raintheory

Thanks for all of the input guys. I think I will be sticking with FLAC after all. Not only because we use multiple platforms for our music production, but also because it seems more versatile, and I hate Microsoft. Seriously though, very good points, and I don't want a future update of WMA to not be compatible with files that were encoded previously. Open-source is the way to go. Thanks!

I just compared the CRC32 and MD5 values of a WAV file before and after transferring to HiMD and then transferring back to PC: The values are identical.

Good call! I'll look into this if noone else does.

The user-defined auto track marking I think only applies to mic-in recordings. From my experience even with that option off, anything recorded thru line-in or optical adds a track whenever the level drops for a few seconds. I'd like to know if theres a way around this too actually... We record sometimes using S/PDIF optical and it does the same thing when we stop playing even for just a few seconds.

HiMD also works just fine as an external USB drive on a MAC.

Yeah really... Unless they are just downright spiteful, and hate their customers.

Short answer... Nope. The PC>NetMD link is a one-way street, hardware wise. No software updates can change the NetMD unit's hardware to enable it.

I would think HiMD recorders could play back Atrac3+ at whatever bitrates they can playback mp3's... For second generation models that is... Just a guess really on my part, but that's what I would assume.

Also, in regards to your initial question. If you are able to hear the music, or at least see that it is in fact coming into your computer... you might be able to record it using Total Recorder. Might be worth a shot, and a bit cheaper than a new soundcard at that . A few people here in the forums have used Total Recorder to record the digital signal while playing back their HiMD through sonicstage.

you can add the pic as an attachment, much in the same way you would add an attachment to an email. theres an option when you are posting that lets you add attachments.

Yes, and interestingly enough, you can even transfer tracks transferred in PCM (e.g. via SimpleBurner) and upload them to any other PC running SonicStage 3.4, you can then convert to WAV with SonicStage. Puts a whole new spin on HiMD. I'd like to see all of the iPod fanatics try to trade songs with one another.

I would like the ability to edit tracks transferred to HiMD. For example, I have an awful lot of extended jam sessions recorded on my PC that I like listening to on HiMD to try to pick out parts to mix down into actual songs. It would be nice to be able to place track marks and skip to those points easily rather than having to write down the time and FFWD to it to hear it. Wouldn't be such an issue, but we have a tendancy to record quite a few hours in one improv jam session...

You can also transfer to as many computers as you please with this version. Not that you couldnt do that with some previous versions, but this one includes this functionality not only with self-recordings on the unit... But also tracks transferred to the unit via SonicStage.

Well see I kind of like the group recording on the unit itself... It seems that SonicStage 3.4 renames any untitled groups temporarily while transferring (to HiMD and the date and time) and places the tracks in their respective group folders in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\SonicStage\Packages\ (I say temporarily because I uploaded on a different computer after the initial upload on this one and the groups were untitled again, but on the initial upload it showed them renamed in the device panel of SonicStage) Previous versions simply placed all of the tracks in the HiMD folder in that location. If I get into the habit of naming the groups instead of the individual tracks, then this could be a blessing in disguise. I'll experiment and see what I can find out though. Perhaps if I move the tracks from the groups prior to uploading it won't do it. (fingers crossed)

Yes I tried this one again just now using an mp3 transferred to my RH10, as well as the same mp3 converted to 192kbps Atrac3+. When attempting to place a track mark in the track the mp3 stated "Cannot Edit", while the Atrac3+ track stated "Trk from PC no edit". You can however edit the titles of the tracks... But cannot split the tracks. EDIT: These were both transferred just now by SS3.4

I noticed as well that when transferring tracks from HiMD (even mic-in tracks) SonicStage 3.4 will create separate new folders for each group on the HiMD... Rather annoying.

Nope, unfortunately you still cannot edit tracks from PC... I for one would like to see that feature added at some point as well, there have been numerous times when that would have been extremely helpful for projets I was working on..

Windows Media Player can play OMA files just fine. At least it does on my computer.

Holy Crap! LOL!

Just thought I'd mention that I am testing some features at the moment: I transferred a CD to HiMD via Simpleburner in PCM format, which I am now transferring to a different computer via SonicStage 3.4 I also did this on my RH10 with a couple mp3 files that also transferred to the other computer (directly as mp3) without a hitch. I used MarC's HiMD renderer to convert the PCM/OMA tracks to WAV and it worked fine... EDIT: Just checked and SonicStage itself will convert OpenMG(PCM) files (e.g. from SimpleBurner) to WAV by itself. I initially thought this wouldn't be supported.

I'd love to meet the person that came up with that.

Don't forget that there are pre-recorded minidiscs out there that Sony would have to worry about people uploading as well...

Either way, I'm content in knowing that I can always use either of my MD Pro decks to get a digital recording off of SP/LP discs, albeit in realtime.

I would say as long is it's not a grinding or squealing noise it is probably just as you stated... The laser repositioning itself. Now if you can hear it while the unit is in your pocket and you have the headphones on and the music up .... That is another story altogether.

My guess is that they would make it sound worse because mp3 is not their format. Either that or they are just using the ATRAC engine to decode Mp3 as well (which probably wouldn't sound as good as a dedicated Mp3 one), and don't have a separate Mp3 decoder in the unit at all...