CarbonLogic

A new version of RealPlayer has been released and is available here http://www.real.com Worth the download if you want a user friendly interface to manage your Net MD file transfers. Much easier to use than SonicStage and a significant improvement over the previous version of RealPlayer. You only need to install the free version of RealPlayer 10 and then download and install the minidisc plugin. Once you've installed RealPlayer 10 you can delete SonicStage and forget all about Sony's DRM forever. RealPlayer 10 is a good example of what SonicStage should have been if only Sony knew how to write user friendly software CL

Even more follow-up :-) A new HiFI Link replacing the faulty HiFi Link that I returned to Xitel on Monday 28 July 2003 arrived by post today (Wednesday 6 August 2003) I'm very happy with the quick response and they even included a free USB cable Thank you Xitel CL

I own four minidisc players, and I thought you might be interested in my experience with the Xitel MD-Port I/O. One of my minidisc players is a NetMD so I'm very familiar with Sony's SonicStage software. I've also made a lot of recordings using the Simple Burner/ImageDrive method. As has been well documented on this forum the SonicStage software is less than perfect and the check in, check out process can be rather tedious. The Simple Burner/ImageDrive method (which is also documented in this forum) works OK and does bypass the check in, check out process, but it is a very clumsy way to make digital recordings. A saleswoman at my local Sony retailer, Sony Central in Adelaide, recommended the Xitel MD-Port I/O as a method of connecting my non-NetMD deck (Sony MDS-JE470) to my computer. I was extremely skeptical that I would be able to make digital recordings using the Xitel MD-Port I/O; however I decided to take a chance and bought the Xitel gizmo. Installation of Xitel MD-Port I/O was incredibly simple. I just connected together the cables and plugged the thing into a spare USB port. The supplied digital cable was OK for a walkman style minidisc player, but it had the wrong connectors for my deck. Luckily I already had a spare digital cable with the correct connectors so my deck was soon connected to my computer. I followed the setup instructions for Windows XP and after some minor confusion I soon had the system working. The USB plug-and-play worked perfectly and didn't have to install any software or drivers. The first big surprise was discovering that Windows Media Player could output a digital signal via the USB port (USB Audio) I thought computer media players (Windows Media Player, Winamp, MusicMatch, etc ) had to play through a sound card - you live and learn:-) Next I queued up some tracks and tried to make a digital recording on my deck. I set the T.Mark LSync on the deck to on and used Music Synchro to make the test recording using the decks default digital recording level of 0.0dB. After a few test tracks I listened to the results through a pair of high quality Sennheiser Ovation headphones. The recorded sound quality was excellent. A few comments on the results: - The recorded sound quality was excellent, easily as good as files transferred using the SonicStage software - Most of the music on my PC I ripped from my own CD collection at very high bit rates in either .wma or mp3 format. - I use Windows Media Player 9.0 and have volume leveling enabled - I mostly make semi-random compilations of mixed genre music that includes a mixture of classical, opera, blues, rock and electronica. - Windows Media Player volume leveling appears to work very well with the USB Audio output, that is a BIG bonus if, like me, you make compilations of mixed genre music. No more radical changes in volume every time a new track plays. The one big disadvantage is that recordings HAVE to be made in real time, not a big problem for me, but others may find this a significant issue. The three BIG advantages for me in using the Xitel MD-Port I/O are: - I don’t need a NetMD recorder to make digital recordings from my computer. - No more check in, check out hassles. - No more blown eardrums resulting from radical variations in volume between tracks. One final point; the Xitel MD-Port I/O may be the solution to getting copy protected CD's onto my computer. First make a digital copy of the CD using a CD to MD digital recording. Then transfer the recorded music to the PC using the Xitel MD-Port I/O. The transfer will be analog, but it will bypass the sound card and write the wave file directly to the hard drive. Xitel claim this method works well, but I don’t own any copy protected CD’s yet so I haven't had a need try this method yet. Hope this helps someone Regards, CL

Does anybody know what effect deleting the MtData.mdb database has? Has anybody done it? CL