zerodB

Wowee! Version 3.0 out allready! Currently downloading on my good ol 56K connection. I'll have a play around with it, when it's done, and see what I can do. As far as I can tell, for the moment, the install routines for 3.0 are similar to version 2. I'm sure an install pack will still be possible. I wonder just how fast I can get it out? Will aim to do it as soon as I can. Stay tuned people!

It may or may not work. I know from playing around with SonicStage 2 that it's not always a simple matter of just located the downloaded files and executing the setups. The programs sometimes need to be run in a particular order, and with certain command line switches. Still, it's worth a try. I am working on a MDCF stadalone installer for SS 3.0 (originally was for 2.3 but now for 3.0). Stay tuned to the forums for more info.

No sorry, you misinterpereted me. I just meant to say that you shouldn't take everybody elses word for granted. Some people say SP is better, other say Hi-SP is better. ABX tests have generally revealed SP to be only minutley better. Yet others claim that the presence of artifacts is more noticable in SP to begin with. This goes to show that no-one elses test can really be valid in the sense that you will always hear things differently. In other words, your milage may vary. You don't need a Hi-MD to test out Hi-SP, just SonicStage. Why not use your CMT-333NT unit as a basis for comparison? Play a song on an MD from a CD recorded in Hi-SP, and then play the same CD track ripped in SonicStage to Hi-SP with the 333NT hooked up to your pc via USB. This way you can validate these claims for yourself. The point is that validating audio codecs is a very subjective field - and one persons's opinion may not be true to you perception. Hell, you may even find that even if everyone else says one thing, you still experience something different. Take advice with a grain of salt, is all i'm saying.

Tony, you should probably check for yourself before assuming other peoples statements to be correct. Download SS2.3, and rip some CDs into Hi-Sp. I know listening on ur PC isn't the same as your unit, but it's worth a shot, see if you can tell the difference. From what I hear, the general consensus is that SP is better than Hi-SP, but only MARGINALLY so - you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. IIRC, it took one of the people who was comparing the codecs about 15 mins of repeted listening in an ABX test to come to any definate conclusions. I guess for all practical purposes, the two codecs are the same. Perhaps Hi-SP lacks the sheen that Type-R SP colours to the sound. I don't know.

Any info about SonicStage 3.0 (improvements, functionality, differences to previous versions, etc.) would be appreciated.

Hmm... that "ATRAC3" playback sounds highly suspicious to me. It probably just means that you can playback WMA files encoded with the ATRAC3 codec - why they had to release a winamp plugin for this I don't know, as PlanetMG supplied their own codec... But anyway, that's not what you need. What you need as a plugin that can playback OpenMG ATRAC3. There is the directshow filter for OMG/OMA - that's how Windows Media Player plays back OMA. In any case, there's nothing official for anything yet - but it CAN BE DONE. Daijoubu knows, he's the one who did it. Give him a PM.... Or just read this: http://minidisct.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=22928

Good idea kurisu. I'll wait. And it's really no problem, anyhow. I'm more than happy to do this. At least now I know where the SonicStage registry keys are located, and have had a chance to play around with the install builder I'm using. In the mean time, I'll still put together the skins pack. Cheers.

You CAN can't you? You can upload a recording you've recorded digitally, you just can't CONVERT it to wav using Sony's WAV converter tool... Or am I mistaken?

That would be good, provided it even existed to begin with! If you're referring to the 4x CD->MD dub on Type-R MD decks/bookshelfs, then I believe the ATRAC 4.5 encoder is used when doing hi-speed recording (and not Type-R). Still, I haven't really bothered to take a good listen on my bookshelf, took this fact for granted, and did all my recording in SP real-time. Can anyone confirm this is true?

That's gold! Might end up being my new avatar if no-one else pinches it first! EDIT: Nah, too contoversial... I'll just stick with the old one.

Was it this one? http://www.minidisct.com/forum/showthread....highlight=robot I don't hang around the T-Board much these days. It's hard enough just keeping up with this board. It's more fun here anyway, plus the yellow hurts my eyes...

Apparently the uninstall information for the various programs is located in the following keys: MD Simpleburner: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{47E09785-B2FB-11D5-B8EE-00B0D0D26B88} SonicStage: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{71D6CE84-B7DC-4166-8E0D-56C1C37BFB5A} OpenMG Module: KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{BB92E35A-F5B8-4D59-90F3-CF863871BCF3} HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\InstallShield_{BB92E35A-F5B8-4D59-90F3-CF863871BCF3} OpenMG Hotfix: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\OpenMG HotFix4.0-04-11-01-01 Windows Media Format Runtime HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Windows Media Format Runtime Can anyone please confirm this? (FYI, all uninstall info for the add/remove programs control panel applet is located in: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall) EDIT: Have found DirectX now too! HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DirectX Version = 4.09.0000.0904 - that value corresponds to DirectX 9.0c If anyone can provide the values for older versions of DirectX 9.0, that would be great. SonicStage should function with 9.0b and 9.0 fine, but I think there should be the usual "you do not have the latest version" warning...

A few users have been asking about M-Crew and the 333/373NT unit latley. For all who are interested, I've posted the [English] help file to the M-Crew software (zipped CHM). The operation manual for the unit itself is available through the minidisc.org equipment broswer. Note that the unit is also a NetMD, and functions as an external USB audio device as well.

I always laugh when I see those North American models packaged in those horrible plastic display packs. They make MDs look like something they'd hang from a checkout shelf at your local supermarket. Hmmm.... you've got your usual assortment of chewing gum, chocolate bars, the latest cleo/cosmo mags... ooh look.... MD!

What exactly do you mean by "reseting" your N510?

It's quite nice, has a bit of a kick to it IMO. You can guess from the title that it's a blend of oriental and european teas. I'm a bit of a tea freak just to let you all know. I avoid tea bags at all costs and try to boil filtered water, despte the fact that where I live, the tap water is supposed to be one of the best in the world. You can still taste the difference, especially with hot drinks like tea. I also let the kettle sit for a little while before brewing the tea. Aparently the optimum temperature for brewing tea is around ~75-80 degrees centigrade - too hot (ie boiling) and you will end up destroying the flavour, anti-oxidants, etc. At the moment, i'm into rooibos tea, which is from a south african plant. The leaves are quite fine - normally green, but red when fermented... Oh, and I can't abide tea with milk, that's just gross. Always black with 1 or more for me. It's the same with coffee, but sometimes I add just a spoonfull or milk. Just out of interest, has anyone cofee laced with cardamon? You know, the way the Arabs drink it...

Wow a "Sonybot"!!!! Makes you wonder if the Sony people are really human at all and aren't just a bunch of mindless robots! I guess it would explain a lot of things...

M-Crew is ok. It could be a lot better, but it still is a really usefull app IMO. The good news is that I can control nearly every aspect of my bookshelf unit from the PC - which makes doing recordings from CD -> MD a breeze. I just title the CD tracks using the s/w, click the tracks I want to record and go! I can choose the recording mode/high-speed recording etc. The PC Library function however, is poorly integrated. However, it's not too big of deal - in any case the 333NT operates as a USB audio device, so I can really use any program I want to stream audio from PC to the unit. The app works fine with SonicStage, and quietly resides in the system tray when you try and run SS and M-Crew simultaneously. The version I have, is specific to the 333NT. If you want to know more, PM me and I can post some screenshots to show operation.

Otherwise you'll need a SCMS stripper.

On the CD that came with my NetMD bookshelf unit. The CD had M-Crew 2.something, SonicStage 1.5 and LabelMaker on it IIRC.

Hi again! I've edited my original post for clarity, as I now have a better idea of what I'm doing now!. I need assistance in the following areas: (Note that the install script I am using is capable of both scanning the system for the existence of a particular file(s) as well as scanning the registy for the existence of a paticular key(s) and obtaing the value(s) of registry keys.) - (EDIT: found Control Panel Add/Remove Registry Keys) - (EDIT: found DirectX Add/Remove Registry Keys) - Finally, a list of potential software conflicts, and any files/registry entries that can be used to identify them. At present all I can think of is the libmp3 codec, and the Windows 2000 update issue. If we can provide a detailed list of these issues, and ways to identify them, I can allow the installer to warn the users of potential problems, and ways to get around them. This area is fairly important - I need your assistance with this as SS runs without a glitch on my machine! (WinXP Pro SP2). I don't have any libmp3 or any other conflicting software that may cause problems - so all help would be appreciated! As mentioned before, Windows XP users will be warned by the setup program to update to SP2, if they haven't already! Looking foward to some fast replies!

Ahhh! It's always something simple! Something easy you wouldn't have thought of! Yeah, as atrain said just allow only one application to access your CD-ROM drive at a time.

Yes, that's right. If you click "burn an audio CD", it will just convert the MP3s to into a regualr audio CD (plays back in any CD player!)

O/T I know, but own a few HDCDs - For all of them except one, I didn't even know that these were HDCDs. They were not maked differently, just the regular albums you buy from the music store. All of these discs are released by Sony owned record companies. Sorry tony, nice theory, but it doesn't work. BTW, MS don't make HDCDs - they didn't even event them! They just bought out the company who developed the technology.

It should work, yes.