Qwakrz

I cant see much with that picture, any chance of changing it for one that is in focus so that its possible to see what it is?

Ill try and answer. 1) NetMD is the fore runner of Hi-MD. Net MD allows for upto 320 mins on an 80 min disc (with lower audio quality), Hi-MD gives us a higher capacity disc (1GB) and ability to reformat standard discs to higher capacity (300MB). This is tied into using Atrac3 (NetMD & Hi-MD) and Atrac3+ (Hi-MD Only). 2) Minidisc is NOT capable of playing MP3's nativly. Any audio has to be converted to Atrac to be playable on an MD unit & the software will come with the unit, its also downloadable from www.connect.com (Its reccomended to download as it will be the newest version) 3 & 4) SonicStage (SS) should be able to see the audio tracks on the disc (but I believe the disc is protected by Cactus) the disc is actually a CDExtra disc with a data track at the end for PC's. If not then you can use an optical cable to link to your Hi-Fi and copy it that way (I had an optical cable in my NH1).

Sounds like SS is ripping in MCI mode & not digital mode. Check in the settings to see if the cd recording is being done in digital or not.

Just remember that once you format a disc to Hi-MD you will NOT be able to use it on anything but a Hi-MD machine unless you re-format it back to MD either on a Hi-MD or a standard MD system.

Use the download program as shown, run it and let it download the complete SS2.2 program. When it strts to ask to install it, look in your temp folder for the SS installation files & copy them to a new folder. Burn these to a CD or network share and you can then use these to install onto various computers. Please remeber that SS will generate a new key for each install of SS so you will not be able to rip audio on 1 PC and play on another.

I meant built in in the sence that its not a standard AA type. I very rarely remove the battery from my NH1 so I kind of class it as built in. I should have used the word special or different

wrt Hi-MD 600-800 (900 & NH1 have built in batteries) DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CHARGE ANYTHING BUT NI-MH OR NI-CD BATTERIES IN A Hi-MD UNIT. Attempting to recharge an alkaline cell will at best cause it to leek and destroy the unit, at worst it will explode & damage you. However, you can recharge most Ni-MH cells in the units and not just the one that came with it. I would suggest getting a 2400mAh cell for use in any of the Hi-MD's (600-800) as it will give you loads more life than the supplied cell.

WOW.... at the volume level of 22 I hear a ringing in my ear after listening for a few seconds. I cant manage more than 15 on my NH1. I have yet to notice any problems with the EQ but this could be because I dont listen to it at high volume. Have you thought that when you engage EQ and increase the base level, the unit is trying to push out more than 5mW at that volume setting and the unit is trying to stop clipping, the only way to do that is to "Soft Limit" the maximum volume & produce a sort of lul in the music.

You dip a swap in high quality alcohol!!!!! I have a much better use for it :wacky: Personally it sounds like its going to be a duff record magnet or laser unit. Do a few tests with different discs etc but I dont hold out much hope. One thing you can try is turning the unit over so its face down when operating, if this seems to fix it then its the laser unit thats faulty and its not going to be worth fixing it as it costs more than a new unit with labour added.

I think we need to clear one thing up before we start looking at another device causing the problems. What format are the files that you are trying to transfering in (MP3, WMA, WAV etc etc)? SS has problems with some MP3 files & will not work with a majority of other files types. It is possible the source file is making SS just give up the conversion process. If the files are already in ATRAC format then you should not have any problems & need to start looking for other causes. You state that if you copy the CD directly (I presume using SS or SB) then you have no problems. Try converting the problem audio files to WAV files with a structure of 44.1KHz and 16 bit & import them into SS

I have no marks from the cradle, However I have dented the top of my unit :ohmy: but its a small dent, about the same size as the dots by the lid.

Nito, you have given a name to the folder but NOT the tracks in that folder. Hi-MD makes a new folder every time you start a recording (not after a pause) and makes a new track whenever you press the track mark button. This is akin to naming an album & then not naming the tracks. If you only have one folder & track (as in your case) you could name the folder with the type of recording (e.g. Live recordings) and the track with details (e.g. recorded on 13-11-04) and this would then make sence, or you could just leave the folder untitled & name the track (track name is the final file name & folder name would be the folder it goes in on the PC. I have not yet done MD->PC copies so am not sure on this but thats the way it makes them when going PC->MD)

3 things to remember 1. SS needs an OS of Win98SE or higher (should be easy to find and will work with that spec PC) 2. SS needs a decent CD rom drive. I would probably look at getting a cheap CD drive as if the one you have came with the PC originaly then the chances are it will not extract audio correctly 3. SS needs a USB port. If you have Win98SE and a free PCI slot then just get yourself a USB 2 card from somewhere. I would shy away from the onboard ones for a PC of that age as they will probably be USB1 & not 1.1 (which fixed a few major errors). USB 2 is now cheap enough on an addin card & you can always plug in HDD's or external CD drive rather than fit them internally. The only reason it may need a PII is for speed. You may end up going and making a cup of coffee or even some lunch while it converts a disc to ATRAC.

Bulb!!! :ohmy: You did remove the plastic cover over the end first didn't you????? The end should look the same as a standard headphone jack, except that it has a solid metal end, plastic shaft & a small hole in the very center with a clear cable in it. (hold the other end, without the cover on, upto a light source and you should see the end glowing)

Thanks A440, thats exactly what I meant

If you went the iPod route then you will be transfering your current MP3's straight onto the unit, no reconversion. As you already know, transfering onto an MD is alot slower but you have the advantage of gapless playback of originally ripped CD's (MP3 is not designed for gapless playback), small convienient disc size that gives you unlimited storage, nickability is not as great as an iPod (Most people dont know what it is), longer battery life, user replacable batteries (Ask iPod owners about failing batteries). Personally, if you have a large collection of MD's presently then I would stick with it. If not then for your use I would say MP3 player, or you could wait & see if sony release MP3 support for Hi-MD (fingers crossed)

Yep, that speed looks about correct. Remeber that the unit only does 9Mb/s when using a Hi-MD disc (even slower using an old MD). This means that 2-3x is about the best you can expect from an MD copying WAV files. If you need high speed transfers then I would probably use Hi-SP for recording as it will generate a smaller file with only a silight (personally un-noticable) loss in quality (Discs can also hold more as well).

I normally use a blank disc & let it go overnight, copies all the track marks and then I just need to copy it into SS after naming them. I have a few already done on disc, just need to put them into SS for later use (I hope) Oh and for stuff I need quickly or good quality for small space I use LP2 or Hi-SP If I have enough disc space.

One thing I have noticed is the difference in quality between SS / SB Hi-LP and NH1 Hi-LP. It is very prenounced. The real time recording has less sibalence and more clarity. It does not muddy the HF content as much as SS/SB. Sony really needs to fix this problem as Hi-LP is capable of so much more & is proved by doing a realtime transfer. I still use SS/SB Hi-LP but am slowly moving everything over to realtime & importing into SS

I have the NH1 & I love the remote. I have owned the R900 & N707 so know about the other remotes. Sony have made the NH1's remote very easy to use and I frequently use it with 2 hands simply because its easier to hold the end and fiddle with all the buttons (same as when I used the stick controll) but i can also use it one handed with ease. If you do alot of recording with the main unit in your pocket, the ability to controll almost all the functions from the remote & see what is going on is a god send.

What version of SonicStage are you using. SS2.2 AFAIK supports VBR MP3's

Also if it is only when you try and load that file, its more than likely corrupt. Use something like winamp or another program to convert the file to a wav file & then copy that into SS

On the R900 all sound settings have to be set on the remote & then they will work on the main unit. Adjustment is ONLY possible on the remote

I agree with Zombietycho. If the magnetic head fails on an MD, it will look as if it is completing everything but it has been unable to correctly write to the disc & blanks it. 1's and 0's are written to the disc by changing the magnetic field on & off (more complicated but you'll get the idea) and if the magnet is broken it will always write either a 1 or a 0 and this blanks a disc.

Return the unit, it is faulty. It seems like the original owner sold it because the magnetic record head cable is broken. Minidiscs rely on a magnetic head on the top of the disc to record the changes into a recordable disc (along with the laser to heat the disc to allow it). If the cable to the head is broken then the magnet will not be energised and therfore it will not record, this also has the result of blanking any disc you put into the machine. On a different note, the MD you have should still function as a player only unit.