xatax

Nice short explanation A440. And about "Atrac 3" at 66 kbps and "Atrac 3 Plus" at 64 kbps, I would stick to the newer one, Atrac3+, which uses a more advanced compression algorythm. What I do, (which is overkill) is to decompress my Mp3s to Wav PCM, usually with Winamp so I can use the Auto-Preset equalizers and DSP plugins in my Mp3s and equalize/normalize each song exactly the way I want to hear it. Then import them in SS and compress them in my bitrate of choice. It's interesting to see who bad SS treats already compressed files (read mp3, wma..) or other codecs in comparison with an uncompressed wav-file. It seems SS can't handle a good re-compression. I've found much better sounding results this way.

Try this great little program: MP3 Gain The best batch and sigle-file normalizer out there IMO.

Have you used the HI-MD disc several times? MDs tend to fragment just like harddrives and become slow and not so dependable if the read/record head can't follow the tracks, this is kinda usual in old MD's (my N1 is already showing this), the problem is you can't defragment an MD without "initializing" it from time to time. Maybe an USB bus error? Was your PC busy with other tasks while transfering? Screensaver? Windows? I'm not sure what could cause that. Anyways, if the problem's gone, maybe it's for good? If the problem doesn't persists, and your data is there, it's cool.

My N1 failed in less than 6 months, got it repaired... 80 bucks even under warranty... Mine is 3 1/2 years old... time to sell it and get some money I guess...