MDGB2

We wants a red one!

The '133 looks to have higher build quality. (If that makes sense! )

Simple: Albums cost too much for what they are worth! I will rarely pay over £8.99 for an album and that's on the net. In stores they are more like £14! (Yeah, they've got bills to pay, blah, blah... ) Lower the RRP of CDs from £15 to say £6 and sales will go up, piracy will go down. (Why have a shabby copy probably recorded from mp3 files when you can get the 'kosher' CD off e-bay for a couple of quid... )

You can't make a format 'professional only' without a nice DECK! Bah! Hogwash! To give the iPlop a good kicking, Sony needs to 'chav up' it's range to appeal to the younger market (Oooo.....shiny thing.....). SCRAP ALL DRM, copyright, protection etc. on the format. The reason CD-R is so popular is because it has none of these restrictions. Who are Sony trying to protect? Record companies? Oh, my heart bleeds for them. They charge £14 for a CD that probably cost less than 50p to make and the artist only gets a tiny amount of the money. PC drives, internal as well as external with full drag n drop capability. Also, an advert campaign. ANY adverts! Maybe one along the lines of: "Exposure to iPod may cause impotence......... ) (Although I'm sure Apple's Lawyers' would say something about that.... )

Isn't UMD just for PSP anyway? I know there are talk of UMD movies being released for playback on a PSP, but c'mon! You gonna buy a new format that only plays on a cr@ppy little screen portable for probably £20, or buy the 'normal' DVD for bout £8?

In therory it *Should* sound similar to an FM radio broadcast, but I'm not too convinced my self. I'm sure it sounds lovely through a Mini or Micro system, but hurts yer ears through proper hi-fi! Wonder what a proper Hi-MD deck would sound like on hi-fi....*dreaming

Although I've 'played' with a new MAC, hated it and will NEVER buy one, this is great news for the format!

There are compromises. Better quality or higher capacity. For a quiet or 'serious' listening environment the difference between LP2 & Hi-SP is quite evident. I regard Hi-LP to be on par with raw (compressed) mp3. Not so good for a serious listen, but more than adequate for jogging, work, office etc. Also - 1 'standard' minidisc in Hi-LP = over 10 hours on a disc. Lot cheaper than fixed capacity mp3 players, and when it's full - just stick another disc in! Maybe one day the iPloppers will see the light...

I think the format has a bright future, if not on the consumer market then certainly the professional sector. Problems are there but will be ironed out, mp3 compatibility was added to 2nd Gen but might not have been in Sony's original plans. Maybe they still have more to add to the format?? Must admit I'm baffled by Sony's lack of marketing, you've seen the shabby 2-colour iPlop commercials, surely they could do something better than that (or anything at all) On e-bay the other night I saw an old Juventus football shirt. The sponsor on the front was "Sony Minidisc" Maybe they can strike a deal with Malcom Glazer at Mudchester United?

Can't compete with the Onkyo unless it has a detachable deck that can be connected to proper Hi-Fi! Booooo! Still, it's a step in the right direction....

I'm waiting for the 4GB ones! Bwha! Ha Ha!

Wouldn't mind them as much if there were racks and storage boxes available for them. Maybe they were trying to make them similar to casette tape boxes (although why, who knows.....)

Use Simple Burner. 'Tis much easier.

Ah, I see what you mean. Sorry for going a bit off topic. Althouth my test did establish that Hi-LP is pants compared to LP2....

Many thanks Volta.

When I do this, all it does is display "005Ver 1. 100" and flash all the icons!

The original topic post about the quality of Hi-LP Vs other compression rates.

Comparisons between a £17 Fuji MP3 player & Hi-MD (Hi-LP) NH700 (European). "Unique" EQ setting. Cheap in-ear headphones (£5 Maplins) Native mp3 file on Fuji, mp3 burned to CD (WAV) and transfered to Hi-MD. Test environment - office (background noise - computers etc) Hi-LP sounds 'lighter' on treble than the mp3 although bass is deeper. Percussions are particularly more noticable. Vocals and sounds such as crowds clapping sound 'muffled' compared to mp3. Artifacting can sometimes be more obvious with Hi-LP. However there is a greater sense of sound stage. There are some aspects of the music that I can hear in Hi-LP, but can't on the mp3. Mp3 sounds clear, but somewhat lifeless. Hi-LP has a much 'warmer' sound. In conclusion, I wouldn't recommed either for 'serious' listening, however for music to play in the office at work, or jogging etc. Hi-LP comes very close to mp3. Then theres the benefit of the HUGE amount of storage available on a Hi-LP recorded MD than a fixed memory mp3. So Hi-LP marginally wins. Still not anywhere near LP2 though. Cheers.

If they were going to finish with Hi-MD they would have killed it off before 2nd generation. I'm going to remain optomistic, it says a possible cut in portables, not Hi-Fi or decks. They could scrap their line of cassette tape walkman without anoying too many people.

To take such an attitude towards future developments would be sheer insanity.

May just be the discs. Although the Hi-Space discs get a good write up for quality, they are the only brand of Minidisc that I have had problems with, music started skipping after several tracks on disc. I just recorded less data on them (~57mins) Still, just 2 'faulty' MDs out of over 350 isn't bad....

Radio (Toslink)---------------> Deck -----------------> Edit Much easier (but unfortunately not possible with HiMD @ the moment).

I have been recording DAB to minidisc optically for a few years now. Quality is quite good (SP mode) at least on par with mp3 & LP2. Station broadcast varies mainly between 128kbps & 192kbps. If only there was a Hi-MD deck, as the editing and titling features of a deck are much more convenient for recording than a portable.

I think that this problem is simply because of the nature of the OLED. OLEDs on decks (Radios, CD players, MD decks etc.) scratch fairly easily, even when using a cloth specificaly designed for cleaning sensetive optical items such as glasses and camera lenses. I generally clean then with a slightly damp cotton cloth (or not at all if possible!) I don't think it's a fault of the design, just one of those things. Screen protectors (for use on digital camera LCDs) may be a good option. Cheers.

I've been using a 920 (two models down) for 6 years now, and it works perfectly (although the display has faded a little) I was considering the 980, but I don't know whether to hold on in hope of Hi-MD decks...