Andy

I wouldn't expect SP to end up having anything to do with a computer (except for a drive). While it is technically possible, Sony are a bit protective of it. SP and LP are very different in the way they work and I'm not aware of any codecs available which will work with ATRAC (as opposed to ATRAC3 for LP2/LP4). I am confident that codecs will appear for ATRACplus. Why Sony are being so protective of ATRAC I'm unsure, but it does work pretty well compared to many other compression things, so perhaps they are afraid that people will steal it... personally, I can't see that happening, but I'm not Sony

If it is storing the buffer, then does that mean that you will get (slightly) slower playback response when you switch discs as opposed to if you just hit play? Can someone confirm this?

I don't have a NetMD yet, but I am a professional programmer. So, from this point of view, I would say that it *might* be possible, but not necessarily. The problem is that the only stuff which is being sent from MD->PC is stuff like track information (titles, lengths etc). I would guess that the whole TOC is sent from MD->PC. In this case, it would be quite difficult to get the audio data as the computer doesn't request stuff, just the MD sends what it knows that OpenMG wants (which isn't what we want). If we can tell it that the TOC is at a different spot on the disc, then there is hope. We would be able to tell it that the TOC is where audio data actually is, and it would just send it across. Once this happens, it is just a matter of interpretting the data. Unfortunately, I don't know that it is possible to request to the MD that it sends certain information - the MD might just send what it knows to be the TOC and that is all. The next glimmer of hope lies in corrupting the TOC. There is a lot of stuff on a disc which is just addresses to other parts on the disc. If there is such stuff in the TOC then it might be possible to create a new TOC with false addresses which point to stuff which we want sent to the computer. The next hope is that the MD will actually send that stuff to the computer. If it doesn't then again, we are stuck. An upload-proof MD would accept a command from the computer, which it would respond to by sending the area of the disc which is reserved for the TOC and nothing beyond that. It would also accept 2 more commands from the computer - one which writes to the TOC and one which writes to the audio area. In this case, note that uploading will always be from the TOC and nowhere else. If the TOC can be moved around the disc, then this method is flawed too (but I believe that the TOC is always in the same spot). The other hope I have is that the TOC can change length. In which case, it might be possible to tell the MD that the TOC is so big that it fills the whole disk. When you ask the MD for the TOC, it would then send over the whole disc. Wooo My conclusion: It might be possible, but for Sony, it is possible for them to design a system where uploading is impossible. I'll definately look into it when I get a NetMD player, and I'm sure other people are trying. In anycase - help the cause - buy me a N10

So... what type of stuff usually gets discussed on an MD forum - I've never really been a regular at any of these places. I'm a regular at some programming boards, where there is usually a fair bit of "what are you working on" a bit of "why doesn't this work" and a bit of "have you tried this". But I can't really imagine that there is *that* much stuff to discuss about MD. I can guess a couple ("how do I get my music onto my PC", "which MD should I get?" and "my MD is screwed... fix it"), but most of them have some fairly closed answers. Perhaps I should take a look at the archives of T-Station or something.

I'll reply - someone stole my forum post and took credit for it as a news item . My post which drew attention to Froogle was made, then about a day or two later, suddenly it is news... with someone else getting credit. Where is the justice? ... actually, I don't really care.

I don't really see the point. Maybe just play with the RGB control on your monitor instead

It is definately interesting... just how useful it is I suppose depends on what the google people do with it

I'm sure most people know about google, and I'm guessing that some people might also know about froogle, but I still thought that I would draw it to people's attention: http://froogle.google.com/ Is a (beta) test of a google powered product catalogue. Type in some search terms and it will hit you back with a big list of products with price and picture and a short description. I decided to give it a bash, searching for minidisc recorders under $200: http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=minidi...between&btnP=Go It came back with 592 results, including a refurbished MZ-R37 available (with 3 year warranty) for about $100. A whole lot of MZ-x5xx things and a couple of sharps were there too on the first page. It is still in beta stages, but on the whole, I think it looks like a pretty good tool.

If you have the equipment, record an MD of silence (74 min), then do a TOC clone from it to the disc you recorded, this will clear all the track marks. (Also, make sure you record the whole thing in sequence and don't move tracks around, or else some parts of the stuff may be out of order)

So CD->CD is fine? That is pretty whacky I think. Also, think about what it means for other areas - if you were to write something from a book onto a piece of cardboard then you are breaking the law . Recording a TV show onto VCR is illegal, but no one has ever kicked up a stink about it. I'm guessing they are just introducing these laws so they can accuse people of stuff and have a law to back them up. Whether or not they actually use it is another question.

Well, if I was to use my MD to "record" a powerpoint, then I'd be getting a loud 50Hz sine wave of smoke, that is my guess . There would be a point where an extreme volume levels will damage a unit... but by the time that happens, you probably have other things worth worrying about (did you know that at about 160dB, your hair catches fire?)

Any details/links?... I haven't heard anything about newer units coming out except for the N10 which is hardly mid range.

Doh. I was too late, when I went in there, I figured that I didn't want them to give me the 'out of stock' excuse, so I asked to do a sound test of it. I was just about to pull out my headphones and a disc, when she told me that if I had seen the ad in the paper then it was a misprint. I told her that I was quite keen on purchasing it at that price anyway , but they had already put out the official apology, thus I didn't have any legal ground. Gah. Looks like I'll be waiting another couple of years

I was looking through the computer section of the Sydney Morning Herald today, and I noticed an ad for Digital City which had an ad for the MZ-N1 going at AU$359. Since this unit has a RRP of AU$800, I immediately figured that it is a good deal. Now, I'm also quite sure that this is a typo - there is a picture of a 5xx series unit next to it, but since the ad doesn't make any disclaimer about mistakes, I believe they are legally bound to sell it as advertised. The specifications fortunately all are correct for the MZ-N1 I am probably going to go into the shop tomorrow and buy it, even though I can't afford it . My basic plan is to ask to have a listen to it first, and then after I've had a bit of a play, then I'll say that I'll buy it and pull out the ad. Since it is a fairly serious mistake, I'm guessing that they are going to be pretty likely to want to back down, there might be a bit of persuasion needed. Anyway, I'm posting this because it is likely that if I am indeed successful, then they will put out an official correction notice, which would mean that no one else can do it. Therefore, if you want an N1, then get in there quick For the ad, it is in the Icon section of today's (Saturday) paper, on one of the right hand pages in the bottom right corner. Wish me luck - or stand in the shop while I'm there, so if I start accusing the shop of lacking integrity and failing to deliver their promises, you can act as if you aren't going to buy the Plasma screen TV from there as you planned to do

Does anyone know about the legality of such hacking? If I was to write a program which allowed digital uploading, would this be in violation of anything? What if I rewrote the firmware, would this be violating anything? Does anything change because I'm in Australia?

Looking at my MZ-R70, I'd say that unless the unit is made longer, the battery bulge will have to stay. Even if the ICs and pickups were paper thin, they still need to fit a disc in there and a bit of casing to hold it in

Cool, I'm glad it is fixed. Bazirker: This is from the MDLP FAQ here: That is what I based my assumption on.

Since the mod started it: Roy and HG with The Dump is what you are thinking of. I've made a computer game featuring the wombat (Fatso the Fat Arsed Wombat), though it was a 1 day job so it was nothing spectacular. I'm not even sure if I have it anymore or if it is on the internet anywhere btw - Fatso managed to get on one of our postage stamps (one of our athletes was holding him when they took a photo which ended up on a stamp). He's famous

I really don't see the point of 5.1 for music. Maybe it is because I haven't experienced it but... you go to a club, and you sit at a seat and the band plays at a stage. Maybe if I was used to going to a club and sitting down in front of the drum kit then it would have some effect... anyway - we only have 2 ears, so why have more speakers?

LP4 uses "joint-stereo" which basically works by assuming that the left and right channels are roughly the same and just storing a (small) chunk of information about how different they are. If they are very different, then that chunk of info will not be able to represent it very well and the stereo-ness will be lost. LP2 on the other hand should not suffer from this as it uses true stereo (left and right channels are totally separate). I would try making/finding some test sounds to make sure your unit isn't fault. Some things which are hard panned left or right etc. Also, try doing the recording without NetMD and recording in SP mode. For best results use an optical connection, if you don't have one of them, then use the headphone out on the front of your CD drive in your computer (I've found these to be very noise free).

Yeah, I actually used to do a bit of pirating of music (not much) before I got my MD, once I got that, I realised that the sound quality of an mp3 just doesn't compare to an original, so I started buying all the CDs instead. Now I just add $3 to the cost of any CD purchase, and all is fine. I still have some stuff which I can only get on MP3, and transferring it from PC->MD always sounds bad. I don't have NetMD or a digital out, just a really crappy soundcard. The level is quite low, which means that I need to put up the volume a fair bit more, and the soundcard is noisy as well, so there is a really obvious buzz in the background... I really don't like MP3s

Hey - the more your ears suck, the cheaper things are I prefer CD to ATRAC, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to ditch my MD. Usually, I doubt I'd even be able to pick which was which without an A/B test. If I don't need to move, then a CD will do, as soon as I move a foot, then go MD

I think they are one step ahead of you: http://www.the-magicbox.com/game092002.htm

Try and test yourself on CDs versus ATRAC too. This one can be a bit harder to do without "unblinding" the test, but it is a good test of ATRAC (that is, testing it against something which is superior )

Try transferring something to your MD, deleting the file from your computer and then transferring it back. You will hit a snag somewhere in there (either the deleting or the transferring back) Anyway, I don't have a NetMD yet, but when I do, I am definately going to look into how it functions so I can try and get stuff off it. I'm not going to touch the firmware, but what I am going to try is playing with the TOC. When you put a disc in, OpenMG can find out what that disc is and also find out the titles. Obviously there is *some* limited uploading going on there. What I plan on doing is seeing if I can mess up the TOC so that the data which it sends to the computer isn't title data, but audio data. Anyway, it is a long way off because my MZ-R70 is doing a bang up job of feeding me music . But there is hope.