raintheory

I have to say I understand hardware limitations of the NetMD units themselves... But I don't think I understand how it wouldn't in theory be possible to copy the Atrac data (audio) directly from SP or LP discs, faster than realtime with a HiMD recorder... I'm not saying that any software upgrade or firmware update to existing recorders would or could enable this... But to me uploading of SP or LP data doesn't seem like it would be impossible to incorporate at some point (maybe a future portable?).

Yep. No such testing (that I know of) has been done for HiMD. But I would venture a guess that it woudn't be that hard to calculate if you were aware of the seek times and all of the logistics of the recorders.

I think I remember reading somewhere awhile ago that the only time fragmentation on the discs would become an issue (keep in mind this was done on purpose for testing, and was with the standard MD) was if the recorder had to read 2-second bits of audio that were sequentially read alternating from the beginning of the disc to the end of the disc. If that makes sense. I asked a question awhile ago regarding fragmentation and TOC-Cloning. I could see fragmentation being an issue while trying to retreive audio from a disc by employing a TOC-Cloning technique... EDIT: When a track is erased on an MD it is in fact just taken from the TOC. That is the basis for TOC-Cloning to retreive audio data you've just inadvertantly erased. Assuming you haven't recorded anything since then... the reference in the FAQ regarding fragmentation... http://www.minidisc.org/faq_sec_3.html#_q15

This has been possible for some time with MarC's HiMD Renderer...

I'm from the states.

The reason I'm debating sticking with WMA instead of FLAC... Aside from the fact that I can import to SonicStage, Cubase SX3 which I use regularly can read the WMA lossless files directly. Initially I had the audio from Cubase converted to FLAC, but then I had to go in and convert the FLAC files to WAV before working with the project. Converting from FLAC to WAV can be time consuming when you are trying to open up recordings of 7.5 hour jam sessions.

Where did the N10 come from in the first place? I thought he was talking about his N707...

Well now, based on the autopsy... Have you determined the cause of death? Kidding aside, welcome to the forums! Great photos!

I want that 2GB disc!!! Bananatree beat me too it... it is indeed John Coltrane.

For starters, you probably don't want to let the recorder adjust recording levels automatically (AGC). Regardless of what recorder you are using, setting the record levels to manual will surely make a difference. As Matt J stated, please post what you are using to record. Mics as well as recorder, etc. Depending on the recorder, you may also be able to set the mic-sensitivity to low, which will also help out if things seem too loud even with record levels set to manual.

Does the description of the battery box state that it runs on 2 AAA batteries? I'd ask the seller, just to clarify that... 2 AAA's means that it's only giving 3 volts to the mics. Most battery boxes use a 9v battery.

Well, yes and no... You can import to SonicStage without having it automatically convert to WAV, then use HiMD renderer to convert the uploaded OMA file to mp3 directly. This is particularly useful (actually the only way to convert) if you are importing track recorded via optical-in. I realize that it's still a two step process, but it bypasses the need to convert to WAV first. Also HiMD renderer has a batch conversion so you can import numerous recordings into SonicStage, and have HiMD renderer convert all of them to mp3 in one go. The "extract" function on HiMD renderer is useful if you have transferred tracks to your HiMD via sonicstage, and then inadvertantly deleted the files from the computer, but as you noticed it will only work with files you had previously transferred from SonicStage to begin with. EDIT: Just to be clear... I think this may be the quickest way to import to pc and get an mp3. Unfortunately, for some reason Sony didn't think that uploading and converting to the most popular music file format in one step was important.

I think he's saying he wants to transfer to his RH10 and playback on the Aiwa. In SonicStage, under "Tools/Options" click on "Transfer". Now, under the transfer settings for NetMD is the setting for "SP Transfer Mode" (See attached pics). This will be compatible with older devices, but as stated here previously... This is actually LP2 dressed up like SP, or "Fake SP". But it should work.

Found it on eBay.

I'm looking to get ahold of some MD-Data discs... Preferably cheaper than $12USD a piece. In other words, if anyone has any used MD-Data discs that they wouldn't mind parting ways with, let me know. Thanks! -aA

Tascam 564 MiniDisc Multitrack Recorder (it has a digital out ) Now if only I can find some good deals on MD Data discs....

For starters, be sure that you are using the newest version of SonicStage. You can download it from the Downloads section of the forum.

Also MarC's HiMD Renderer now does the same thing as WinNMD I beleive. Freeware too. Coould possibly have been Total Recorder he was talking about. If he was referring to HiMD specifically. Though Total Recorder I think is only like $12USD.

Yeah I'd pay 20 bones for that software to strip DRM from .OMA files... I wonder what it is? Hard to imagine Sony support actually mentioning that there is software that can work around their copy protection in the first place.

I'm used to using FLAC for all my needs, but as I stated I've always had to decode to WAV first before importing into SonicStage or Cubase (can be time consuming when you have very long recordings). For most of my music editing, I have always used GoldWave which will let me work with either one of these formats just fine. I think I may try out WMA Lossless for a little while and see how it goes. I like the idea of not having to decode all of my stuff to WAV to get it to HiMD again, or into Cubase to work with it. The fact that FLAC is open-source, and WMA Lossless is closed still kind of puts me off though....

Need some advice from anyone that is familiar with both formats... Just recently I encoded some of my recordings in WMA Lossless format. Up until now I have always archived our recordings as FLAC files, and have been very pleased with them for the most part. However, now having tried WMA Lossless, I am stuck trying to decide if I should stick with FLAC, or move to WMA... Not only was the compression ratio slightly better with WMA, but I can also import WMA files directly into various programs (SonicStage, Cubase, etc.) without having to decode to WAV first, as I have always had to do with FLAC. Does anyone know, preferably from experience, some pros and cons of these formats side by side? WMA seems that it may be the more "software friendly" option, but FLAC is tried and true for me, as well as open source... Any thoughts?

Just watched a classic: Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Hard to beleive that movie came out 20 years ago.

You should be able to right-click the sonicstage icon and choose "run as..." and run it as an administrator. Alternately you can log in as administrator and then change your normal login (under control panel/user accounts) to have administrative rights.

If you are worried about losing your tags, you should try out dBpowerAMP. It has the option to keep the tags of the files you convert. EDIT: Nevermind, I just tried it and it doesn't seem to work... for me at least.

I've used the cable for our Canon Elura for HiMD as well.