sanaka

Hey Ozzy - Unless you know you want HiMD, I'd go for a Sharp. I use my DR480 for just what you describe, recording my acoustic band in the living room or wherever, and it is awesome. Yes it has a little LCD level meter on the unit which also indicates clipping. Analog line out is simply the headphone jack at full volume (this gives 1.5 volts IIRC, within acceptable 'line' level range). Record level is adjustable on the fly, Sony's don't allow that. Sharp is also known for better mic input stage than Sony. I don't keep up on all the current models, but I think probably the current version if this unit is the DR580. In my mind, the main advantage of HiMD would be recording sraight to WAV. If then doing digital transfer to/editing on computer, you're lossless all the way. One minor point to realize though is that HiMD does not make this possible at faster than real time (i.e. as a straight file transfer) - you'd be doing it at real time (later, whenSony releases their 'WAV converter', you'll sort of be able to do it, but with hassles, see my post here if you want). Not a big deal in my mind, that's how I do it now. In the case of analog, like you describe going to your standalone CD deck, real time is all you've got either way anyhow. I wouldn't mind getting up to Scotland sometime. My ancestry is there. My given name is Robert Bruce Thompson. Distant descendant of a despotic, brutal king! Peace, Sanaka

No, I didn't! But after I wrote this last night (it was 2:30 am) I did think on the fact that I kind of went off based on some pretty broad assumptions, because I haven't thoroughly researched the nuances of HiMD. My bad. So OK, that is way cool: HiMD will output a digital stream in real time, but won't do direct USB file transfer (i.e. faster than real time) type of copying? One assumption I made was that the former must not be true, else there wouldn't be such a fuss about the latter. I guess my personal bias is in the minority - I don't mind dealing with real time transfer. I just accepted that going in as a limitation of the medium. All the same, the whole issue of what MD could be if Sony would just let it remains. And I don't think their marketing is really up front about that. Piping down a bit now, Sanaka

Please allow me to respectfully disagree with a theme or feeling that some here seem to ascribe to. Sony does not have rocks in their heads. They are not ignorant. They are not having trouble understanding what their customer base wants. They are not lacking in high class legal advice or demographic study information. On the contrary. Sony's stances, policies, and technology implementations are carefully crafted exactly in accord to their very precise knowledge of all these things. Please allow me to respectfully concur with Tarronk: Well, that word is a bit strong. They are a cold-steel-nerved, bottom line driven entity protecting their interests, which are, as has been pointed out, comprised much more of content than equipment. Can't really blame them for that. I just blame them for being oblique, shifty, and stingy. They should be straight up and just say they just don't like the idea of users having full-rights digital control. They've calculated exactly how much various schemes might weaken their bottom line due to copyright infringement etc. Instead they proffer this weak "we're bounded by the law since 1992" mumbo jumbo. Gee, guess who wanted THAT law? Duh. And now, they're turning HiMD into a big chimera. HEY, KIDS, WE'RE FINALLY GIVING YOU THE DIGITAL TRANSFER YOU ALWAYS WANTED!!!! Oops, read the fine print. Once transferred, it's locked inside Sony's little program on your PC. WooHoo! By virtue of recording my band to MD, guess who has CO-OPTED THE RIGHT TO PLAY BACK MY MUSIC? Talk about piracy! The only obvious purpose for a medium that records natively straight to PCM/WAV, is for subsequent editing and output on a ubiquitous, de facto standard format. It's called, uh... oh rats! what's it called, that other device Sony sells a few of...? Oh yeah, CD PLAYERS If there really is a legal distinction about 'music' vs. 'data' transfers (I don't see how there can be really: digital = data), MD, on portable units, has been the only format respecting it up til now. And HiMD should be the end of it - it can act as a USB data storage device for any kind of files. And anyway, as we know, Sony has produced thousands of MD decks that have full digital out capability. All limitations are self imposed. So if the whole point of HiMD was ostensibly to finally offer the reasonable compromise permission of digital transfer rights (no digital transfer of digital origin material), then it damn well should permit it! Otherwise the benefits of HiMD over old MD are anemic. The 'wave transfer' thingy is an insult. Here I've created a WAV file, a hunk of data, now residing on my USB data storage device. It just happens not to be a 'jump' drive or external hard drive, but a HiMD device. So I am allowed to: , which converts or encrypts it to a different format readable only by that software, then using another proprietary software, convert this back to... a WAV file. Sweeeeeeeet. Promoted as finally removing the barriers to digital music transfer, and doubling as a USB storage device, we find HiMD is a USB storage drive that cannot simply make it's data available to the computer, and/or a digital music recording device that will not output a digital music stream - all in one! If Sony's not going to simply enable the device to do what they know their customer base wants it to do, their marketing should not make it seem as though it will do it. I suppose that would be discordant with Sony's entire purpose as a money making entity, but it would be dharma. As I said (like you're really still interested), I only blame them for being oblique, shifty, and stingy. I'm not sure why I'm going on so about this. I'm sitting pretty in regular MD land with a Sharp DR480 portable for live recording, and a Sony MDS-JB940 deck which outputs plain ol', regulation, digital S/PDIF to my soundcard, and way loving it :love: Peace, Sanaka

Just wanted to let anyone know who may be wondering that Art is a straight up guy who is very helpful and a pleasure to do biz with. I've bought various recording media from him a few times. Peace, Sanaka

Argh! Of course Sony discontinues this deck after I've been eyeing it for a year! Any leads on one of these would be most appreciated. Alternatively, ideas for a pretty inexpensive deck with DIGITAL OUT that's pretty much up to par on the current ATRAC would be cool. Thanks! Peace, Sanaka

Thanks Kurisu :smile: I had in mind the cheap Sony, I think MDR400(?). It's about $300 at Crutchfield. If you know of where to find it cheaper, or where to get something better for around the same $, that would be cool. Peace, Sanaka

Thanks Kurisu. For sure it would. Unfortunately, recording takes precedence for me. Is there any buzz about when/if Sharp will put out HiMD? I may just get a deck w/ digital out for the meantime, since the meantime may be year or more! Peace, Sanaka

And oh yeah, I forgot the Sony vs. Sharp recording level issue. On the fly adjust is crucial and necessary. The Sony thing of having to stop recording to adjust the level is rediculous. :wacky: Peace, Sanaka

I just got my first MD 6 months ago - a Sharp MDDR480H I use for live recording and rehearsing. Mainly I opted for Sharp because I heard their mic preamps are better than Sony, and I find mine is just good enough. I'd like not to have to buy or build an outboard mic preamp as a reward for upgrading to HiMD :whatever: Anyone know if along with all the other improvements Sony is putting a better mic-in stage on the new HiMD units? Presuambly it'll be a while before we see a Sharp HiMD. Sorry if this has been gone over before - links to previous discussions are welcome. Thanks! Peace, Sanaka

Will consumer level HiMD decks follow close on the heels of portable HiMD? I was ready to buy a Sony MXD-D400 MD/CD deck (they're around $300) for my home/computer setup. BUT, field recording w/ a HiMD portable direct to PCM 16x44 will be a way cool option for me, and this deck would be of limited utility then (only usable for regular MD). Granted, the main advantage of the deck was to get digital out to my PC, which I'll be able to do directly w/ HiMD, but the convenience and stationary nature of a deck is still important to me. A HiMD version of the above mentioned deck, for about the same price, would be just _wacky_ cool Anyone know what may be the possibilities? Thanks! Peace, Sanaka

CoolEdit was bought by Adobe last summer and is now called Audition. I've had good luck with the clip restorer in many cases. It won't make gold out of manure, but it's cool. Luck, Sanaka