MDX-400

Well you can't change the sample rate anyway on MD... The word length/bit selection on some Sony MD decks is interesting. MDs, since the advent of "Wide Bitstream" many years ago, have been able to utilise 24-bit technology in recording and playback. For this reason you can set the digital output and input on some Sony MD decks accordingly. However I know that recording PCM on Hi-MD is definitely a 16-bit, stereo, 44.1kHz (1411kpbs) recording process. So if you're using PCM I think it would be best to stick to 16-bit output on the JA20ES. I wonder if portables can handle 20 or 24-bit signal inputs through their digital inputs though? I've never tried it to be honest, but I think they would be able to. Strange as it sounds, if the unit has no problems with the higher word length signal, then for standard MD format recordings I would use 24-bit; however for PCM recordings I'd use 16-bit.

Hmm I think KrazyIvan's concern, above, was more about the current capacity of the USB on the computer motherboard rather than the voltage requirements/tolerances of the MD unit. I don't know what the NH900s AC adapter is rated at but most of the non-Hi-MD NetMD units were rated at 500mA with the higher models getting 800mA or 1000mA (@ 3VDC) AC adapters. I think the USB bus on most computers these days has to be at least capable of 500mA, per port @ 5VDC. Some motherboards will also have current-limiting protection built-in, but from what I've read the overcurrent protection employed is often not per port but globally for all ports (meaning if you have 8 ports you wouldn't get any protection kicking in until the total draw was at the very least 4A.) Also you should consider that the current draw of the MD unit at 5VDC would be less than the current draw if it were getting only 3VDC. (Both under load I mean, since the AC adapter's float voltage will be high and under load it will come down, whereas the USB voltage will hold fairly constant under load as it is designed to.) How long does it take an NH900 to charge a NH-14WM gumstick? (I'm trying to get an idea of how much current it would use during charging.) Older units like the non-Hi-MD NetMD units provided perhaps 300-600mA of charge current @ ~1.5V to charge the battery in the unit. Even considering efficiency losses, if the NH900 is anything like the MD units of recent past, then it won't be a lot of current required from the 5V USB. Even considering that the charge controller in the unit would increase its charge current with a higher supply voltage (which may well be the case), I don't think you'd end up damaging the USB port(s) on the motherboard. I think, on a modern PC, provided your USB ports aren't all taken up by current-using USB-powered scanners, HDDs and other USB-powered devices, charging an MD unit from the USB shouldn't really be a concern. I think even if it took upwards of 1A @ 5V on one USB port to charge the battery you'd still be okay (and I seriously doubt any MD unit would require that much current, at that voltage, to charge a battery--MD units are relatively slow battery chargers). Roland M.

There were a couple other portables (non-Sony) that did have optical output but these were pretty obscure models--not easy to find. As for trying to check out an MZ-1 or an MZ-2P, if you're looking for these, primarily to make recordings from MDs to anything via the optical out--I would advise against doing this. These units are more collectors item's than anything at this point. (A New-Old-Stock, In-Box MZ-1 finished at $300 US just yesterday on eBay--given it was a NOS unit and you can get them *much* cheaper used.) The 1 and the 2P used the very first ATRAC chipset. ATRAC[1] 1.0. It is horrible. At that point a lot of audio reviewers were still considering cassettes encoded/decoded with Dolby S NR on a good, well calibrated, tape deck, as better sounding. It is true that sound quality is more dependent on what ATRAC revision it was encoded/recorded in but decoding even ATRAC Type-R recordings with an ATRAC 1.0 player certainly isn't going to help you out. Using the 1 or 2P for the primary purpose of using their optical output to record to other devices is not really a good idea as you will be impeding the sound quality, not helping it. Furthermore neither the 1 or the 2P were very "portable" compared to any MD units of today. Also keep in mind that these units *do not* support ATRAC3 (MDLP). This point is obvious to most people but there are people that didn't use MD before MDLP and therefore are surprised to know that there are units that do not support MDLP modes (particularly pre-98 models since the R900 was the first MDLP unit). You are *much* better off buying an MD deck that has optical output (or even buying a low cost JE470/JE480 deck and modding it for optical output) than trying to use a 1 or a 2P, for what you want to do.

ES ones are definitely nice, I think I only have one left now that isn't recorded on; 74min though I wish mine were 80min. Sony did make one disc "over" the ES--the MD2000 I have one of these (actually used to have 3 but sold 2). I think the MSRP was $20-$30 per disc. Magnesium shell, held together by screws--very nice construction I've never used it to record anything on though...

Though the screen on that unit seems to be multi-line I can't really tell what it is displaying... You might have to press a "DISPLAY" or "TIME/TEXT" button on the unit or remote to see the disc/group/track names--have you tried that? Roland M.

It depends on what format you want to record in. If you want to record in MDLP (LP2 or LP4) on an MD then NetMD is the best way to go--the only software you can use for that is SonicStage anyway. This is certainly faster and with MDLP you fit more on an MD. However the quality isn't as good as SP. If you want to record your MDs in SP, however, you'll be better off recording in realtime from the digital output of a CD player to the digital input of one of your MD units. With SP you get better quality but less record time on the disc and it takes longer to record than using the faster-than-realtime NetMD transfer above.

K that's fine, whereabouts are you located in Ontario? I'm sending a PM anyway...

I'm assuming you meant MZ-N910 and not MDS-N910 (because no such model exists)? Anyway, no there will be no difference because encoding/transcoding when doing NetMD transfers is all done in SonicStage. The NetMD unit simply records the data to the disc, during a NetMD transfer. Any NetMD unit will produce the same recording quality when it comes to NetMD transfers. As an aside, SP or "Stereo" should never be transferred via NetMD, it should only be done in realtime as SonicStage does not actually encode original ATRAC, it sends the data as ATRAC3 @ 132kbps and then has to be re-encoded by the recorder to ATRAC @ 292kbps resulting in substansial quality loss. For MDLP though, NetMD is the best way to go.

It's the same thing with driving. When I was living in Sudbury, ON earlier this year/last year people were the worst for this. I swear out of the four main driving controls in a car (throttle, brakes, steering & gearing) the favourite of Sudbury drivers is the brake pedal! For NO reason at all, nothing in front of them not looking for a street or intersection to turn at, NOTHING, they just start braking in the middle of the road while going in a straight line Happened all the time (and no I wasn't tailgating either). I mean idiot people do that everywhere I guess, but that city was the worst. I dunno what they were thinking... Like maybe "oooh I haven't pressed that pedal in a while, I guess I should press it." LOL Unbelievable!

Haha! I hear 'ya there--you're preaching to the choir! Last [school] year was my final undergrad (4th) year and I did more reading for an indivudual class than I did in my entire first 3 years put together. Multiply that by 10 classes for the year and that is a LOT of reading, LOL. As for procrastination, I'm the master of procrastination. I had to do several *double* all-nighters (staying awake from one morning through to the morning the second calendar day away) last year. It was nuts! No more school for me for at least a year though As for rants, I dunno I have waaay too much to rant about, LOL. But I'll save all of those upon reading the atrain's initial post--I'm just glad I'm not sick and stuck in bed! Get well soon atrain!

If they haven't heard of a soundcard with an optical input they should not be in the computer business, really they shouldn't. It might have been true to say that like 10 years ago and perhaps even understandable 5-6 years ago but today that is just plain retarded. Tell them that too, call them up ask the same question again, if you get the same response tell them they have no business being in the computer business, LOL. For a laptop, however, you can't just get a traditional "soundcard". What you'll need is an "external soundcard" or "USB soundcard solution". Both Creative Labs and M-Audio make such devices, you should check out their offerings. Be sure to find one that has digital in as well as out as some only feature out. There are other companies that make such devices as well but those are probably the most popular and readily available devices. M-Audio would be preferred (because Creative stinks) but the Creative products are probably available at lower price points and will do the job just fine.

Sony does put a green thread tightening assurance coating on these small screws however there have been many reports of screws loosening on MD units throughout the years. It seems in some uses or situations the coating just doesn't work that well. The screws are *very* small and would be hard to find in any stores but they are available from Sony DAPC for relatively low cost. If you buy replacements here is what you should do. Go to a hardware or automotive parts store and pickup a small tube of Permatex or Loctite "threadlocker". There are usually two types blue and red. The blue will be sufficient for these tiny screws. Follow the directions and apply a very small amount to the screw threads (just put it over the Sony green stuff). Again these are very small screws so you'll need less than a "drop" of the stuff on each screw, trust me. Once the threadlocker sets (about 24hours) those screws will NOT come out again. In fact removing them with a screwdriver will become difficult to impossible; BUT, you won't have screws falling out/missing after that

I'm wondering how it records but cannot read discs because it has to recognise a disc and load the TOC before it can record. Do you mean it reads a disc, records and then after it gives you a BLANK DISC message? If that is the case it is likely the OWH (overwrite head) on the N1 which was a big problem with that unit. If this is the problem you're having then it is going to cost more to repair than to just get a different unit (in the future I would stay away from the problem-laden N1 if you can). If it isn't the problem you're having can you describe it a little more in detail and perhaps note any error messages given by the MD unit? Simply and MD unit has to be able to read a disc before it can record one, but on the other hand there are many instances where a unit will read but not be able to record (usually an OWH problem).

It is pretty much pointless to use an [Energizer*] lithium AA in an MD unit though. Though they do have slightly more capacity than even the Energizer e^2 Titanium and Duracell Ultra alkaline AAs (which are the highest capacity alkaline AAs) where the lithiums excel is really in high drain applications. MD is typically low current/low drain with the exception of NetMD transfers. A lithum AA won't get you much more performance and the price difference isn't worth it. In fact the e^2 Titanium and Ultra alkalines aren't worth it over standard Energizer or Duracell alkalines, respectively. The best way to go is pretty much NiMH these days. NiMH has very good high-current handling characteristics and is rechargeable. NiMH AA's are up to 2500mAh these days which is very near that of alkaline AAs in low-current application. In high current application (.5C or more) an NiMH AA wins hands down against an alkline as well, plus again its rechargeable. The only place lithuim AA really beats NiMH is in overall capacity (even in high current application) and low-temperature performance. However lithium AAs are not rechargeable which is a significant detriment. On the other hand, lithuims are good for an "in a bind" situation where you can't charge batteries and need high-current capacity (as in a digital camera when your batts run down). *I noted "Energizer lithium AA" because Energizer is the only company to have made a 1.5V lithium cell and they have the patent on it. In the industrial field there are other manufacturers of lithium AA-sized cells but they are 3V and definitely not compatible with consumer electronics gear using standard 1.5V AAs.

Yep I agree with the above; I'm pretty sure Sony does indeed OEM these from Sanyo, though they could make them themselves. I'm pretty sure Sony NiMH AAs are OEM'd from Sanyo as well. As are Energizer NiMH AA batteries. As tekroid said, Sanyo is one of the best battery manufacturers out there. Sony pretty much started the use of Li-Ion for consumer products and for Li-Ions, they would still manufacture their own, but for NiMH I think they outsource that probably primarily to Sanyo.

You wouldn't happen to have the charge stand for the N707 would you?

Yep, that's me, SP in realtime only I can't take the low quality of LP2 and LP4 is horrible. Plus I only have a few MDLP capable units and so it is pretty pointless to use either. Even for speech, it's better that I just use SP in mono rather than either LP2 or LP4...

This is a little late but did anyone notice the ending bid for that S40??? $255 US??? That is absolutely insane Not only that from the feedback left it looks like the bidder did indeed pay for it. That deck is worth maybe $80 US at most--the seller definitely got *lucky* on that one. The S40 is just a smaller-scale version of the MDS-JE330 which probably sells for like $50 or less on eBay, LOL. I think $250 US was the original MSRP on these things! Meaning that there is probably no one that ever paid that much for an S40 (other than the "winning" bidder here).

When I read the topic title I was kinda confused. Every MD player and recorder to date can playback ATRAC encoded MDs. That is what MD was originally based on. What you want to say when you say "ATRAC MP3 tracks" is actually "ATRAC3". ATRAC3 is the codec used for the MDLP formats, LP2 and LP4. SP = ATRAC* @ 292kbps (*The term ATRAC on its own implies a one affixed to the end as in ATRAC1--note that ATRAC1 is not the same as saying ATRAC 1.0--this actually means ATRAC[1] revision 1.0--I know... it sounds complicated.) LP2 = ATRAC3** @ 132kbps LP4 = ATRAC3 @ 66kbps (** Note that, as above, ATRAC3 is not the same as ATRAC 3.0--the latter would be ATRAC[1] revision 3.0). The MDLP or ATRAC3 formats are not playable on non-MDLP units. Pretty much any Sony player or recorder that does *not* have 3 digits after the letters in its model number will *not* play or record MDLP. E.g. An MZ-R90 will not be able to play or record ATRAC3 (MDLP) but an MZ-R700 would be able to. (This only works for Sony units, and there are a couple exceptions--neither the MZ-E800 or MZ-E300 can playback MDLP). A good primer for all this ATRAC talk is this FAQ on the main page: http://www.minidisc.org/mdlpfaq.html Additionally, all NetMD capable devices can do MDLP because that is what NetMD is based on. As an aside I would not bother transfering any music to SP (called "Stereo" in SonicStage) via NetMD (from your computer). This is because transferring to SP from SonicStage does not actually encode the track with ATRAC but rather encodes it to ATRAC3 132kbps and then the recorder itself will then re-encode it to ATRAC 292kbps which means you lose a lot of quality that way. Any/all SP recordings should be done in realtime via the inputs on the unit. Note that the NE410 has no inputs, so this is not possible--therefore it is pretty pointless to record in SP on the NE410. I would suggest as a replacement for your NE410, for something cheap, you might look into trying to find a used N510 (often listed as N510CK) or perhaps even an NH600D Hi-MD unit. The N510 has optical and line inputs which the NE410 lacks (though it doesn't sound like you will use them) and also has a remote port. The US version did come with a non-LCD remote so if you buy one with everything included you'll get that. You can even buy and connect an LCD remote later and it will be useable on the N510. You could also look into the NF610 which has an LCD remote with an FM tuner built in. There was a newer unit to the NE410, the N420D but to be honest neither was very good and neither have remote ports. If you can spend the extra bucks on the NH600D (the lowest-cost Hi-MD unit) you can fit a LOT more on a Hi-MD disc and as a bonus you can use it as a computer drive to store/transfer files (though it is fairly slow for that purpose). However, you'll run into even more incompatibility problems as Hi-MD discs and now ATRAC3plus (which is again yet another codec) can only be used on other Hi-MD units... BUT you can rest assured that a Hi-MD unit, you can record on regular MDs in any of the previous formats via SonicStage/NetMD (though I would stay away from doing an SP/"Stereo" transfer via NetMD because of the above note). Hi-MD units are fully backwards compatible and can play regular MDs with ATRAC or ATRAC3 as well as Hi-MD discs with varying formats/bitrates (usually ATRAC3plus). If your priority is fitting a lot of tracks on one disc and you want to be able to use your old discs, I would say Hi-MD is the way to go. Hi-MD will even let you format a regular MD to double capacity (but these discs are then only useable on Hi-MD units). And with Hi-MD you can use higher quality settings to get better sound quality while still fitting a lot of tracks on a disc (a Hi-MD disc is 1GB). LP4 (ATRAC3 @ 66kbps) is pretty poor quality, you would probably appreciate an increase in sound quality.

I chose the NH1 because to me it is the best looking and seems to be the highest quality unit... But I've never used one and it seems some people have gripes about it. It certainly does look better than all the others, IMO. The Onkyo deck is a waste to me since it lacks NetMD which I had previously thought would always be coupled with Hi-MD. Hi-MD is pretty PC dependent (especially since you can use it to store files on as well) so I don't understand what good a non-NetMD Hi-MD unit would be. Though admittedly I doubt I'm getting into Hi-MD at all (apart from perhaps an NH600D I may get in a trade).

I think wac/bargaining4all is offering this remote for $80 US including shipping for T-Boarders... $80 seemed high to me for a remote, but it seems that is probably the best deal you're gonna get on it!

So Hi-MD units use larger slipcases than regular MDs??? I don't even use the regular MD slipcases, I have a bag full of maybe 20 or more of them and I've even given a bunch away before! I don't bother with them as the discs have a shutter and are fairly well protected on their own. Plus I have an MD wallet that stores MDs without the cases...

The R909 was the first Sony portable with Group mode support, but the Sony MDS-JE770 deck was the first unit with Group mode, I believe. This came out some 4 months ahead of the R909. However not every post-JE770 MDLP-capable unit was guaranteed to have Group mode support either. (You mention of the G755 as well as some of the decks is a perfect example of post-JE770 units that do not have Group support). It was indeed an afterthought/after-addition to MDLP. The R900 was the first MDLP unit so it wasn't until a generation later that Group appeared I was surprised that the JE480 does not have Group mode support but I guess that is just Sony's way of trying to get people to buy higher-end models The JB980, however, is not the only deck to have Group mode support. The MDS-JE770 (as mentioned) has it, as does the JE780.

LOL don't tell me you bought one already? A simple look at the R500s headphones jack would have confirmed this. Remotes have both the headphones plug for audio as well as a separate 4-pin plug for remote/data features right beside it. Since the R500 does not have the combined phones/remote port (it only has a phones port) you can clearly see it cannot accept a remote. However don't fret too much, if you've already bought the remote. You can always use it with another unit (if you plan to get one), or you can just re-sell it here, on eBay, or otherwise.

The R500 is one of my least favourite MD units ever, for the very reason you are pointing out. The R500 will not work with *any* remote because it is one of the few portable MD units that does *not* have a remote port on it. No matter what you do, the R500 will not work with any remote, sorry.