my MD recorders I have a NH600D unit that's my main portable music player: CD to SimpleBurner to MD, good to go. But 1) I already have about a zillion MDs 2) I want to prolong the life of my Hi-MD recorder's head, so I use the NH600D for uploading what I've recorded, and 3) I nabbed my NH600D for $70 new on eBay. For its original list price, other gadgets were a much better deal. When I say that the only reason to get MD is for recording, I mean that when people are considering their first "mp3 player," and don't need recording capability, MD is a non-starter. They can find units that are considerably smaller, slightly cheaper, have lighted displays and are SonicStage-free.

Oh boy! I always wanted a Flachakku. That side display on a black unit is nice and stealthy. Looks like the emphasis is still on sleek rather than practical--guaranteed anyone who's doing extensive PCM recording is going to have to put on the "external battery box" anyway. What am I bet that the USB cable and battery are proprietary too? But yeah, I want one.

According to this post it's a scam. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?s=&sh...indpost&p=84586

Every MD I've owned, back to the MZ-R700, has been skip-free. You have to shake it and hit it like a tambourine to get a skip. There were some glitches in the first (black) Hi-MD 1GB discs themselves. But the new blue ones seem reliable now. And you asked earlier about regular MD availability--don't worry, there are plenty, because they are also compatible with Hi-MD. By the way, you're not using ATRAC 4.5 (which doesn't exist) but ATRAC 2 version 4.5 Type R. Minidisc is now up to ATRAC 3plus Type S. Most of the improvements are at lower (more compressed) bitrates--SP is still the best sound short of PCM.

If you care about fidelity then forget about MDLP--it's compressed to half (LP2) or 1/4 (LP4) the bitrate of SP. The Tascam just won't be able to play back MD's that many other people have recorded in those formats. But if you want CD quality you are going to have to get Hi-MD. PCM is CD quality--.wav files. SP is 292kbps. That's like a very high-quality mp3 (and longtime MD fans say it's better than equal bitrate mp3) but there is no way around the fact that it's compressed.

For interviews only if you want ultraportability and a built-in mic look at the Iriver IFP series: IFP-795 (512 MB) or IFP-799 (1GB) or IFP-895 (512MB) or IFP-899 (1GB). Top recording quality is mp3--I think 320 kbps--but it's the size of a pack of gum. You'll need to keep uploading the recordings to your computer (Mac or PC) because the flash memory fills up. There is also a line input that can be switched--on IFP7xx and IFP-8xx units but not a lot of other Iriver units, so do research--from line to mic in case you want to use an external mic.

That is an old unit that only records in SP: a compressed format (292 kbps) that puts 74 minutes on a 74-minute disc or 80 minutes on an 80-minute disc. It will not play any of the later MD formats: some more compressed, like LP2 and LP4, and some only available on Hi-MD: PCM or the compressed Hi-SP and Hi-LP. It looks like the Tascam has an optical out but you will be recording from it in real time. A small portable Hi-Md unit will record 90 minutes of PCM (44.1 kHZ) on a new (not compatible with older MD) 1GB disc, and upload it easily to a PC at about 3-4x via USB 1.1. A portable Hi-MD would not have all the inputs, which you can presumably get on a mixer--just a mini stereo mic input and a mini stereo line-in jack that doubles as an optical in. The Hi-MD units that record with both mic and line-in are: MZ-NH1, MZ-NH700, MZ-NHF800, MZ-NH900, MZ-RH910 (and its Mac-compatible equivalent, MZ-M10) and MZ-RH10 (or Mac-compatible MZ-M100). Supposedly an RH1 is due in April. There is an Onkyo Hi-MD deck, available in Japan, but I don't think it's a serious recording unit like the Tascam. Hi-MD offers more fidelity and versatility. You can find MZ-NHF800 for $150 shipped on ebay. If it's getting a lot of use, get some extra remotes so you don't wear out the buttons and wheel on the unit.

Unfortunately, Symantec/Norton bought Sygate, apparently to put them out of business. Sygate no longer offers the free download, just redirects to Norton. Go to http://www.oldversion.com and get it there. Do it soon, who knows how long it will stay?

Sounds like the wheel is worn out or broken. Your choice is probably to rely on the remote or get it fixed. How long is your warranty? If it's out of warranty, it's probably not worth repairing. But if you're covered for a year, you can get Sony to fix it or replace it. There are new NH600D on Ebay for $100 shipped--search Hi-MD.

The firewall may block connections in or out of your computer to transfer the information to MD, or not allow your computer to run whatever module of SonicStage transfers the songs. It's just a guess. Unplugging from the internet is for your own security while the firewall is down. The one time I connected an unprotected computer, it had a virus shutdown in 10 minutes. It's probably irrelevant to you, but I have had trouble with Norton Firewall blocking applications it was supposed to be letting through, like Eudora E-mail. I finally gave up on it and got the free Sygate instead.

You're right, greenmachine. When I have recorded with my binaural mics through the mic jack with Audacity, I would always get a two-channel waveform. But I see now, after testing, that it was simply duplicating one channel and ignoring the other. Bartolo 37 needs to test his mic on another stereo recorder to see if it's the mic or the mic jack. Or he can try using his headphones as a stereo mic. Plug them into the MD's mic jack and give each headphone a sharp tap. It should register loud enough to record. If sound is coming through both channels then the mic is the problem.

Simple Burner isn't smart enough to take that silence out. So your manual edit is the way to do it. Instead of burning the new CD, if you have Nero--I think you can do this with Daemon Tools, too, though I've never used DT--you could also save your modified CD in a folder on a virtual drive, which Simple Burner would treat as a CD (and get CDDB info). Search the forums for Nero and Simple Burner, it's here somewhere. I think it's a good thing that Simple Burner is so, well, simple. If Sony were to build more variables and capabilities into it, then it would probably crash all the time.

Plug your microphone into your computer's mic jack (red) and start a recording program like Audacity (free from Downloads up above on the right) by pushing the red button. Are you recording on both sides that way? If you are, then the problem is with your mic jack. It needs to be repaired, which could be expensive unless you know a good honest electronics repairman. You may be better off buying a new minidisc recorder.

What else has changed on your computer? Particularly security programs, firewalls, spyware, etc? Try turning those off (and disconnect from internet) and see if the transfer process goes through.

Same manual control for volume (going through the same bunch of menus). Someone else will have to tell you about durability--I've got the NHF800 myself.

WARNING: Once you have uploaded something once with the older software, that's it. Uploading it again may result in the unit completely erasing it. For material you uploaded on versions before 3.2, the way to make a digital copy is in realtime: playing it back through your PC with SonicStage controlling it, and recording the output of your soundcard with Total Recorder, which captures whatever is coming through the soundcard. http://www.totalrecorder.com/ Standard Edition ($12 US) is all you need. Make sure it's recording at a high bitrate by changing Total Recorder settings if necessary.

I had a problem with the MZ-R900 coming open when I kept it in a pocket--which was pretty much always. Scotch tape on the battery latch. Another reason I stick to the AA units.

Ah, the problem becomes clearer. For interviews, get a preamp. It's your only solution. For music, unless it's fairly quiet, look at this thread and build (or have someone handy build for you) a battery box. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?s=&sh...indpost&p=71008 And find someone visiting the USA who can bring back a unit with a mic jack.

No pros around here--we're all amateurs. Sony has nothing to do with this site (except lurking). Sony isn't selling any software that's useful for you. Except for discs that came with units, which were 2.0 or (I think) 3.0, everything else has been an online installer. You can find lovingly handcrafted offline installers made by members here in the Downloads section. XP with SP2 will probably work better than your Windows 2000.

Because you reloaded your computer, SonicStage now thinks it is on someone else's computer who is trying to pirate your encrypted files. Say goodbye to them. Yes, this is stupid and annoying or worse. It's a system that should have never been imposed. In future, even if you don't encrypt your newly ripped files, use the Backup Tool (under Prgram Files/SonicStage, not with SonicStage open) to backup your library before you do anything drastic with your computer. Then SS will know the backed-up files are still yours and unlock them.