Meryl Arbing

The Canadian SonyStyle decribes the RH1 as a "Hi-MD Walkman Field Recorder" which is fine with me because I am looking for a high quality, portable recording system and Hi-MD gives me that. But looking back at the history of recording technology we can see some interesting parallels. When Edison developed the phonograph, his cylinder technology (which recorded vibrations as vertical peaks and valleys) was superior to the competition which used disks. Edison saw people using the new technology for home recording while the competition concentrated on providing precorded disks of famous singers. Edison never signed the big name music artists of the day because he thought that people wouldn't care about pre-recorded music if they could record their own sounds at home. Edison may have been a genius and he was dead wrong. The public couldn't be bothered making their own recordings of 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'. They WANTED to hear Caruso in their homes. So, we have an industry that is built upon prerecorded music that the public can buy and listen to without having to do anything. It is the same with MD. Sure, it is far superior recording technology than MP3 but the public is clueless as far as recording goes...they want to be entertained with no effort on their part. This is why MP3 players dominate and MD is floundering. I think that Sony has realized that they can't compete in a market where the public could care less about the superior recording technology of MD...they just want the latest commercial fluff downloadable and sharable. So, yes, MD might migrate to a more professional niche (with ALL of the features that people have suggested) and Sony can go back to trying to fight the iPod in their own backyard.

I just picked up my RH1 yesterday (in Canada) and the accompanying CD from Sony came with Hi-MD Music transfer Ver 1.0 for Mac. M.

You need to go to the radio and television stations. How about a little place called the CBC? I was listening to a local toronto AM station the other day and the host mentioned that their sound technician had just brought in tomorrows broadcast material...'on minidisc'. Minidisc is for sound and broadcasting professionals, iPod is a fashion accessory.

I'm not sure if this means anything, but why does it say 'Hi-MD audio'? Are they trying to differentiate this from some other Hi-MD? Currently, I can use a Hi-MD disc for audio or for data and I don't know of a 'Hi-MD Video'. Just wondering out loud.

Boostaroo Revolution link I'm not sure of the quality of something like this but it might interest some people.

DAB has been available here in Canada since 2003 although I couldn't name one person who has even heard of it much less has a receiver to get it. When I tell people about it the usual reaction I get is..."Why would I want to pay for radio that I can get for free?"...and that is the case...all of the same AM and FM stations that anybody can pickup with a $5.00 pocket radio are being broadcast as Digital Radio. (Of course this is distinct from Satellite radio which has only recently been approved in Canada.) I have heard the DAB broadcasts that we get here and can say that they are no better than what I can get off a standard FM radio receiver and record using the headphone jack to Mic input. It could be called BAD rather than DAB. DAB got into trouble in Europe for claiming 'distortion free' broadcasts. It was ruled to be 'misleading advertising' A Hard Sell A list of all the Radio stations in Toronto and their DAB channels Of course, do you think that the Record Industry is going to allow unrestricted copying of digital quality music? RIAA “HD Radio” Comments to the FCC

Sony PCM-D1 I'm not sure why I would want to give up my Hi-MD for this? I could buy an awful lot of Hi-MD discs for $2,000!

Here is my bet...prediction...speculation...expectation...wishful thinking...(whatever) I see Sony phasing out both the Minidisc AND the larger format Memorystick in favour of a recordable UMD (I expect a UMD equivalent of an audio Hi-MD recorder...and expect to see UMD Handicams for home movies) that will play in the PSP and future Sony portable 'entertainment' devices. The PSP would remain a read only device and there would be copy protected commercial games, movies and recorded music albums that they would sell along side DVDs and CDs. The form factor of the memorystick will shrink to half its current thumbnail size and will use adapters to allow it to be used in older digital cameras etc but it would allow slideshows to be displayed on the PSP's better screen. The PSP will have a built-in multigig HD for buffering and storage of non-commercial (non-copyprotected) and 'personal' material.

I think that is the real issue. The unwashed masses who think that MP3 is the ultimate in audio quality had no interest in Live Recording...they thought that downloading to their MP3 player WAS recording. To them, the ability of their portable device to use a decent quality stereo microphone was unimportant...as long as they could rip the latest tracks ('borrowed' from a friend, bought from a store...and then returned, or stolen off the net) they were happy. There are too few Live Recording fans compared to the 'rip-off somebody else's music for nothing' mob. As far as the future of portable digital recording goes...we can hope that Sony sees the potential for some other device to fill the gap for Live Recording enthusiasts...perhaps a recordable audio version of the UMD for the PSP? For me, I'll keep using my Hi-MD recorders for as long as I can and ignore corporate decisions that I can't control.

I don't generally record directly from my stereo to the MD although Sony does produce some bookcase units with (what they call) MD-Link that gives you an Optical In. Vinyl is too noisy (scratches, dust and dirt) so I record to my PC first and then run some Audio cleaning software (Audio Cleaning Lab 10 from Magix is cheap and effective) and remove the defects before sending it to MD. My old 1964 Beatles LPs came out remarkably good. However, when I connected my turntable/reciever directly to the soundcard of my PC there was a definite hum that wasn't a result of the sound card. Someone told me that the problem was a ground loop between my computer and the stereo. I got the In-Port from Xitel which is a USB Line in with RCA plugs but which also includes Ground Loop Isolator circuitry. No more hum. Xitel also sells a dedicated Ground Loop Isolator for a lot less than the fill In-Port unit. Xitel Ground Loop Isolator pdf

I think they deal in refurb'ed units. I don't have anything against refurbs...I bought my 810 as a refurb from them and, if it's cheaper..why not. At least you know (hope) a refurb has had some individual inspection.

Maybe Toronto gets everything before everybody else in Canada but I have no trouble finding Hi-MD discs. I have several...it isn't as if they are going to wear out after one use AND I can reformat the regular 80 min discs to double size in my Hi-MD recorder and that helps if you can't get the 1Gb discs. There is always minidisc-canada.

Apple Loses iPod Software Patent Apple's claim to patent the software interface for its iPod music player has been rejected. Unfortunately, so was their claim on the scroll wheel, the one thing that makes the player that much better than its competitors. Look for cheap Chinese iPod knockoffs any day now. Apple has long tried to patent its interfaces, having sued Microsoft several times over Windows' look-and-feel. Each lawsuit failed. A uniform interface can be a good thing. Imagine if all cars had diffferent "interfaces?" The Apple car would use a steering wheel and pedals, but the Microsoft car would have pulleys and levers. What a mess that would be. as reported by: Quantum Research Group

In Canada, the Radio Shack stores have been re-christened as "The Source" and are now owned by Circuit City. The recorder in their online catalog is at: Telephone Recorder

I would agree with the insipid 'programming' that we have to put up with on commercial radio. It was enough to force me to stop listening to commercial radio stations completely, years ago...AND I stopped buying CDs. I still have vinyl from the 1960's (and something to play it on) and I am converting that to MD. The problem with commercial radio's 'programmed' playlists is that the same idiots that ruined broadcast radio are being hired to 'program' Satellite radio (XM and Sirius) broadcasts as well. Sure you can pick your genre much more finely but what you get is what the marketing types TELL you "THIS is what you WANT to listen to!" For me, the most radical approach is NOT to support commercial radio by not listening and NOT to support the music industry machine by not buying (either packaged CD OR downloads). "You say you want a Revolution"...learn to make your OWN music and ignore the corporations.

Reading the posting here got me really worried! I can see that sales figures are indicators that certain things are on the way out. We see that there are a lot more mp3 players manufactured and sold than Hi-MD players. So, it must be a inferior format to mp3 because mp3 sells more. I guess this rule applies to other things as well. I used to enjoy an nice, thick, marinated steak cooked over a charcoal fire but, yesterday, I made the mistake of drving by a McDonald's restaurant and they had a huge sign out in front that said "25 Billion Sold" so I guess that's it! I have decided to sell my barbeque because, hey...what's the point? Mc-burgers are obviously the wave of the future and we old dinosaurs with our 1" thick...suculent...juicy...charcoal broiled steaks just have to 'get with the program'...I mean anything that sells 25 BILLION must be great..right? Thanks for opening my eyes to the truth that sales figures are the TRUE measure of quality and it doesn't mean that there are simply millions of people with no taste or judgement or any clue as to what is good or bad.

I just tried it with my 128 Mb card with no problems. I wonder if the MD unit still thought the original disc was in the drive and was confused when the old disc was reinserted.

What is to stop me from using a 1Gb MD in the same way as you propose using a 1Gb CF card? "You record, you download,...you burn copies to CDR, DVD or whatever media you want to use." This is what I do now! Except that if I'm recording using PCM and I need more than 1 Gb of storage...the MD is more affordable. I CAN and DO have 5 1Gb MDs in my pocket.

Yes, but at US$129 that is still a long way from US$6 for a 1Gb MD. You could get 21 Gb of MD storage for the cost of 1 Gb of CF card. Cost is still a factor. I also expect battery life will be an issue.

Well, you shouldn't be concerned about the price of CF media. As you can see from this annoucement, Pretec has a very nice 12Gb CF card for the low,LOW price of only... US$14,900 Pretec 12Gb CF card But WAIT!...their 6Gb card is only US$7499...how's that for a bargoon!!!? Of course, you don't need to buy anything since the recorded comes with a nice 64Mb card that is good for a whole 9 minutes of recording (or up to 18 minutes if you reduce quality)!

I'm sorry to break the pattern but I never listen to any commercial music at all. If they have signed a recording contract...I don't listen...I don't download...I don't buy...I don't care. I make my own music...I record the sounds that I enjoy and it doesn't cost me a cent.

I would suggest the Sony MZ-RH910. It is the lowest priced Hi-MD recorder with a Mic input. I have one and it is excellent at uploading WAV files back to the computer.

I agree, SonicStage is required as the interface between the MD and the computer but I don't expect it to be anything more than a transfer conduit. For editing, I have several options (depending on how much editing I want to do): Magix Audio Cleaning Lab 10 (for cleaning up imported audio from my old cassettes and vinyl), Creative Wave Studio (which came with my sound card), Nero Wave Editor, Roxio's Sound Editor (pretty basic)...among others. Of course, the greatest amount of editing and clean up comes with Live recordings. I burn to CD from the editing software and not from SS.

Interesting but it is 5 years old and, I suspect, that it was written in response to the "hot issues" of the day.

Perhaps my expectations of what SonicStage would do were less demanding than yours. I nevewr expected it to do anything more than be the front-end for transfers between my computer and the MD. It wasn't until I got my Hi-MD that I started to use it to upload. With NetMD, I would use SimpleBurner when needed. So my use of SS was limited. I don't bother with Connect...I'm not paying a dollar a track to anybody...so, with fewer demands on it, I haven't found any problems with SS at all. I don't have a fancy machine...no multi gigahertz speedster...but SS has always worked when I needed it. It certainly isn't the WORST Sony software...anybody ever sufferd through Picture Package (with their Sony digital camera)?