MrToad

Hi bland10000 SonicStage will import files stored on the hard drive provided they are wma, wav, mp3, m3u, or of course the SS formats oma and omg. If you have stored using Real in one of these formats you will not have a problem. If you have stored in one of Reals native formats such as Real System Media you will need to convert to one of the above formats. I'm not a "Real" user so don't know if you can use Real or another app to convert. Can anyone advise? One common complaint about SonicStage is when ripping a CD to the library it can only play the track or tracks from the CD as it rips. It can't play any other tracks from the library. Although Real Player can't play omg files Windows Media Player can play omg tracks so you just need to select them from the Packages folder in the SonicStage folder if you want background music while ripping. Hope this helps.

Sorry skyther - still new at this and missed the relevence of the smilies :laugh: nothing wrong with sarcasm though :rasp: Incidently just been away for a week. My NH700 was my only source of music, in the car and through another domestic system and I still think HIMD LP is very acceptable.

Alkali-kiwi Further to my original comments I had occaision to use the train today so tried the NH700 in ernest. I am pleased to report that using my Panasonic in ear open back phones with EQ the volume was adequate. Set to full I was able to concentrate on, and enjoy, the music. It blocked out all but the occaisional announcement over the PA even playing quiet melodic music. Hope this helps

bhangraman thanks for your comment. You are correct in that I am, for the moment, only using my NH700 as a portable device although I do use it through an amp and speakers for convenience occaisionally. I can see that I to might become more scathing in the future when all my downloads (or is it uploads) are locked away in SS and unavailable to other applications. However on the quality of the sound front I stick by my original comments. I think for the amount of compression HIMD LP is remarkable. And for the record and in response to skyther's somewhat sarcastic comment regarding my HIFI system I quote from my earlier message in this thread. My system comprises a Cyrus 8 amp, Cyrus 6 CD player, connected to the amp via a high quality audio interconnect, and Wharfdale Pacific Evo 30 speakers. This combination was highly rated by the UK HIFI press and audition better to my ears than anything else I listen to around the same price. This system retails for the equivalent of $3500 so although by no means the most expensive system in the world it is still creditable and capable of highlighting problems with source material.

Everyone seems to bash SonicStage - WHY? True I have onlty been using it for a couple of weeks but it has been faultless. It's easy to use, it transfers back and forth perfectly, sounds fine on the PC and, as I said in my previous posting, even at HI LP, the difference between the original CD and the MD played through a good HIFI system is minimal. (If you haven't tried a comparison through a HIFI system you should - don't assume). So what is wrong with SonicStage?

Had a NH700 for a couple of weeks now and have found when using the EQ the max volume is reduced compared to normal (flat) setting due I beleive to compression. I haven't tried the the NH700 while travelling yet but would think a lot will depend on the phones you use. The ones that come with the 700 you will probably want to dump them pretty quick! I use for preference a pair that came with a long lost Panasonic player which perform supprisingly well. I also use a pair of the Sony ear buds which don't sound as good but because they sit in the ear they isolate surrounding noise well. Trouble is they aren't as loud as the Panasonics. If you do a lot of travelling there are a number of over ear and at least one (Sony!) in ear noise cancelling phones. If you can find phones that suit the normal sound setting I am pretty sure you won't have any problems. If you need equalization (for my ears and my phones essential) then it might be more of a problem. I also have an MZ E909 player. The NH700 with EQ reaches about 75% to 80% of the E909 volume. Having said that for me it's are loud enough - just. Earphone selection is critical Hope this helps.

Having just acquired a NZ- NH700 I have conducted a number of A/B test to determine which compression I should use. I have compared the NZ-700, with my old MZ-E909 player using for reference the original CD playing through my domestic Cyrus 8 amp, Cyrus 6 CD player, connected to the amp via a high quality audio interconnect, and Wharfdale Pacific Evo 30 speakers. (Not sure if this equipment is sold in the US so for reference this combination came highly recommended by a number of UK HiFi mags, auditioned very well and cost the equivalent of $3500 so is a half decent reference system). I also have had for a number of years a Sony MXD D3 CD/MD player recorder which is connected to the amp with inexpensive phono cables. The NZ 700 & E909 were connected to the aux input of the MXD D3 which was used to equalize the volumes. The sound was set to normal on both units (there is no tone control or equalization on the Cyrus) and I compared Atrac3 and Atrac 3 plus and concluded that Atrac3 plus 64K was a very acceptable compromise so started to transfer my CD collection to my hard drive using SS 2.0 initially and the last few days 2.2. However reading this debate and others I have seen this week I began to have doubts about my choice of HIMD LP so I have just retested everything. And guess what I have come to the same conclusion. In fact, in my opinion, having been around when we were having a similar debate about vinyl and CDs, the difference between HIMD SP and the original is almost impossible to define or detect consistently in blind A/B tests. There is a small lack of gloss and dynamic and a slight softening using HIMD LP but it is only small. At this point I was using a standard Maxell XL-II 80 Pro MD. However when I ran the same comparison using the HIMD 1GB disc that came with the NH700 the difference between the original CD and the HIMD LP was reduced and although just noticeable, when switching back and forth between the two, when listening to a track played randomly from either the CD or the MD it was impossible to tell which was which. I think this is remarkable considering the MD is fed via the Sony MXD D3 and cheap interconnects. I am using my MESH PC’s Sony CD/DVD RW DW-U10A drive to transfer the CDs to my hard drive so the fact that it is Sony and therefore perhaps totally compatible might help the quality. I have found I can burn music on non audio CD-Rs via this drive using SS2.2 or Magix 2005 and play them back on the CD player of my Sony MXD D3. These CD’s are not playable on any other CD player I have tried. My PC CD drive (ATAIP 52 RW) is not able to burn music to non audio CD-rs nor is it compatible with SonicStage V2.0 or 2.2. Finally, unlike some (most?), I have found SS completely reliable and user friendly and ideal for transferring CD’s and creating MD’s.

Having just acquired a NZ- NH700 I have conducted a number of A/B test to determine which compression I should use. I have compared the NZ-700, with my old MZ-E909 player using for reference the original CD playing through my domestic Cyrus 8 amp, Cyrus 6 CD player, connected to the amp via a high quality audio interconnect, and Wharfdale Pacific Evo 30 speakers. (Not sure if this equipment is sold in the US so for reference this combination came highly recommended by a number of UK HiFi mags, auditioned very well and cost the equivalent of $3500 so is a half decent reference system). I also have had for a number of years a Sony MXD D3 CD/MD player recorder which is connected to the amp with inexpensive phono cables. The NZ 700 & E909 were connected to the aux input of the MXD D3 which was used to equalize the volumes. The sound was set to normal on both units (there is no tone control or equalization on the Cyrus) and I compared Atrac3 and Atrac 3 plus and concluded that Atrac3 plus 64K was a very acceptable compromise so started to transfer my CD collection to my hard drive using SS 2.0 initially and the last few days 2.2. However reading this debate and others I have seen this week I began to have doubts about my choice of HIMD LP so I have just retested everything. And guess what I have come to the same conclusion. In fact, in my opinion, having been around when we were having a similar debate about vinyl and CDs, the difference between HIMD SP and the original is almost impossible to define or detect consistently in blind A/B tests. There is a small lack of gloss and dynamic and a slight softening using HIMD LP but it is only small. At this point I was using a standard Maxell XL-II 80 Pro MD. However when I ran the same comparison using the HIMD 1GB disc that came with the NH700 the difference between the original CD and the HIMD LP was reduced and although just noticeable, when switching back and forth between the two, when listening to a track played randomly from either the CD or the MD it was impossible to tell which was which. I think this is remarkable considering the MD is fed via the Sony MXD D3 and cheap interconnects. I am using my MESH PC’s Sony CD/DVD RW DW-U10A drive to transfer the CDs to my hard drive so the fact that it is Sony and therefore perhaps totally compatible might help the quality. I have found I can burn music on non audio CD-Rs via this drive using SS2.2 or Magix 2005 and play them back on the CD player of my Sony MXD D3. These CD’s are not playable on any other CD player I have tried. My PC CD drive (ATAIP 52 RW) is not able to burn music to non audio CD-rs nor is it compatible with SonicStage V2.0 or 2.2. Finally, unlike some (most?), I have found SS completely reliable and user friendly and ideal for transferring CD’s and creating MD’s.

Not so scientific but I have conducted A/B test comparing NZ-700, MZ-E909 against the original CD playing through my domestic Cyrus 8 amp/CD and Wharfdale Pacific 30 speakers with the MD's set to normal and not only did the frequency responses sound identical but the MD's were indistinguishable from the CD. However has anyone noticed a marked difference in volume available from the NZ-700 when changing from normal to equalizer. In normal mode the volume increases progressively from 0-30. With any equalizer selection, even with all bands at maximum, there is little increase in volume above 20 which is surprising and disappointing. Is this typical or is this an individual fault?