1kyle

Hi there Why not archive in FLAC - it's also LOSSLESS and will save you a slew of disk space. If you add the NERO mega plug ins to NERO you can easily create your own "Virtual CD's" from FLAC directly and use SB / SS to create your MD. Use Nero's Drive Image to mount the Virtual CD. This unfortuantely doesn't work in Vista anymore Grhhhh but I use an XP Virtual machine for this purpose (Simple Burner also doesn't work in Vista / Windows 7 so that's another reason to keep a Windows XP virtual machine). From FLAC anyway you can transcode the tracks you want to copy to MD to WAV then ATRAC3 - with SS. There's no loss in transcoding FLAC to WAV - both LOSSLESS formats. After transcoding to ATRAC for the MD delete the WAV and just keep the FLAC. For me having a Windows XP virtual machine saves this step. Some modern music players also play FLAC directly -- as it's lossless should sound like PCM anyway. Even nicer as I've posted elsewhere if you have a CD + MD combo type deck burn a CD-R of your own compilation directly from the FLAC files (80 min max by the way for MD) or CD-RW if your player will handle it. Then use the unit's 2X or 4X to dub the MD from your CD in SP mode --even 2X is better than real time and you've got proper SP recording. Edit / title the tracks with SS. You don't need to copy any music to the library. Nero plugins available here http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Vi...ugin-Pack.shtml cheers jimbo

Nice ideas everone but there are some quite cheap "Portable USB chargers" around with either rechargeable or normal batteries in them. These are quite small and can also be used for some mobile phone charging as well such as Motorola Razr series etc. These usb chargers have electronics in them --I' recommend these --cheap as well I applaud all sorts of creativity --great stuff and there isn't enough of it around but in this case I thing the commercial products are probably better value at this time. If you WANT to do it yourself here's a decent guide (illustrated) http://www.instructables.com/id/MintyBoost...ed-USB-charger/ If you want to get a commercial device "Rolls Royce" version (relatively expensive but brilliant) http://www.ohgizmo.com/2008/01/21/powersti...le-usb-charger/ Cheaper http://www.amazon.co.uk/LUPO-POWERSTICK-Po...0691&sr=8-1 Cheers -K

Hi guys Don't know why I never did this before but an easy way to create SP recordings from your music if you have a CD/MD combo deck seems obvious now I look at it. Note this is for your OWN recordings -- standard CD's just use the 2X / 4X dubbing mechanism I use FLAC so step 1 can be skipped if you don't use FLAC. 1) Burn a "Virtual CD" of your FLAC tracks you want to transfer to MD - note remember a CD has max 80 Min. Nero with the mega plugin pack will create audio CD'#s from FLAC directly. Other software should do the same. The Nero mega plugin can be installed FREE from http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Nero...load-18886.html 2) Burn the "Virtual CD" to a CD-R (or if your deck will handle CD-RW use that as you can re-use them) . 3) use the Decks 2X / 4X dubbing facility to create your MD. Even 2X is an improvment over real time. 4) you can edit the MD afterwards mount the "Virtual CD" or your CD-R/CD-RW on to your computer 5) plug in a md recorder -- 6) start SS 7) edit the tracks --(titling etc) Enjoy your own compiled SP quality recordings Cheers -K

Hi guys -- anyone using Windows 7 beta I've been using the X-64 version and Sonic stage works fine. I also use SB which is not supported by VISTA or Windows 7 but it works fine on a Windows XP Virtual machine running on Windows 7. If you don't want to use SB and don't like Vista Windows 7 runs Sonic stage without problem and runs RINGS AROUND VISTA. (Both X-32 and X-64 bit versions). You'll have to download before the end of 24 JAn however. Cheers -K

I have loads that I got "many many moons ago" from a store in Hamburg Germany -these are the Blue one's with flip lids. I bought 300 of these at the time (in those days the GBP was high against the DM -- long before the introduction of the Euro). I've never seen these cases again --would love to find more of these. Cheers -K

For the UK with the pound sterling crashing like a stone that's actually quite a good price for a NEW (not used / ebay / re-furbed) unit. If you are in London there are still loads available in the electronics shops in Tottenham Court Road where you might be able to do some haggling. Don't worry about the volume Cap on the RH1 The output is 4.5mw instead of 5.0 mw --you won't notice any difference especially if you use a decent set of "cans". The M200 is difficult to find in the UK but it's only an RH1 with a microphone. Cheers and good luck with your purchase. -K

Hi there For starters try listening (via the Internet) to WGBH Boston -- it's quite high quality for an Internet Radio station and has a huge amount of varied pieces. If your interest is in Baroque (approx 1500 - 1730 A.D) try also Otto's Baroque --also on the Internet at passable quality (128k) Lower quality but good content is Classic FM from the UK. These stations should give you a flavour of what you might like to listen to. Cheers -K

Hi guys I used to love going to the cinema but these days I find the Sound Mixing is all wrong -- The special effects and music always seem FAR TOO LOUD and when there is any dialog it is very difficult to hear it properly. Older films don't have this problem. Is this just me (going deaf) or has the whole art of proper mixing and sound recording been lost in just trying to generate loud noises (for the IPOD generation). Any sound Engineers on this board -- am I right, or is the Studio telling you guys how to do your jobs. BTW Happy Xmas and New year (and of course "mini-discing". Cheers -K

I think there are a few home truths that should be addressed here --- many people are put off by the "difficulty" of MD's compared to using something like an IPOD. When you have a large amount of music stored on a single device it becomes increaingly difficult to store and mange it. - Playlists become horrible to maintain. Getting music into and out of the device is also not as simple as people seem to imply that it is. -- I find some Apple software just as horrendous as Sony's SS and the quality (to say nothing of the DRM problems) of downloaded music from such places a sI-Tunes is pretty horrible to say the least. Getting music into an Ipod (or similar) also requires a computer. If your Ipod breaks / your computer disks go south etc or your equipment gets stolen your music is GONE - GONE (how many people in spite of being warned nearly every day actually BACK UP their computer data). No self respecting burgular is going to walk away with an armful of minidiscs. MD's can take music from all sorts of sources and are not essentially dependent on having to use a computer to store the music. Recording live gigs in particular are a great use for MD's. I'Other remarks about MD's and storing music. 1) Store your music on your computer in Uncompressed Format or use a LOSSLESS Compression - preferably an Open Codec so you can do wahtever you like with it regardless of the hardware you are using. 2) I use FLAC but there are plenty of others. 3) For any sort of portable listening a 1GM MD disc will hold (at 256 kb) around 7 1/2 hrs music --surely more than enough for typical listening sessions. Take 2 minidiscs if you like. Tthat's 15 hours worth --more than enough. With your own library you can easily create "Virtual CD's" using NERO Drive Image, Linux (mount ISO) or Alcohol 52%. Nero Drive image will not run on Vista so an XP virtual machine is fine. Use Simple Burner to transfer your "Virtual audio CD" to MD. (Again Simple Burner doesn't work on VISTA) but does on a Virtual XP machine. Simple Burner is a doddle to use -- so getting music on to MD IMO is not a big problem however you compile your tracks. Incidentally with the Nero plugin pack you can burn an audio CD (Real or Virtual) directly from a load of codecs - including flac --no transcoding on your part required. Cheers -K Cheers -K

I'm over 50 and still using these daily. However I haven't given up on New Technology -- I often create new compilations etc via SQUEEZEBOX audio streaming -- the squeezebox has an optical audio out for real time otherwise I just create a "Virtual CD" and burn to MD using Simple Burner (on a Windows XP virtual machine as SB doesn't run on VISTA). I edit with SS -- about the only time I use SS --you don't need to store music in SS anymore even when using MD's. I upload my recordings as WAV via SS -- convert to FLAC - then delete from SS library. I have nothing permanently stored in SS. Squeezebox plays FLAC direcctly and if I want to download again to MD then I just create a Virtual CD from the flac files (NERO does this directly in Windows XP) and use SB for the download. Storing files as FLAC means you have NO COMPRESSION, and your library can be organised however you want. You aren't limited to a [roprietary database format which can break very easily or can't span multiple volumes. Got the best of both worlds this way. Can listen on decent gear with Squeezebox if computer is running or on nice MD stand alone deck (MBS JB980) when I can't be bothered with computers etc. Cheers -K

Hi all three methods to burn your MD stuff to PC's after upload. 1) convert stuff to FLAC and then you can use NERO ===> AUDIO CD directly (same with MP3's although I don't tend to use these as I prefer uncompressed music on the whole. You need to download the NERO mega plugin pack --google it --still works even on VISTA and latest version of NERO. 2) (My preferred method) I upload the music to FLAC in the first place and then I can make a "Virtual Audio CD" and use Simple Burner to burn to MD directly. On VISTA or LINUX machines you'll need to run an XP or Windows 2000 virtual machinwe. Windows 2000 is good as it needs no activation each time you install a Virtual machine -- since you only need it for Simple Burner doesn't require much space, and is VERY FAST on even small laptops. 3) For "Real Time" recorded music on a MD upload as WAV, convert to flac and then proceed as 2) You can use NERO Drive Image (non VISTA) or Alcohol 52 (Free) to create and mount a virtual CD / DVD. Only use SS to get the initial music into your computer (as WAV) -- once you've converted the wav to flac get rid of the stuff in your SS Linrary. FLAC is good -- also converts to formats that can be used by other music players and also you can split your music library into as many sections as you want and of course can span multiple volumes. FLAC is good LOSSLESS compression. Winamp / Media Monkey etc etc. handles this stuff fine. FLAC can be played direcly by WINAMP etc on the computer and I use a SQUEEZEBOX system for audio streaming around the house -- the SQUEEZEBOX system plays FLAC directly -conversion done in the hardware. The only other time I use SS is if I've made an "Own MD" compilation then I simply use SS to title the tracks. I never actually store any music in SS library any more. The RH1 is still a great tool -- I've got 3 of these and tend to continue using these for a long time to come. For SB I use the Hi-SP setting (256kbs good enough for 99.999% of stuff). For standard MD's I re-burn to SP mode by creating a "play list" from my FLAC library, set the squeezebox system to play it and record from the optical out of one of the squeezebox receivers into the optical in on the RH1. It's really not worth the hassle of trying to hack into the OMA files unless you really like doing this. Now I don't have to use SS even for creating MD's I've given up on trying to mess around decoding ATRAC files any more. Cheers -K

Actually I like removable storage media - great for archiving etc -- fixed storage media has the problem of storing it, finding the recording you want etc. etc The minidisc is just about the perfect size for handling -- perhaps a higer capacity would be OK. What would be good would be NATIVE FLAC playing and full drag 'n drop via windows etc. No more software like Sonic stage / Simple Burner needed to get your music either loaded to the MD or PC from the MD. Currently I still have to use Simple Burner on a Windows XP virtual machine to get stuff on to an MD - I use Nero to create an ISO image of my FLAC data to create an audio CD and then burn this with SB. I don't use Sonic stage at all any more and all my audio is held in FLAC format. I like a lot of classical music so lossy 128 kbs MP3's don't cut it for me at all. Actually --although another issue - Classical Music is still one area where the CD market is still strong -- very few classical music lovers will be satisfied with the quality of ITUNES normal downloads. Cheers -K

Most decent car radios today have an AUX input on the front panel - just plug your MD into the radio AUX in (you can either use LINE OUT or normal OUT from the MD. Line in is better. Radios often have a USB port as well -- unfortunately this is not compatable with MD (even on Sony car radios) !!!. The USB will work fine for other types of Music players. You can still find some older Kenwood radios on Ebay etc -- but these will only play Net MD (no Hi-MD). and don't have an AUDIO in (or at least not one that you can access without a bit of fiddly work). Radio waith AUX in is your best bet. Cheers =K

It doesn't work under VISTA but works fine on an XP Virtual machine running on Linux Or VISTA. Just don't plug in the MD until you've "Powered on" your VM so the VM can "take ownership" of the USB /MD device. I use SB a lot. You need to have SS installed but you don't need to use it. You actually need to install the openmg module --but it's easier just to install SS complete - then install SB. Cheers -K

I'm surprised that the RH10 even lasted long enough for the display to burn out. The real weakness of that unit was the battery door latch --these would break just by LOOKING at them. Also no Line Out on the RH10. The RH1 is a totally different animal -- obviously designed by decent engineers. Cheers -K

Hi Guys The easy way of storing working software for your MD is to create a minimal Windows 2000 or XP installation as a virtual machine and save it on a USB stick. Install SS and Simple burner together with Nero (or other ISO mounting tools such as Alcohol 52%" When you want to use the MD fire up VMWARE and boot your XP / 2000 Windows virtual machine from your USB stick (just open as a file from vmware). Hey presto all the MD stuff including simple burner works fine --you can even run the vm from a Linux machine too. As for giving up MD's -- not yet for me -- especially the RH1's. Cheers -K

Hi all Squeezebox to MD works an absolute treat - I play the OPTICAL OUT on the squeezebox into the Optical IN on whatever MD I'm using and encode in SP, LP2 or HI-MD depending on what I need the MD for (LP2 usually goes in the car or portable listening). I still like the sound of SP the best but probably there's really very little in it between SP and Hi-MD. The aqueezebox can also give quite high quality Internet radio as well (for example WGBH HD2 Boston classical station at 128 kbs --fine for creating LP2 discs) and there are even a few stations now at 292 kbs --perfect. Real time is not a problem asd I'm listening anyway to the squeezebox -- which plays Native flac files saving a conversion and using the squeezebox's optical out you don't need to use the built in DAC converter. Editing tracks can be done with SS and you don't need to transfer anything to the library. Cheers -K

Hi guys SB runs fine on Virtual machines running on SUSE, and UBUNTU (both 32 and 64 Bit versions) SB also runs on Virtual machines running on VISTA ULTIMATE (64 Bit) and VISTA HOME PREMIUM 32 and 64 Bit versions The following GUEST VM's work fine -- Windows XP (all 32 bit versions - home and XPPRO, 2003 media edition, Windows 2003 server (32 bit) and Windows 2000 professional Sonic stage needs to be installed on the VM . Vm software - Parallels and VMWARE both work -- VBOX might be OK (Free Linux Virtualisation software) For example SB on Vista home premium 32 bit cheers -k

Hi Guys Anybody suceeded in running Simple Burner on Vista 64 Ultimate yet. I'm messing around with "Compatability" mode and might be able to get somewhere with this. You need to have SS installed first of course. If I can get this to work it saves me having to start up a Windows XP virtual machine just for this application. My original misgivings about VISTA are a bit better now the 64 bit version with SP1 installed is finally here. The original versions were a real DOG. - Moral don't be early adopters in the O/S stakes. Cheers -K

Just use Simple Burner -- a lot quicker and you don't need SS (although you have to install the OMG module. Very quick for erasing and reformatting Cheers -K

Hi there That's a HIDEOUS solution -- it breaks the first rule --NEVER EVER put your music into some proprertary closed data base scheme -- the Winamp DB also can get broken and doesn't really work with multiple volumes across MORE than 1 network very easily. Linking titles to an EXCEL spreadsheet or a ACCESS DB is probably better -- but I've toomuch music for that type of solution. Cheers -K

Hi gurus I'm sure I'm not the only one with this problem. I've probably ripped around 1000 cd's, plus loads of recordings, own compilations etc etc --I'm not even sure what I've got now. How do you guys organize HUGE collections and how can you find anything. As a Pro photographer I had a similar problem with digital photos but there is quite a lot of good software out there usually quite cheap and can use free DB's such as MySQL. Digital photos contain identifying tags which perform a similar purpose to music tags - such as subject, camer, exposure details etc etc. I'd love something easy like this for music -- however it seems basically because music "downloading" or "ripping" has always been frowned on by the music industry there's no good cheap library / music organising software out there. (Professional bradcasting stuff is another story but that's way over the top for my application and probably costs a fortune as well). Note I don't want to convert tracks into "propietary internal data base formats" as it is impossible to recover if the data base gets corrupted or broken and I need to be able to span volumes. currently I have music arranged on a private network like this --but just have to use Windows explorer to get what I want --not very good. This has grown to rather unmanageable proportions so I'm open to suggestions -- I'm talking here of a collection containing around 30,000 tracks (or equivalent) Cheers -K

Hi there -- get them from Europe -- also Region 2 (although PAL but that shouldn't be a problem these days with modern TV's, LCD screens etc etc. ) Region I think for japan is also 2 but that's easily "got round". You get usually 5 or 6 episodes per DVD and there are some good bargains now - around 40 EUR (inc VAT) for a boxed set of 1 season. Cheers -k

Hi there - finally found a decent program for Virtual Drive Imaging on Vista 64 bit (and 32 bit) Alcohol 52 FE (Free Edition) works fine both on 32 and 54 bit VISTA. It's more useful than most people realize being able to mount Virtual CD's , DVD,s and now Blu Ray DVD's - great for permanent archive). Cheers -K

Hi all I've bought one of those new squeezebox duets -- really great What I LOVE about these is that the receiver(s) have an OPTICAL OUT (as well as COAX optical and standard audio output). The system also plays NATIVE FLAC at full CD quality - no need to transcode first. So I just plug the ouput into my MD shelf unit and pop a minidisc into it. Then I just record (OK in Real time) while I'm listening. The Squeezebox also gives you dozens and dozens of Internet radio which is what I often record -- Boston WGBN plays nice classical music at 128 kbs -- perfectly OK for recording to MD for car use later etc (LP2). Another nice classical station at 128 KBs is Otto's Baroque music. The Squeeze center software does it all. Since I'm listening in Real time popping a MD into the shelf unit is no problem. SP quality IMO is still tops. I use SP when playing FLAC tracks or LP2 when recording from the squeezebox. (Obviously I can also make compilations vis Simple Burner etc which I do when I want to make several new MD compilations- but the Real time + squeezebox is fine if I'm working on the computer anyway). Cheers -K