larry_llama

i bet the electronics in that nexxtech ae the same as this http://cgi.ebay.ca/Wireless-USB-FM-Transmi...8QQcmdZViewItem

When this is used in your computer, does it have a driver that allows it to play through the usb port or do you have to run a jumper from the computer headphone plug to the usb-key in order to transmit audio? IE does the usb port ONLY provide power? Thanks!

After many years of minidisc love, I'm auctioning off all of my gear. I thought I'd give the heads up here in case anyone is interested in picking up any used minidisc equipment for recording (or other) use (including my home deck with optical out): http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZseancb Sold now... thanks!

These units sure look slick. But it's another case of 'too little too late'. Where was sony YEARS ago with the backlit on-unit displays? These will be great for live recording with PCM/backlit display, but there's still the limitation of not-much-faster-than-realtime uploads. After wrestling with music transfers with a NH700, I've come to realise that Sony never USES any product they make. If anyone at Sony let the HiMD hardware and its related software out the door after actually USING it, they should be fired. It's a human usability nightmare. Hopefully the nes SS software is not as horrendous as the existing stuff. Regardless, the speed limitation is that of the actual disc and not of the software. I have to say, what's the point... especially with devices like this on the market: That player to the left of the MD in the photo is a 20GB HDD mp3 player with colour screen AND the ability to record straight to wav through a line in (with "backlit" meters on the screen). Transfers are at USB2 speeds with no special software required. In addition you get the fun bonus of being able to watch divx movies on the screen or through a video out to TV. This is just an example of where we are headed, and while I've been an MD supporter for many years, I'm afraid that it's days are numbered. And sadly, Sony's alternative portable music players are just not up to snuff with the competitors. Anyway, these new units sure are nice.. I just kinda wish they'd brought them out a little earlier. Sony used to be the innovator.. and HiMD is certainly an innovation when it comes to MD technology, however in the grand scheme of things, they do not do anything brand new (i.e. for each feature on the HiMD, you can find at least one non-md device that has it too ... if that makes any sense).

Does SS still have the bug where the upload fails causing you to lose the recording? Or has that been fixed in 2.3? Any info is appreciated!

Yes, but let's say I want to search for threads about Sharp players in a particular forum... I could put a title search of sharp, and be sure that every thread that's returned is actually ABOUT sharp, rather than someone in some random thread saying "that's a sharp knife you are wielding"... you wouldn't HAVE to know the entire title is all i'm saying...

yeeeahhh... hmm. BUT! I say that if anyone puts a useless topic title then it's their loss, cause they won't get experience the pleasure of my posting in their thread! Suckas!

The search page seems to have only two options... 'search title and body' and 'search body only'... This seems quite useless! Shouldn't it be 'search title and body' and 'search title only'? I want to limit the search to ONLY threads whose main focus is a certain topic... and not get results of where someone has mentioned it in a post to an unrelated thread is it possible to add title-only search? thanks!

So if I understand correctly, you could NOT do this: 1. record in PCM to HiMD through the analog line in 2. connect HiMD to desktop PC via USB 3. transfer the track to PC (results in an ogm file) 4. put that OGM on your laptop via network or some other means 5. play back OMG file in sony's software player on the laptop So basically you can never delete the HiMD or else you lose the ability to play that file back as soon as it leaves the computer it was first uploaded to...? like if you have to reinstall windows for example then you are SOL? thanks for clarification

can someone upload to somewhere an ogm file that was transferred from a himd that was an analog pcm recording? it only has to be a few seconds long, and contain some audible signal. i'd like to take a look at it... thanks!

i assume that the 900 does not show level meters on the remote though... seems like its an nh1 only thing?

great news on the backlight.. so is the unit backlit? or did they put the level meters on the remote? does anyone have a picture? I hope the upload thing gets fixed somehow. I can already transfer digitally in real time... and I'm sick of it! thanks for the info guys! -LL

I see that all models are now trickling into consumers' hands... can any owners answer: - Does any model have backlit level meters (i.e. meters on remote OR backlit main unit LCD)? - Can you change record levels manually? and can you do so whilst recording is in progress? - Can you easily upload PCM recordings to PC in wave format? And how long does it take? Any links to detailed reviews/pics would also be appreciated. Thanks to all the pioneers out there buying the first gen machines! -LL

Sorry, I was talking about portable units. I have a deck at home and it is amazing.. The home decks have always been great. The portables have just been.. well.. annoying to use.

All I have wanted since the dawn of MD was a unit with backlit record level controls and a recorder-friendly user interface. They have never gotten it right, and I'm afraid they never will. Sharp came much much closer (minus, of course, the backlight -- hopefully they will pull through with that in their HiMD offerings). You know what else... they should have put a lossless codec chip in there for the PCM recording. You could get at least 60% compression (sometimes more) and then you could fit over two hours of cd-quality on one disc. If only the iRiver iHP series did not have those recording glitches, else I could abandon MD forever. Don't get me wrong, I love my MD -- I really do.. but in the age of usb2.0 and cheap hard drives, it's really becoming obsolete fast. I'm starting to think that HiMD is too little too late. I'll probably stil BUY one mind you, but seriously.. stop wasting our time Sony.

I'm surprised that someone without the patience to use complete words would have the patience to navigate 30 menu levels to start a recording.

why is it that no one even has a prerelease unit for review yet? and if someone does, i need to know if any of these damn things have a backlight on the unit. my guess is "no".

but does sonic stage 2 handle PCM uploads from HiMD? Has this been tested?

If there is no way to get wav's from the mic recordings out of the box, give it a month and I'm sure this will be hacked: "All recorded audio is placed in a collection of ".hma" files (of unknown format) in a single directory on the MD. One large .hma file contains all the audio-data, the other files are for index-data & titles. These ".hma" files can be freely copied back to the PC hard drive, but no subsequent playback of them is possible. (They present fertile ground for further investigation however). " ... take a simple wav file and record it optically to the MD, then transfer that HMA back and compare the files. willing to bet that the hma is basically a wav with a different header.

I read this: "By also adopting a non-compressible, linear PCM recording, “Hi-MD” compatible products enable users to enjoy the recording and playback of high-quality sound, close to the quality of commercial audio CDs." Here: http://www.minidisc-canada.com/pdf/SonyHi-MDSpec.pdf and wonder why the HiMD PCM uncompressed recording is merely "close" to CD quality... does anyone know why this is stated in this fashion? I am DYING to read some reviews of these units!