jadeclaw

Hmm, I say Focus or Laser Power has to be adjusted. After looking into the Service manual, I conclude, is has to be done by a trained and experienced technician. Or use the R90 for mobile playback and the R50 for recording.

I'm pretty sure, that the Atrac-only players don't have the software on board to play MP3. Hardware-MP3 players require a licence and since cost is such a big factor, I highly doubt, Sony will buy a licence to include code, that is possibly never used. Drag and drop of Atrac (omg/oma) files is NOT possible, SonicStage has to be used. SonicStage is to a HiMD recorder, what Nero is to a CD-writer. Finally, the division between music and other data on a HiMD disc is done by a table of contents. THe music is in a fat file plus a few index files.

You remember my post from the previous page? The program memory must be flash progammable and there must be enough free space in it to hold the software for the MP3. We will know, when we see the service manuals. And there is the advantage of the HD1. It has a harddisk, that means tons of space for firmware extensions. So it would be no problem to add OGG, AAC, FLAC, Apple lossless, VQF and almost everything else you can think of...

@MZ-NH1: SonicStage doesn't check for updates automatically. You have to go to the website and start the download yourself. Backup your Library!!!! Finally, If you want to edit uploaded material, edit it before you do the backup, as these tracks are no longer editable after running Backup.

Another SonicStage bug: After backing up the database, it is no longer possible to edit uploaded files - SonicStage sucks. I'll try the 2.2 over the next days, if the problem still exists. Until then edit your tracks either before uploading on the recorder or edit after upload before backing up the database. Another violation of basic computer rules...

A cheaper, more compact alternative to the well known Marantz recorder. I think Edirol sets a precedence here, despite the low running time. It offers the flexibility, that everyone expected from Hi-MD.

Use atleast Atrac3+@64k, better use Atrac3@105k. 48k sucks... - In addition, Atrac seems to be a bit sensitive about compression artefacts already present in the source material, especially at low bitrates.

I've had this with SS 2.1 a few times. Push the open lever once to the left while holding the recorder closed, the disc is read in again. In addition, if it is persistent, remove disc, unplug recorder, close SS, restart computer, then start SS, when it is fully loaded, plug in the recorder, then insert disc. Usually, the disc recognition is more reliable, when the recorder is plugged in after SS is fully loaded.

poltran.com makes this out of the original text: In other words, Poland gets the Wave-Converter in November and the new NetworkPlayers can play MP3 and SonicStage will transfer MP3-files without converting onto the NW-E55 & NW-E75. But that Europe gets serviced from the east first seems to be the new Sony strategy. Remember, the NH600 was available in Moscow before it hit the stores in Western Europe...

Cassettes. Arrgghh! I hated it. fifty to 100 runs and they deteriorated quickly. Then tried DAT. Worse. Fifty runs, then 4 bucks off in the trash... For me, MD was a godsend... Oh, and welcome to the Forum.

You're guessing wrong, the discs are playable anywhere. The player must only support the disc format. That means, 1GByte and Hi-MD formatted discs play only in the new units, NetMD formatted discs play in old equipment as well.

@ Kaotic: That doesn't work. NetMDs *CANNOT* upload onto the PC. And MDs recorded on old equipment cannot be uploaded with a Hi-MD recorder too. Way to go: using a functioning MD-player, preferably a unit with line-out or digital out and going with that into the soundcard, then record with a suitable software, Audacity or Goldwave for example and then import the resulting files into SonicStage. Only problem, it is realtime. Alternative: Return the NW-HD1 and exchange it with a MZ-NH700 or better, it plays your existing discs right away and when you record through Mic/LineIn/Optical, you can upload it and download it on a unlimited number of discs. Plus, it takes the new 1GByte discs, giving you nearly 8 hours per disc in very good quality. See here: http://www.minidisc.org/part_Hi-MD_Sony.html

HiMDRenderer will definitely not work with 2.0, different fileformat from 2.1. In addition, the 2.0 is a bit flakey, on my comp, it crashed by the minute (Athlon XP2500+ with nForce 2 chipset). From that, I suggest to go with the 2.2.

Compared the version no.s: only three things have changed: The main app, the connect upgrade and the CD-R writer. I hope, it now is able to work with my DVD-writer. The transfer rights shouldn't have changed as the OpenMG module is the same. From the stickied thread: Dex: 150 tracks and no trash, HiMDrenderer still works too - Sounds good.

Technically yes, but since that piece of software is © Sony Corp. it would be theft, so including it into any software package would be illegal. We must work with what the OS/SonicStage supplies or we have to create the pieces needed on our own. They definitely know, what is going on here, they know the issues with SonicStage, but the fact, that Sony is also a media company leads to a certain type of thinking, that prevents them to supply the solutions, their customers actually need. Sony still is unable to see the simple fact, that MD users and P2P uploaders are two completely different groups, that have almost nothing in common. And finally, Sony listen up, neither the occasional swapped MD or CD nor P2P is the problem, in fact the music industry in its self is threatened by two new movements: First, self distribution, the music industry is no longer necessary to create and sell music. Just for the photokina trade fair, a small cd/dvd production station has been announced for less than 3000 bucks, it writes the data and prints the label on the disc in one go. In batches of up to 25 discs. Add an internet shop and your record company is ready to start. Second, the real piracy problem lies in Asia. In Bangkok/Thailand there is a complete department store for pirated software and music. A complete office pack goes out for less than 5 bucks. Yep, right in the city center. It wouldn't surprise me, if they have the complete Sony software line in stock as well...

One recommendation tho, stay away from Memorex... My first Sony and Maxells still play like new - ~8 years old now.

Ok, we have one feedback, if more members find missing parts and bugs, post them here.

No wonder, some of them write at 48x. However, the sustained transfer rate to and from Hi-MD is limited by physical properties of the discs. That won't become faster with home decks or PC-drives. What will improve, are the seek times. But the stronger stepper motor needed for that is unusable, when you have to save energy. So, using USB-power to speed up things won't work. Corporate speak. As usual. Atleast they promise something.

Actually, you have Line-Out, except for the lower level compared to a home deck. Set Sound to normal and Volume to 27/30 and you have a linear frequency response and no sound effects. That's how my NH700 (NHF800 without radio) works nicely on my home stereo.

This method: http://forums.minidisc.org/viewtopic.php?t=5858 Playing back through SonicStage instead of uploading and recording it off the wave channel realtime with a Wave-Editor.

Not necessary. It will work. If not, you have to add the missing wires anyway. Then it works.

So, instead of solving the problems and delivering what they promised, Sony simply removed a part, HiMDrenderer needed to work. Briliant!

Yes and no. Key is, is the program memory flash programmable or is it mask programmed? If it is flash programmable and has enough free space available, MP3 recording and playback can be added easily. The DSP is powerful enough. Even old Atrac4 chips would be able to do that, if their program memory could be changed. That DVDs don't have a caddy/cartridge has a simple reason: The hollywood fat cats are so greedy, that they don't even want to spend the 20 cent for a case around the disc. Not Sony, I count here on companies like Tascam and HHB, but that will possibly take another year. There are too many alternatives, Sony has to be careful about its steps to not push their customers away.

First, you can remove an album at once from SonicStage but then you have to reimport it again. Removing the Atrac file alone is possible but only one by one by rightclicking on a track and selecting properties and selecting the File Info tab. Second, yes you can record standalone and then transfer via USB faster than realtime. You can then edit the file in SonicStage. (Combine/Divide with rehearsal). After that, you can download back onto an unlimited number of discs. No export is possible and that is, where the converter comes into play. Sony promised one but there is no ETA known and Sony stays quite silent about it. Marcnets software is maturing and should be an alternative. One warning, the US-version of the NH600 has NO inputs except USB. The european version has Line-In...

Collective answer regarding MO drives and discs. First, the faster writing speed experienced when using special discs has a simple reason. Normally, writing one track needs three revolutions of the disc: Erase - Write - Verify. By using so called 'LIMDOW'-discs, the separate erase-cycle is no longer necessary. MiniDisc is 'LIMDOW' by definition, Erasing and writing is done in a single revolution. MD has no separate verify cycle, instead the reflection of the laser is measured and if the reflection is gone too long (more than about 1 mm) the recorder stops and reports a record error. Second, for those complaining about the transfer speed, modern MO-drives are quite fast, they play in the same league as multispeed DVD-writers. Hi-MD is a different case, we should remember that all units so far are portable units, designed to go a long time with a single AA-Cell or gumstick. And that shows, especially the seek times are on the slow side. Expect home decks and pure PC-Drives to be a lot faster in that department. as power consumption isn't a primary factor there. Finally, to speed things up, zip the files before copying to MD as one big file is written much faster than numerous small files. And the disc space is used much more efficiently as well.