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syko

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  1. syko

    RH1 Troubles

    I'm assuming you're using a remote to scroll through your songs? If so I had the same problem with my remote, where everytime I would change songs, it would either: Do what I tell it to door do one or more of the following Go to previous track instead of nextTurn up the volumeGo to next SOUND setting (eg. from EQ to DN)Skip a whole groupStop or pause playIt turned out to be a faulty remote that just kept getting worse and worse (it was an MC33EL). I had 2 of them and both developed the same problem. If you weren't using the remote to scroll songs and you are talking about the backlight of the RH1 itself... then sorry I can't help you If it is the remote, I'd consider using another remote for now, or at least check the contacts are clean and proper. It's cheaper to replace the remote than the whole unit itself. Side note: I'm using the MC40ELK, and it's the best remote I've ever had in terms of utility!
  2. I'm an audiophile, and this is what I think... Atrac3 132k is much much better than Atrac3+ 64k. Try recording music in atrac3+ 64k with very high stereo separation, compare it to 132k atrac3 and tell me what you think. The amount of artifacts heard especially at 10kHz+... I'd rather eat glass, to put it simply. I would also say that I hear more artifacts in 132k atrac3 than in a well-encoded 128k mp3 file, so atrac3 is definitely not my favourite audio format. Atrac3+ actually steps up this quality though, with atrac3+ 64k sounding much better than atrac3 66k, but it definitely doesn't compare to 128k mp3 as Sony claimed in a test, nor 132k atrac3. It sounds more like mp3 at 92k, maybe less. I'll admit atrac3+ 64k as good stereo replication comparable to mp3 92k, but the artifacts it still generates, unavoidable due to low bit rate is still awful. It's only 192k atrac3+ that I find audio quality acceptible.
  3. My unit did that at the in the first days and I couldn't figure out why. But it stopped a doing it a few days later and it remembers where I turned off the unit. At that time I was mucking around with charging, so it could've been that you need to fully charge the battery for it to work properly. Who knows why you need to do this ~_~
  4. Double-sided Minidiscs will never happen because the current recording system requires both sides of the Minidisc. Information is recorded by using a magnetic head that actually is in contact with the disc. Information is not burned onto the disc by a laser but bits are augmented by the magnetic head touching the top of the disc. The is the reason why recording drains your battery so fast compared to reading. More torque from the motor is required because of friction between disc and head. However the advantage of this magneto-optical system is that nothing is burnt. The disc will last much much longer. Information is read by using a laser that reads off the bottom of the disc.
  5. My RH1 is considerably louder than my NH1 when the laser head is moving. However spinning noises don't seem to be a problem. The instructions manual did say mechanical noise is normal, and is part of the "power saving mechanism". I wouldn't worry about it. My N910 makes a shrilling screeching noise sometimes when the laser head tracks, and it's done that for the past year without it failing. Its still doing well right now. Bear in mind, a 1gb HiMD disc is quieter because the bits a smaller than a 74min disc, so it doesn't have to spin as fast to get the same data rate (okay, it's just a theory but it sounds good ).
  6. Double-pressing the scroll wheel also works As far as I am aware, all new remotes will work on older model units. Some buttons on the newer remotes could be reduntant or may have different functions, such as the scroll wheel not working on the MC-40ELK if plugged into a non-HiMD unit. Old remotes will work on new model units, but may not support or have buttons of all the features that a new unit will support. For example if an old remote doesn't have an A-B repeat, it won't do A-B repeat even if the unit has the ability to it on a newer remote. Surprisingly, old remotes that have screens (like RM MC-11) actually support the equaliser even if the units at that time only had MegaBass settings!
  7. I found this hack a GOD SEND. I previously owned an NH1 that had an output of 5mW+5mW, which is the standard in Australian terms. I found the volume control on that unit perfect with my $100 earphones, which do unfortunately asks a bit more from the unit's amplifier than the original earphones supplied (probably vol 20 on my expensive earphones is equivalent to vol 17 on the supplied ones). I found I listened to my music around volume 18, and experienced no "clipping" until around vol 28 with heavy bass (it's insanely loud there anyway so I don't go there, if at all). You must realise though that with these HD amplifiers, they do not distort as such, but it cuts the volume down for that split second where it would otherwise distort. It's terribly abrasive to your ears if you have loud bass as the volume fluctuates as much as the bass booms - like someone playing with the volume knob turning it up and down. Now with my new RH1, I was extremely happy with this unit (bought a week ago). I listened, I liked, until I reached volume 20... I noticed my music was a little quieter as usual, so I turned up to around 23 to suffice. To my utter disappointment, I experienced horrible volume fluctuations when bass was driven through my earphones! I consulted the manual and made a horrible discovery... the unfortunate European units still had their power levels gimped (at 4.5mW). Now I thought, "Oh! I'm in Australia so I shouldn't have this problem!" Wrong! It seems that Australia too is now shipped with the European model which had a 4.5mW output. I actually found this fact extremely hard to swallow and I was extremely disappointed, nearly depressed. It was an excellent unit, but not even living near Europe, I (and other Aussies) were forced to suffer a drop in power output. Depressed for the fact that I thought I had a perfect unit, but I found the drop in output power a flaw I cannot overlook. I spent a lot of money on the unit!! It may not sound like much, but here's an experiment to prove my point. Find the largest headphones you can find and plug them into your unit (RH1 of course!). - If you have a 5mW output, you shouldn't experience any volume fluctuations until around volume 27. Also it still should be at a only medium-loud volume since the unit's amplifier cannot really supply enough power to drive your large headphones. - If you have a 4.5mW output however, you will suffer volume fluctuations around volume 23, and turning up the bass will exacerbate the problem (if your bass is +10dB @100Hz, you can't turn up past 21). If you have relatively sensitive earphones, you may consider me crazy for having volume up around 20. If I were using stock earphones I'd think the same, but I've got really expensive earphones I'd really rather use instead (Sony NX1 if you're wondering). They are less sensitive so therefore I must turn up my volume to suffice. I said 5mW offered the best volume range for my earphones, but 4.5mW doesn't cut it at all. I'm extremely happy now that my unit is finally on par with all my other MiniDisc units (5mW). Out of all my units (5 of them), I considered the RH1 the worst, simply because of this 4.5mW output - that was how much it affected me. I'm sure you'd hate it too if you bought a portable audio device at a very high price (for your wage), only to realise it cannot provide the power to drive your favourite head/earphones. So in concluding: - European models all have a capped 4.5mW output, not 4.8mW. - The volume difference between 4.5 and 5mW is not really discernable to the untrained ear between Vol 1-15 (Vol 15 @ 4.5mW ~~ Vol 13 @ 5mW). - In the 4.5mW unit, the volume never really rises above 25, so 25 is nearly just as loud as 30. It is even quieter if bass is involved. (Vol 25 ~~ Vol 30 @ 4.5mW ~~ Vol 22 @ 5mW, if you're lucky). ** Most importantly: - The effects of this power cap is most felt when using relatively large ear/headphones that require a lot of power to drive at respectable volumes. - As a sound recording engineer, I can tell you this volume increase is not a placebo effect. (If you can tell the difference between 128k and 160k mp3 audio then you're into music as much as I am!) (Oh alright, I'll write up a simple table)** 4.5mW and 5mW equiv. Vol 10 = Vol 11 Vol 15 = Vol 13 Vol 20 = Vol 17 Vol 22 = Vol 19 Vol 25 = Vol 19-20 Vol 30 = Vol 19-21 - The range (eg 19-21) denotes that the volume fluctuates that much when driven at that volume. Imagine how annoying it is. ** This is assuming you're playing a properly normalised track. I love this site. I have no objections to these hacks being readily available on these forums. Keep up the great work!
  8. There is just about no difference between 256kbps and 192kbps. Perhaps the only difference you will hear is the stereo accuracy and very slight artifacts in 192k with very high frequencies compared to 256k. High frequencies require much more data produce accurately than low frequency sounds, so frequency response drops dramatically as bitrates drop. This is because each packet of data is too small and there aren't enough bits for the decoder to replicate the original high frequency sound. This frequency response is not encoder dependent - it's bitrate dependent, so it's not the encoder's fault that it can't produce frequencies that high; it's the file structure that is limiting its ability to reproduce them. The decoder won't be selective in what it processes. It will always try to process the same sound, and depending on what bitrate is used, will try to stuff as much information into each packet as possible. If it does find a frequency that will not fit into the smaller data packet accurately, most likely it will drop that part (frequency cutoff!). Each encoder will have its own algorithm in figuring out which parts to cut or compress whilst trying to maintain its highest accuracy to the original. Note also that most mp3s' frequency cut off at 192k is around 16-18kHz, which further justifies that this is not an encoder problem. The higher bit rate will always have the higher quality sound and in no way it will produce more artifacts. ------------------------------------- Here's something I can compare it to that might help understanding this issue. "0 1" means one cycle. The definition of Hertz (Hz) is the number of "0 1"s per second - cycles per second. ---------- Here is a data packet representing a sound - 16 bits in its original form. 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 - This string is fed into the encoder once per second. Assume the sound is at 8Hz because there are 8 "0 1" sequences fed into the encoder per second. This is its theoretical frequency cut-off because there can only be a maximum of 8 "0 1" sequences in one data packet. ---------- Now here's a data packet representing a sound - 10 bits. 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 - Note now that there can only be a maximum of 5 "0 1" sequences. This is the new theoretical frequency cut off of 5Hz for this type of file. ---------- Of course, with something say like 192kbit/s, there are 192000 bits to play with fed into the decoder per second, so things are less crude than my examples. This does not mean the frequency cutoff is 96kHz - sound is never so pure like a square wave as represented by my "0 1" sequence. Music is a combination of 0 and 1s with many waves at once. This is the very basic idea of an audio file.
  9. Most people don't hear the conversion from 192k mp3 => 132k atrac, which is perfectly normal. However, I am sorry to say, but a quality degradation does exist, with frequencies above 8k affected and to a certain extent the quality of spatial sound in stereo. If you want virtually no loss, you will have to convert them to SP, but just about everyone will be happy with LP2. Heck, I can't stand the slight audio degradation, but I'm sticking to LP2 simply because of the extra storage on one disc.
  10. There's a lot of things frequency response graphs don't tell, such as stereo replication and accuracy of sound to the original. Differences in the frequency response can easily be remedied through an equiliser, but nuances in accuracy, such as the dreaded "swishing" noise low bitrate files produces can't be eradicated (is it only me in this world that hears it??). Stereo replication of low bitrate audio becomes a major challenge, but surprisingly enough ATRAC3plus does a decent job at 64k - it is noticibly better than standard ATRAC. This comes from a person that can hear the difference between 128 and 160k mp3 audio . As a rule of thumb, I generally try to avoid anything below 160k, but 256k is such a massive jump it's overkill
  11. I've done a quick and brief test on this DSEE technology, and here are my findings. DSEE will improve all forms of audio formats played back from your computer. However, the improvement will be limited to the bitrates and type of audio played. The most notable enhancement turning this on is the increased spatial sensation of stereo sound. The other is the slight tweaking of the audio's frequency response curve. It is enhancing the high-end noise of around 4kHz onwards, but also making the bass sound deeper by reducing 200-300Hz frequency and increasing 80Hz and below frequencies. The most important note is that it affects *all* audio formats including the lower bitrate ones such as ATRAC at 48kbit/s. I have tested this on 48k ATRAC and 64k ATRAC and I do hear a difference. Unfortunately though the quality of the sound of 48 and 64k limits the effect DSEE has. I can certainly hear the increased spatial sensation, but not the increased high frequency response. I would say only about 5% of the general public can hear this slight improvement in sound, but it should be just audible by sound experts and audiophiles like myself. Most likely you will only hear this difference using head or earphones. And I can hear this difference using my laptop's Integrated sound card with fairly high-quality headphones! I can give you a much deeper analysis on the changes in quality when I test this using my external soundcard and high-quality earphones. So in summary: -DSEE will improve all sound played back by SonicStage, meaning it works for ATRAC, WMA and MP3. -How much you can hear of an improvement depends on the quality of the audio file. The higher the quality, the more pronounced the improvement becomes. -Typically, very few will be able to hear improvements with 48k unless you have a very trained ear with head or earphones. ---------------------------------------------- Second test using better earphones: -Upper frequencies increased from about 12kHz, not 4kHz - (perhaps someone can provide a frequency response graph?) This is based on what I hear. -Turning this on makes bass frequencies sound less grungy - it's more crisp. -Vocals are affected most in terms of increased sense of space in stereo. It utilises rear speakers more if you are using surround sound.
  12. After reading all of that, should I be glad I bought an MZ-RH1 instead of an RH10? It seems the mp3 playback is not worth it (and I also thought the remote was very scarce). Too bad the RH1 only uses Li-Ion
  13. You actually can transfer Mp3->ATRAC3 songs into your NetMD at SP mode. In transfer mode, there's a button named "Transfer Mode" at the centre of the window. Click on it and a list of modes should come up. Tt should be the bottom option (Transfer in SP mode). But I have issues with that because the quality of SP from the computer still doesn't compare with what SP quality you'd get if you recorded your songs digitally. This is because you've converted your Mp3s to 132kbit/s and SP quality is about ~292kbit/s (don't remember but it was in the high 200s). So actually transferring songs in SP mode from the computer is just about the same as transferring songs in LP2 because quality is unnoticeable in the both of them. You can check how much minutes you have left in SonicStage2 by the little bar on the top right hand corner. The time left is displayed in SP mode, so if you transfer in LP2 mode, there's actually twice as much time as displayed.
  14. I guess headphones are harder to power because they have a larger diaphragm than conventional earbud earphones. The softer the diaphragm, the more powerful the bass can be (which gives some low dynamic range) and since the diaphragm is smaller, the high frequencies are better. That's what I think anyway, but don't crucify me if I'm wrong.
  15. The volume for N707 when playing on an amp is quite low. Unfortunately, there isn't any way to increase the max volume to play on your amp. If you hacked you N707, your line out wouldn't do anything - it only increases Vol to 30 and turns all bass/treble off.
  16. I own an N910, and IT ROCKS! Some notable features are 1) Full aluminium body 2) Very slim compared to the N710 3) -IMPORTANT- N710 has a very low earphone output compared to the N910 (1.2mW as opposed to 5mW). If you don't listen to you MD on busy streets then the N710 would be OK, but that is the only major weakness of the N710. 4) Battery life of 100+ hours, using 2 batteries. 5) Comes with a backlit MC33EL (single line display remote) or MC35ELK (double line display kanji-enabled remote). 6) Comes with rechargeable NiMH gumpack battery. 7) Easy to read 3 line LCD screen. 8) Digital pitch control allows you to change the speed of your music without changing the pitch of the song. Only reasonable quality though but it's fun to listen to a song at 25% faster speed! (-50% to +100% speed) Unattractive features 1) Prepare to have a lot of $$KACHINGGG!!$$ 2) Noticable background hiss on volumes lower than 2/30. This is due to the amp and is barely noticable. The price has dropped now to about $380AUD from $600AUD when I bought it a month after release. It's the best $600 I've spent on any audio equipment. The only problem. For the lowly N710, I believe the N707 is better because of it's normal earphone output and digital megabass produces a much deeper bass than the equiliser does. My opinion anyway. Go the N910, if you've got no problems with $$KACHING!!$$
  17. I was warned about this problem when I was given a choice between the N10 and N910. I chose the N910 because it had no internal batteries so I had full control of battery power. It uses a 1350mah NiMH GumPack and together with another external NiMH 2100mah battery, I can just barely get 131 hours non-stop from it on powersave mode. It maybe your battery wearing out but I highly doubt it.
  18. But why? The MZ-N910 is one of the best MD players Sony has produced and you still want to muck around with it?? Crazy unless you are trying to fix a problem. Otherwise, I can't help you because I don't know how to get into it.
  19. People here are being mislead. Basic physics tell you that MOST people cannot tell the difference between 2.5mW and 5mW. To be able to tell the difference from 5mW to the next step, it will have to be double the wattage to hear the difference, so 10mW+ will sound slightly louder). So onto the point. No use buying an 8mW+8mW MD walkman while 5mW+5mW will sound exactly the same. The only difference maybe sound quality. People can tell the difference between 2mW and 5mW, which proves my point. I have a 5mW MDiscman and a 10mW MD walkman, and I can BARELY tell the difference in loudness. It had something to do with gain and sound quality but the theory is still true. So don't be fussed about a few mWs. 1.2mW is shocking compared to 5mW but nothing can be helped with that. But if it were between 4mW and 5mW, it's not worth bumping up 1mW if you can't hear the difference. (This reply is something out of left field but oh well).
  20. I have an MZ-N707 with an unbacklit RM-MC11 (very disappointing) but 9 months later I bought an MZ-N910 with only single line RM-MC33EL (very disappointing). But curiosity got the best of me and I tried the MC33EL on the N707 and my conclusions are: 1) All functions work. 2) A backlit remote for N707!!! Hooray!!! 3) Group search (+) enables repeat instead 4) I think holding Playmode button had no effect to enable repeat. 5) I don't remember what group search (-) did. 6) Stop is used as the [Enter] button instead of pressing the actual enter button. 7) There were some several minor details that I don't remember. If you reply in interest, I promise to give you the full results but my N707 is currently on loan to someone and my MC33EL is starting to screw up because I kept it in a aluminium box and it mucks up the buttons somehow. It's my second remote and my parents will not be happy for me buying my third! At least it works 85% of the time.
  21. I have an MZ-N707 with an unbacklit RM-MC11 (very disappointing) but 9 months later I bought an MZ-N910 with only single line RM-MC33EL (very disappointing). But curiosity got the best of me and I tried the MC33EL on the N707 and my conclusions are: 1) All functions work. 2) A backlit remote for N707!!! Hooray!!! 3) Group search (+) enables repeat instead 4) I think holding Playmode button had no effect to enable repeat. 5) I don't remember what group search (-) did. 6) Stop is used as the [Enter] button instead of pressing the actual enter button. 7) There were some several minor details that I don't remember. If you reply in interest, I promise to give you the full results but my N707 is currently on loan to someone and my MC33EL is starting to screw up because I kept it in a aluminium box and it mucks up the buttons somehow. It's my second remote and my parents will not be happy for me buying my third! At least it works 85% of the time.
  22. -3 is -10dB, 3 is +10dB 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 Bass (100-330Hz), Vocals around 1kHz, Treble (3.3k-10kHz) Generally the first 2 bars will increase/decrease bass while the last 2 will up/down the treble. Reset your custom setting to neutral (0dB on all bands) and increase the first and last bars. If the bass and treble aren't loud enough for you, then turn down all the middle 5 bands by 1 step. You'll sacrifice the volume for louder bass/treble but it's worth it most of the time without distortion. My settings are 3 -3 -2 -2 -2 -3 -2 That's the loudest bass I could get but still easy on the ears. It took me 4 weeks to get that equiliser just right. My recommendation for you is 3 -1 -1 -1 -1 -2 2
  23. I own an N910 and it's by far the best MD player I've ever owned. One thing that steered me away from the N10 is the built-in lithium ion cell. Once that cell wears out, you'll need to send it in to Sony to replace it, and I certainly don't want that! Also battery life for the N910 is better, like it really matters because both models have impressive powersaving capabilities.
  24. syko

    MZ-N910 Hissing noise.

    I only know that MegaBass exists on N707 and previous but I'm not sure about any model later than that.
  25. I've only had my N910 for a month and already I'm having problems. Whenever I turn volume down with my remote control, sometimes *randomly* it either: 1) Changes mode of play to Play 1 Track (presses Playmode once) 2) Volume goes up (!!) 3) Goes to next Group (presses Group+ button once) 4) Skips 10 Tracks forwards (presses Group+ button once) 5) Turns off sound settings (presses Sound button once) 90% of the time the volume down works properly but when things do go wrong with the remote, it does one or two of those things listed above. Last night I used the lever to change the track and "TOC Error" appeared and did an end search! It wasn't a TOC Error because I pressed play again and changed tracks to the start and it worked properly. Also, when I change tracks with the unit, it can go backwards instead of forwards or skip to tracks, but it hasn't done that recently. I've checked all connections to the remote and unit and it didn't fix the problem. I have not modded my N910 either. This issue is really getting on my nerves :evil: and I don't want it repaired (I want it replaced). What can I do??
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