xatax

this is funny... Help him common! Look at the bright side... at least you understand some german

From what I've read, the remote will be an LCD one but only with one line display I must say I'm kinda dissapointed with, possibly the las HI-MD unit... The RH10s display was the way to go and that remote doesn't help either... My N1 displays more information on the units display than this "recording friendly" MD? Small display, not a good remote... *sigh* Since when small displays sell MDs? A new 3 line display remote is necessary with this new MD.

No wonder why it doesn't have a volume knob. Professional decks are connected usually to a mixer which controls the line in level of your sources (here: the MD rack) to your whole system. So, the line out level of the machine is fixed. Some decks usually come only with an attenuator level to avoid clipping. I suppose you are using a mixer right?

Common! Somebody BUY IT! NOW!

Look at that display... and those VUs... oh HEAVEN!!

Oh, then I recommend you the TASCAM. It sounds is pretty close to PCM and the discs are broadly available and cheap. ATRAC 4.5 and ATRAC Type-R sound better than ATRAC3 in any flavor, but not better than ATRAC3 PLUS at high bitrates (HI-SP and up) or PCM.

Hehe I think titles can't be transfered through optical. Actually, I'm pretty sure. I remember Sony had a special "title transfer" cable, very cool idea. (Although mega-expensive for it's use). It connected the source (a Sony Discman with remote out or MD with remote for example) and your MD through the remote jacks if I remember correctly... cool .

Damn... Maybe it's time to get a HI-MD with digital amp? I think they have less hiss, can anyone confirm this?

There's not a sexier retro look: The MZ-N1

Don't install the included codecs, use external. Better use LAME encoder.

This an "original MD format" Rack mountable unit. It's old technology since it uses a simple ATRAC codec to record your music. It only records at 292 kbps at SP (Standard or Stereo Play) quality with the version 4.5 of ATRAC. Since this recorder uses ATRAC only in it's SP version, you'll get 16bit/44Khz at 292 kbps. Use the XLR outs to achieve the best analog quality of this machine. The most advanced version of ATRAC SP is the Type-R version. "Upgraded to ATRAC 4.5" means it uses this version of the encoder. Atrac 4.5 and Type-R sound really good, close to DAT actually, but today, other MD technologies sound better. For more info check this. Don't forget, this is a pre-MDLP and pre-HI-MD unit. So stick with the old ATRAC specifications. This machine can only make use of the standard MD discs, of 60/74 and 80 minutes of capacity. 1 GB MD's are HI-MDs and incompatible with old equipment. They cannot be used with this machine. Yes, since this machine can only record on ATRAC SP and use standard discs, they can be played in all MDLP and pre-MDLP units and certain HI-MD units but this machine can only playback standard SP on standard MD discs, therefore, no MDLP or any HI-MD bitrates can be played back on this machine. I don't quite understand what you mean. Well, I don't recommend this machine unless you can find it cheap. Maybe we can give you a better option. What are your needs?

Sparky, don't get me wrong, I know it sounds bad, really bad, I never use that bitrates for music or anything sonically complex. And because I can tell the difference between these bitrates, I'm sure you can. You just haven't tried enough. It's just that 64 Atrac3+ sounds better than 66 Atrac3 because it's a more advanced codec. That's all. So I recommended that if your were to use a low bitrate, choose 64kbps. But I really can't recommend anything lower than Atrac at 105 kbps for music.

Sometimes that quality is useful. Long recording times are for a large group of MD users the key factor of MDLP or HI-LP, interviews anyone? Why shouldn't someone choose the best sounding codec for their purpouse? (I can see in the future 60kbps sounding really cd-like.) Oh and Atrac Plus 64 sounds really better than Atrac3 66kbps. Ok, it's not logical. It is as logical as Sony making mp3 sound like crap if they are not transcoded to their format. But hey, that's what happening, right? To Sony, it really does sound logical to at least try to make you realize it's better to buy the CD or download it from their Connect store. We see improvenments, but that doesn't mean Sony isn't still experiencing internal problems with their divisions. And I really believe that a good ripped track, sounds indistinguishable to the source, so we really can talk about SQ.

Ehem! Track titles are recorded too?

Err.. cool isn't? Just not so sure about the super usability of this "feature"... hehe, guess it's just there to slide a tag into the case.

I know... but unless flash players become as professionally oriented as HI-MD (in the recording, battery and sound quality aspect) I'll be sticking to the format. The only nice flash machine outthere that surpases my needs it's the Edirol R-1, but that one use expensive compact flashs... in HI-MD, with a price of 3 bucks the gigabyte, who can go wrong...

There's nothing wrong with your Etys...as you see they sound perfectly good or at least better in you laptop or other MD units... it's actually the crappy MD amp and your good tuned ears that make this nice pair of In Ear Monitors sound like ehem, not so good. The Shure's are too boomy for the same price range, the Etys are far superior and true to the source unless you go for the Shure E4c or E5, which cost as much as 2 or 3 N707s respectively And about the volume, the Etys are 16 Ohm, the same "natural" impedance of MD amps. Try lowering the treble sound setting one or two points and see if that makes them more usable. (but you'll be missing some great Ety detail aswell.)

LOL, all N1's are magnesium, the only plastic parts are buttons, display, leds, swtiches and the battery hatch. Period. (that's why you can't "correct" the N1 with 200º, be careful as magnesium bursts into flames with more temperature )

Oh, the cool thing about MP3 Gain is that it doesn't work like other normalizers. It doesn't alter the quality of your files at all since it works in the volume level information only (that's why it only can alter the volume in 1.5 dB steps only, not really a disadvantage since it doesn't alter the quality) . And it informs you clearly of any clipping situations. It's the most advanced normalizer out there, try it. It uses a special volume detector system that works more like your ear and less than a VU meter. For more information follow the above link. "MP3Gain does not just do peak normalization, as many normalizers do. Instead, it does some statistical analysis to determine how loud the file actually sounds to the human ear. Also, the changes MP3Gain makes are completely lossless. There is no quality lost in the change because the program adjusts the mp3 file directly, without decoding and re-encoding." Cool isn't Sparky191? taken from: MP3 Gain (3rd line in the page)

Err... ok.

That's what I thought. But maybe the decompressor used in SS is not as good as the one used in Winamp for example. I wouldn't be much surprised if that's the case since that ridiculous MP3 implementation in SS, lowering the quality of the files just to "show" how much "better" atrac sounds in comparison to MP3... Sony is capable of obscure restrictions, we've seen it before. Try it. As you said there should be no differences, but, without EQs or DSPs there's still a difference, at least to my ears. Maybe you'll be surprised.

I had the same problem about 2 years ago. I sent my N1 to Sony, (I live in Peru, imagine the hassle) they initially refused to repair it, I insisted, they magically accepted to repair it (suddenly a very common problem with this unit?). They didn't charged me for components, but they did charged me for installation and calibration. US$ 110 was total cost. I was pretty pissed off.. I'm now experiencing some intermmitent gaps in USB transfers... oh well... waiting for the next generation HI-MD top-of the-line unit. and my ER-6i to arrive!

The worst thing is that this problem is SO OLD and KNOWN in almost ALL gumstick-powered units... just a shame that Sony continues with that crappy battery hatch system since 1998, starting with the MZ-R55 I guess... Advise: Just try not to play with the hatch, open it only if it's really necessary (your MD not responding, etc.) and use scotch tape to keep it closed in unexpected events.

I have the same question.

To "initialize" a disk is to format it. So yes, an MD should defrag itself when it's initialized. (Same as "Erase Disc" option in the edit menu on your MD). So, I'm not sure what could have caused your problem. Sorry. Don't be too worried, maybe it's a once in a lifetime thing. Try splitting long recordings inserting track marks, maybe that helps. 3.5 hours as a single track is a lot, maybe too much for a realiable transfer. Hope that helps.