A440

With the laptop acting funny, the first step you should take is a good virus/spyware scan. Kurisu recommends this free one, which runs from Internet Explorer: http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ See if that finds anything. How about some of the other questions? Does SonicStage ever work properly? If you find a "can't delete" it means some piece of SonicStage is still running. MD Simple Burner may be loading on Startup--go into CONFIG (top right) and tell it not to load on Startup. Otherwise, use Task Manager (right click a blank spot on the taskbar) and look at Processes and see if there's something obvious that you need to shut down. (omg.exe, perhaps). You can use Google to figure out what some of the running processes are--there will likely be 30-50 of them, most of them Windows processes (scvhost.exe, for instance) that aren't related to SonicStage.

I'm sometimes spaced and sometimes baffled, but neither has anything to do with recording.

With your new recorder you can transfer digitally. You can only do that with Hi-MD. If the set is under 90 minutes you can also record it (on one 1GB disc) in CD-quality PCM, which is a better recording than the old MD. So forget the old recorder and plunge in with yours. The output of the soundboard goes into the Line-in (WHITE) jack of your recorder. Automatic can't handle live music too well. You need to set Manual Volume, which is a little bit of an annoyance but not difficult. So try this at home before you record for the first time. Get a cord with a stereo plug (like the one on the end of your headphones) at both ends. Plug one end into your stereo's headphone jack and the other into Line In. Put the disc in the unit and press REC and PAUSE (||) simultaneously (blinking display). Go MENU/REC SET/REC VOLUME/MANUAL and set it to somewhere around 20/30. Un-Pause to start recording (display starts showing elapsed recording time). Check the display: the levels ideally should be bouncing up to just above midway, or you can push up the recording volume just by turning the wheel. Crank up the stereo and see how it affects the levels. There are two little dashes in the level meter--you want even the peaks to stay between the dashes. Find a good spot and leave it alone. Ideally you should check the level coming out of the soundboard--with an opening act, at sound check, etc. Ask your friend what his REC VOLUME settings were for his old MD recorder. If it was a Sony, your new one will probably work with similar settings. You can play back the old recordings in your Hi-MD, but you will have to copy them in realtime. Use Hi-MDRenderer from Downloads to help automate that process.

http://www.minidisc-canada.com and http://www.minidisco.com have NH700 for under $150.

I'm very sorry to tell you this, but the new Windows installation makes SonicStage think it is on a different computer. You probably cannot decrypt those files. Try contacting Sony at http://esupport.sony.com , but don't hope for much help. Copying .omg files with Windows does not work. You have to use the Backup Tool in SonicStage to make backups that SonicStage will accept. If you still have the disc you can play it back using SonicStage and Total Recorder to record it in realtime. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=6330

One way to tell if it's a software problem is to thoroughly uninstall and reinstall. As explained here: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=8071 If you have anything in My Library, before uninstalling it is ESSENTIAL that you run the Backup Tool (in Programs/SonicStage, outside of SonicStage itself) so you can restore the files. Make sure you do that. And by the way, if you have a Sony computer, don't delete all of Sony Shared, just the OMG folder. With a good internet connection, use Sony's online installer; second choice is the MDCF offline installer, both in Downloads. Otherwise, it's hard to tell what's going on without a more detailed description. What version of SonicStage are you using? Anything before 3.2 is temperamental, so reinstalling is a good idea anyway. What are you trying to do? Transfer music to MD? Upload from MD? When do things go wrong? Try using SonicStage without the MD connected, just to play back some mp3s. Does that work correctly? Some other programs fight with SonicStage, particularly Windows skinning applications like Windowblinds. Shut them off. Some codec packs like ffdshow (look in Add/Remove Programs) can conflict with SonicStage. Do you have that installed? Also try disconnecting from the Internet and then disabling any security/antivirus/firewall programs that are running. Right-click on a blank space on your taskbar and look at Task Manager for applications and processes. Is there a big load on your CPU (like over 50-60 percent) when SonicStage is on? You might have something the background that's trying to take too many resources. Shut down any applications you don't need and try again. Do you get any error messages? Does it freak out when you try to perform a certain operation? Any further description would help. And yes, depending on how old or worn the unit is, it could be hardware too. Do discs play back and record correctly in the unit by itself?

You can search finished auctions in Ebay by using Advanced Search and checking Completed Listings. That should give you a current market value for the unit.

I'm not sure it's the same driver, even if they're all 600 ohms. I have PortaPros and SportaPros, and they do not sound the same. The PortaPros are clearly better. Have you tried the KSC 75's in a direct comparison with the PortaPro? And are you listening to something hi-fi (that is, not a 128 kpbs mp3)?

If you have an Internet Security/Firewall program, like Norton or McAfee, disable it before running Sony's online installer. Don't forget to turn it back on later. Before going through that, try running the MDAC Repair Tool from Downloads and see if that gets your gizmo recognized. http://forums.minidisc.org/downloads/download.php?file=8

Just to rephrase and expand the Low Volta's explanation a little: Definitely upgrade SonicStage from 2.0 to 3.3. It's more stable and it screws up transfers far less often, if at all. Most important, it eliminates a crucial restriction: you can upload analogue recordings you have made (via Line-In or Mic-In) as many times as you want--perhaps on the assumption that they are either yours or so low quality it doesn't matter. Versions 3.1 and earlier of SonicStage only allowed you to upload your own recordings once--and then vindictively erased them completely if you tried to do it again. Beware: if you used past versions to upload, then the tracks are tagged and you can't upload again, no matter what version of SonicStage you are using now. But I don't know if you are talking about music you made/recorded or music from CDs that you transferred to MD's. If something started on your hard drive and was transferred onto MD, then was erased from your hard drive, you can't upload it back to your hard drive. They used to call it checking out, but it's the wrong analogy. It's not like a library book that actually moves from one place to another: it's making a portable copy of what was on your hard drive. Checking back in just removes it from the MD--it doesn't really move it back. That direction--from MD to hard drive--is disabled because Sony is worried that you will go through that ridiculously involved process to copy music from computer to computer. (At the same time all their computers come with CD burners--go figure.) I don't know whether you can upload an analogue recording to different copies of Sonic Stage 3.2/3.3 installed on different computers. Has anyone tried (risked) this? As for archiving, MDs (the discs themselves) are pretty sturdy. But if your unit gives out and Sony stops making them, you're going to be left with some unplayable material. As Volta said, it's best to archive your recordings in a format that's more widely compatible. With anything that started on MD but has been uploaded before, you'd have to do that as a realtime recording--see the TotalRecorder method here: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=6330

At http://www.minidisc.org click the Browser tab near the top to see all the models. Look at Hi-MD units. Those are the ones that record in CD-quality PCM and upload digitally to your computer. Units with D in the model number do not record via mic. The best bargain is the MZ-NH700, a 2004 model. http://www.minidisco.com/portables.html http://www.minidisc-canada.com/shopdisplay...iniDisc+Players

It demands rights info and doesn't play.

If you have a spare USB cord, from a camera or PDA, try that to make sure the connection is good. Assuming a good connection, then try this first software step: the mysterious but strangely effective MDAC Repair Tool from Downloads. http://forums.minidisc.org/downloads/details.php?file=8 Also, try opening SonicStage first, then connecting the unit via USB. The voltage shouldn't make any difference because it's actually running on the same voltage as the battery, not the mains.

Having experienced a similar problem and solving it by eliminating Total Recorder, I suggest you look at these solutions: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?s=&sh...indpost&p=85028

Dex, you're a genius. Playback was always fine (through speakers or headphone) and I expected that a Total Recorder recording would be the same. Wrong. When I tried to record the playback with Total Recorder it sounded bad. Uninstalled TR. Good conversion. Reinstalled TR. Still a good conversion!! This after going to Level 3 of Sony technical support, whom I had told about TR being installed, and who were still just telling me to reinstall SS 3.3 or completely reformat my computer. "It's in the software," they explained. Uh huh. As for your other question, two answers: time and disk space. I don't convert everything, just the keepers. And deciding what's going to be a keeper often gets procrastinated. One of my 6,834 New Year's resolutions....

Get a Hi-MD and a good mic unless your idea of fun is to: 1) Spend the length of your interviews a second time transferring to the computer, instead of a few minutes for direct USB upload. 2) Kick yourself that you didn't use a decent mic. A built-in mic will probably be mediocre and will definitely pick up the whirring of the machine itself. I don't know if http://www.minidisco.com or http://www.minidisc-canada.com will ship to the UK, but they have great prices on the 2004 models like the MZ-NH700, which will do your job perfectly. Give my regards to Dizzee Rascal and Lady Sovereign.

Installation is not the problem. Functionality is the problem. Since the dialogue above I have backed up, removed and reinstalled (this time SS 3.2) without any Library or recognition problems--but the conversion is still bad. Since HiMDRenderer is exhibiting the same problems in converting to both .wav and .mp3 then I suspect it is some Windows component that both use that needs to be reinstalled or updated. But which one?

For your amusement, Sony's online chat response to this problem. Noah is me: "Noah Vaill" (not my real name, think about it). "Marilyn" is apparently not a native English speaker. Priceless quote: "We do not have any such issues with the SonicStage Software." chat id : ae1023e7-f0fc-437f-be06-6ad8f169a6e1 Problem : SonicStage 3.3 wave conversion sounds bad Marilyn_ > Welcome to Sony Online Support. I will be glad to assist you. Noah > I recorded music on the MZNHF800 and uploaded it to My Library in SonicStage. It sounds fine as the .oma file. But when I convert it to WAV there is hiss, distortion and static that was not in the original recording. Marilyn_ > May I know the Operating System installed in your computer? Noah > Windows XP Pro SP 1 Marilyn_ > Did you install the SonicStage Softwrae from the Supplied CD? Noah > I upgraded it from the Sony site. Version 3.3 is not on the CD. Noah > This is a VAIO computer. It had Sonic Stage 1.5 which has been regularly upgraded to 2.3, 3.0, 3.2 and now 3.3. Noah > If you are not familiar with SonicStage please find someone who is. Noah > I rebooted the computer and didn't open any other programs and tried the conversion again and got the same problem. Marilyn_ > Are you facing the issue with all the WAV files? Noah > Every newly converted .wav file sounds bad. There is no problem with old WAV files. Noah > The problem is in the conversion process. Marilyn_ > Please let me know the Software you have used to convert the OMA file to WAV file. Noah > SONICSTAGE 3.3 !!!! It's Sony's encryption. Noah > Please you obviously are not familiar with SonicStage. Find a technician who is. Please. Marilyn_ > Noah, was the WAV files worked normally with the older version of the SonicStage Software? Noah > Yes, 3.2 worked fine. Marilyn_ > In that case, I suggest that you uninstall the SonicStage Software and reinstall the Software and check the issue. Noah > NO. Every time you reinstall SonicStage you risk losing your entire music library because of Sony's idiotic encryption. I cannot reinstall 3.2 because it is no longer on the Sony site. Any version before that has restrictions on uploading that 3.2 removed. Noah > If you can give me a link to reinstall 3.2 I will try that. But I WILL NOT use an older version because they are all complete garbage. Noah > I have asked you three times to get me to someone who understands SonicStage. What do I have to do? Noah > When you have a piece of hardware that is advertised as having a certain function--uploading music that can be converted to .wav--then you have an obligation that the function WORKS. Marilyn_ > I can understand your disappointment. Marilyn_ > Please try uninstall the Software from the ADD/REMOVE programs and reinstall it from the supplied CD then upgrade it to Version 3.3 and check the operation. Noah > NO. 2.0 screws up your computer. NO. I want SonicStage 3.2. It is the only version that is stable. Noah > I have been using SonicStage for 5 years. Noah > Do I have to sue Sony under consumer protection laws to get a little useful support? Noah > Every unstallation risks losing the Library because of the encryption. There is no reason to take that risk if there is a fix to the .dll that converts .oma to .wav Marilyn_ > Noah, the SonicStage3.2 version is not available for download. Pleaes install the SonicStage Software 2.0 from the supplied CD and upgrade it to Version 3.3 then check the issue. Noah > 2.0 is garbage. I will not allow it on my computer again. I will not risk losing 2.2 GB of irreplaceable live music recordings in My Library if a reinstallation does not recognize the key. Noah > 3.2 worked and Sony broke it. Find me a copy of 3.2 Marilyn_ > Noah, I can understand your concern. The SonicStage 3.2 is replaced by version 3.3, hence it is not available for download. Noah > How will Sony help me if My Library is not recognized by a reinstallation? IT WON'T. Noah > If you replace something that works with something that doesn't work then you should have a way of restoring the app that worked. Marilyn_ > Noah, you can take the back up of the SonicStage Library and use it with the newer version. Noah > And if for some reason that doesn't work? What then? These are irreplaceable recordings. Noah > I've been online with you for half an hour and all you can suggest is a reinstall? I could have figured that out all by myself, but there are good reasons not to disturb a SonicStage installation because of the encryption. Noah > That's why I want to fix it rather than reinstall it. Noah > What is the .dll that converts .oma to .wav? Can we just reinstall that? Marilyn_ > I am sorry Noah, we do not have that information online. Noah > Do you have it offline? Noah > What happens if the backup library is not recognized:? Will Sony help me get it back? Marilyn_ > Noah, please take the back up of the SonicStage Library, then you can use it in the newer versions. It will work with the software after you reinstall the Software. Noah > That's what you say. What if it doesn't? Will Sony help me restore it? Noah > I can't use this music in a science experiment for Sony software. Marilyn_ > Noah, I can understand your concern.We do conform to high quality standards, please try the above procedure and check the operation. Noah > Sony has never in my experience conformed to high quality standards. I want to know if Sony will help me restore My Library if something goes wrong. Noah > That's a simple question. Yes or no? Marilyn_ > Noah, if you follow the steps listed to take up the Back up correctly then it would not corrupt the Library files. Noah > So the answer is no? Noah > The problem is not corrupting the Library files. The problem is that a new SonicStage will have a different encryption key and may decide that the old files are "made on another computer." It has happened to people I know. Noah > So here's the situation. Your software is not working. You have no one who understands how it works well enough to fix the one module that's malfunctioning. You're asking me to risk 2.2 GB of irreplaceable recordings. And if SonicStage does the kind of things it has been documented as doing--refusing to recognize a past Library--then Sony won't help me. Marilyn_ > Noah, if you follow all the procedures then you can update the backup perfectly. Noah > You are saying that if YOUR software malfunctions that Sony will not help me. If my music is lost because Sony's software doesn't work as advertised then I'm just stuck. Noah > How exactly does that conform to high quality standards? Noah > You're asking me to take a serious risk with irreplaceable data and offering no help to restore it if SonicStage refuses to recognize that data after reinstallation. Marilyn_ > Noah, we can guarantee the operation if you followed the steps correctly to backup and update it. Noah > What do you mean guarantee? I have used the Backup Tool before and am very familiar with its operation. But what are you guaranteeing if something goes wrong? Will Sony help restore my data? Noah > That's the only kind of "guarantee" I care about. Marilyn_ > I am sorry, Sony will not take the response, if you not followed the steps correctly. Noah > If I follow the steps correctly and SonicStage messes up my data--the way it is now messing up .wav conversions--will Sony help restore my data? Noah > It is Sony's software that is malfunctioning. Marilyn_ > We do not have any such issues with the SonicStage Software. Please try the above step it will resolve the issue. [At this point I did a search of MDCF to find "such issues," but Marilyn, who was taking 3 minutes between responses, got impatient and logged off.] Marilyn_ > Thank you for contacting Sony online support today.

Well, I knew if I said SS 3.3 was working for me it would act up. It's been awhile since I sent anything new to Live Recordings, so I set out to convert some uploaded files to .wav. Played them back as .oma's in SonicStage, sounded fine. But when I converted them to .wav I got distortion, static and hiss. Rebooted and tried again, without opening anything else first so as to avoid processor strain or memory leaks. Less out-and-out distortion, still considerable added hiss. Tried HiMDRenderer 0.52 (sorry I haven't updated yet, Marc). Same results, sounding almost or completely identical to SS 3.3 conversion (and exactly the same size file, so Marc's program is getting ever more exact). Used HiMDRenderer to make a high-quality mp3. (Lame's Alt-Preset-Extreme). Still the hiss. Tried to run the old standalone WAV converter. It got stuck in a loop; maybe My Library is too big for it. Sony VAIO, 1.6 MHZ, 512 MB RAM, XP Pro stubbornly remaining with SP1. About 2.2 GB left on the affected drive. Anyone have any ideas? (other than SP 2)? Revert to SS 3.2?

This happens to me with Simple Burner sometimes. (And by the way, if you just want to get a CD onto a disk without leaving a copy in your computer, Simple Burner is the way to go.) What I do is leave the disk inserted, start to play it in Winamp and shut down Winamp a few seconds after it starts. Then Simple Burner starts to read the disc and you can click on Get CD Info for CDs thereafter. I'd guess SonicStage will do the same. Why? Don't ask me. Maybe it's the same as the post above: you do specify to Winamp which CD drive to play.

That's a mono preamp, so no. Sorry to say, your cheapest option is probably to start over again, because a separate stereo preamp will be more expensive than buying an older MD. Sell that one online and get a recorder with a mic input. Here is info on all the models: http://www.minidisc.org/equipment_browser.html

Turn off your internet security program (briefly) and try running ojbsir.exe, which is in (Drive:X)/Program Files/Sony/SonicStage, while connected to the internet. No guarantees, but it may do the trick.

SonicStage : 3.3.03.10270 SonicStage Add-on for Personal Audio Download : 3.3.00.09270 OpenMG Secure Module : 4.3.00.08302 (ditto for all the other OMG usages) EMD Plug-in: 1.2.0.9 CD-R Writing Module(Audio CD/ATRAC CD/MP3 CD) : 3.3.00.09270 Px Engine: 2.4.35.500 I still don't understand why both your "copy-protected" and non-copy-protected versions play in my computer. Any theories, folks?

Thanks GM, that'll teach me to skim the fine print. Anyway, having renamed both of Morlok's files to .oma....they both play in my SonicStage--the "copy protected" one too. Leaving me more confused than ever.

What else has changed in your computer? Security programs, installing another music player? And what happens after SonicStage fails to read the mp3? Does it shut down or does it just ignore your request?