Rumz

minidisc-canada. I figured what the heck-- price comes to about $300 USD, they ship to the US (international even, I think), and it's been confirmed that the Canada market is getting black... why not? I've never ordered from there before though-- who knows how long shipping will take to get to the U.S. from there (Quebec apparently?)

I recieved shipment notification on mine this morning... it's like being a little kid waiting for Christmas all over again

What's the average bitrate of v2? I think that might be what I use. I don't remember because I haven't been using the newer version of Lame for too long. I find lame totally satisfying, though-- if it were gapless I'd never use anything else.

Maybe I'm reading this wrong but I take this to mean that anyone who wants to use the codec may be able to with the developer SDK (that means it'd be up to other people to make atrac play with iTunes, Winamp, WMP, etc-- but it could be done). Correct me if I'm wrong, Chris. Notice that their using a new .aa3 file format— Atrac without DRM. Hell, even if this meant there were Sony players on the way that could use drag + drop with .aa3 files I’d be really happy.

Congrats on finding an RH1. I'm anxiously awaiting the shipment of mine. 6 manuals seems like overkill, I suppose that's simply to make the product more accessible to more people. Environmentally friendly? Depends on your point of view I guess. As waste, maybe not. At least the trees used for that paper are grown on a farm specifically for that rather than damaging natural forests.

I know this doesn't jibe with Atrac or MD, but I have a Mac Mini w/ external 320gb hard drive that is currently dedicated purely to storing digital videos and digital audio. So far I've ripped about 130 film scores or other classical-type cds to the unit in Apple Lossless for playback as well as streaming over the home network using an Airport Express and perhaps eventually for loading onto an iPod (this type of music I demand a little higher quality with-- anything else that's more pop / rock I'm fine just storing in mp3 format). In any case, once I have everything I want ripped, I plan to take the library and convert it for use on portables-- which means either AAC or configuring LAME for iTunes and converting them to MP3s (more likely since I can use mp3 on pretty much everything player I have save my old MD players). For me, MD may remain a custom compilation / single album auditioning format.

Nice to see Sony isn't bailing out on the format. This should go nicely with the ability to upload atrac3+ audio files from a MiniDisc recorder, etc.

That's odd, first it says June 30 and then in stock now. Well let us know when you get shipment notification and then let us know what color arrives at your door

Actually got away with spending about $300 for a black one.

Yeah I know you're having fun, but there are enough people around yelling "the sky is falling" who miss the humor of your post Why did it take a couple months for Nintendo to release the DS Lite in the U.S. after releasing it in Japan? As far as I know they just couldn't keep up with demand in Japan, and from what I hear the RH1 is doing quite well in Japan and thus that market becomes a priority for production, I'd think. It's technically been released in the UK but with very limited availability... surely the shortage there isn't because they've decided after an initial few to handicap the firmware some more, and surely the lack of availability there has nothing to do with the lack of US release, huh? It could be a marketing issue (not having decided what they want to do yet-- doesn't make sense, if it's going the pro audio route then there wouldn't be a lot expended on marketing anyways) or it could be a manufacturing issue-- perhaps they don't have much in the way of resources allocated to the production of this model so it takes longer to build up enough stock to release it here. There could be firmware issues as well (maybe not quite so severe as chopping off the legacy uploading leg), who knows. I just don't see the RH1 as a major product release for Sony, so I dont see them really caring that much when this gets to US shores, etc. As far as the RH1 goes... I don't see how this could make the RIAA any more upset than an iPod can except that in this case Sony is the one providing the software to copy music, rather than a third party as with the iPod. If anything it's not the RIAA so much as it's Sony Music that would be putting up a fight there. iPod rumors are more fun anyhow. When is that touch screen video iPod coming out, anyways?

Call me superficial Actually I spotted one other e-tailer that had the M200 listed @ around $350, but I don't know how solid they are. SoundProfessionals seems to have a good rep and hence more trustworthy to buy from.

I spoke with Sound Professionals today and they don't know for certain the colors-- the only thing they seemed confident in is that the RH1 and M200 would be different colors (so one black and the other silver). Otherwise, their best guess is that the M200 will be black and the RH1 silver. If you ask me, I'd still pay $400 for a black M200 that comes with a mic rather than paying even more than that for an imported black RH1 from audiocubes.

Here's why I disagree with your conspiracy theory. From what I see on the U.S. side of things, the RH1 is being marketed to professionals. Sure, there are a bunch of us enthusiasts who can't wait to get our hands on one, but Sony really doesn't look like they're going to market this as a mainstream consumer product. Easy enough to not carry it at Sony Style stores that are geared towards consumer electronics, etc. I've heard a lot of comments about the RH1-- those who like the RH10 complaining about it being the worst MD unit ever, and those who love the RH1 especially for its prowess as a minideck / recording unit. It seems pretty clear to me that that's where this is geared. So why would Sony *need* to "neuter" the firmware if they're selling this to professionals and not marketing it to music listeners? They'd only be hurting sales for their niche audience, because there are so many people who use it as a recording medium that have discs that they've been wanting for years to be able to upload digitally. The RH1, IMO, is in no way competing with any other DAP -- not ipods, not flash players, nothing. Maybe in Japan, but certainly not in the U.S. I'm sure Sony's focus to compete with iPods and the like will have to be their own flavor of flash players, hard drive players, and video players. The RH1 is for a smaller crowd so why expect some massive release? If this thing is sellling like hotcakes in Japan, perhaps it's just a simple function of catching up production-wise. I could be wrong, but I really doubt we'll see a firmware change to remove the ability to upload legacy recordings.

Thanks for the update, that is good news. I guess I have to wait no matter what, as audiocubes doesn't seem to have any black in stock right now anyways. Another month+.... argh.

Yeah I'm getting a little impatient as well. A few days ago people were saying U.S. release was imminent but that the color will be silver, and now others are saying that the ETA is indefinite. What gives? So, for us impatient people, are there any alternatives to Audiocubes for getting our hands on a Japanese black RH1?

Nacho Libre

I will be fairly disappointed if the U.S. indeed gets silver as this NY seller is reporting. Only reason I haven't pre-ordered from sound professionals is because I want a black one and don't want to order not knowing what color I'll be getting (call me picky). Hmmm if Canada gets black and U.S. silver... I may have to have a canadian buddy help me out (who knows... maybe they'll release the Rh1 in silver and the M200 version as black...)

See that Sharp Auvi love? Come ON Sharp! Hehe...

Nice shots! Definitely more to keep me going until this finally makes it stateside.

Granted the DRM would allow people to play their iTMS music on their MD, but the benefit to me would simply be that all music ripped in iTunes in AAC would also be playable / usable on Hi-MD. Now, if it ripped gapless, that'd be great, but last I checked it doesn't. Gapless is the primary reason I use Atrac at all.

Nice work. I listened to any samples I could find of that Haydn track but obviously none were long enough You a classical fan?

Hmmm... I'm looking for it. If it was indeed in the Pianist, it's possible that it was a piece composed by Chopin. I have the Pianist soundtrack but didn't hear it on there... I'll let you know if I find it (if you happen to find it, let me know).

You mean to record in AAC? I don't see why they couldn't add AAC playback since they're adding it to their other current ATRAC units (I mean add it to Hi-MD in general-- not sure how they would add it to this particular unit if it does not support it already). I agree- that'd be awesome

I don't know how I missed this thread before (probably because I was basking in the Hawaiian sun when it was posted ) but dang-- Ishi always takes the best photos of gear. If you ever got sick of your day job I bet you could make a good living as a commercial photographer-- you've got skill. And this doesn't help me want the RH1 any less

Any indication of a price on the RH1 from Minidisco?