mmp64

Could be. Many people feel that real-time recording is superior to SonicStage. Have you tried a HiMD unit with a High-Def Digital Amp (MZ-NH900, MZ-NH1)?

You've probably said this somewhere else - but what Codec are you using - and what is your source (i.e., MP3, CD, etc. etc.).

Has anyone else had issues with the sound from the HiMD units? ←

I have both - and have found myself drawn back to MD because of sound, (MZ0NH900 vs. NW-HD1) and because my library easily exceeds 20 GB even at LP2 - so the general lameness of SonicStage makes managing music on the HD unit tedious. Not as much of an issue when making 1 GB (or smaller) discs.

I've owned both. I ultimately sold my Jukebox and went back to MD (though now I also use the Sony HD player - NW HD1) - but the primary reason I did so was sound. I felt that MD just sounded better - and I was comparing 128K MP3 to LP2 (132K). I would listen to my MD on the bus, and walking to work, then listen to the Jukebox once I got to work. Really, though - they are two entirely different machines for different uses - it might make more sense to compare the Creative Jukebox to the current line of Sony HD players. Most importantly, the MD unit you are referring to is also a recorder, meaning you can record from virtually any source - mic, DVD player, radio, etc. etc. - then upload the file to your PC. Can't do that w/ the Creative unit. But that may not be important to you. The Sony HD players probably sound better than the Jukebox - but Sony is the loser in the software department. There is a great program called Notmad for Creative units that puts Sony's SonicStage to shame. Another point - the 2nd generation of HiMD units will be released shortly and will support MP3 natively. The 900 still transcodes MP3 to ATRAC - if that's important to you.

Yes, it is a feature in SS 3.0.

I have all three - and I've done fairly extensive testing - to me, they sound very very similar. If I was forced to rank them, I guess I'd go: 1) HiMD Players 2) HDD (NW-HD1) 3) Flash

Question: After this has been completed, how do I then *require* (a/k/a Force) Sonicstage to select the ATRAC3Plus version of the song for copying to my device? SS 3.0 does this. You can force downsamples, cross-samples (between ATRAC3 and ATRAC3Plus on-the-fly) - choose to save or not save the resulting files etc. It's all in the various transfer settings dialogue boxes I believe what you are looking for would be the "Specified Bit Rate Transfer Mode" option.

looks like we can record MP3 onto hi-mds!! recording time: 5 hrs. 4 hrs. 30 min. looks like we're stuck at 128kbps recording folks I don't think so... "Spring 2005 marks the addition of another format for Hi-MD playback: industry-standard MP3 now joins LinearPCM and ATRAC3plus to offer a wider choice than ever." Everything I've read leads me to believe MP3 support is playback only. And - it looks like SonicStage will not encode MP3s -

Good: It's gapless. Bad: Can't normalize.

For what it's worth - MoodLogic has a feature that automatically transfers MoodLogic playlists to SonicStage (as a compilation album). ModdLogic isn't really a traditional organizer like MMJB, Real or Media Player, but it has some interest features if you have a large library. http://www.moodlogic.com

Two words - "Gapless Playback."

"...the Hi-SP modes and Hi-LP modes just suck... the sound quality is low. I think Hi-SP is even worst than most of the mp3 at 192 kbps... " I am so tired of the rubbish I read on this board about MD and Hi-MD - I think I'm giving it up (the board, that is, not MD). See you all later.

sonystyle.com bestbuy.com Some radio shacks have them in stock.

I think they are full of doo-doo - the blank disk is in the plastic shipping container and is put in there by the manufacturer, not the vendor. Unless I am totally wrong.

re: refs to 3rd party software...I use (or should I say used) Notmad to manage the files on my Creative Zen. It was far superior to the music manager written by Creative, and it cost about $20. I would LOVE to see those guys write something for MD.

1) What I meant was re-rip... I of course realize that it is re-encoding to go from 256 to 48. 2) If your library is recorded at any bitrate, you can select a transfer mode of "Minimum Bit Rate Mode" (48K) and it will downsample on-the-fly. What they should do is enable you to select any bitrate - not just force you to 48K.

I meant to say that I've encoded most of my library in Hi-SP, not Hi-LP. Sorry.

I've encoded most of my library in Hi-LP (after much experimentation) - and have made "artist-only" MDs (mostly using Hi-MD blanks). However, I've recently become fascinated with the possibility of putting 50-60 CDs on one Hi-MD at 48K, and have found that for certain kinds of low-volume listening (both headphones and PC-quality speakers), it is acceptable. So I've made a "Desert Island CD Mix" of 57 essential CDs, "Classic Rock Essentials," etc. etc. I plan to have them on me at all times, as sort of an emergency backup. Of course, I still have my Hi-LP discs for when I want to really listen to something good, at high volumes. The other nice thing is that I don't have to re-encode, I just use the "minimum transfer mode" feature. Of course, if you try to crank up a 48K MD....

I stand corrected. I just bought the one and only Hi-MD blank at Radio Shack at my local mall. Then I ordered 7 more from their warehouse - free shipping.

Yes, well unfortunately, Crutchfield is out, and I've never seen any at Radio Shack where I live.

I've bought a lot from BestBuy.com

"...the topic has just been bastardized by the media so much as of late that people are afraid to touch these new units - or any of Sony's music playing portables in general." So true. The sad thing is - Sony more or less invented personal audio. I got into MD in 1999 - where was MP3 back then? I mean, it was around - but the devices really weren't. I've read so much rubbish on this and other boards about MD that I really wish I could bring myself to stop looking at it. It just depresses me.

But that's not really a DRM issue - that is a format issue. There are some advantages to ATRAC (the ability to edit files - split, combine, etc. - directly on the unit, for one). In an ideal world, MD would support both ATRAC and MP3. But I often wonder at what price. For example - fragmentation. I believe currently there is one large file on each disc, which negates the need for framenting the disc. I doubt MP3 would support that, nor would it support the things I mentioned above (I wouldn't think). It would also make for confusing documentation - akin to that for my Panasonic DVD recorder, which supports RAM and DVD-R, each of which support different functionality. But I think they have to go there, really.