mmp64

This may seem sacreligious (sp?) - but since you like your R50 so much - how about getting another one on eBay. Don't know where you are but there are five out there right now for an average price of $50 or so... It of course would not be your security blanket, but you wouldn't have to get used to a whole new machine.

Mine was a legitimate Sony battery purchased from Minidisco. I assumed that it was because I left it in the cradle after it was done charging (that was the opinion of someone on this board) - which to me is a design flaw. When it's done charging - it should be done. It is kind of unrealistic to expect a consumer to constantly monitor a unit to see if it still says "charging" or whatever. But whatever - I can still use the original batter that came with it, and I don't use it much as a player anymore anyway. I mostly use it to record, and when I do that, I use AC power.

Yes - I had the same problem. I almost destroyed my unit removing the battery (I definitely destroyed the battery). It will no longer charge using the cradle, but it will charge using the AC adapter.

You are not really downloading, you are recording in real-time. I'm assuming the device you are using is a USB audio device, so make sure that you have your "Audio Playback" properties in Windows set to "USB Audio Device." Then make sure all of your levels in Windows are set properly, nothing is set to mute, etc. etc.

In Sony's view (a maker of Windows PCs) - Windows = 97% market share, Mac = 3% market share. Actually, one of the reasons I moved away from Mac many years ago was because I was so into MD - this was before iPod reall took off.

Just because its like making a copy of a copy... the quality gets worse with each ensuing generation.

If you are not an audiophile or using high-end headphones, my recommendation is to transcode at HiSP (256) using SonicStage. I doubt very much that you will be able to tell much difference from the original. Just experiment and see what works for you - but going from reasonably encoded 192K MP3s to HiSP should yield pretty good results. Yes, I know this is not the best method for achieving the absolute ultimate sound quality - but it really depends on what kind of music it is, how you are going to listen to it (and where), etc. etc. You must also take into account the amount of time it would take to do some of the other methods described in this post - particularly for large numbers of files.

Then we'll need to give it some kind of inscrutible Sony name - NZ-MWS-50 or something like that.

Yes, I think you are correct. It is inevitable. BTW - I have come up for a name for this non-existent product: The PDR-1 (Personal Digital Recorder).

"Look at their PCM-D1, it's their (artifically expensive) version of what they can do, but I doubt they wanna kill sales of Hi-MD. Track division on the unit, but no combining. Date/time used for naming of WAVs. No horrible SonicStage." Yes, that's kind of what I was talking about (didn't know it existed) - but don't really like the form factor/looks - or the use of proprietary memory sticks. I was thinking more like a thinner, smaller MZ-RH1 - but not so thin that you couldn't work the controls.

I had a thought that it might be interesting to combine the best aspects of the MD world with Flash technology - basically create a portable flash-based recorder with both embedded memory (say, 4 GB) plus removeable memory (SD cards), with the highly developed feature set and UI of the MD world. I realize that there are Flash-based recorders out there - but I suspect they don't have all of the cool features of MD (i.e. - timestamps, easily dividing and combining tracks, etc. etc.) I envision literally using the same UI that currently exists in MD. In addition to some obvious form-factor advantages, there would be improved transfer speeds, improved compatability, and greater market "understanding/awareness." Any thoughts? Of course, it would not really be MD anymore, because there wouldn't be any discs...

Unfortunately, I think eBay is your best (and probably your only) bet. I saw one the other day, actually (for the MZ-NH900). Set up an alert so you'll get notified when one posts.

Rule #1 - Never bother calling Sony support, they are worthless. SONY - if any of your Product Managers ever read this forum, which I'm told they do - YOUR CUSTOMER SUPPORT DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO SUPPORT MINIDISCS, or any ATRAC device for that matter. 1) Run SonicStage 2) select "Transfer" (if you have to to see the contents of the MD) 3) Select the track(s) you wish to transfer 4) Click the Orange arrow pointing to the Left (Transfer to My Library) 5) That's it. If you like - you can have it import the file as a .wav - click on the little suitcase icon, then "Advanced"

One more thing - very important (at least to me) - the Hi-Def Amp.

Apparently, MP3 playback is much improved, if this matters to you.

That's cool from a technical perspective, but I guess my question is - why would you want to? Whst would be the advantage of doing that vs. just ripping the CD in SS to begin with?

Another issue is music management - if you have a lot of songs (10,000+) and you like to make different mixes - MD isn't very good for that (really SonicStage isn't very good for that) compared to iTunes. Even with the recent additions to SS of ratings, intelligent playlists, etc. it is still a much bigger deal to create and transfer mixes to MD that it is to sync an iPod. However - I still think MD sounds better - so I still use it from time-to-time for listening. And recording of course.

I totally agree with everything you said. I use HiLP when I playing stuff at low volumes on little portable speakers. I use HiSP for "close" headhpone listening. HiSP on my MZ-NH900 is about as good as it gets for compressed digital audio on a portable device, IMHO.

Yes, I agree. Based on my understanding of similar features in previous versions of SS - I think ATRAC3+ 256 is ATRAC3+ 256 - there is no difference in audio quality between "high" and "normal." I think they mean that there is more of a possibility for a read error with "normal" because there is no, or less error correction than with the high setting. By definition, a read error would produce a "lower quality" file <i.e. - a click, or skip, or whatever>. I do not think it means that, for example, the cymbals sound crisper. I would chalk it up to a less than optimal translation from the original Japanese.

I can confirm this is what happened w/ me.

"Newer Sony units like the MZ-RH10, MZ-RH910, MZ-E10, MZ-N920 have a different digital amp than the HD inclination, and it's just dubbed "digital amp". This is mostly in the power-consumption sense, and carry NO benefits towards the sound." Are you saying that the "Digital Amp" in the RH10 is equivalent to the HD Digital Amp in the NH-900? Or that the HD Digital Amp is superior to the amp in the RH10, and that the value of the amp in the RH10 is mainly one of lower power consumption vs. an older analog amp. I have a 900 and it is by far the best sounding audio device I have ever owned. Unfortunately, it will no longer play off battery (doesn't matter what battery) and am considering getting another unit, but I want it to sound as good. If the 2nd Gen HiMD units don't sound as good, I'll go for one of the Japanese market units (MZ-E9H30 - http://www.audiocubes.com/category/Home,+P...sc_Player.html) Thanks in advance. Never mind. That was a stupid question in retrospect. "NO benefit towards the sound" means it doesn't sound as good as the HD amp.

I'm talking about the fact that you can buy kits for almost all factory and 3rd-party car stereos that will let you control your iPod from the head unit, and charge it. Many new cars are coming with this feature standard. Hell - even Sony makes an iPod kit for their car stereos. That's a lot more than just plugging a cord from the headphone jack to an aux input. Not to mention literally thousands of other iPod-ready gadgets and accessories - everything from clock radios, to skins, cases, etc. etc. Rememember - I'm talking about the general public's perception - not what's "right" or who's better. You walk into Target and see a whole row of stuff for iPods. Besides - as has been said many times before on this board - comparing MD to iPod is somewhat pointless - you can't record on an iPod.

Game, set, match. At least for now. If Sony can come up with something close to iTunes to match up w/ their superior hardware, then they might have a shot (I'm not talking about MD - that is now (and really always was) a niche market. The kinds of things you can do w/ Smart Playlists in iTunes - it just isn't there in SS. It sounded like they were going there w/ Connect, but that appears to have imploded. The other big problem Sony has is the HUGE third-party market for iPods - the integration with car stereos, accessories, etc. etc. I'm not sure they can ever catch up, honestly. It's too bad, because we all have huge investments in Sony hardware.

Just did some quick Christmas shopping at the local Mall & Circuit City here in lovely Pittsburgh, PA USA - and I think I saw a grand total of 1 NW-HD5, a couple of "Circ" flash players and a couple of the NW-E407 ("Tube") flash players. Oh, and one $200 MZ-NH600D at Sears. The Sony stuff was buried behind a bunch of Sandisk and Creative units. iPods have their own aisle, of course. Sony - what are you doing?

What version of SS are you using?