doclloyd

After recording our church service today and uploading the tracks to SS 3.1, I was looking at the track information, and it showed me (and seemingly allowed me) to add my uploaded recordings to an Audio CD! I don't remember this being available before, which was part of everyone's frustrations early on with Hi-MD and SS 2.x. This is a nice addition to the functionality and Sony finally adding more flexibility to how we can use our recordings. Apologies if this was a known feature and I'm just slow to finding it I was just excited to see the capabilities there.

Bummer. Oh well. Thanks for the update.

I was wondering how people are enjoying the 2nd gen portables. My church is considering a move from tape (finally) for recording sermons. We would upload, convert to wav/mp3 for CD burning and posting on the 'net respectively. But since recordings don't need to be real high quality, the 128KB/sec MP3 format might be OK. So, how does it sound? How does it upload the file to the computer? Is it wrapped in the Sonicstage DRM, like everything else, or just uploaded as a normal mp3 file? Let me know. Thanks.

I'm not sure what I found first, mindisco.com or minidisc.org. Both were linked to each other. I had also found minidisct.com's forums, but not generally as useful. The color scheme and board software don't do much for me. I've found people here to be friendly and helpful when answers are available. It's been a great place to read about recording, NetMD and Hi-MD and music related topics in general. I hope this place stays like it is.

Subject says it all.. the usual applies. Download an app that grabs the rest of the files off the Connect server. Shouldn't be too much exciting, other than the inclusion of an mp3 encoder. I'll see if anything else is new and interesting. UPDATE: Here's all the version info from the About box: SonicStage : 3.1.00.03290 SonicStage Add-on for CONNECT Download : 3.1.00.04110 OpenMG Secure Module : 4.1.00.13261 MagicGate Memory Stick Device : 4.1.00.13261 NW-E2, NW-E3, NW-E5 and NW-E8P : 4.1.00.13261 OpenMG CD : 4.1.00.13261 MsPro : 4.1.00.13261 CD Walkman : 4.1.00.13261 Hi-MD : 4.1.00.13261 Music Clip, NW-S4, NW-E7 and NW-E10 : 4.1.00.13261 HDWM : 4.1.00.13261 Net MD : 4.1.00.13261 SonicStage MP3 Add-on program : 1.0.00.07120 EMD Plug-in: 1.2.0.9 Playback Plug-in : 1.0.0.55 CD-R Writing Module(Audio CD/ATRAC CD/MP3 CD) : 3.1.00.04110 Px Engine: 2.0.60.500

Bought last week: Junkie XL: Radio JXL A Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin Thievery Corporation: The Cosmic Game Global Underground 027: Danny Howells - Miami (2 CD set) Global Underground: Afterhours II

Most recent addition (within last two weeks) Moby: Hotel (Limited Edition set - CD2 is Ambient tracks)

I was browsing the Sony USA website (which has a refreshed look now) and saw these "new" headphones. I think they came out in Japan a few months ago. Anybody actually have these? They're only $50 and seem like a step up from the EX71's. Just wondering if they were any better. http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP....TabName=feature

Interesting upgrade. I'm not a huge fan of the auto-creating albums for every track, but if it's for the sake of progress... I guess it just made me realize that I have a number of MP3's with improper ID3 tags. For the most part, it kept playlists and albums together right. Some, not so much. Made some albums "Albums" and some "playlists". In the end, they still provide the same purpose to me... The convert and auto-delete (esp. for MD/Hi-MD) is very nice. Definitely will save on hard drive space and annoying factor for MD users. Should've been part of the SS 2.x series. There is also (I think) a "Scan Folder" option to more quickly import music into SS under File->Import->Scan Folder... Only tried it on a small folder, but it worked as expected. CDDB data is a little more comprehensive. SS can now utilize Year Released and Composer information that is available via CDDB. Wish there was a way to go back to all the discs I already imported and get that data, especially for classical discs. There is a section under the Options->Download Music->Personal Information that has a checkbox for "Send information about tracks in Sonicstage to the music service." Not sure what it means. There is no useful data in the Help file either. Can you believe that? ;-) The app seems slightly faster, but it's difficult to tell. I have a good amount of music in My Library, so it still takes a while to load. Overall responsiveness is fine. I always turn off animation. The whole "playlist" thing they're moving towards makes me wonder and hope about new devices from Sony and whether or not it will truly support playlists... perhaps via firmware/software updates to the NW-HDx series and the flash players. Of course this upgrade could've had a lot more to it, like checking the device for a track/group, noticing it's already there and notifying the user of it. True playlist support *has* to come at some point. It may take Sony a while, but it has to come to compete. I have more thoughts, but this is good for now. Time for sleep

I think this is an interesting, if not possibly useful, combination of technology. Sony (and Sony ericcson) are making some intriguing devices, such as this and a new cell phone dubbed W800 walkman phone. See here http://www.sonyericsson.com/cebit/flash.html It's a combo phone/walkman, compatible with MP3/AAC and ATRAC/Connect tracks. 2MP camera to boot. Interesting stuff. I want. We'll see how the market accepts the DH10P. I think there will be those who like it. If it did line/mic-in, this would be a dream. Take a pic of the location where you're recording nature sounds or the bustle of a trendy neigbhorhood. Oh well.

What I like about this official press release is that while it talks about the fact that you can listen to your music on there, view album art, etc... it also emphasizes the fact that you can record stuff on them too (its original purpose). The DH10P ability to take pics and make a slide show sounds gimmicky, but an interesting idea. Go Sony. Let's hope that the upload stuff gets even more stable for people!

It an interesting question, esp. on the heels of Onkyo releasing Hi-MD decks in Japan. Not a whole lot is officially known about them (I don't think they're out yet), so one wonders if they will have the direct MP3 playback capability that the 2nd gen portables will have. Only time will tell...

While I agree that it's unlikely that an upgrade will be available, I was actually surprised that Sony even offered a firmware update to the NW-HD1 to add MP3 playback after they annouced the HD3. Best case scenario would allow for an update to existing models via some user-upgradable method (ala Vaio Pocket), slightly worse case would be having to send in the unit (like the HD1.) I personally would go for that option. Since the units have been out less than a year, it's possible I suppose. I think it would leave a better taste in the mouths of early Hi-MD adopters, such as most of the readers/posters of this board. Sony has been doing a lot more right in the past year, from slowly improving sonicstage to adding direct MP3 support to everything they have. Who knows, I'd like to be an optimist and think they'll surprise us again.

I'm looking forward to a more useful SS. All the features people have mentioend are great (here and in "how to improve SS" elsewhere on the board), but I think to fully utilize things like playlisting (smart/dynamic playlists I presume), the portable players, esp. the HDD players and Vaio pocket need to work together with that. Unfortunately, that functionality isn't here on the HD3 (I think it is to an extend on the Vaio, however.) Upgrades to the player software would help. A new design/interface and faster speed for large libraries would be awesome. I'm starting to feel a speed slowdown in viewing my library. Better searching would be nice... OK, I'll stop now. :-)

Looks like it's being handled just like it was in Japan and the UK/Europe. Seems odd they didn't create the HD1 to be firmware upgradable over USB, like the Vaio Pocket or iPod and other HDD players... hopefully the HD3 will be upgradable by the user to add new functionality.

I currently use a SE T637. One of my favorite phones to date. Bluetooth just works on SE's... great reception everywhere I go, small, eye-catching. OK, so camera isn't great, but I don't use it much. I have service with Cingular and my company pays for it - the best of all worlds! I would love to upgrade to the SE S710a, if it's ever released by SE/Cingular. Lots o' features and fun. http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=602

I'm sure I'm completely speculating here, but if you look closely at the last post with the image of the MD-105FX, you can read parts of the display where things light up... Just to the left of where "DIGITAL 1" is lit, there is "MP3" and "WMA"... quite odd. Wonder if it's something that's directly related to the Onkyo system and other things it supports (ie other inputs on this thing?), or if this is a sign of things to come from Sony as well? (Speculation is soooo much fun, especially late at night.)

Slick little program you have here. I like the CSV output. A quick test showed it to work well. I had a couple titles with semi colons or something my spreadsheet app thought was a field delimiter, but wasn't. Oh well. Kind of a neat way to catalog Hi-MD discs, though. Too bad there isn't an easy way to do this for standard MD discs (for that collection I have of those.) Thanks for your work on this!

kurisu, you're "no comment" is a comment within itself regarding the topic :-) It would be truly amazing to have upgrades to 1st gen units too. Then I'd have 2 Sony products that support mp3 (NH900, HD3). I wonder how soon it really will be until we hear about new products, possible firmware upgrades (or trade up? ha!).

I really think it would be interesting to see Moodlogic and Sony to work together on being able to do this with your ATRAC-based audio collection. Moodlogic has worked with Sony to provide the "MoodMix" feature in the Connect store. I don't see why they couldn't provide this functionality within SonicStage. Would be a neat feature. "Provide me with mellow electronica - 25 tracks" and create a group to transfer to MD. :-) The possibilities...

Looks interesting... I'm also intrigued by the Pioneer "Connect2" device to allow some form of integration with the HD3 and your car stereo. :-) Of course, seeing Hi-MD head units would make my day too.

Something I've found with my HD3 (and its funky little adapter to plug in AC and USB - all in lieu of a cradle) is that the player will work with the computer if it's charged... the screen keeps saying to plug in an AC adapter, but it keeps working anyway. Who knows. Leland, are you going to go ahead and get your HD1 upgraded? I know you already had most of your library in ATRAC3/3+ format due to your use of MD... to date, I've only added a few tracks to my HD3 in MP3 format. Most of my stuff was setup for MD and I don't really keep any mp3's on my home PC. Just curious.

Now that I've had a chance to use SS with a HD3, along with my NH900, I've decided that I want to send Sony a list of things I want to see changed via software updates in the future. I wonder if it would make just to compile the data from this thread or just send them this thread? Thoughts, ideas?

Figures! I just ordered a HD3 (with native MP3 playback) off a guy from ebay... oh well. The HD3 had color choices and a blue backlit screen (or white on the silver I think?). I'm looking forward to adding it to my portable music setup. Of course, this thread may not belong in the Hi-MD forum.... :-D

Link to the upgrade page on Sony's support site is here... here Doesn't mention much that is different from 2.2 (sounds mostly the same). Changes seem to go along with the firmware update for the Vaio Pocket that now allows direct mp3 transfer to the device (read: no conversion needed.) Also, track numbers and other data can be more easily edited.