tekdroid

That's the problem right there! I prefer impersonal service from merchants with no dreams who know how to pack a box quickly The musos are waiting for 'inspiration'. All jokes aside, I hope it gets sorted soon.

with pics like those, why not, seems pretty low-stress.

http://www.sonymediaservices.com/

Oh I have accepted that They are still milking the Hi-MD thing. I've stated several times in the past they can release a super-cool thing, they cannn reduce the price of flash recorders, they cannn release them without integrated mics, they cannn release them with Combine as well as Divide, better playback modes, titling, etc... they just don't; they are (in my mind) clearly milking the investment and are careful not to give flash recorders feature and form parity with Hi-MD. They like keeping them segmented. As a business, I'd be doing the exact same thing. The heavy investment they have put into MD/Hi-MD over the years deserves payback, and good payback. But that milking is getting a bit long in the tooth, IMO. And since there really aren't many of their competitors interested in the recording niche Hi-MD/MD fills, they don't really have to kill Hi-MD too soon, really. It still serves its purpose and does it pretty well. I just think that future investment in yet another spinning disc is a bit short-term with the rate of storage change going on. Unless they can offer some really compelling price (and storage) advantages, not to mention smaller disc size.

It takes a real heavy-mover (movers these days) to create, promote and successfully sell new removable storage/ CE formats, especially in light of the bulk of the industry putting heavy investment and resources into Flash media of various types. Either way, no dizzy discs in portables for the forseeable, I think. Dataplay's story doesn't surprise me. Their discs were truly mini, though. They seem to be focusing their efforts at 'trusted' computing with CD and DVD these days. http://www.dataplay.com/news.htm Sandisk's slotMusic initiative is more of the same (trying to sell limited-capacity pre-recorded stuff), though Sandisk has basically just rebranded microSD, which every man and his dog uses in one form or another (SD, miniSD, microSD). So it can't really 'fail' except as a pre-recorded format, which it will fail at dismally You can't beat the storage gains you get with flash media these days. A few years ago it was a very different story, price-wise especially.

Ultimate is subjective. Sony obviously see the market in Hi-MD; they still offer them. Perhaps not for long, but I don't think it's a case of 'thinking we're stupid' at all. Sony is a business looking to make money. They will go where the money is. That's what it's about. Stupidity doesn't even come into the equation; demand does. 5GB in a spinning disc is pretty laughable at this point, let alone 1GB, given all the competition and dropping prices and super-small form-factor with MicroSD and equivalents. A touchsccreen PMP-type device, to the average recording user, I feel, is a sub-niche (PMP use) within a niche (Hi-MD use). Then there's the issue of: 1) unit thickness / size. Keep in mind other PMPs don't need a relatively huge mechanism and space for a disc in there. 2) is the average Hi-MD user demanding PMP, or even has a latent desire for it? I doubt it. Different types of users, IMO. 3) the nail in the coffin: price and cost to Sony to offer this, promote this, fill retail channels with a puny 5GB disc, etc. I don't see huge popularity with that to begin with, let alone in 2 years+ as they support it with new units, etc. Short-term, at best. Totally not worth the r&d making a new format like that, IMO. Just release a unit that does what Hi-MD does using flash memory and be done with it. Enjoy slimmer form-factors, rapidly dropping prices on storage, etc. Go nuts.

I'm intrigued. Would you call these neutral-sounding headphones? I wish there was a place I could listen to these...

What have you done to her! Good enough reasons to replace her, anway. MZ-NH700 (or MZ-NHF800) for you. Keep in mind that even your current one can take an optional remote you can buy separately (on ebay, etc) if you want to do a quick upgrade, too. But it probably is time she was retired. Good luck.

Paint coming off? What else would you like to do that this unit does not? MIC input? Remote as standard? I think you will like the MZ-NH700 (also MZ-NHF800) because it has a sane made-for-humans jog wheel on the unit, unlike the MZ-NH600's relatively uncomfortable, unflattened, low-surface-area shrimpy and odd made-for-unhumans one. It also has a mic input for some easy live recording fun. And should come with a remote and AC adaptor standard, but you'll probably find it second-hand only. However if you want a new one just because the MZ-NH600 looks a bit beaten, I wouldn't bother, really. The MZ-NH700 will get the same way with enough use, unfortunately. Painted plastic sucks, frankly.

Congrats, but consider Hi-MD too, I would. Regardless, I hope you encounter some classic hardware you can keep (and pass down) through the ages. A lot of the older NetMD and pre-NetMD have particularly fine build quality and the format is still unique and good at doing what it does, despite notable trade-offs. Still I'm convinced that you will find something here you won't find elsewhere that will keep you hooked. Besides, everyone knows crazy is non-replaceable batteries and storage

At times I have been tempted to buy a [relatively cheap] flash-based Walkman of theirs just for a better set of earbuds (but I would sell the Walkman). The current Australian dollar-versus-US-dollar' put an end to those thoughts, tho. If only I could stay still at home! I rarely listen stationary in the house these days; I like the option to move to another room too much, even if it is for a little bit. Or simply to get away from the mess I made in one room Still, Sir Howard Stringer is listening to my thoughts, right?! He does love us, doesn't he? Priorities in order. Check! Still, I'll take both if I can The PCM-D50 is tempting (25mW+25mW into 16 ohms). Shame importing is so much more expensive now than if I did it a few months ago.

1) keep them cool 2) charge periodically (once every 3-6 months if unused) and don't let them go flat for extended periods without a charge 3) turn Quick Mode off in Hi-MD unit. This would prevent unit using battery power if the unit is left unused for extended periods; a good insurance policy for batteries sitting in the unit on the off-chance you don't use your Hi-MD daily

Nice pics. Makes me wanna go to India.

...along with a good mic for live recording. Though one hassle with Hi-MD units (and everything Sony make today) is they don't drive high-impedance headphones well; their headphone outputs are too low. iRiver, Cowon, Apple, etc all do more here. So if you are going with high-end phones with high-impedance, you may be disappointed at the max volume levels you can achieve with Sony devices, depending on your headphones. Though what you get often sounds good, every device is a trade-off in some area. ah! speaking of the PCM-D50, just noticed in the manual that the headphone output is a decent 25mW + 25mW into 16ohms. Nooooiccceee. Definitely out of the ordinary for Sony. Though really using this as a traditional Walkman is nice... but I'd probably be babying it constantly as well as having a bad back from it High-stress Walkman.

Data files can be dragged n dropped on most Windows computers. The unit will show up as 'Removable Disk'. Playable audio the unit can play can only be put on by MIC, optical inputs, line inputs and (Windows) computer transfers with Sony's SonicStage software. Some less popular units come with no MIC and optical inputs though. You can use your old ones, but you must format them to Hi-MD mode on any Hi-MD recorder you buy. MP3 can be stored as data files, as can anything else, and can be read natively by most Windows computers with no additional software. However, if you want the unit to play those MP3s without a computer, you guessed it, SonicStage, unless you are ok with transferring it through LINE or optical inputs. More reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hi-MD Not natively. FLAC needs to be converted to WAV or Windows Media lossles files (from memory) before being transferred in SonicStage. It can play them with no quality degradation tho (ie. no craptastic transcoding), which is good. Everything that goes on Hi-MD through SonicStage or the recorders themselves is encrypted tho, so you won't be able to browse the discs and see WAVs in Windows Explorer, for example. You will see HMA files (assuming you enable hidden file viewing) and other cryptic extensions. Basically as MC Hammer once said, "you can't touch this". MZ-NH700, MZ-NHF800 (the latter coming with LCD remote with integrated radio, otherwise same unit)

I was tempted to say their dopi affliction, but it would have been too predictable plus many Sony audio products are not much better than iPods, IMO. Anyway, continuing: Sir Howard Stringer...

recording-related issues.

So I was thinking about MD and its future. OK, really I wasn't and I just wanted to know: When was the last time the creator of the Walkman offered us a Walkman with headphone output more than the usual 5mW+5mW (into 16ohms)? Sometimes I wonder if Sony consider: 1) those that listen to Walkmans with big headphones with higher impedance who want higher volumes from their portables (with no unnecessary add-ons). In particular, what was the last CD Walkman and/or Panasonic / Technics equivalent that offered decent headphone output? I am totally put off by recent offerings in this department. It seems Sony wants to Play You for a sucker. Sorry, I couldn't resist that joke after seeing that page. Anyway, will the age of the higher-powered Sony headphone output ever return? Sony?

No no no, I'm talking about changes that occured in the Bible's content after the disciples were dead, right up to the present time. I don't mean to offend or insult anyone here or elsewhere (religion can be a touchy subject), but if you have some basic info (or links for more reading) feel free to PM me if you are comfortable with that. I am not very religious but I do see value in many of the stories in the Bible but nevertheless I really am intersted in the real stories of the world, most notably the silent ones very few hear about ie. the silent edits of the scribes

What I would love to know is: 1) who made edits to books like the Bible through the ages 2) which lies and/or embellishments were introduced and the times they were introduced 3) just how many of Jesus' so-called miracles actually took place I have a friend into religious stuff and he apparently says there's proof most of it is garbage, in order to lure the masses into certain religions / faiths, which I can definitely see happening (in fact it would be very unusual for those in power to not do some editing of sacred texts to benefit themselves and their church, IMO, given the natural tendencies of those in powerful positions...). Anyway, interesting post and funny lil' story.

True, frequency response is important, but tells us nothing about what lossy audio algorithms can do in other areas to degrade the sound. DCC was far better than MiniDisc in the early 90s as far as sound quality goes. A bit unfair 'cause Philips waited a while to release portables, which were really developed by Matsushita. But they knew their stuff as far as lossy codecs go.

FWIW, this is the first time I have heard of the MZ-NH900 display die on these boards. I don't think it's very common. The unit did have button weaknesses but not LCD weaknesses that I'm aware of. PS. try posting in the Hi-MD forum

Reducing electronics investments by one-third. Good, maybe now they'll bother to add FLAC and removable battery support in their Walkmans If even Sandisk has now finally implemented FLAC and Ogg Vorbis (and being open-source it's not costing a cent in additional royalties), it clearly shows someone is not trying. If anything they should be trying harder, not coasting on their name and wondering why the market and/or exchange rates are so tough. This is of course one minor part of their electronics business that can be improved in some small way, making them more desirable (IMO). The other part is the long-overdue flash recorders with MiniDisc features No comment on the rest of their electronics business. I claim ignorance. Sony, are you listening?

Yes

Great. How much were they?