Fray Adjacent

Yeah, I think it's pretty much a no brainer. The MD unit will be better if you wish to do any recording. With HiMD media, you'll be able to fit a crazy amount of audio recording on it. PLUS, you can still use existing MD blanks to save money on media. PLUS, you will be able to upload recordings to your PC.

You may try uninstalling ALL of the Sony software. I installed SS2 and had problems... turns out I left Simple Burner installed from 1.5. Uninstall everything, clean out the directories and then reinstall SS2 and it should work OK. The program is a beast... it takes up a bit of resources, so it's not ever gonna be super fast. (I'm runnin on a 2.4GHz P4 with 512MB) I'm looking forward to Sony making a car deck for HiMD, although it may be a while. Right now, I have a Sony MP3 deck.

I'm sure there will be larger capacity MD type media in the future. Someone mentioned around 2010, they might be able to fit a terabit onto a minidisc sized platter (that's 125GB), although I don't trust rumors. As for now, from what I have read, the 1GB limit has to do with backward compatibility. For the new generation players to read old media, they had to limit the structure. In research, they did fit 2GB on a HiMD type disc. Maybe we'll see it in future HiMD devices, but for now, the first gen HiMD devices will likely stay limited to 1GB and lower.

As I understand the specs, you can use regular AA batteries in the unit. It will also charge NiMH batteries. This was a pretty critical factor in my decision to purchase the NH900 (well, preorder, that is!). I already have 4 2100mAh NiMH batteries that I will be able to use in the unit. From the pic above, you can see part of the back that swells out... that must be where the battery goes. HOPEFULLY I'll have my NH900 in my hot little hands in a couple weeks!

I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure all the units will. It would be stupid not to.

Well, we won't know if we were lucky with the preorders until they are processed and shipped. I have a unit on preorder from Datavision. They had told a few people that called that the units would be in like last week or this week, then recanted and said a couple more weeks. So I'm expecting they'll actually have them in early May.

The general answer is NO. HiMD media will be unreadable in NetMD players. Now, since you CAN use old non-HiMD discs in the new units, you might be able to read them in a NetMD if you DO NOT format them in the HiMD recorder. This is where I am not clear, which leads to another question: Will HiMD players/recorders write to regular MDs without reformatting them first? We know it will READ them fine, but does it have to reformat them to write on them, or is reformatting (and getting almost 2x the space) just an option?

So I take it the best method of getting decent quality audio to the MD, in either LP2 or LP4 is to use Simple Burner to record it straight from the CD? Sounds good to me. My normal music aquisition process has been: Download a few tracks, if I like, I'll buy the CD. Bring CD home, put in computer, rip at 192Kbps MP3, then copy onto CDRW for play in my car CD/MP3 deck. Now it's going to be slightly modified (especially when I get a HiMD unit). Buy CD, bring it home, rip to MP3 @256Kbps and store in my MP3 directory. THEN record to HiMD directly from CD using Simple Burner or SS2 in whatever quality I desire at the time. I will also record directly from CDs for those that I already own.

I don't think that's correct. With a PLAYER only, you can connect to PC and use SonicStage or Simple Burner to write tracks to the MD. You just can't plug a mic into it and record live audio. With a RECORDER, you can do both.

I bet they are finally getting the picture that they aren't getting them until May. 2 weeks puts it at the beginning of May. I hope the units arrive and get shipped out to us that first week. As long as I get my unit in my hands before May 17, when I fly out to Hawaii for my vacation, I'll be very happy.

Well, I checked the Datavis website, and my order still shows 'in process' for the status. I think they were not clear on the arrival date of the HiMD players. I'm willing to bet they were getting a shipment from Sony, and didn't check to see if any HiMD units were going to be in that shipment. Looks like we'll have to keep waiting. And I already started a thread for HiMD media, so that will be a good place to keep that discussion.

Which unit did you order? I preordered a NH900 last week and have the order number, but haven't followed up on it yet. I'd love it if it ships soon! We'll see... cross your fingers.

What with Sony allowing unlimited check outs but not allowing recorded tracks to be uploaded, they're still trying to protect copyrights. However, as you mentioned, you can still copy .MP3s to a HiMD and then copy it to another computer. Sony is like the kid putting his thumb in the leaky dike. They can stop a little, but not enough to REALLY make a difference. I for one would LOVE to be able to just copy MP3s to a HiMD unit and play them. I doubt Sony will do it any time soon. And they will probably prevent other manufacturers from doing it, too, though licensing. (basically, they'll restrict other manufacturer's use of HiMD technology to only being able to PLAY ATRAC3 files, and no other audio format)

Has anyone found anywhere that will have HiMD media availble on or about the release date (whenever it REALLY is) of the HiMD players? I've checked only a few places, and no one mentions it. Is the projected cost per disc still around $7 each?

Here's how it would work. With the new HiMD units, you can either copy files directly to it (open My Computer, and the HiMD unit will show up as USB Mass Storage), or use Sonic Stage to convert MP3s to ATRAC3+ (or copy/encode straight from CD) Here's the caveat: If you simply copy files to it (mp3s, wmv, aac), the unit will NOT be able to PLAY the files. You could then plug the unit into another computer and read/copy the files from the disc. If you want to listen to the music, you need to convert it to ATRAC3 and copy to the unit using Sonic Stage.

I was able to cancel my order from Datavis, and then resubmit it for the $239 price. Total came out to $250 and a little change shipped UPS. Now all I have to do is WAIT for it! I also did sign up for the email notification, so I should get that before it ships. I'll poast here when I get the notification.

Hey guys, I found a little trick at www.datavis.com Go there and search for the MZ-NH900 and it will find it with the price of $299, but there is a link below it that says Get Latest Price. Click it, throw in an email address ( a bogus addy should work) and then it takes you to another page that shows the item at $239!!! And you can order it!! I emailed and requested they cancel my current order, so I can reorder at the new lower price and save some $$. Just thought I'd share that.

I uninstalled and cleaned up the directories and reinstalled after downloading the files again. Now it seems to be functioning normally, although the level does seem to be SLIGHTLY lower than stuff I transferred via SS1.5

I think you're definitely right about CD/ DVD formats being around for a while. However, the cassette format is pretty much dead. I mean, you go to stores now, and they don't carry cassettes. The last time I used a cassette was for a demo my band was recording, but that was 5 years ago. I still have a cassette based four track, but using cassette for real listening is just dead. So with Cassette being dead, it's not around to be replaced. I think the MD should position itself as a versatile media as an alternative to CDs and a reliable removable media format. I plan on using my soon-to-be HiMD recorder for a portable music player, and a way to backup some of my data. Now, I can't back up a LOT, but I could fit my whole website on one MD with room to spare, and all of my pictures on one with room to spare and some utilities and other files on another with room to spare. What I'd REALLY like to see, eventually, would be a car HiMD deck, and a dedicated data drive that could take the place of the 3.5 FDD.

I went ahead and ordered the MZ-NH900 from Datavision. It let me order it fine. Now we just see when they will actually SHIP it. I will definitely poast up here when I receive it.

So I downloaded and successfully installed Iceeedtea's stripped down version of SS2. It appears to work fine. It imported my MP3 files fine. I then proceeded to erase a MD and rerecord some of the stuff in LP4 to fit more on the disc. I also added a new CD that I bought to another MD, again in LP4. I bring my MZ-NF610 to work and plug it into one of my boxes here via the line in, and it sounds good. EXCEPT the tracks I recorded with SS2. They are very quiet. Previously recorded tracks have adequate volume with the MD players' volume around 20. With the tracks recorded with SS2, I have to crank it to 30, and it doesn't sound very good. Is there some level setting in SS2 that I need to adjust? Is this a problem, and has anyone seen it?

I hope HiMD breathes a life into MD that it never had before. I just recently purchased a NetMD unit, but I've known about MD since it's birth. I had a friend that bought a nice deck and portable recorder back in '95, and it was the coolest freakin thing I ever saw, but couldn't afford the whole setup I'd need to make it useful. Then the advent of the MP3 format turned my home computer into my stereo (using WinAmp). Then with a car deck that will play MP3s from CDRWs, I didn't see MDs as really practical or effective for me. Until I decided to do some travelling. So I'm going to be doing some travelling soon, involving plenty of time on a plane. I went down to the local Fry's and checked out the aisle of portable MP3 and CD players, and noticed the NetMD unit. Then I looked at the cost of media, and decided that it would be more effective for me than something like an IPod. I got to figuring out how to use it effectively, and recorded about 10 discs worth of stuff. Then I found Minidisc.org and read a lot, and read about HiMD. The capacity was a great quality, but what REALLY makes me think it will take off is the data capability. I will be able to have a cache of a few MDs to back up things like my website and my pictures. And if I really really wanted to, about 6 HiMDs could back up my entire MP3 collection. I have already mentioned HiMD to a couple friends, and on another forum (a car-based forum) and a lot of people thought it would be a great format. I know I will plan on getting a HiMD unit soon after they are released, and will look forward to Sony (or someone else) to come up with a nice car unit, and will get one as soon as they are economically feasible (for me). I'll be converting to HiMD as much as possible. The MD is just a superior format to regular CDs, and I hope HiMD will make the world know it.

Yeah, I'd like all of that stuff. The things I like about it as it is are: MD type media. Superior to CDs, IMHO. Now we'll be able to fit much more on the same size media. Data capability. 1GB per disk will do me well for backing up things I want to have on removable media. I can back up my website and all it's files and pictures on one HiMD, and back up many other things on HiMDs as well. There are a lot of features that I will probably not use, like recording from a mic, that are still pretty neat. Uploading recordings to PC is pretty neat, and I may occasionally use it, but I could live without it. The other things you mentioned would be pretty dang cool, but I could live without. I think the HiMD will be a much more versatile medium than MD. I hope it catches on more in the future.

Sounds like it could be a driver issue. If reinstalling the software won't work, and your player/recorder is fine, and the media isn't hosed... it could be that the software can't talk to the drive because of a hosed driver. I would try uninstalling all of the software, deleting the directories, then, with the device connected, go into your control panel and go to add/remove hardware, and uninstall the MD device. That should delete all of the driver files. Then unplug it, restart the computer, and reinstall all the software and reconnect the MD device. See if that works.