imkidd57

The basic problem is that magneto-optical discs are inherently pretty slow at data transfer, and thus the original Sony MD data drives were soon outclassed by the magnetic-only ZIP drives and the like. The fastest read speed of the technology behind minidisc and MD data means it takes 15 mins to transfer the whole ~640 MB; not very impressive at all. Nevertheless, magneto-optical technology has an distinct advantage; the sheer longevity of the data storage/recordings.

Are these discs ones that you do a lot of track-deleting and re-recording on? It's possible that the discs are becoming fragmented, and what you're hearing is the record/playback head assembly moving back and forth.

I didn't say anything about "uploading", if that definition involves SonicStage. However I may be able to help by directly decoding SP to .wav for import into CoolEdit - which is not achieved via optical from a deck, nor in real-time.

Are these recordings in SP or LP? I might be able to help, if they're SP...

It's not really clear what you're suggesting. At best, audio data already encoded to MPEG1 Layer III will require transcoding to HiMD standard ATRAC3+ by SS, and there will undoubtedly be a generation loss due to the difference in encoding strategies. The nearest thing to 128 kbps .mp3 would be ATRAC3 LP2 at 132 kbps, and is catered for by SS on legacy NetMD machines. If you think there's something magical about that bitrate and the balance of disc-space versus playback quality, the you could always avail yourself of such a unit.

Well, whether or not it's something that could possibly be visible to anyone, a bit of reading around would provide confirmation that it exists as 'fixminz77' says. It is not widely available because it's embedded in an application and the function closely tied to a firmware-modified MDH-10. I've used the non-commercial version, and can confirm that it does allow for 4x transcoding of SP (292) to .wav, no matter how the tracks were originally recorded or what the SCMS bitsetting is. Assuming NetMD behaves like a disc drive when transferring back and forth, there really isn't any reason why Sony couldn't write something similar.

The Sony MZ-N10 NetMD (i.e. non-HiMD) certainly has rehearsal mode.

You don't need the power supply to be exactly 5V, as long as the current (mA) delivery capacity of the charger exceeds that of the Sharp MD recorder's demand specification (written somewhere on the unit, but I can't remember where). It would be important to buy a regulated, rather than a non-regulated supply. I've been using a generic (non-Sharp) regulated 500mA charger at 6V for years on my 702 and it works fine. New batteries: try Ebay http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?f...atitle=MD-MS702

... or perhaps they have a modified MDH-10 + EDL software that allows direct transfer of ATRAC to .wav

Yes, I'll try to post something in the next few days, because I need to renew mine soon.

Quick tip for Sony EX71s - if you lose a silicone earpiece (eg it drops off when you get them out of your bag some day), normally you're stuck because I've never seen any spares available. Instead, buy some of those disposable delayed-expansion latex earplugs (3M cat# 1100C; Homebase 5 pairs @ £2.99), and cut two ~5mm slices off one with a craft knife. Poke a hole in the middle of each slice and drag them onto the projecting speaker part of the phone. Crush them up with your fingers and insert into your ears. Wait 20 sec for them to expand, and you get fab external sound insulation; I would say way better than the crappy silicone things. When I did it I had to put the bass permanently down two notches on the EQ. I'm sure it would work for any in-ear phones with a long enough speaker tube. The E3c replacement foam things would set you back about twenty quid from what I've seen.

In case you change your mind about the model, the USB connection for the MZ-N10 is ridiculously proprietary.

Sorry for the delayed response - school concerts for aforesaid daughters etc... Brief update: at the time, I got mine from Currys for £249.99 and Barclaycard did a price-match refund with reference to Unbeatable for £169.99. Now the prices have dropped and Unbeatable have them for £159.99 (in stock - just checked here). Not sure what the proper store prices are at the moment...

Thanks for confirming that - it was indeed something I wasn't sure about, but on comparative listening to the difference between non-LP (ie SP) and LP2, there's a substantial difference (SP better). I used the 'optical in' for all trials. Recording on the N10 and playing back through the R50 is stunning!

Well my daughters had other plans for me this evening, so I just finished some brief testing with some portable MD recorders. I had set Whispering Bob's programme to record via the EPG, which occurred fine. I listened to about 40 min of the recording, then plugged in the MD to record. As expected, everything works through the TOSLINK cable and recording to Sony MZ-R50 (true SP), Sharp MD-MS702 (true SP), and Sony MZ-N10 (pseudo-SP) was straightforward, as if you were recording from a tape. I cannot see any reason why it wouldn't work with an MD deck, but will try ASAP. Well, it starts off as Freeview, which you will have gathered from other posts is MPEG1 Layer II at 192 kbps, and then undergoes ATRAC transcoding, so it's never going to be CD quality. You can read all sorts of opinions on this, but the fact remains that any radio transmission is never going to be approaching CD or master source analogue quality. I tend to find the sound coming from individual portable MD recorders to be quite different, and certainly for me this has more influence on the audio quality than the encoding. However to my ears the quality of Freeview broadcasts is still quite excellent, and these ears are old enough to recall FM hiss, tape hiss even at 15 ips reel-to-reel, the effect of analogue companding devices to remove it, and never mind the audio cassette nightmares... If you have a strong and reliable Freeview signal, keeping recordings in the digital domain, combined with the convenience of setting a recording electronically with EPG up to 14 days in advance, and using the other features of a PVR (pause-live, rewind-live, listen-for-up-to-30-min-before-deciding-whether-to-record- the-whole-program-to-HDD), it has the capacity to make your life considerably easier. As I said before, you can do all this with your TV programmes as well. Freeview TV audio is MP2 at 256 kbps, so if there's a simulcast then that would be the one to go for.

Yes, I have the Thomson. There were issues with the early firmware, in that radio broadcasts tended to stutter, but that has been cured by a substantial over-the-air firmware upgrade since just before Christmas, and the newer boxes are shipping with the newer version already installed. Anyway you certainly can record to the PVR HDD like that by selecting programmes from the EPG, or setting record times manually. However you cannot directly edit the recording on the PVR - just transfer it to MD and use the far superior editing facilites there. Of course there's nothing to stop you listening to the recording, then if you hear something you like, then rewind on the PVR, set the MD to <REC> and then re-play on the PVR. I'm about to set up an old JE520 permanently to do just this - I'll confirm by the end of the day whether it works with standard MD.

If you find you can receive Freeview, and would consider spending some more (total ~£160), then the Thomson DHD4000 PVR has two digital tuners (record 2 things at once), a 40GB HDD and a 14 day EPG which would allow scheduled and unadulterated recording of all the Freeview radio broadcasts. It has both optical and coaxial digital outputs. You can do all the fancy stuff as per DAB, such as pause-live-broadcast and chase play. It is virtually the same as Sky+ but without the subscription (and obviously the content). This way you can still have the flexibility of DAB, but with better quality, and programmable recording to a reliable storage medium. Archiving to HiMD via the TOSLINK can be done at your leisure. Oh, and you can use it for the telly as well...

I concur in full with cfairfowl's observations. Recording off-line is an alternative... In the UK, if you have a decent PC, buy a DVB-T card (eg Hauppauge Nova-T, or Nebula version: PC World were selling the former at £49.99 not long ago). This allows scheduled recording of the Freeview radio broadcasts and digital audio (MPEG1 Layer II 48kHz 192kbps) can be easily decoded and saved as PCM. Then edit/record to MD at your leisure. For those of an adventurous nature, and you have (or are willing to have) MCE2005 as an OS, there are Hauppauge drivers out there which enable the stable use of dual cards (ie record two things simultaneously).

Definitely SP for any decent stuff in domesticity; LP for anything in travelocity.

And your point is...? Of course RealPlayer uses OpenMG. And on an MD forum, why would you use SonicStage on anything other than NetMD? I was assuming we were talking about UIs, in which case you don't necessarily need the SonicStage version. Whilst I concur with the view that SonicStage 3 UI is better than Realplayer, many I know, don't.

Doesn't RealPlayer do this as well (albeit not to pseudo-SP)?

Can you not just manually put the unit into REC-Pause mode before you leave, then there's just one solenoid needed to push the Play/Enter button. Come to think of it, isn't there a 'line-level detect' facility once the unit is in REC-Pause mode?

From the minidisc.org site FAQ: http://www.minidisc.org/faq_sec_4.html#Q9 http://www.minidisc.org/type_r_atrac.html AFAICS it's to do with the way that the DSP sets things up for the ATRAC encoder to operate on.

Has this behaviour got anything to do with the battery power running out whilst editing?

You could look at it from the other angle and ask why would anyone buy a disc on which a substantial proportion of the space was not available for recording? Pre-mastered minidisc audio titles were hardly a resounding commercial success anyway.