tekdroid

Yep. But different designs appeal to different people. Hence different designs and colours being made available to the buying public. When all things are pretty much equal, there is no product differentiation - or choice. You must create product differentiation where there really is none, and try doing something different to your competitors. Just like some manufacturers rebrand some products made in the same factories (and sell for different prices). I always looked at the Axia brand and thought "cheap" (was it the font of the logo, or just because I hadn't heard of them... or both?). I had no idea Fuji were behind it. ILoveMiniDisc, you sure live up to your name! Some nice designs there, but I'm one of those boring people that doesn't like transparent cases and shiny plastic.

Congrats on your new purchase. Personally, if I go with flash in the future it will be the Cowon U3 or equivalent (even tho I still think embedded non-replaceable batteries and flash make no sense whatsoever). Native OS drag-n-drop (meaning wide OS support), high mW power output, flac support (frankly, the only format that matters to me), etc etc. You couldn't pay me to use SonicStage for any hardware BUT Hi-MD (a bit too tempting to ignore...)

No relatively cheap unit. Only REALLY cheap unit. At this price, you are buying a carry case, battery charger, free useless Sony music CD and minidiscs, with a FREE unit http://www.minidisc.com.au/sony-mznh600-hi...sale-p-461.html

Neither! I was basically responding to: All a bit of fun.

allow me to give reasons: * restrictive DRM * high royalties * too incremental of an improvement over DVD for Joe User (both disc-based, one is higher res. Someone please convince Joe to upgrade...) * introduction too early * cost of production (of Blu-Ray, in any case) too high * cost of "HD" displays and periphery too high and will be for some time Sure, a percentage of the market will love it / do love it. As I say, it won't get the market share they expect / are hoping for. Not even close compared to DVD. Not even in 10 years. All the while soooo many formats (computer as well as CE) will be challenging these formats (and these formats themselves WILL evolve drastically from what they are now). Wait and see. They know they have formats now about as appealing to Joe User as a wet blanket. I don't think HDs are the solution. I think robust removable media will always be needed for the forseeable. And for the forseeable, DVD will take care of that. All IMO, of course. Better products don't 'win'. Significantly better products 'win'. Convince Joe.

Blu-Ray and HD-DVD (in their current forms) are both "over", IMO... Joe User knows best, and if they think Joe will take to these formats like he did DVD, they've got another thing coming.

Bose?????????????????????? (somebody had to say it

I'd say yes. When? I'd say March(ish) announcement. Proof? I'd say I have none. But I think it'll happen.

Confucius say: Flash recorder sucky. Why no-one stock Hi-MD? Slow, wise Hi-MD.

It seems it's time to buy a superior MP3 player. Thank god for tech journalism putting me right. (link is broken, btw)

don't own the unit, but I coulda sworn I heard something about track marks being misplaced slightly when uploading legacy MDs from the MZ-RH1! Perhaps it's related.

Worse, because it's encoded to ATRAC, a lossy compression codec. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATRAC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lossy_data_compression But if you can't tell, I guess it doesn't matter. In PCM mode it is... I would find the CDs. PCM mode is what you want.

My list would be too too long... Suffice to say, U2 and Coldplay are in there.

It's a shame when the weakest link craps out on you in an otherwise fine product... They never over-engineer these days the ol' fine-tip soldering-iron-melty-repair trick ey? Nice surgery from what I can tell.

managed to snag 10 Hi-MDs in the Keilor store, plus an extra a coupla days later. Receipt seems to indicate they're 'finished' (not getting any more in, I'd say). They had one left but the package was partly opened. I rejected it. I think I've got about 16 Hi-MD now. Plenty for what I use it for. Last time I picked some up in was in February 2006 in the Bourke St store. They didn't say (finished) in the receipt back then, so I would say it's pretty final for JB Hi-Fi and Hi-MD. They have officially broken up

Sony Hi-MD units can record 94 minutes of linear PCM audio (44.1KHz, 16bit, non-compressed audio) on each Hi-MD disc. That means no lossy data-reduction has been applied to the file. In other words, no anomalies from the mp3-encoding process will be present in your recordings - because the unit itself doesn't encode originals to mp3 or any other lossy format like ATRAC, Ogg Vorbis, etc (if it matters to you). It also means that editing of the file and subsequent encoding to another (lossy) file format will not result in cumulative generational data losses (like making a copy of a photocopy). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_data_compression http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lossy_data_compression In other words, it records just like CD would. So as long as your source (mic, etc) is good, you are getting the best consumer-grade small recorder you can buy for the price. Sony also pack quality A/D & D/A converters, low-noise pre-amps, quality line-in, optical inputs, etc in their Hi-MD units (along with decent audio circuitry throughout) which shows an attention to detail that very few (no?) mp3 recorders I've heard can match (not that I've been looking hard...). Sony have made flash recorders, but not on the level of Hi-MD (relatively low price, great audio). Probably 'cause they don't wanna compete with Hi-MD, but they certainly can make a lower-end quality flash recorder. PCM-D1 is an example of their pro-level flash recorder.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archiv...1/26/2003290837 Cost-cutting, basically. First-generation Hi-MD models like the MZ-NH700 were also made in Malaysia. MZ-NH1 was made in Japan, tho. But basically it's nothing new now, and I wouldn't be too worried. Seems to me every model has its 'personality'; more design issues than quality control ones, IMO.

Ghettobox Oh isn't she pretty? Created out of necessity, really. I bought the plastic box to house the battery first. Then, the time came to fit the circuitry in there. Tight space A circuit board was not gonna fit in this box (even though I had bought all the parts for it). So, I compromised. This was done months ago so the details are a little hazy, but she works, and boy does she work good! Procedure The idea was to put the two capacitors together, acting as the main "pipe". The resistors were fastened around the fat capacitor pipe with masking tape (is there anything masking tape cannot do?). Rumour has it resistors & capacitors live together harmoniously. (I have no evidence to suggest this isn't true). So, the procedure is (very) basically: 1) Laying some masking tape of suitable thickness on the table, sticky side up. 2) Putting two capacitors on the masking tape, making a "capacitor pipe" for want of a better expression 3) rolling the masking tape around the capacitors 4) putting the resistors on each end (I guess it can be done in the one step as the capacitors. Not sure what I did...) 5) bending the wires with pliers or what-have-you, getting them to go in the correction direction for your case/ wire layout. Soldering the connections. 6) insulating the exposed wires in more masking tape or heatshrink (or whatever) : the pics show them exposed for illustrative purposes. Basically I used more masking tape to insulate the exposed wires from touching each other (making it look even messier, but hey, it works...) At the end of the day I knew exactly how long to make each wire and which direction to bend it in to fit my case fine (so these can be churned out quite quickly if I need to), but it took some work the first time around; it was more difficult than I had imagined just getting the design to fit right in the case (took me a whole day to get the wires arranged in optimal fashion and the right lengths) but by god did I learn some things The wires soldered to the audio sockets was obtained by sacrificing a good ol' CD-ROM cable found in PCs (great cheap cable for this, IMO). Improvements for version 2? The only one I really want to do is build a custom box not much bigger than the 9V battery itself. I have a soft spot for wood. Wood is good. But so far the need hasn't been strong enough for me to stop being lazy, so I'm happy to report the GhettoBox was a smashing success. Thanks greenmachine!

Ahhh, old thread.... Just a note to say I bought them ages ago and hated 'em. Bought both the Creative and Sennheiser. Definitely not what I'd call hi-fi... Tizzy treble, bass only satisfying (hmm, perhaps just tolerable) when inserted well (which the earphones having a tendency to move slightly and require repositioning every now and then to get that bass back). Stethoscope-like cable handling sounds in your ear and swooshing when wind blows were intolerable to me (first time I tried one of these in-your-ear jobbies). In short, give me regular earphones *anyday*. That said, they are better than Sony's stock headphones, if you can handle cable-movement noise and swooshing in your ears That said, there was a difference in sound between Sennheiser and Creative, though not much of a difference. Hard to pinpoint. I think I preferred the Sennheiser, though. Oh and at least one vendor on ebay was selling fakes (iHoliday), which weren't even close to what one would even class as headphones, let alone genuine but it seems he's outta action now... That about wraps up my "cheap earphones" review

Nice. If they do it, I hope they eventually put them in cartridges! But... MD (and 3x DVD-RAM in cartridges) is still far more robust than BD-RE when it comes to chemical stability (huge difference between rewrite claims). So on that level MD (and by extension, I guess Hi-MD, which they have claimed to be the same, IIRC) won't be matched, if it matters. But I think that counts for something, certainly when encountering harsh temps, long storage, and of course constant overwrites. They still need to spend at least a few years trying to severely reduce Blu-Ray power consumption for portable MD-like devices. So I wouldn't count on anything like a Blu-Ray version of MD anytime soon (next 3 years+). But who wouldn't want (an affordable?) mass-market 16+ GB recorder (and HD-alternative) in a nice portable? Yes please. And of course the potential to record in higher sampling rates / bit depths...

I assume this is a big supermarket chain? I dunno if this can offset the fact that so many so many don't stock MD, nor sell the units. Or unit Or can afford the unit on sale now. I guess muggers take what has value. Or an easy target (white..). What gives you the impression people are doing this? Music collections dying out on HD or the unit itself are an issue, only because Apple chose to encrypt the music on the device for the unassuming public, as Sony and Microsoft and others still do. The average person doesn't know what to do with this 'database'. They aren't just playable files that can be natively dragged-n-dropped and copied and pasted like their competitors offer. Speaking of DRM, this encryption is still a form of it. It's still lock-in and less convenience and incompatible formats (SonicStage cannot accept many open source formats, for instance - and the hardware can't play many formats, either). In fact, SonicStage needs a major overhaul, IMO. Or to be dropped completely (insert incessant whine). I once saw a guy with a Hi-MD. Shocked the hell outta me. He told me he bought them after they were on sale here in Australia. MZ-NH600. This was about a year ago. Sales peaking is not necessarily a sign that people have lost interest, or are losing interest in a product. If you have a source for this and them admitting music downloads are down, this would be great, too. It could be signs of a saturated market, more innovation (or colours! ) needed, and so many other variables, really. Sony (and Hi-MD, IMO) would love to live off Apple's crumbs about now, I'd think. Not that I think Apple makes anything remotely resembling the right product for me. I think most people are crazy for these tiny flash devices. Look at store displays to see how much real-estate they devote to them. MD is large, bulky...slow. A great product overall, but out of place - and riddled with years of bad experiences with bad software and DRM that Sony foisted on the public for years and only recently got sane with. This was when it had the market to itself, basically. Joe User, assuming he knows what the MD is, sees it as an anachronism and 'old technology'. Joe sees units of same size offering multi-gigabytes and blingy display. Or far smaller units offering equal or more space (for less money). Joe hands over cash. At least one follow-up model is guaranteed, IMO. Bettering current unit: Jog dial for easier navigation. AA battery. Lower prices. Better (3-line) remote with larger LCD and rolly wheel! An LCD display on main unit for better daylight viewability USB OTG support, etc. There's lots of room for improvement - even just looking at MD's speeds, which are still lethargic compared to all other alternatives, but IMO has some strange charm associated with it - as long as you're not pounding your fist to quickly get out the door with some new music IMO, if anything, the increasing rareness of Hi-MD blanks here recently indicates there is no real MD resurgence as far as I can tell. Most I can say is Sony have repositioned the unit to a different market and priced it to perpetuate its 'status' now; a niche tool for the non-general user - with the general market none the wiser about the activity (or lack thereof) in MD land.

JB Hi-Fi stock levels: http://www.jbhifi.com.au/stores/statestore.php?store=VIC Maribyrnong (HighPoint) Melbourne (Bourke St) Melbourne (Elizabeth St) -------------------- MD: Yes Hi-MD: No In the past, the Bourke St store used to stock them. Dunno if the Elizabeth St store did. I guess they are no longer getting them in. At 12 bux (RRP), I don't blame them. IMO, they are not worth getting. Good thing the blanks are pretty robust which makes re-use easy. SD cards (and so on) plummeting fast, and Sony, I think, is just doing what it's always wanted: positioned the format to the semi-pro market. Bye bye mainstream user attracted to faux silver units, shiny plastic and 5 dollar blanks

Personally, I would buy another! (if you can find them) Just curious if you dropped it Left it in the sun/cold? Played dusty discs in there (particularly dust on the shutter section of the disc)? Mistreated it in any way? My 2yo MZ-NH700 is still going good (aside from the classy silver paint peeling off so elegantly (ehm...)

was just about to pick up some extra Hi-MDs...only to be greeted with outlandish Australian online pricing. WTF? I check this thread after a long absense and all is clear: Sony has gone insane again I suppose this is all about marketing the product as a premium product in Australia again? And to offset the rampant piracy on Hi-MD That said, you bet I will be grabbing some of the last AU$4-5 dollar ones about - and never purchasing any more after I'm done 12 bucks per disc is ridiculous. How am I supposed to spread Hi-MD fever at those prices? Oh well, at least the we are in line with our US and Canadian friends now

Of course. But all things being equal, the costs of production with pressed discs versus a multi-layered disc which takes far more time to churn out (if nothing else) will still be far more expensive - again, all things being equal. Especially a disc in ultra-low demand as a pre-recorded disc. Sure, tape and recordable discs may have been used in the past (like floppy discs containing games) but the CD changed all that, and eventually reduced costs for all. No manufacturer would want to go backwards into higher-cost lower-demand territory unless there was a lucrative pot of gold kicking around there, unclaimed. The CD has been around for many years. Many companies have had a chance to lower costs on the machines used to manufacture pressed discs. And it takes more than Sony to make a successful format (as far as content goes) - it takes the support of the industry at large. Also worth noting is that Sony/Philips basically earn a royalty on every CD sold. They 'own' this format, too. So of course things are cheaper than retail that we pay, but I think CD is still faaaaar cheaper to them per unit than a Hi-MD. Absolutely many, many times cheaper. The marketing in the early ads for MiniDisc sort of mentioned recording as an "oh, by the way..." thing. The early ads were really focused on the format as a playback device primarily, recording second. Sony was trying to drum up support in the industry for the format as the IDEAL portable format. I'm glad it didn't succeed, because lossy compression is/was garbage next to the CD. Anyway, the CD was too entrenched by that time. 1991/1992 were real turning points for the CD as far as sales volume were concerned. LOTS had made the move to it by the time MD hit the market (at high prices). MiniDisc (pre-NetMD) was actually a good product for what it did. I abandoned it because I hated ATRAC and could never live with its limitations. The product was fine and very well thought-out overall, though. NetMD I never had annnyyyy interest in whatsoever. The software was garbage, the restrictions were too severe. Flash units were out (albeit with smaller storage capacities) with none of MDs stupid restrictions. Sony wasn't paying attention. Now they are outgunning Hi-MD capacities and for not-too-much money either, and with a hell of a lot easier use and smaller size, in many cases. most people eat Big Macs too, but it dosn't mean they are better than the stuff I make myself I think it's more than marketing, it's ease-of-use that Apple unquestionably nailed, and they deserve their success, even though personally I feel they do not make desirable products for my uses. I prefer native drag-n-drop and FLAC support and a decent recorder As far as playback and software/hardware synergy for Average Joe goes, they did a good job of it. It's no mystery to me, especially when comparing it to a friend's NetMD (gah!) or even today's SonicStage. Anyway, sound is unquestionably worse than CD in lossy recordings. I am not constrained by space and I should have the choice to enjoy music (and my own audio experiments) without lossy compression shortcomings (and do, thankfully). I don't think it's asking too much to say "I am not constrained by space, please let me listen to CD content uncompressed and unconstrained". The problem is: lossy formats (popular formats out now anyway) lock you in to their: 1) hardware 2) Digital Rights Restrictions 3) create generational losses if u want to convert to another (lossy) format for playback in whatever else u may own in future CD never had these problems (as long as computers and free rippers came along, that is). 9 times outta 10, I find lossy files fatiguing for extended listening, even if they are encoded very high with no immediate apparent quality shortcomings (which very few are, btw). Personally, I wouldn't dream of recording once-in-a-lifetime things with ATRAC/MP3/AAC/Ogg Vorbis, etc etc (let alone buying them). Tho I can certainly understand their utility and usefulness in some situations. Depends on your equipment and ears - and what you're happy with in the end. The industry is saving bucketloads by offering downloads online with no packaging and virtually no distribution costs, yet with heavier restrictions and worse quality (and high prices, funnily enough). I demand more (especially from a recorder capturing once-in-a-lifetime stuff). Again, luckily I have this at very reasonable cost. Can't complain, really. FLAC is a world-class audio file format, like mp3 or Ogg Vorbis, or AAC, except with no quality loss like you get with lossy audio like mp3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, etc (and no royalties needing to be paid for hardware or software that makes use of it). What goes in, comes out, basically. Audio is not compromised in any way. Much like ZIP files keep data intact, but make file sizes smaller. You get the idea. The advantages? is file sizes around 40-50% smaller over traditional WAVs that you might be working with. On the PC, ripping around 12CDs of content per DVD is a common thing for FLACheads to do to archive their stuff. Of course, FLACS can be tagged, allowing for easy indexing/sorting/searching, and are a more robust format compared to having things encoded as regular CDs (CDs are more sensitive to data corruption). Lossheads shake their heads and think of wasted space the larger flacs take up. FLACheads shake their heads at lossheads and think of quality loss. http://www.cowon.com is one of the few progressive companies that make devices that play the format. Units like the iAudio U3 are fine flash devices. Arguably the finest on the market now. Native drag-n-drop, too. You don't have to sell me on the benefits of Hi-MD Linear PCM recording, multiple input support and removable batteries and discs are the best parts about Hi-MD, to me. Big Macs were used as a reference for sales. Not quality. Absolutely. They are a content distribution company now, first and foremost. Hi-MD (and any other format) can live as long as it's the best product for the job, as far as I'm concerned. I don't much care for nostalgia if something better comes along that makes things a whole lot less stressful and/or quicker - and still high quality and doesn't sacrifice too much in the way of cost/flexibility. I'm still waiting for that affordable killer SD-recorder that can record 8+ hours of continuous linear PCM CD-quality audio (or better) with maximum flexibility and relatively low price, of course While I'm at it, I'd like free accessories bundled, too. Right now I think Sony (and Samsung, and Panasonic, and others) are faking it, hoping nobody notices. They can release a dream recorder for not too much money, if they wanted. I guess Sony are milking the lower-end recorder market for what it's worth until they get some decent competition in the field. Very few companies seem to care about high-quality (affordable) live recording. Almost all are focusing on playback... chasing the tails of the market leader. PS. In rare on-topicness, I'd like to express my thanks and praise that MZ-RH1 Hi-MD is available at SonyStyle