jadeclaw

Don't know, if it has benn posted before, but: For those, who want to stock up get here a RH910, a stereo mic and 6 HiMD-blanks. All for 299 bucks. (Streetprice might be lower)

I couldn't agree more. Before we perform acts of blind actionism, we should wait until we have an official statement from the management. After that, we can still think of something.

There is a nice german word: Betriebsblindheit. Betriebsblindheit describes, when those responsible lose sight of important details. Details, that could prove fatal when missed. But very often, these details are very obvious to an outsider. Let's see, if Sony could be cured from 'Betriebsblindheit'.

Well, looking at the whole picture, my gut feeling is, that MD stays alive. Nearly 2 million units shipped in the last financial year is still quite a number. Sony must tackle its problems in the marketing department. Sony has become nearly invisible, no wonder that everywhere you look, you see - Samsung. And from personal experience, I know what happens, when a business becomes invisible due to lack in marketing and advertising. My 0.02 Euros about that. Btw. I have decided to stick with MD. I'll stock up on discs and a few recorders and that should keep me afloat for quite a time.

Very strange, but the page for Belgium lists all 1st. gen and all 2nd gen. units. The dutch site lists the memorycardreader instead. But all pages come from the same webserver. Something is seriously wrong here. Looks like someone at Sony Europe needs a firm kick in the butt for that chaos. It couldn't be that hard to offer all units in all european countries. The distances here in Europe aren't that big. And the dysfunctional SonyStyle-Shop is another topic. ( Opera 8.50 )

@fishstyc: That sounds positive. Thanks for the info. My gut feeling is, that certain markets are no longer supplied with all products, because keeping up the service and sales infrastructure is simply too expensive in relation to the number of units sold. And that could be the reason, why Australia doesn't get any new MD-units. Remember, Australia is, despite it's geographical size, not bigger than Belgium and the Netherlands together. Here in Europe, In an area of the same size of Australia, we have more than 200 Million people. And that put things in perspective. I guess, we will see some streamlining along this way, expect regional representations to be downsized, service operations being outsourced, etc. Speaking of availability of Discs, I'm not worried about that, as Sony still sells U-Matic cassettes. Yes, the video format of the 70's, that was already on the way out before most of the members here were born. That kind of commitment should be positively noted.

Another point to add, BlueRaydisc is already in use for professional TV-production and broadcasting. Public broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk in Germany already uses blueray-based Cameras and editing stations. I say, BlueRay is here to stay for quite a while. The consumer version is a different thing, content decides here. But since Sony owns a movie studio, we might end up with the same situation we already have in the audio department - Two new systems, which don't really take off and an old one which still owns the market.

Decided to check out, what is to found on other manufacturers websites in regard of minidisc products. Looks like, Standard-MD will stay for quite a time - atleast in Japan. JVCs line up is still impressive... : Portable: http://www.victor.co.jp/audio_w/product/portable/index.html Home: http://www.victor.co.jp/audio_w/product/system/index.html Onkyo has still two Standard-MD-Decks ( and 3 Hi-MD ) : http://www2.onkyo.com/jp/product/products....)&SearchOrder=4 Plus a bunch of Bookshelfs: http://www2.onkyo.com/jp/product/products....D?open&count=15 Panasonic and Kenwood still have some as well. And Denon has some new ones: http://denon.jp/company/release/dmg33_35.html Plus a giant installed user base, so as long as mail order from Japan works, discs would be no problem and recorders too, I think.

Here the installed user base counts. Tape players are ubiqitous. And tape players are still sold - even Sony has a component deck and 11 different Walkmen. And mass copying is relatively cheap, especially because the quality of the tape used. Yes, don't even expect LowNoise or LH-Tape... The problem is, HiMD-discs cannot be stamped like CDs. Reason: The magnification layer, which is used to get the recording density. So, prefab-HiMD is impossible. And the discs are simply too expensive, ten times more expensive than good chromium cassettes. We don't know, if Sony drops the format, it would be a good thing to do. However, in the 70's, the world + dog wasn't that crazy about 'Intellectual property' and there are third party patents involved in HiMD, which could make it impossible to dedicate the format.

That's correct. Plus, CD-Players are ubiquitous.

Sony is the giant here. Problem: Sony is obviously incapable to properly market their products. Had Sony marketed the Minidisc the same way Apple had marketed the iPod, Minidisc would possibly rule the portable player market. But when was the last time, anyone has seen a decent ad in a big newspaper or a tv-spot promoting MD?

By the way, similar discussions have started over at the AIBOard, since the pooch will possibly be sacked as well: http://bbs.aibosite.com/index.cgi?read=48930 Starter was this Times-Article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,...1788612,00.html

Actually, no. That was Video2000. Betamax is used like VHS - Record, Rewind, Playback. Video2000 was the Flip-It. But it was 4 hours per side, giving you 8 hours per cassette on a quality well above VHS. But the real reason, why VHS finally won, was the movie rental market.

Well, that gives me two choices: Either I'll stock up on discs and players, so I'm independent for the next ten years - Or I dump everything now on eBay with a small loss on the recorder and no loss on the discs and go DVD/HD-DVD in the future. Since I use MD only at home, I wouldn't lose much functionality, except that I have to invest about 60 Euros for a decent DVD-Player. However, with DVD/HD-DVD I could ditch Windows immediately... So, what should I do? ( Before someone get me wrong, I want to stay with MD, but I need assurance, that discs and spare parts/service are available for the foreseeable future. )

Transferring through SS is gapless. The playback from HiMD through SS is not gapless, standalone playback (via Headphones) is gapless. However, if you want crossfade like Winamp does, that is not available on SonicStage.

ROTFL! But seriously, Sonicstage isn't that bad. Usability, stability and Codec-quality improved considerably since 2.0 and 3.1/3.2 could be considered mature and quite bug-free. Didn't had any crashes or data losses with these. @Kurisu: Looks good I say. But since it is a new Software, we have possibly to go through the same bug-fests and crashes, we had with SonicStage 2.0 and earlier. Any words about Linux? I want to get rid of Windows.

All MDLP-Capable players can play both LP2-variants, including all NetMD-recorders. Ripping to Hi-LP and then converting to LP4 is not recommended, as the artefacts add up considerably. If you want to convert to LP4, then LP2 should be at least used as a base material, otherwise it would sound too bad. Or stick with Version 3.1, that one can still rip directly to LP4.

When the recorder does not support the datarate/codec used for ripping, Sonicstage will automatically convert during transfer. Second, the normal LP2@132k is still there and using 105k on a NetMD-unit isn't very useful, as the playing time per disc is the same as 132k. And really, while LP4 has improved considerably since 2.0, it isn't really for music...

But only if you encode yourself with other software than iTunes, e.g. Nero6. The downloaded stuff from the iTunes online shop sucks like a black hole.

And you could be a victim. The offender: A variant of the CoolWebSearch-Spyware. Discovered by Sunbelt Software: http://sunbeltblog.blogspot.com/ Spyware Warrior goes a bit more into detail: http://netrn.net/spywareblog/archives/2005...ing-discovered/ Recommendation: Check your system with a current Viruschecker and install a Personal Firewall like Zonealarm to block the outgoing traffic.

Theoretically a HiMD-player could upload old MD-Recordings. Sony has deliberately blocked this. And the reason for that could be the existence of prerecorded discs.

1.) Several new datarates for Atrac3Plus (96k, 128k, 160k, 192k & 320k), when importing a CD or converting a file. Some of these are already usable on newer HDD-Players. 2.) A recording (Analog/Optical) can be uploaded multiple times to different computers, but only, if an earlier version doesn't have touched the disc. 3.) DRM can be switched off on CD-Import, making the resulting OMA-file easily transferrable. 4.) LP4@66k & LP2@105k are gone from CD-Import. They are still selectable for transfer to a device. 5.) Only one background graphic available. (Haven't checked 3.1 for that) 6.) Operation feels smoother, more responsive. That's it in a nutshell...

Note to lecram1971: Please click only once on the send button and give the boardsoftware up to three minutes to respond. That way, your posting appears only once instead of four times.

Did a test: Recorded a CD in all three Modes my NH700 is able to record in, Tracks 1 to 3 via optical in, Tracks 4 to 6 via optical in via a SCMS-Stripper - hoped, that SonicStage honors the SCMS-Status. Tracks 7 to 9 via LineIn. Result: SCMS doesn't matter, optical recordings cannot be exported. Analog has been directly exported. The same is true for Export to AudioCD, only Analog can be written to AudioCD. And when reading the regulations about copy prevention, this behaviour is in line with these regulations. A word about the soundquality of the new Atrac3Plus-Datarates: 48k: Still unusable for Music 64k: Same as in 3.1 96k: Better than 64k, but not that better than 96k would promise. LP2@105k sounds better (less ringing) 128k: beats LP2@132k. But it is a matter of taste, 128k sounds rounder, smoother, LP2@132k sounds a bit brighter, but rougher. If Sony puts a bit of work into 128k, it could be a good compromise between sound and playing time. 160k: Good quality, well above LP2@132k 192k: I had a very hard time to hear a difference to 256k. Looks like my age begins to show... 256k and up: Sorry, but here are my ears at a limit. MP3: Sorry, nothing new here. It still sounds as bad as before. Use LAME or Atrac instead. Conclusion: The new Atrac3Plus datarates should have been included into HiMD from the beginning. The greater flexibility is worth the extra effort. I hope, they appear in the next generation of HiMD-devices. ----------------------------------------------- I'm wondering here myself. SonicStage uses Directshow-Filters for WMA-Import. Since tons of different codecs can be used via Directshow by all applications supporting this interface, it is hard to understand, why SonicStage doesn't make all installed codecs available.

I used the same link as posted here in this thread. EDIT: Connect US/Europe and Sony Support still have 3.1