jadeclaw

Old computer: Soundcard defective. I wouldn't rule out a blown A/D-converter or defective input amp. New Computer: Driver problem. Or if you have added a second soundcard, the existing on board sound gets in the way. If you do have only one soundcard physically in the system, then it is most definitely a driver problem. That's where I would look first.

Type-R is the lastest incarnation of the ATRAC-codec for SP (Standard Play). Type-S is a playback improvement for the MDLP-modes. Speaking of Soundquality, it depends on the material, that is used. However, even with the latest SonicStage version (2.3) there is still a difference between LP2 and SP/HiSP/PCM. But, that difference is small and only audible with a good set of speakers or headphones and in direct A/B comparison. So, for everyday listening or on the road, LP2 is adequate. Btw, you do can use LP2 on HiMD formatted discs when transferring using SonicStage. For serious concentrated listening and live recording, I still recommend the higher modes, especially, when the recordings are processed/edited later.

Yeah, the quality is just craptacular. *barf*

To anyone claiming, that the hack doesn't work: Use the EQ. I had no volume increase after applying the hack. Then I selected one of the custom settings in the EQ and pushed all bands to the maximum. Normally the european NH700 caps at Volume 19/30 with heavy pumping, when the volume is increased further, keeping the Volume at the same level, that you get at 27/30 without EQ. With the hack at value 113:xxx00, the pumping is gone, the volume increases linear up to 30/30, giving an equivalent of 50/30 without EQ. So, apply the hack, set it to 00, then use the EQ to add Gain. Btw, this: http://dexotaku.ath.cx/linked/md.org/2005-02-11/30-EQ-wn.png was the giveaway...

Well, what you need is a device, similar in design like the PSP, that takes HiMDs and has a bunch of video decoders on board. Sorry, nothing in sight... Advice to Sony: Start thinking about HiMD camcorders, Atvisican has created a video codec, that would allow three hours of DVD quality video to fit on a single HiMD disc.

Well, these are searchengine spiders, indexing the contents here. And since they cannot paricipate they cannot be members. And that is the reason, why they are not underlined.

Difficult? I don't think so. These things are built like tanks, brass and steel, where other makers use plastic. Some occasional rubber parts (pinch roller) is usually all, that is needed to keep 'em running. Too bad that Studer doesn't make MD-Recorders. For spares, check this document: http://www.studer.ch/pdf/support/studer_sp...vailability.pdf The A807 is in until 2010 Main site: http://www.studer.ch/ Plus, ebay can be a viable source for parts for older and ancient rigs. (With ebay, the usual recommendations apply) It is typical. Reason: The low supply voltage.

Sounds like a thermal problem, either in the power supply (dead capacitor?) or in the D/A-converter/Audio-driver. Cold solder jhoints are a possibility as well.

Atrac3 can go higher, I think, the maximum is 512kbps. RealPlayer is using Atrac3 since version 8 and can play a multitude of bitrates. But, MD-recorders are a different thing, since Atrac3 was defined here with 132/105/66kbps, I'm pretty sure, it will refuse anything else. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes, just right click on the track in SS, select 'Properties, then select the File Info tab in the following dialogue. No. Doesn't work. First, NetMD doesn't upload. Period. Second, HiMD doesn't upload anything, that has been downloaded from a PC. Not standalone. There you have SP@292kbps, LP2@132kbps & LP4@66kbps. LP2@105kbps is only possible with Sonicstage. Since it doesn't extend the playing time on a NetMD recorder, stick with LP2@132kbps. For those with a HiMD unit, 'Menu' --> 'Display' --> 'Codec' shows the Codec used and the bitrate of the currently played track. I hope, that is clear by now.

Point is, everything is fine - until you remove the trackmark between the remaining parts, so moving the remaining parts to different groups should be no problem.

Same problem here. Mine resurrects five seconds of the unwanted track. Track was exactly two minutes, cut points at 1:00 and 1:20. [EDIT] In Hi-SP as well, here it resurrects two seconds. After trying to remove the resurrected stuff, part of that came back again. Methinks, there is a problem with the resolution/minimum track length. I hope, the new recorders fix that problem. [EDIT2] I tried LinearPCM as well, here it got messed up completely. The unwanted track was there in full length and there were 20 seconds missing from the end. However, after popping out the disc and putting it back in, everything was exactly how i edited it. Retried Hi-SP, it messed it up as well, disc out and back in - everything was as it should be. Hmm, methinks, the playback side gets confused, while the TOC itself stays intact. [EDIT3] Retried Hi-LP again, of course, the recorder messed it up completely again, disc out and back in, the five second problem from the first test stayed. [Conclusion] Hi-LP-editing is defective. The playback function has a serious problem as well, looks like some pointers/data fields don't get completely updated after editing. [Postscriptum] Just for fun, I tried Standard (NetMD) mode as well, no problems at all. Nothing messed up, all editpoints ended up, where I placed them. Regardless, if it was SP,LP2 or LP4. Now I'm tired. I'm going to bed. Goodnight.

Yes, you are wrong on this one. It is LP2 with a compatibility wrapper, so that standard MD-player can read it. That is an actual fact. The rest of the sector is padded. The difference has a reason: Normally, it should be possible to label a track as non playable. But since not all manufacturers adhere to that standard, Sony decided to add a second safeguard by marking every sector as non-playable as well, preventing standard players from playing back LP2/4 tracks. So, 20 bytes per sector are lost for simple lack of planning. Of course, simply dividing doesn't work, see above.

Should not make any difference, as long as CDeX doesn't change the data, e.g. Normalizing.

Do these discs play without problems in your bookshelf system? If yes, try cleaning the lens of the E710.

Fließtext rulez!

Correctly. You see this in the fact that 105 and 132kBit have the same playing time. HiMD is different, on that 105kBit gives you longer playing times. And LP2 has nothing to do with Atrac3plus, it is the normal Atrac3.

Either the RH10 or a home deck later, I think, I'll wait a bit to see what else is presented on or after the CeBit.

And of course, NH700 and up can format the disc without a PC. Disconnect recorder from the PC. Insert disc in question, press and hold 'Menu', Select 'Edit', Select 'Format', Select 'YES', That's it. After that, the disc should work again. NH600 >D< users are stuck with SonicStage...

If your R&D-Staff is bright enough, you don't need anything from Sony, except a very detailed description, how everything works. You can even code your own Atrac-codec. (Sharp did in the pre-NetMD-era). And remember, even Sony doesn't make every part themselves. A few examples from an MDS-S38: Motors from Sankyo, OpAmps from Japan Radio, Glue Logic from Oki etc. And I'm not even convinced, that Sony makes the laser pick-ups themselves. Not necessarily. You can still make enough mistakes after the signal has left the D/A-Converter.

No, your PC does it. Plus, the MD possibly records only the top 16bit from the data stream, so that any resolution gain from the HDCD is lost. A different case would be ripping a HDCD in SonicStage and transferring that via USB onto Hi-MD in LinearPCM. If you connect then a HiMD-player via optical out to a HDCD-capable D/A-Converter, then you get back the full HDCD quality. The HDCD-information is simply transferred with the Audio-data as it is encoded in it. Slightly, if your Soundcard is true-bit capable. Since the datastream does no longer contains the HDCD-information, the resulting S/N-ratio is slightly better. (We're talking about a few dBs while the whole thing is still in the 90 dB range) Reason: The HDCD method encodes additional sound information by dithering around with the lowest bits of the signal. More about HDCD is here: http://www.hdcd.com/default.asp (Too bad, it has been eaten by Microsoft ) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Or worse, a complete D/A - A/D cycle. Only the Service Manual will reveal...

The media industry is just too greedy to allow for that... That's true. However, we don't know, what's really inside. And I'm not inclined to take my NH700 apart... Are you sure? Sony once offered an A/D converter with SBM built right in. And later DAT-recorders had it as a standard feature. Of course, SBM can be done later as well. HDCD might be a different thing regarding the position in the signal chain, but both methods do improve the quality. However, HDCD does need a decoder on playback.

That was my experience with SS2.2 as well, 2.3 reversed it. I have to disappoint you, my ears aren't good enough to discern reliably between PCM and Hi-SP. So I leave that to the young'uns... The infamous castanets come to mind... Seriously, I test it with Jazz and classical music and of course high quality digital recordings only. When Marcus Millers' razor sharp bass riffs get mudded down, then you know, something is wrong...

Ouchies! Seems that Sony was more interested in copy protection than creating the optimal system for sound reproduction. Plus, what the article didn't covered, is the fact, that the normal CD can be improved as well without losing compatibility, which makes the advantage of SACD look even smaller... And the same methods can be used with Hi-MD as well when using LinearPCM. Ok Sony, when do we get Hi-MD recorders with SuperBitMapping and HDCD-Encoder?

Well, that confirms my tests, with Version 2.3 SonicStage has taken the lead over my NH700. As with your test, the difference with LP2 was small, but audible, with LP4 and Hi-LP, it was quite audible.

Not easier. Reason: You have to convert the data format first. DSD, the data format used for SACD is a timebased vector format. Duration and polarity define, if a capacitor is charged or discharged. However, all codecs (lossy and lossless) are wordbased parallel encoders, which can't do anything with DSD. After converting, which is a complicated mathematical process, you get digital data with a resolution of roughly 22bits. Now that can be fed into the Atrac codec, which has usually a resolution of 24bits. What Atrac hasn't thrown out, will not be better than the original converted 22 bit data. Since a standard CD is only 16bit, you do get better sound, but only if you accept the additional effort to convert the original data into something useful. For that, you have to rip the SACD directly, something not possible currently, as no computer drive on the market can read that format.