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http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-DMR-BW50...r/dp/B001J695O6 Mucho moneys. About 10x more expensive than a DVD burner, but they are relatively sanely-priced in comparison to the standalone CE stuff. Blanks still far too high, IMO.

Considering you may be classed as an enthusiast, that's pretty telling, don't you think? If Blu-Ray can give me lots of removable storage for cheap, I'm all for it. Right now it is failing to entice me. I never plan to buy movie content or buy dedicated non-computer CE hardware for it (tho the PS3 is the most tempting simply 'cause it does games). Let the niches hungry for movie content (or the PS3) help bring the prices down to enable cheap recorders. I was on the Cyberlink site a while ago, and one of their support pages showed a pop-up requesting required updates needing to be downloaded (presumably some AACS updates) in order to continue to play content. When I saw that, I had to laugh; there's no mistaking who is bending over and taking it just to enjoy a movie. Ridiculous. I don't care if it's once every 18 months, an internet connection and update should never be required to play a movie I have paid for, any time I damn please. I'm sure there are ways around this (AnyDVD, for instance) but all this is a big joke. HD content is great. Blu-Ray is potentially great, but I ain't playing the DRM game, and boy do I miss those cartridges they initially designed for Blu-Ray. Those were great. Those things could almost tempt me to look the other way as I bend over for DRM and high software and hardware prices Don't get me wrong, there's a lot to like, but not under the current terms of use and wallet-rape ...and not while DVD is busted open, naked and cheap. It is quite simply good enough for the masses and it will take a LOT to knock her off her perch!

Yeah, and I'm chasing two more if Sony sells these things separately (?). The MZ-NH600s I have don't come with them. I find them perfect for: 1) preventing much dust 2) an extra (albeit thin) barrier from light rain 3) unbeatable when used in conjunction with a regular Hi-MD case. See pics. 4) reducing Hi-MD whirr noise when recording (especially in conjunction with a regular case) I always keep Hi-MD units in those things and slide the pouch in and out of my Hi-MD case, as can be seen in the pics. This prevents the metal zip part of the case from making contact with the unit and scratching it. Of course, units with silver paint will peel off anyway with enough use, scratch or no scratch from the case, but that's besides the point (my MZ-NH700 looks like absolute crap, but I love her madly). Speaking of the case, I was somewhat surprised how perfect the ol' bog-standard Hi-MD case is for Hi-MD (!). 1) square pocket up-front to store headphones and a couple of MDs and/or remote. 2) belt clip 3) top 'Hi-MD' small pocket to store 3-4 spare AAs and/or an ungodly amount of gumsticks. 4) robust clips, optional 'over-the-shoulder' 'side clips' strap attachment for the times you aren't wearing a belt, or don't wish to have it on your pants. All killer, no filler. Materials are the only thing I would improve upon with this case. Everything else, great and best of all, robust after years of real-world use (rain, hot, cold, dust, you name it). Go Hi-MD-branded case, go. And her friend, the dust pouch! Protecting Hi-MD since 2005!

Not scary enough ...except those people who haven't connected to the net in 9 months Back-ups onto other optical media are easy enough (especially if everything you record is lossless on Hi-MD). Units that sound like some MiniDisc units can sort-of be found. There's no real match for classic hardware, though, which is sad, but that applies to everything from houses, cars, to cutlery to everything that was once designed and manufactured and no longer is. The magic gets trapped in time, never to return. Here's my concern: Imagine Sony never making a unit that matches the capabilities of MiniDisc in their portable audio line-up, becoming a 'me-too' copycat instead of an innovator as we have always (usually?) known them. Now that is scary.

One part of me says: "I'd be very surprised if Hi-MD's features weren't integrated into a brand-new small product soon, offering us far more storage, far more speed, far more silence, native drag-n-drop, broad lossless format support, far more "far out", while keeping all of the things we love about Hi-MD..." while the other part of me says: "the portable audio market now pretty much is filled with devices that lack in several key areas where Hi-MD wins; the market is stagnant, chasing after video, storage capacity, embedded batteries and storage ruling the roost, and I doubt the bulk market forces that exist now are even asking for the unique qualities and features of Hi-MD, so these things will never be made, we own some real gems, the market now will just make what we want more of a niche as time goes on, with the higher prices to match" Assuming the first voice wins, I will drop it and move to that something new assuming all useful Hi-MD features are accounted for and then some. It will only be worth moving to if it's better. Faster. Easier and hopefully cheaper or priced similarly. Assuming the second voice wins out, I will stick with Hi-MD for the foreseeable. That means the long haul, baby. As long as it keeps providing tangible benefits over the bulk of what's out there, basically.

Now this is surprising. What is going on in Japan? The thin, sexy gumstick battery is also on the way out? This is really sad news, if true. I had hopes that Sony (at the very least), would continue making them (bare minimum) and hopefully integrate them into new portable audio products (at least one or two). GP I was never a fan of, so I couldn't care either way, but Sony? Panasonic? So select Hi-MD models were the last products to utilise the gumsticks?

So no CD Walkmans? Connected devices are great, but I wish batteries and flash media could be disconnected on most of these portable audio devices (PSP and Sony Ericsson phone-style), for easy swaps when out and about and easy replacement when battery ages and no longer holds suitable charge. It's ridiculous that most don't. Recording from optical, line and computer sources while having a good choice of compatible remotes, on-unit gaplessness and track-marking like Hi-MD has doesn't seem like it will be achieved at the mass-market level again, unless Sony really surprise us, I reckon. I look at my Hi-MD collection and smile at just how unique and great these units are. Right now they almost seem to becoming some strange antiquity while the world+dog continues to buy largely high-capacity multi-purpose but restricted devices. Yet when push comes to shove, Hi-MD delivers, and delivers so effortlessly in virtually every way I expect them to (sound quality, editing flexibility, recording from multiple sources, portable playback, uploading to computer, battery life, replaceable media and batteries). Love them and I see that love only growing more as time goes on ...until their true successor comes out, that is

Linear PCM on the Hi-MD. Apple Lossless. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Lossless Nobody can answer that but you. The audio itself will be the highest quality you can obtain on each device, so there's nothing more you can do there. It's down to each device's sonic signature, and how they interact with the headphones and your ears (and tastes). I would place very little stock in what anyone else says about sound until listening to it myself.

Down to taste and there are too many variables (music, heaphones, taste) to give a one-size-fits-all answer on that. IMO, a good pair of good (balanced-sounding) headphones makes the EQ totally unnecessary (to me), but then I prefer a balanced sound I don't need to fuss over, and all Hi-MD units I've listened to are pretty balanced-sounding, IMO. Your tastes may vary. To me adjusting the EQ just complicates things, but good now and then to highlight or de-emphasize certain parts of a track I want to home in on, more for analysis than general listening. So I'm glad it's there 'just in case' but personally I never use it in day-to-day listening. To me it can make some tracks sound more pleasant, but as soon as I listen to the next one, there's something I want to change, so a flat (ie. no) EQ keeps me happiest.

Oh, right. That can definitely be done. I reckon it's just a matter of priorities whether something like that gets included on a portable. On PC, click to where you want to go in your player's 'progress bar', almost instant, even on longgg tracks via CD. Hi-MD units can seek through a disc pretty damn fast. I'm quite fond of the audible seeking as you hold down >>| or |<< while playing, too.

Take a look at recent SD/MiniSD/MicroSD prices. You might be surprised how much they've gone down. What I'm seeing is 2GB SD at rarely more than USD $8. That's twice the capacity of Hi-MD for such a reasonable cost. What's extra nice is the price just keeps on dropping (or storage keeps on increasing for similar cost, if you prefer), unlike Hi-MD / MiniDisc media. In Australia, they jacked up the RRP on Hi-MDs, if you can find them at retail, that is. SD is already better value here. 1GB SD can routinely can be had for AUD $7-$9 in smaller, more competitive computer stores. That's under USD $5 for 1GB. What do you mean by true random access?

A DVD holds approximately 6 times as much data as a CD. I would burn standard wavs to CD, or better yet, convert the WAVs to FLAC before burning. This will save space and you will be able to tag what you recorded in a more detailed fashion, all the while losing zero quality from the original WAV file. If you are handing out CDs to clients and it expect it to be playable on any CD player, only then make CDs, in my opinion. http://flac.sourceforge.net

...and doesn't use MTP / require Windows Media Player, unlike some of Sony's recent non-Mass Storage-capable Walkmans. ...and has greater than 5mW (into 16ohm) per channel headphone outs, please FLAC playback too.

I actually don't wish for another Hi-MD unit to be released IF they make something better to compete. Otherwise, bring any new unit out while the portable audio market remains stagnant and craptastic. Flash memory is frighteningly cheap (at least SD card and derivatives are), so my wishes would be a half-sized unit with all features of Hi-MD, including removable batteries, removable media, optical in with sync rec, quality line-in, remotes, quality mic input, track editing, SpeedControl, etc. Sony's current flash recorders with similar feature-set to Hi-MD (Ie. PCM-D50 and others) http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/product-PCMD50/ sure seem eager to avoid competing with Hi-MD as far as 'consumer model' aspirations go: *units not small enough *no Combine, just Divide *no title editing *basic playback modes Their flash recorders are not really doing double-duty as small Walkmans using a single removable battery, either; they sit firmly entrenched in relatively bulky specialist tools, not really competing with the 'acceptable' portability of Hi-MD. Of course they go beyond Hi-MD in several areas, but not portability and use as a general Walkman. Back in the heady cassette (and CD) Walkman days, Sony used to compete with Aiwa and Panasonic (and later Sharp, when MiniDisc was released), shaving millimetres and grams off their units and enhancing sound quality and features at a rapid pace. Now it seems they are content with continuing their Hi-MD as a good recording and playback tool (and credit to them for doing so) but there must be engineers in Sony right now eager to put their work in a flash-based portable recording Walkman to reach new miniaturisation (and storage) levels. One that still offers ALL the traditional features of Hi-MD and sells in the same price bracket. Don't count on it happening anytime soon; it seems Panasonic (and everyone else) is not even interested in such a device, so why should they, especially when they have an existing product to milk? Which makes it all the more special we have Hi-MD, IMO. They are unique portables. But they can go further. They just don't. As expected Hi-MD is still selling in 2008 (and I would think at least another year, to make it a 5+ year product)... but I think it's time for them to move beyond it and hopefully whatever they come out with will make the recording enthusiast excited to whip out the wallet. They can still segment their more pro-level stuff with 24bit/96KHz recording features, better build quality, integrated mics, etc. but I would love to see more progress in a smaller device targeted at Joe User.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hi-MD Have a read through under Main Features of Hi-MD. Basically, the 45 hour thing is terrible quality. The quality of these devices is excellent; you have the choice of recording in good quality (PCM) right down to Hi-LP on the units themselves. Lower bit-rates (like ungodly amounts of audio on one disc) are achieved with software (ie. cannot be natively recorded on the unit without a computer). PCM sounds the best but uses the most space on the disc. To most ears Hi-SP is close to CD quality, too. I have no doubt you will be pleased with the performance of these devices, especially with good mics (and good headphones; forget the bundled ones). Keep in mind if you buy the (flash-based) PCM-D50, you get mics integrated. In any case, Hi-MD will be a massive upgrade from what you are using now.

What do you record with now? Sony MZ-RH1 is the only Hi-MD model selling new (also known as MZ-M200 when bundled with microphone; same model tho). http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-audio/cat...product-MZM200/ If size (and slightly higher price) isn't an issue, I'd opt for the (Flash-based) Sony PCM-D50 in a heartbeat. http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-audio/cat...product-PCMD50/ If second-hand isn't an issue I'd opt for the MZ-NH700 in a heartbeat. 45 hours on one disc is the lowliest quality possible with SonicStagae (PC software). It really doesn't sound the best. 1GB per disc, so don't expect miracles.

No single remote is perfect in all areas. I like the RM-MC40ELK but it lacks buttons to quickly change between Groups that the cheaper ones have. It also isn't the brightest back-lit display on the block. Those are the two weaknesses, otherwise in most other areas it's the ideal remote, really. I also sometimes prefer other remotes 'cause of size reasons; they are slimmer and lighter. All depends on my moods and to a certain extent, what I'm wearing or how easy it is to clip it on with what I'm wearing. Do I sound like a woman yet?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hi-MD

foobar2000 can be downloaded from www.foobar2000.org It's one of those 'very powerful if you spend a little time with' apps, so it may be a shock to the system, but really, it isn't half as bad as I make it sound. Good luck.

PCM converter? I dunno what that is. You have wavs? In the dark past I have tried playing back with SonicStage, but that was really more as a try-out. Can't remember what it does. I use foobar2000; it can definitely play gaplessly. PS. Your response wasn't even posted when I initially clicked to answer pata2000. Calm down.

There are (many) reasons to stick with Hi-MD besides the gaplessness, but your point stands that if that's all that brings someone to Hi-MD (MD), then there definitely are alternatives.

don't expect miracles with Hi-MD, regardless of "usb 2.0" rating. The mechanisms are still relatively slow. ie. prepare to be disappointed.

The downside here being that embedded non-removable Flash memory still fails (more you write to it, weaker it gets) and non-removable batteries also die after a few hundred charge/ discharge cycles. For most people who don't want to keep the unit too long, it's fine, but I still see designs like this as designed for disposal. Sure, mechanical things fail (human body included), but so do chemical things, so does flash media...

recording optically real-time (some people use a PS2 for this, myself included) is another option you have for gapless goodness