Fray Adjacent

Try uninstalling the software through Add/Remove Programs, then delete the folder under Program Files? Try that, then reinstall. I had problems when I installed Icedtee's version without completely getting rid of what was there before. Also see if you have a lot of TSRs running (lots of crap in your system tray, next to the time at the bottom right of your screen)

Well, I can only give a mini-review, as my foray into Minidisc is pretty recent. I have a NetMD unit that I got a couple months ago, and I can't even remember the model number. I went ahead and purchased the NH600D, as I thought for now, it will work for what I usually use it for. I bring the unit to work with me, and plug it in via the line in on my second computer here, and listen to music when it's slow. I usually get maybe a couple or three hours of total listening time in a day, with frequent stopping and starting of the player. I just got back from my vacation to Hawaii, for which I was hoping to have a HiMD unit... and ended up buying my NH600 the night I got back home. Kinda a bummer, Sony! If it were out on time, I'd have had it on the plane! All in all, I think the NH600 is a good player. A slightly lower price would probably fit it better, tho, but I do not regret the price. Likes/pros: Higher capacity. I have 8 CDs worth of music recorded in HiSP on the one HiMD disc that came with it, and I have a little room left. I might even be able to get a 9th CD on it! Data- for me, it will be a good backup device. I have already used three standard 80min disks to archive some digital photos I have on my server at home. Play options. I like the way the menus and controls are laid out on the unit. It's easy to navigate, although the jog dial is a bit difficult to use because it's a bit stiff. Sound. This unit sounds pretty good. It seems the output volume is a little higher than my NetMD unit, as when I plug it into my computer here at work, I can set the volume at 17/30 instead of 20-22/30, and the volume is fine. I also like the 6 band EQ. Definitely makes the sound stage more controllable than most MP3 players. Quick play. I have to stop play often at work, and it's nice to be able to hit play, and instantly get playback. It does reduce battery life, but that's fine with me. Dislikes/ cons: Data transfer is SLOW Have to re-rip everything (but I don't mind much, I want good quality, and my collection is pretty small) Battery life. My NetMD unit would last for a couple weeks on one battery, but the NH600 has almost drained one battery in 2 days. It's an acceptable sacrifice for the capacity and quality, tho. Plus I have 4 rechargable AAs that I cycle through. No AC input to charge. With this thing going through batteries quicker than my NetMD, being able to plug it in and let it charge when I get home would be nice. I like the NH600 so far, but will probably upgrade to the NH900 in a few months. The cradle, mic in and HD amp will be nice to have!

I just went all the way through my NH600 manual, and I don't see anywhere that says how many groups or tracks the unit is limited to. All I saw was an amount in KB that the indexing uses on the disc.

PDOG, yeah, that sounds great! I'd love a combo unit, but I would be pretty dang happy with a HiMD only unit. I rarely listen to CDs in my car anyway. I mean, new/master CDs... I rip to MP3 and copy to a CDRW for listening in the car. With a HiMD unit only, I'd just get a HiMD disc, record my favorite albums on it, and I'd be set.

Well, you CAN copy .mp3 to HiMD... but you can't PLAY it on the player. Now, as far as getting your .mp3s to HiMD, you would have to convert the format. Of course, as stated, converting from one codec to another will degrade quality, so I'd probably suggest going to a lower bitrate, so you don't lose as much. For 192kbps mp3s, I'd probably use LP2, which is 132kbps. (my theory about not losing as much going to a lower bitrate when transcoding may not be sound... but that's what I'd do.) If you can, get the CDs and rip straight from CD to HiMD.

... voted, but I'm not in Canada. I picked up a 600 on Monday evening, after I got back from my vacation. I really could have used it BEFORE my vacation, but dangit if Sony didn't delay it. For what I use it for, it's a good unit. I bring it to work, and plug it into the line in on one of my computers so I can listen to some music. I have also archived some pictures on some 80min blanks. I may sell it off in a couple months for a 900, as I would like the ability to record via mic, and the stand will be a nice thing to have, too.

Nope, it appears that 20 is not the limit. On my single HiMD disc, I now have 26 groups created, and no complaints from SS2.

I haven't tried it, but I could plug my NH600D into my laptop, fire up SS2 and see how many groups I can create on it real quick....

Funny, I had heard HiMD uses both sides of the disc. I have visibly checked, and the top and bottom layers are identical, whereas old MDs are not.

OK, I picked up a HiMD on Monday, and I like it. For what Senza is talking about, it would be good, but he'd have to wait for one of the models that has the mic in. I noticed transferring data to the unit IS pretty slow... but I only tried on blank 80 min MDs... maybe two sided HiMD blanks will record faster? (If they write on both sides simultaneously, that is)

Here's a neat idea for an added function: Allow SS2 to take a regular 80min MD that was recorded in NetMD mode, and reformat to HiMD mode, and then write back the tracks to the disc. Basically, take a MD with two or three CDs in LP2 mode, and convert it to HiMD mode to free up space without really having to 're-burn' the tracks to the MD.

I'll be looking forward to a HiMD car deck. I have a Sony MP70 head right now. It plays MP3s from CD/CDR/CDRW, which is what I wanted at the time. At that time, I hadn't considered MD, as MD was just out of sight/out of mind at the time. Then I got my NetMD a couple months ago, and learned of HiMD. My Sony head unit does have an aux in, but it sounded pretty crappy with my NetMD plugged into it. The MD player seemed to have too low and output level for good sound. Last night, I decided to go ahead and snag an NH600D and play with it. I like it so far, and can tell the output seems a little stronger, so I'll plug it into my car head unit and see what it sounds like. I would still much rather have a dedicated MD headunit in my car. The portability of the MD format would lend itself well to swapping from car to portable easily. We'll see what we see, and hope that HiMD catches on in the US.

No joy down here in Texas. I saw this thread and ran down to Target, then down to Fry's, and Target only had one model of NetMD, and Fry's had three or for, but no HiMD. Bummer. I'm about to leave for Hawaii, and thought it would be beneficial if I could snag a HiMD player before I go.

I guess some people don't care if they sacrifice quality in the car... I however, am not one of those people. Now, I don't have a $2000+ stereo system in my car, but I do like it to sound good. What I have now is a Sony MP70 head with the stock 7 speaker Infinity setup in my Tiburon. The head unit has a line in, which I have plugged into my NetMD player, but it just doesn't sound good. I can't get enough boost on the signal, so I end up having to crank up the MD player, which doesn't sound very good when the volume is maxed out. As for HiMD, I may plug the unit I will get into my car stereo to see how it sounds. Since I will be holding out for the NH900, I'll get to see if the HD digital amp helps. Then I will patiently wait to see if Sony (or someone else) releases a car HiMD player. I will then likely sell the MP70 head in favor of HiMD. That way all of my mobile audio will be on one format. I will also stick with HiSP for most of my music, as the capacity of one disc will be more than adequate for me (almost 8 hours is great for one disc, IMHO).

It's been mentioned here a lot, converting from one compression to another is called 'transcoding' and will result in the loss of quality. I would think that if you went from an MP3 to ATRAC3, you're going to end up with quality a little less than the original MP3's bitrate (comparitively). Of course, it will be much better to rip straight from CD to ATRAC3.

What Kirusu is saying, is, there is a 'digital amp' and then there's a 'high definition digital amp'. One should make the output louder... one will make it sound better. I can't wait to get my NH900 and see how good it sounds...

That's not fraud... it's people not understanding the difference between base 10 and base 2. If you counted the bytes up in base 10, you'd get the 'gigabyte' count that the drive is advertised as it is. Then the computer counts it in base 2, which adds up differently. Being in tech support for a large computer company, I've had to explain that to people a lot. It WOULD be nicer if they advertised drives as their base 2 total in GB. On this note, I wouldn't be surprised if HiMD discs are actually a bit less than 1024MB.

They can all be used as USB storage devices. All of the recorders and players can be plugged into your USB port, where Windows Explorer will show them as USB Mass Storage. You can drag and drop files to the disk from there.

Mikey, It's well known that rechargeable batteries will eventually lose their ability to hold a charge. So eventually, you will have to replace it. From what I read, you can get the gumstick battery at places like minidisco.com. I think I saw them for $30. That is a bit expensive, but proprietary batteries usually are expensive. And yeah, today is supposed to be the day that Cherl Crow does a live show from an airline for the official launch of Sony's Connect service... which is/was supposed to be the official launch of HiMD, too. Doesn't mean much... they still pushed back the release until June...

This sounds good to me: http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/05/01/m...k.ap/index.html Basically, after a live show somewhere, you go to this vending machine, and for about $30, ($20 for the USB memory key and $10 for the music) it downloads music to the key, and you get to keep it. It says they are loaded to the memory in .mp3, but doesn't say what bitrate. I thought you guys might like to see this.

Has anyone found out anything from anyone other than Minidisco.com? I understand they are reputable, but no one's seen anything official from Sony yet... someone could be pulling some chains... I'm going to shoot an email to a friend I have that works for Sony Storage and see if he can find out anything... I'll poast if I hear something from him, good or bad...

I'm glad you figured it out... new media will not be playable in old players... but old media WILL be playable in NEW players. That's the way technology usually works.

A couple people from MinidiscT board are saying Minidisco has gotten word that Sony is delaying the release for early June. Major bummage. I was hoping to have my unit before I head to Hawaii on the 17th of May. I recently got my NetMD and was hoping to consolidate the 10-12 MDs I have recorded into 4-6 HiMDs before I left. Oh well. Freaking Sony.

she's got great... big... HUGE.... minidisc products. I agree. Minidisc could be pretty big if they'd promote it. Like that article says, they're going to start a new music downloading service. That could be interesting, but I'd still want the ability to get the tracks on a CD, and then rip to MP3. Or if Winamp has a plugin for the ATRAC3+ codec... that would work, since my computer IS my home stereo. And of course, I'd need a HiMD car deck...

That would definitely be cool. Especially being able to use them for data. I think it's just a matter of backwards compatibility. I think, from what I gather, if Sony went with 2GB discs, the units would not have been able to read existing/old MD discs.