stevetoney

Now that Marc has developed the himemrenderer software, the big picture is that when you combine the functionality of both himemrenderer with Sonicstage, there is no problem with software. Yes, people are less than satisfied with Sonicstage software and I agree because Sonicstage has glitches. However, the overall picture regarding recording with the hi-MD units is, IMHO, very good. Himemrenderer allows digital rendering of hi-MD files. So, I am VERY pleased with the performance that I get from my unit in the live music recording arena, including the software. Read other threads on this forum for details related to the use of himemrenderer in conjuction with the operable portions of Sonicstage. I have had no problems with skipping, but I am cautious when in the field not to subject my recorder to an evironment prone to bumps and shocks. I put my recorder in my padded bag while recording, which also protects my hardware from being spilled on by drunk or high patrons. I have not recorded with the unit bouncing around in my pocket, but then again, why would I? I don't believe any unit is totally impervioius to artifacts if the recorder is being jostled around, but maybe I'm wrong. Otherwise, I have experienced no random static, clicking etc on my unit, except for the couple of times that I was goofing around with the unit and accidently wiggled the mic plug around...which caused some clicks. But that's my fault, not the units. I solved that by wrapping a rubber band around the unit such that the mic input wires were hugged tight against the unit so that the jack couldn't be moved relative to the unit, in case the mics wires get jostled around.

Hey everyone. Every day now, we talk about how great himemrenderer is and how it's been a revelation to our lives. In fact, himemrenderer has taken only about 6 weeks to become a part of virtually everyone's daily lives...not a day goes by in this forum without it being the savior to someone's problems. There have been 19 THOUSAND hits on the announce message since it was posted only 6 weeks ago. There have been 1300 hits on the sticky suggesting people donate. And apparently only THIRTEEN people have actually donated. C'mon, doesn't Marc deserve at least a little something for the effort??? Maybe a little incentive to continue to work this into something better??? After all, if he wanted to, he could probably have required a small fee for downloading it, say 10 bucks or 5 pounds, and everyone would have paid for it and would have been JUST as grateful and enthusiastic as they are now after getting it for nothing. So hows about not just thinking about it but actually sending him a small donation? Course, we could just ignore Marc and go back to conducting email campaigns to Sony about the software problems we encounter and hope that they fix everything and (chuckle chuckle) hope that we don't have to pay any more money to Sony for their customer support. Wouldn't you rather financially support someone like Marc who, if provided the incentive, will continue to essentially work directly for this community, rather than hope Sony comes through for us? Sure, he's not in it for the cash, but why not give him some incentive to make it even better??? Only a buck or two will make a difference, I'm sure, if nothing else to show that you're grateful for his problem solving. Hell, even SONY should donate because his software most certainly will end up helping them sell more units.

The link to the announcement and my above message crossed in cyber space. After reading the entire announcement, it's obvious to me that the only purpose for the purported 'major improvements' is to garner music download market share...rest assured that while Sonic Stage may be upgraded, that the glitch concern is certainly not defined as part of the 'major improvement' issue that's in the press release. Just because all of us here on this forum would consider that fix THE one improvement that's needed in Sonic Stage, doesn't mean Sony has the same definition of what a 'major improvement' is.

I'm either under-informed or pessimistic or both, but where in the above quote does it state that Sonic Stage will undergo major improvements? Sony Connect isn't the same as Sonic Stage, is it? Personally, what I'm pessimistically reading between the lines is that this may be a precurser to Sony announcing something in the future that will again be making them forward-looking money, rather than backward looking supporting/repairing what's broke. One such example I can think of is that they may possibly be working on ways to garner Apple's music download market share, which possibly could involve Sony Connect/Sonic Stage components...which would probably mean that the hi-MD download glitch wouldn't be addressed. Hell, Sony's known about the glitch for awhile now and they have issued upgrades of the software without addressing the glitch, so what makes anyone think that they would change now?

I'm really sorry that my words were misinterpreted as a challenge of Dex by me. Please don't overreact to what I was trying to ask. All I was trying to do was inquire about the potential of the comment that Dex made as being a potential solution to the problem. The word 'credibility', even though a poor choice of words, in my post wasn't meant as a challenge to what you were saying, Dex. Substitute the word 'viability' instead. The bottom line is, I was trying to ask the experienced software programmers in our community if your comment regarding temp files might hold the key to this issue. All I was suggesting is that the process that Sonic Stage uses in creating the uploaded .oma files may be the key to figuring out why the software dumps the files, and I was hoping that some of the software experts might investigate this and provide either support to it's viability as a potential solution, or dispel it (e.g. refute it) as not possible that it's not possible that it's the answer. For example, is it possible, as you suggest Dex, the if a person's computer only has a limited amount of space available to their temp file, that this could be a reason why the program skitzes? It also could explain why some people lose small files and big files somewhat 'randomly'. Because if you do lots of audio or data processing like I do, there are times when I have lots of extra space on my hard drive, and other times when I have very little extra space for my temp files. Again, please accept my apologies for the misunderstanding.

While some people have replied that they have had both large and small files screwed, can anyone provide any support or denials regarding the credibility of the above thought? I'm definitely not a computer savvy person, but I can see the potential for there being a link between the amount of space one has available in their temp folder versus what Sonic Stage successfully converts. I guess it depends on how the information is processed and/or what Sonic Stage does with the converted information as it's processing. Marc and/or those that were involved in writing himdrenderer, any light you might be able to shed on this subject?

I was surprised :ohmy: to discover that I can adjust levels on the fly in manual level control mode on the NHF-800. Someone recently suggested that it was only the audio monitoring volume level that can be adjusted on the fly, but that's not true. When I adjusted the level control while recording, the actual recording level is changed. In other words, you don't have to hit pause while in manual level control. :smile: Not sure why this hasn't been heralded a little bit more because it essentially resolves a gripe people had with the non-hi-MD Sony units, and was why alot of people opted for the Sharp units instead. Course, it's not all good news, because the Sony unit still defaults to auto whenever the unit is started from the off or stopped mode. Also, it's still a litle cumbersome to wade through the menu to get the manual control function switched on. 1) Press TMark and Pause buttons at the same time 2) Press the NAVI/MENU button for two seconds 3) REC SET 4) REC Volume 5) Manual 6) Adjust record level to desired while recording is paused 7) Press Pause Button again to start recording 8) Adjust level up or down while monitoring peak levels...no need to pause unit again to adjust level. Even though there are a number of steps, it really only takes about 5 - 10 seconds to do this if you just practice it once or twice before you're ready to start recording. BTW, for those that haven't gone manual, my taping is in a club setting with fairly loud volume and setting the unit on 19/30 pretty much assures that I'll have pretty reasonable levels. Also, 19/30 would be a good starting point and adjusting up or down one or two should be all that's needed for perfect levels.

The most I've tried to record was 1 1/2 hours in PCM mode and, as stated before, it didn't download properly. 1 1/2 hours obviously is a full hi-MD disc, so the file size was close to a full Gig. I suspect, if my observation ends up holding water, that it's not the amount of time, but the amount of data that matters. So, in lower bitrate modes, the length of time probably isn't the issue, although I have NO WAY of knowing if this is true...at this point this is the hypothesis of this post and also what I would like to see discussed and possibly researched. Well, my experience is that the original files are still intact on the hi-MD disc after attempting the transfer onto harddrive, so yes I can still listen to the file and can do an analog copy if the digital transfer doesn't work properly. However, I've read that others have experienced a complete and DISASTROUS loss of file on the hi-MD disc after attempting the digital transfer upload. It's for this reason that you really should do a realtime backup of you stuff BEFORE trying the pure digital transfer, especially if your recording is critical. Therefore, I STRONGLY suggest you refer to the following link (thanks Dex!) and use Upload Method 1.1 or 1.2 before trying a direct transfer using Sonic Stage. http://forums.minidisc.org/viewtopic.php?t=6329 Of course, if my original post on this subject holds water, it could be that the problem is a function of the file size you're trying to transfer.

I've tried to find a message that I thought mentioned this, so I'm sorry if the following has already been mentioned already. It sure seems like I read somewhere in this forum something that mentioned the following, but it also seems like it was 'buried' in a thread, so it can't hurt to mention it again. First, it should be noted that I'm using Version 2.2 and can't comment on earlier versions, so others that are still using the earlier releases may wish to confirm their results against what I found. Anyway, I know others have been having the same problems as I have regarding Sonic Stage mysteriously deleting tracks during direct transfer from your player to your harddrive. On Friday night, I recorded some live music and backed it up (using Method 1 from the sticky guideline) before 'experimenting' a little bit yesterday with the direct transfer method using Sonic Stage. What I discovered is that, it seems like if the files I am trying to direct transfer are small, they direct transfer fine. But if the file is large, it won't transfer. Here's what has happened to me... In the past, I recorded the entire show after hitting 'start'. Obviously, for a show that lasted a couple hours, that resulted in a very large file. Every time I tried to direct transfer the large file, Sonic Stage failed 100% of the time to properly download the file and also changed the copy protection bit so that I couldn't do anything else digitally with the file. Fortunately, it didn't delete the file from the hi-MD disc, so I still had my original recording. Obviously, once I discovered this glitch I started backing up my recordings BEFORE trying to direct transfer, as recommended elsewhere in the hi-MD forum. On Friday night, instead of just starting recording and leaving, I instead used the track mark function on my NHF-800 between songs. This is the 'TMark/Rec(+>)' button on the NHF-800. This inserted track breaks between songs, so each song had its own file. All files downloaded fine using direct transfer mode. Since I recorded Friday nights show in Hi-SP, the largest file was probably around 20-25MB. This was my first hi-SP experience. My recordings in the past were recorded in PCM mode...an hour show is something like 600-700MB with no track breaks. So, it seems like I can conclude that Sonic Stage 2.2 will digitally transfer small files fine, but won't do so for large files. It seems like there is a threshold file size that Sonic Stage 2.2 seems to like. Comments? Have others had consistent results? Course, the next most logical question is, if the above is true, what is the threshold file size above which Sonic Stage won't direct transfer?

I've spent all my time on the Hi-MD forum, so I'm posting this thread here. I'm not sure if this thread is appropriate for this forum. If not, moderators please feel free to move it. *** I've been at this live music recording thing for quite number of years now. I've watched as audio-tekkies debate issues endlessly with simpletons, and in the end neither convinces the other of anything. Since I'm new to this forum, I spent some time catching up on some of the technical threads and, not surprisingly, these types of technical debates predominate here as well. My definition of the two is probably obvious. The audio-teckkies love discussing the technical details...they like looking at graphs and data. The simpleton just likes to listen to great sounding music. What I wanted to point out is that, while the basic goal for both is the same, good quality recordings, the goals diverge from there. The important thing to remember though is that both classes of live music recordists have equal merit. The goals of one camp are no more or less valid that the goals of the other. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the beholder is the only one that can satisfy himself. For the audiophiles, their goal is to capture a great performance, but they also want a great recording with technical excellence, bit perfect renderings of an audio performance. The music needs to appeal to their ears, but the quality of the data also must appeal to their eyes and technical brains...technical details matter to the audio-tekkie just as much as the final audio result. For the simpleton, their goal is also to capture a great performance, but they basically consider the quality of the recording a function of what they hear and what is performed. Basically, that's where it ends for them. I'm not averse to debates, nor am I attempting to preclude any debating over this forum because I simply can't stand it when people post to say 'can't we all just get along' when all that people are doing is intelligently debating an issue. But I am suggesting that, if might help the debaters if they remember and realize that, when you are debating technical issues with a member of the opposite camp, your should just remember that your 'excellence' measures are not the same. An audio-teckkie will never convince a simpleton on technical merit alone and conversely, a simpleton will never convince an audio-teckie on sound quality alone. Another point is that, for me personally, I'd LOVE to know before I read a technical feedback thread which camp that person comes from. An audio tekkie may say...Hi-MD is garbage and here are some reasons why. That input may have 100% merit to another audio-tekkie, but have absolutely no value to the simpleton...and vice versa. In future 'review' type posts, I may even declare myself to be a simpleton at the beginning of the post. That way, the audio-teckkies will understand where I am coming from and might feel more or less inclined to comment based on an understanding of which camp of person they are talking to...again and vice versa. In most cases, from the post it's probably fairly obvious which camp a person comes from. However, lots of threads don't have the detail. They just say make concluding statements, such as the most basic 'Hi-MD sucks' statements that don't give enough detail. Wondering what others think about these thoughts.

:smile: Thanks for the input folks! This is really a nice community and obviously very helpful too! Course, it's not like we aren't all similarly afflicted...birds of a feather flock together, as they say. :laugh:

I hold the NAVI/ button down for 2 seconds to enact the detailed menu. I then jog dial to 'REC Set' and press the love button (I have another name for that button, but this IS a moderated forum). :rasp: Under the MIC AGC selection, I use the 'LoudMusic' setting. Under the MIC sens selection, I set it at 'sens low'. I've done the majority of my recording at the Funk Box in Baltimore, which is a GREAT venue with great sound. :grin: It's a smallish place and I suppose they could probably pack 300 or 400 in there. So, the sound pressures aren't really high. I did record the Acoustic Planet Tour at Merriweather where I was about 30 feet directly in front of the left stack and I could have used some more headroom with my Soundpro's AT-853's through the battery box. Course, Merriweather is a venue with a pavillion and a lawn, although it's one of the smaller ones that you'll find...I think they have an 8 - 10 thousand capacity. Point being, only 30 feet from the stack, that's some pretty powerful bass and for the most part the setup handled it OK. I know the headroom is a function of the mics so the last paragraph of this post really isn't very applicable to the discussion.

OK, Marc. I was debating which it was, freeware or shareware. 50 - 50 odds and I was wrong...so what's new? I'll correct the review now. Thanks for the input. BTW, I haven't said so myself, so thanks for the software.

I just joined this forum recently. If anyone wants to read it, I have posted a detailed review of my Sony MZ-NHF800 on www.epinions.com at the following link: http://www.epinions.com/content_154050465412 I wanted to post that epinion before I got feedback from others on the forum because I wanted my results not to be biased at all by others' opinions. However, now that I've got it up there, I would be interested to hear others' opinions and/or results in their testing of the unit. Of particular interest to me is if you have reached the same conclusions that I have regarding auto level control vs. manual, and in conducting A/B testing of the pure digital files (now that marc has published himdrenderer) against files rendered through your soundcard.

OK, at the risk of losing complete credibility with my very first post on this forum, I will ask a question under the 'no question is too stupid to ask' category. So, when I opened my new MZ-NHF800 a month ago, there were all the goodies, but then there were these little magnet thingy's that the instructions said were necessary to wrap and lock around one of the cable, like an inch or two from the end. So, what's up with those? Are they important? Please, no flames for my ingnorance. :wacky: