Damage

Used to be Compaqs made the best dern computer on the block. Nigh crash-proof (We're talking Win3.X days here), built like a brick, but a PITA to upgrade (that reliability came in part due to their highly engineered propritary parts). Back then, it was worth the money, nowadays, why get a Compaq when you can get a eMachine of same caliber for lot less (well, $50-$100)... Less see, Phones set me back about $500 (E3c takes a big chunk) MD Gear ($550) CD Gear ($650, two of them dead) HT Gear ($500) Kachink! And we're not talking about media or cables either.

Have fun kurisu. Wish I could go away for few weeks...

OH man, I don't even want to start... Safe to say it's hitting 2 grand easy.

DEP only works natively with AMD Athlon64 line of Processors, and some software based emulation on all other systems. I use Athlon 2800+ with DEP On and there are no problems crashwise, so I suspect this plays very little part in actual problems. Turning off DEP may help in programs that were previously working with XP. I can't at the moment tell you how to do this (this workstation is in Korean), but you can stop DEP.

I think that's being very generous. Local Satellite feeds look like 56kbps Video feed, to be honest. C'est la vie.

So, basically, the best formats for everything is inherently analog? Sounds good to me! Oh, and aeriyn, here is the LaserDisc FAQ. It's the best I can find on the net at the moment, but the picture is analog, and audio is either analog or digital depending on the pressing. In fact, LDs were the first video formats to carry Dolby Digital / DTS encoded tracks (along with lots of stuff that are now considered standard on most DVDs these days).

At this point, you can wait, the new units are fumored for Fed/Mar release. However, if you're jonesing for some HiMD action, a temporary fix would be to spend about $130(USD) to get a MZ-NH600D and go from there (either via eBay or Sam's Club)

Without any DVR(Tivo) capabilities, it can't really be called a HT PC. A Mini Compybox, yes. Probably perfect for Strongbad's e-mailing habits and he to finally get something nicer, and nothing else. In that aspect, I think the WinXP Media Center (and there are really no alternatives in this matter, homebrew'd Linux programs aside and Macs awfully behind the curve in both hardware and software) does well in integrating DVR, Video, and Audio files. I have a feeling there will be Mac Mini TV edition that'll charge $500 more and will have the Macultis calling it a revolutionary computer since Lisa itself.

alieninhead, if you get the chance, could you ask the Sony Rep whether or not Sony intends to support Media Transfer Protocol (With WinXP/WMP10) with the next gen. of walkman line. That would make synching with MP3 libraries much easier.

Sounds like you have a pair of EX71s, let them work themselves a while, they're a good choice. Likewise, the MDR-EX51s are a cheaper version of EX71s. If you're not too rough with them (just take care of them like you'd normally take care of your sunglasses and such and you'd be fine), they'll last awhile. As for actual in-ear canal phones, you're only choice sub $30 that ain't a Sony is the Koss The Plugs ($20, $22 @ Radio Shack with additional accessories). Heavy on the bass and not much else, you're advised to mod them up quick and fast if you want the best out of these, but could be worth the money. And they are the only headphones with Lifetime Warranty, and all reports are, Koss is very good with the Customer Service. If your brother is the rough type, get him these. Earbud wise, you can do much worse than Senn MX550, which are for $25 at your local Circuit City. Do some shopping elsewhere, and you may be able to find other Senn MX, varying from $10 (MX300) to $20 (MX500) and inbetween. Finally, you still have the option of getting the street style types, the new Sony ones are good for the money, sounding like a $12 for $20 than the usual $5 for $20... Or something to that effect.

I'll toss in a vote for MDR-V6 (7506) if you're budget is tight ($100 or less), as these can be had for less than $80 in many places. And if you got $250, go with MDR-V7509. They carry the typical Sony sound signature out of the box, heavy bass, birght highs. However, they carry the reputation of one of those headphones that can reveal tons about the original source, highly analytical type of headphones. I use these more for listening when I'm doing light editing or mastering, and for those purposes, they do the job well. For fun, I'd recommend Technics RP-DJ1200 if you can still track them down, or PX100. Good stuff, especially the latter.

Currently, Sonic Stage 2.X does not do this (which is weird, since Sonic Stage 1.5 did have this function), so you're out of luck with .OMA (Atrac3plus and Atrac) files. There are workarounds, however. For this project, you'll need copious MP3s properly tagged, Windows Media Player 10 (or other smart playlist generator), and some patience. 1. Open WMP10 or your other program, let it scan through your MP3 library. 2. Click on LIBRARY tab. Then right-click on Auto Playlist and Click New... 3. In the NEW AUTO PLAYLIST dialog box: On the first green plus icon, click that, click on more, scroll down and select "randomize...", OK 4. And, in the "And apply the following restrictions...", click on the green plus icon, and select: Limit Total Duration and set time limit there, or Limit Total Size and select your size. Don't make this too long either way, Sonic Stage as a bad habit of futzing the transcoding process, especially with 320kbps MP3, VBRs, or a long playlist. Let WMP generate your playlist. 5. On the third pane, look for "Now Playing List..." towards the top. Click that, then click on Save Playlist as... Save the random playlist as M3U playlist so SonicStage can import them. 6. Close WMP10, open SonicStage 7. Import your newly created playlist by selectinc Import... M3U file. 8. Once imported, you can then transfer the files. --optional-- 9. Once everything is finished, you can now delete the imported playlist. Delete the album in SonicStage, and remove the files from the library, but don't check the other two options, if you want your MP3s still on your Hard Disc after you're finished with them. Click OK. 10. Open where your SonicStage stores your .OMA file. Mine is D:\OpenMG\ In that directory, there should be another directory called Optimized Files (D:\OpenMG\Optimized Files\). Those files now may be trashed without any worries. 11. Lather, Rinse Repeat. Steps 1-5 maybe used with other programs that can generate M3U playlists, but I don't believe iTunes have this ability.

Basically. If you are jealous of auto playlisting and such, then you use this or other playlister and use SonicStage to upload. Or It's a slighlty easier way of handling MP3s than with SonicStage though it has its faults (the conversion to). Well, for now anywhoo. Based on some of the conversational details that's come out today, I'd expect these workarounds to be temporary, especially if Sony decided to jump on the Media Transfer Protocol. Interesting to say the least. And yea, I'm with aeriyn, Album listening is perfectly fine for me. Besides, I lack post-its for my own HiMDShuffle. ;-)

Smells like the combined marketing of HP, Apple, Microsoft, Sony, etc. has done a good job of saying Digital is where its at, you don't need much else. I guess the whole tactile sensation of ownership doesn't apply much these days.

Well, I have to assume some of us cares by the very fact that we're having this conversation. After all, I don't expect all your music to be in pure ATRAC, but there are a lot of people who uses MP3 exclusively. Besides, the whole quality argument goes down the drain if you're talking high bitrates.

Not surprised in the least... How so? Lemme see, Clie's had ATRAC and MP3 decoding/encoding capabilities since 2000? 2001? My PCDP (D-NE1 and NE900) both has exactly the same decoding capabilities since 2001,2? And they sound very close to my non HD Digital AMP'd HiMDs. I suspect the Atrac3plus CODEC DSP has MP3 capabilities in there as well, so again, call me not shocked in the least.

No Vote. I'd have to vote somewhere between functional to bee's knees (bees have knees?). Using WMP10 to create Smart Playlists then using SS to import makes MP3 management somewhat workable, though there isn't any integration between it and MD devices yet. I'd suspect sooner or later, it'll come to pass. Still, it's functional enough.

Hey, there is always HD Audio... More compressed audio for you! That with Poorly Compressed MPEG2 Video Stream for your TV and audio... blah!

Tried it, there are several glaring flaws: 1. Net Connection is a must to get most out of it. If you're on the road or otherwise, you're hosed. 2. MP3 only, no ATRAC audio support. There is a better way of managing MP3s than Mood Logic. Interesting concept, nonetheless. 3. Limited to 100 songs to be activated, so you're dealing with a severly crippled product. The new Windows Media 10 does smart playlisting ala iTunes (probably not as intuitive or easy), so you can use that to create a M3U Playlist, then export to MD using SonicStage. That works, not as elegant as iTunes mind you, but you can still set up your 4-star and 5-star songs of a certain genre (or ones you haven't listened in a while) to a size of Several GB (or time) then import that using SonicStage. Not elegant, but there is always a way! Engage Shuffle Play, and you got your own iPod Shuffle (), or use the "advanced search"/navigation function with your HiMD and voila, who cares if your tracks are in 1 huge group?

If they can shove in TiVo functionality in that toaster, then I'm sold. Until then, I'll pass, I can do TiVo MiniPC better with the same amount of money.

Walkmens get MoodLogic Support MoodLogic your Walkman (takes you to instruction page) It was a rather silent release/upgrade, marked 12/24, and most of us missed it. Unfortunately, you get "100 credits (I can only assume transfers or tracks or whatever)" and not the full software for free. If the screen shot doesn't give it away, MoodLogic basically brings iTunes smart playlisting to your library, fixes ID3 tags, etc. So, the question begs itself: if it were free, would it make a difference in whether or not Sony devices ease of use? I'll try this for myself and let you know later down the line.

Hack your iPod to iPod Shuffle: Use white post-its for Maximum effect. Remember to limit your library to 1GB, no AL or AIFF files. And get a necklace holder for it, pimp to the world that You've already fallen for the Shuffle.

I think you could use Total Recorder or the like to record your WAV-out to your PC (or simply via using a mini to mini plug loop, even). Try recording the SS'd track directly and that should reveal where it's happening, the Decoding from SS or HiMDRenderer.

Confirmed with NH1 and NH900. Since NH800 and 700 are essentially the same, you've confirmed for us for NH8/700. Much appreciated ROMBUSTERS.

Doesn't most, if not all SACDs, come dual layer (One CD-Redbook Layer, the other SACD specific layer, ala dual layer DVDs)? If that is the case, then you can just pop in a SACD then copy digitally on a MD as its been the case. Mind you, I don't have any SACDs to verify this one in any matter of the sorts. dex Otaku, thanks for the info on Surround sound stuff, I will incorporate those info in the original post. Finally, as for Satellite TV Music, I've tried this optical SP recording, and the final result was very poor (Dish PVR box, results were muddy, warbly, all seemingly indicates that it was very highly, ie low bitrate, encoded audio to begin with). I wrote this section, breaking things down to lot of electronics that most people would have but having very little to no experience recording such materials. Rather than just saying "get the right cable and record (though that is indeed the catch all answer to How do I record from XYZ?)" I think a little bit of handholding would work wonders to cut down redundancy in the forums.