etotheix

I don't get this either. What does mean to have an adjustable bitrate for a Lossless codec? Something's funny here.

Whoh there cfairfowl. The VCR thing was just an incidental comment. I said your project sounded neat, and I meant it. A lot of people aren't aware that you can record radio with a VCR or how good the sound quality of a *Hi-Fi* VCR is. (non-Hi-Fi VCR's do sound like shit, by the way). It's not quite as good as PCM or Hi-SP, but it is far better than Hi-LP. If you have a Hi-Fi VCR, compare for yourself. Typical audio specs for a Hi-Fi VCR are actually pretty decent (20Hz-20kHz, 80db or better S/N ratio). But you need to make sure to connect directly to the L and R audio inputs of the deck -- using the cable TV aerial socket will not work. The audio won't be recorded to the Hi-Fi tracks if you do this; instead, it will be recorded on the same very low quality track that a non-Hi-Fi VCR uses. Once recorded to the VCR, audio can be re-recorded to minidisc for mule-free portability. Like I said, I think what you're doing is really cool. In fact, it's posts like yours -- people experimenting, finding innovative uses for their minidisc recorders -- that keeps me coming back to this forum. But not everyone is going have the skill or the inclination to build a device like the one you've designed.

Sounds like a neat project! Incidentally, a Hi-Fi VCR can work great for recording radio programs. Put it in EP mode and you can get six hours of recording time and the recording quality is quite good--much better than HI-LP.

Decided I should explain rather than just refer you to the manual because all the recording modes for Hi-MD really are very confusing: If your disc is Hi-MD formatted, you cannot directly record in LP2; you can, however, still download LP2 tracks from your computer.

Yes, you can record in LP2. Take a look a pages 100-102 of your manual. It explains the different recording modes. You'll also find a table that tells you the all recording times for the different modes and disc types.

Wow Lycaon, where are you finding these deals?

Try here.

dex! This is great information. This is the kind of thing that makes this forum great.

$6.99 at radioshack. Not sure if there in stores yet but you can order them (with free shipping if you order in-store).

Great! I was playing with the optical, switching between AGC and Manual, and it sure did sound like 23/30 was the same as AGC. This may be a silly question but what does (IIRC) mean?

There is a file in addition to the HMDHIFI folder called HI-MD.IND (IND for index?). When I copied the MD to the harddrive and then to a another (freshly formatted) disc, I copied the folder and the IND file. Another, very interesting, thing I didn't mention: As the folder was being copied from the original MD to the hardrive, the REC segment on the LCD lit up for a bit even though I was just copying the disc. So there must be some DRM-ing going on there.

Played with the analog line-in with AGC. Yeah, that's definitely NOT plain zero gain. Haven't tried optical yet... I'll check it.

Tried it. No go. Tried to play the new disc and it says, NO TRACK.

Could you copy that folder to another MD? 1) Copy the HMDHIFI folder to hardrive. 2) Put in a second, blank mindisc 3) Copy the hardrive HMDHIFI folder to the new MD, 4) Try to transfer stuff from there... Probably can't do it. But can't hurt to try!

SonicStage has a backup feature. I think you can use this to move everything your new computer. Not 100% sure though.

Oooooh, BABY! If I weren't destitute...

Oooh, so you're thinking AGC is 0db gain for optical-in? That would be great! I was thinking AGC was AGC and that for both optical & line-in, AGC would tweak levels as you record the same as with the mic-in AGC. Have you done very careful comparisons? Like using a source that varies levels a lot -- say a classical piece that is soft for a long time and then gets really loud? Do you think that for analog line-in, AGC might be a constant 0db too? I kinda half remember doing some experiments that made me think is wasn't. But, if the analog line-in AGC was a constant 0db, then couldn't you use a mic with a preamp at line-in and never again have to worry about resetting the recorder to manual when recording live? That would be very good!

OK, cool. I Looked around some more, and apparently unity gain around 17 or 18/30. Dex, A440, I'd love to hear how you guys figured this out!

Thanks deafplayer, I'll try to find that.

When using the optical input, does anyone know what record level on the NH900 gives a neutral result -- no gain, no attenuation? (I definitely don't want to use AGC because I want to preserve the all dynamics of the original recording.) Seems like this should be listed in the manual but I can't find anything. I tried 30 but got lots of clipping; so obviously 30 is not zero gain. I experimented with some other settings and got a fine recording, but I'd really like to know where zero gain is. Anybody?

Me's argees wit als yous. Booyakasha!

Yup, thanks kurisu. I did mean record level. You could be right aamd. Still, I'd rather it remember my setting -- if you put it in manual you're going to be looking at the meter when you start recording. So you'd know right away if the level is set at zero.

I was just playing with my NH900 and I noticed something funny. When I use the manual [record] volume control it remembers the level setting *IF* it's greater than 13, but if it's less it doesn't -- it resets to 13. This seems odd and potentially anoying. Can anyone confirm?

I've had my 900 hang a few times when doing a lot of editing of trackmarks. It doesn't seem to save edits until you press stop. I had recorded some of my old cassette tapes and was adding in and adusting trackmarks between songs. It would hang up and I'd have to open the battery door to get it to shut down. All the editing I did would be lost. This happened three or for times. So now I always press stop to save what I've done after two or three edits.

Ditto Jimmix. Ditto Qwakrz. Hi-LP really is NOT comparable to LP2. I can't understand why there is no intermediate ATRAC3+ bitrate. That's something I'd really like to know the answer to. Sony, why is there no bitrate for ATRAC3+ between 256k and 64k? Baffling. Anybody have any ideas about what Sony was thinking/smoking?