1kyle

Hi -- yes that of course is the problem -- however I added the notes so people could avoid this problem in future -of course if the data's gone then you'll just have to re-rip it -- I've got over 80 GB worth of music at 256 kbs - so I don't EVER want to have to re-create this library again. Incidentally regular backup is also a good idea not just for your music but for your ordinary files and Operating System as well. Imperial Eagle -- try the following From a Clean Windows install try the SS 3.0 / 3.1 available from this site. Install it with the Install from Server option. Install also Simple Burner. Then once that works try the same process for SS 3.2 Now I'm running Windows XP so I don't know if there are specific issues related to Windows 2000 -- I rather doubt it however as SS has been out quite a long time and the Open Secure Module been around even longer than that (Open Jukebox etc). Your problem could also be linked to the 'Connect Music store' address that SS thinks you should use --even if you have NO intentions of using the service (I certainly don't) . If you are in Europe and you got the US version the IP addresses will not match and can cause all sorts of problems -- like Music available in one region not in another aka region coded DVD-Discs. Anything later than SS 2.3 seemed to install fine on various machines I've got so I'm at a loss to understand why it's not installing. Cheers -K

Actually I omitted the most important stuff ----playing from a Computer Into a Decent high end sound system. There's not a very discernable difference when just playing through normal Computer type speakers etc. Cheers -K

The problem with computer output stuff for listening is that the speakers, amps etc if anything are geared to DVD type sounds and is quite different from "Large Living Room" with 1000 USD speakers in it and top range Audio Amplifiers. There definitely IS a difference between 256 and 320 kps -- I took my laptop down to my gear -- I'm using a decent Audigh Z2 PCMCIA sound card and plugged this in (Optical Out on the Audigy to an Optical In on the Amp). Your Source has to be good --some CD's are of dubious quality anyway but a decent full price Classical Music CD with a large Dynamic range will definitely yield a difference in sound quality -- not significant but it's there. Alos a lot of people tend to have the volume turned up much too high -- which again can cause clipping and hence distortion at whatever bit rate you are using. In spite of all this I still find SP or even LP2 from the MDS-JB980 more than holds it's own. I'd LOVE a quality top end Hi-MD deck built like the MDS-JB980. Now that WOULD show up any difference big time. Trouble is probably 99% of people listening to music these days (excluding when travelling and using portable gear) are probably doing it through their computers. Nothing wrong with that per-se but you won't get really ideal sound from this gear. Cheers -K

Thanks all to the link to SS 3.2 === Question here For Ist Gen Hi-MD units which don't have 320 kbs playback would there be any degradition in quality converting from 320kbs to 256 kbs in copying a track from the library (CD's ripped @ 320 kbs) or would is still be better to rip the CD at 256kbs in the first place and then copy directly to the MD. Simple Burner hasn't yet been upgraded for the higher bit rates either. IMO the 320kbs is definitely better than 256kbs when playing from a computer -- this --especially with relaxation of some DRM issues could obviate the need for using PCM except for special cases. Cheers -k

THIS IS NOT QUITE CORRECT -- BUT PLEASE READ CAREFULLY. I've posted this info before but Sonic stage (3.0 / 3.1) WILL allow music to be copied to more than 1 computer (and be playable etc) provided you do the following. 1) NO Purchased music -- i.e you only use our own recordings / ripped CD stuff. OK what you do is as follows. Backup music on computer A with Sonic Stage Backup tool Restore on Computers B / C / D / E or whatever. Now restoring on Computers B / C / D / E etc will remove any existing library that's on that computer so before you start MERGE ALL YOUR MUSIC INTO ONE LIBRARY --in other words the library you originally backup should have all your music in it. You'll find you can play this music / do whatever you want to with it on Computers B,C,D,E etc. as well of course on the original computer A. I don't know about SS 3.2 --it might have less restrictions in it --which is great --but for current users who don't purchase Online Music there is NO problems copying and using libraries on different computers so long as Rule 1) -- No purchased Music, and Rule 2 any existing library on a target computer will we "Wiped" by the restore. Hope this clears up a bit of confusion over this topic. cheers -K Added -- Thanks to the guys here I've just installed SS 3.2 which certainly is a worthwhile upgrade. The Info I posted above was for SS 3.0/3.1 where there was a lot of confusion about "copying" music to more than one Computer. In anycase even with SS 3.2 it's still a good idea to ALWAYS TAKE BACKUPS. -K

I see the original poster is from the UK -- and has purchased an NH1. I'd also suggest doing the Volume Hack in any case as this should make the unit louder whatever phones are being used. Expensive but top range Sennheisers (580 / 590 etc) are really great with HI-MD. Cheers -K

The only good thing I can say about this unit is at least Sharp is staying in the game --and hopefully might actually produce a Hi-MD unit in the future. With the DVD player included it might also be possible to conviently rip DVD soundtracks to MD as well which could be a nice feature. I really can't believe how ugly the unit is however --or am I just getting too old. If I were to get one of these I'd do some serious carpentry again and build it into a nice looking "Classical" antique furniture cabinet. Seriously SHARP execs --you've got a chance here to leapfrog Sony --but you need to get a bit of "class" in the design and marketing dept. -- How about employing some of those snazzy Italian designers who make things like the Ferrari look so stunning (not that I could ever afford one). Cheers -K

If you can convert / store your music files on the PC as WAV then these should be copyable to the Mac --just copy as data via an external USB / CD / DVD etc. Otherwise an analog recording in real time to your mac with whatever recording software that platform has is one way to do it. Another possibility is if both computers have decent sound cards in them is to connect the Optical Out of the PC's sound card to the Optical In of the Mac and record that way. (Real time again I'm afraid). If you don't have the Optical connections on both sound cards then connect the LINE OUT to LINE IN / AUX . I'd avoid using the headphone and microphone connectors on the computers. Another method (better in my view) and certainly much quicker as well is to burn your files to a CD-RW (re-useable so you don't have to waste a lot of CD's for this purpose) on the PC --then rip the sound from the CD using the Mac --this will be a lot quicker than real time and avoids hassles due to poor quality sound cards. If you are a bit more computer savy you can mount the CD on the PC as a "Virtual Drive" using Nero --burn to that CD. To do this use DRIVE IMAGE which is included in the Nero package. It uses part of your Hard Disk like a CD and Windows is "Poodle-Faked" into thinking it has another CD drive attached. Connect the Mac and PC together via network cards like a Home LAN and then you can "Share" the virtual CD with the mac and rip without even having to use a "physical CD". Note that after you've "burned" 1 CD this way you'll have to demount the drive and re-mount it again to create your 2nd / 3rd etc depending on how many files you have to transfer. The instructions in the DRIVE IMAGE software are quite good. You won't get ATRAC3 files to the Mac -- and even if you could there's no way to play them. I don't know anything about MP3's or other various codecs such as OGG etc either as I don't use them so I can't help there. Note that there just might be some basic MD support in future for the Mac -- you'll have to check the latest news and Google. PCM / WAV should be OK as it's "Non DRM'ed" and non encrypted. I'm sure codecs for playing WAV files exist for the Mac platform. Cheers -K

Slightly OT but I've also compared a Hi-SP recording made on a NH1 (a good unit by any standard) and a MDLP recording made at LP2 on a JB980 deck --- in theory the NH1 should have been a lot better than the Lp2 recording --but actually I preferered the sound from the JB980 deck == even though it was at LP2. The deck at SP is better than HI-SP on the NH1 without question. The NH1 is a great portable --but still doesn't give as good result as a high end deck. A decent High end HI-SP deck will certainly yield better results --but currently there's no such animal. Don't throw your NH1 away yet --it's still very good --but just don't expect a portable to be in the same league as a piece of really good high end gear and the JB980 is really one of the TOP pieces of gear Sony ever produced for the MD format. Cheers -K

I've seen a number of CD/MD combo's such as 1) a bookshelf unit, and 2) an integrated system that allow you to dub directly from CD to MD at 2X or 4X. The MD can be recorded in SP/LP2/LP4. Is the quality when done this way equal to doing a real time digital out ==> digital in or is it still better to use a top notch CD player into the optical in of a high end unit like the jdb980 in real time SP mode. just curious --- I know when dubbed this way you'll lose all text such as track titles etc but this can be "edited" in again afterwards. Cheers -K

Getting CD info from Sonic stage is actually a good way -- it's about the only thing I use Sonic Stage for these days. I grab the CD info (via Gracenote CDDB or whatever) and then cut and paste this stuff into an EXCEL spreadsheet. I then print out the spreadsheet and type the data in with the computer keyboard input on my JDB-980 deck --It's a nice feature being able to use a keyboard without having to have the computer plugged into the unit. You can always retrieve the CD information from Gracenote --even from those "Abominations" called Copy protected CD's --which I would never buy in any case. Cheers -K

Thanks for the Info. I made a post a while back saying how much I hated the old large cases of the 1GB HI-MD's -- and the general consensus was thjat most other people did too. Nice to see these new one's --hopefully they'll be available here soon. BTW if you really want standard size "Blue" cases for your MD's you can buy them in packs of 10 from Media-Markt in Hamburg (DE) not sure of the Internet address but Googling will find it. Cheers -K

Well I'm passing on this then -- My JDB980 is still superb and for home listening changing discs (80 Min / 160 min) is not a problem so I can live without this HI-MD unit. I'm sure the Onkyo deck is superb but a Home deck MUST IMO have an optical (digital) out. Can't understand why they omitted it. Cheers -K

still no wiser --can't read Japanese and there's only a picture of the front -- If it showed a picture of the rear end connectors I might have a chance to find out what I need to know. (Also I have't got the Japanese character set installed on my machine so the text is garbled anyway even if I could read Japanese which I can't). I'd assume that it WOULD have an optical out --but would be nice to have a confirmation. I'm surprised that the other site made a mistake -- while I can afford the machine I certainly wouldn't buy it UNLESS it had an optical out so that's potentially one custome Audio Cubes could have lost. Cheers -K

Have I missed something here -- The original spec of this unit AFAIK had an Optical Out --this one doesn't seem to. I hope this is a typo on the spec -- a High end unit without an Optical Out is just an expensive "Door Stop". Given the the price it's likely to be sold in the USA or Europe I would have thought it inconceivable NOT to have an optical out. A High end unit doesn't need to be attached to a computer for copying recordings -- also a lot of decent sound amps these days have optical Input (even more important if and when 5.1 / 7.1 surround sound is available from your source) so this unit really should have an Optical Output. Cheers -K

More or less correct -- I was trying to say that the quality of a high end deck at LP2 sounds at least as good if not better than a portable HI-MD unit at HI-SP. Since the compression is higher in LP2 than HI-SP it would appear that a high end HI-MD deck equivalent say to the MDS-JB980 would really "Blow any competition" away when using HI-SP. Currently "There's no such animal" but if one came out I would want it. On portable equipment LP2 definitely doesn't sound as good as HI-SP --but the amount of difference is really up to the listener's ears and for most portable listening environments such as Trains, Cars etc. is probably more than acceptable. I think that there is definitely a PRO trend emerging here --this should ensure the continuation of the Format --even if Sony seems to "have got its collective knickers in a twist" as far as Consumer level gear is concerned. Cheers -K

MDS-JB980 if you can find one is really great . You've made the correct choicce there -- I'm even looking for a 2nd one myself. I think when you can find them they can be had for around 100 USD --most people are too dumb these days or have been "Ipoded Duped" to understand what high end kit either is or sounds like. If you do find a JB980 you won't regret it --- I was also lucky as I managed to find a black one --most are silver coloured which wouldn't have fitted in with the other gear on my rack. Some people are just beginning to (re-) discover this deck so it might not be so easy or cheap anymore to find it --certainly not at the 100 USD I paid. Almost the best 100 USD I'ved ever spent in my life --get the JB980 awesome piece of kit for the price. It's so near Sudio Quality that you could really consider it as Pro gear. Of course Optical out. Incidently the Optical out into a Computer Optical In ignores any SCMS bits. Record in real time say in .WAV with any decent compter software such as Total Recorder etc. BTW the JB980 also has a USB connection if you want to use Sonic Stage (Ugh!!) and it also has a slot for direct (computer) keyboard so you can type text in without having to be connected to a computer. Cheers -K

This seems to ba a HORRENDOUS limitation of the device -- if you have to do all your transferring via a computer it really isn't IMO worth "upgrading" from an older player. Without record possibilities it really is a "hobbled" down device -- and without optical input you are at the mercy of Sony's algorithms for getting your sound. I certainly don't always want to be near a computer when messing around with music. Nice pics but I'll pass on this particular device (and I usually always like new gadgets) Cheers -K

I just wonder if the quality of the portable HI-MD units are really as high as they could be (sound wise). Whilst I really have no probs with HI-SP played througfh a decent sound system or listened to using a PROPER set of cans such as decent top end Sennheisers I really can't hear too much difference when playing an LP2 disc which I recorded on my MDS-JB980 and am playing back into a good sound system using the same deck (MDS-JB980). The quality of that unit IMO was utterly FIRST CLASS and if you can find one (they can be had quiote cheaply) I'd go for it. The SP mode is also really outstanding (listening at home the disk size is not so important anyway) l and it has a nice digital output as well. Now when it comes to playing LP2 from Net MD or HI-MD portable units there IS a difference. So are the new HI-MD units "hobbled" in any way to appeal to the sound that a lot of people have got used to -- relatively highly compressed Mp3's often connected to a "boom box". I just don't use my NH1 at home any more --the MDS-JB980 is more than sufficient The NH-1 is used now purely on the move. So Sony if LP2 sounds this great on a high quality MDLP deck -- I can't wait to see the full potential of HI-SP on a decent TOP END shelf system. Come on Sony --there's people actually waiting to spend money !!. To any other LP2 doubters -- record LP2 from your CD optical out via optical in on a decent shelf unit and try it. --The Original CD must also be of high quality --some of the cheaper re-mixes you find in Tesco's etc. are of not very good quality to start with. (I agree that recording via SS or other method into a portable unit then LP2 does have flaws although for car listening etc it's fine). Cheers -K

I've got a MSI motherboard in this series MS-6728 (865PE Neo2-PS, 865PE Neo2-PLS, 865PE Neo2-PFIS2R / 865G Neo2-PFS, 865G Neo2-PLS) Not sure of the exact number but it's a NEO2 At boot time ENSURE the USB device is plugged in Enter DEL or whatever your computer needs to get into the BIOS selections (often called SETUP) You'll find somewhere in the options a BOOT menu. The later BIOS'es will have a USB option and if your device has been plugged in it will find it --for example it will shoa a USB external storage disk for example if it's plugged in. Ensure that the Boot selection choses this option BEFORE IDE (Hard Disk) , LAN or other devices. There's nothing wrong with this --when the device is not connected / not found boot will then try the next device selected in the list. Easy really (Older motherboards won't necesssarily have a USB boot option but anything available in the last 2 years or so should). Now to make the device actually load an Operating System (Windows / Linux etc). u need to do a little work by creating a boot sector and install an OS on it. Here's a good start which should guide you through the process. http://www.weethet.nl/english/hardware_bootfromusbstick.php Have fun Cheers -K

As it runs from the Minidisc --quite slow -- but it's great if you need to recover your system --saves carrying DVD's around. (The same BartPE disc run from a CD or DVD is actually very slow as well -- you are trying to run a "Windows" type system from a slow device without using any hard disk activity at all --- much much slower of course than a hard disk but who cares if it recovers your system --and of course I was trying this on a laptop with only 512 GB of memory. A decent desktop with 2 GB RAM would be better of course. -- The OS will "page itself in and out" of RAM which is why it's fairly slow at startup). The Linux system boots faster --but that's the design difference between Windows and Linux. These type of systems are really only useful for "Disaster Recovery" or "Bare Metal" recovery type of situations. BTW it's always a good idea to separate your OS from your data so with Windows partion your disk into C for Windows , D for Data (E,F etc if you want to seggregate more) With Linux / Unix type systems you can also physically partition the disk into /dev/hda1, /dev/hda2 etc -- might be /dev/sda1, /dev/sda2 depending on your actual hardware configuration. Cheers -K

In addition to the "basic" Windows system described above I've also got Linux to boot from the minidisc -- I've managed to boot SUSE 9.3 Pro (You'll have to keep the size down to a mazimum of around 800 MB if you want to boot from the Minidisc and not use anything from the installed hard discs) With both systems (Windows / Linux) all the other peripherals attached to the system are available after the OS has been booted up. As before your BIOS will have to have USB boot enabled. If your BIOS doesn't support this then see if there is a BIOS update for your board. If there is then the utility will "flash" it for you --simple process BUT FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS EXACTLY. You can also make a bootable Windows install disk -- "Slipstream" your service pack 2 files to your Windows CD by copying your CD to a hard disk and running the slipstream procedure. Extract the boot image with Magic ISO or whatever from the Windows CD -- it'll be named something like bootsect.bin / bootsect.img / Microsoft.img A bit of googling will lead you to the links (you need several since what you are doing is actually making a Bootable Disk and not a Bootable CD). Cheers -K

There is a limit to the amount of text for track titles --not sure what it is but it's definitely there. As the previous poster says -- try abbreviating or shotening track titles -- a pain but it works.

Boot finally works from a Minidisk -- you need to ensure that you have a HI-MD unit as the non HI-MD units don't operate in 'Data Mode'. Set your Boot option to USB and it's fine. I've got a 220 MB Bartpe type of Windows recovery --works fine and even has Network and Internet access. Runs entirely from the Minidisc --so you can use it even if your hard disk is totally trashed --and of course you can then run a recovery --I'm using Acronis True Image for "imaging" a windows partition which can be restored from DVD's or whatever (http://www.acronis.com) This disk I've created has a windows PE type of system on it, Firefox Mozilla web browsing, a file manager, Disk and Partition utilities -- Partition Magic and Acronis True Image, winzip, a pdf reader, Ws_ftp, network access including a LAN, and cd/dvd burning software. --works brilliantly. When you create the boot disc ensure you set for the boot option the following : nr of sectors to 4 NO Emulation If you are using Nero to create the boot disk you'll see this in the Boot options You'll also need the boot image but look at the PE builder site --quite easy to follow instructions. My previous post has the link to the Bartpe site. Cheers -K

If you have a bookshelf MD unit or another unit you can usually erase the whole disk . Some of the software wasn't obviously designed for REAL USERS. I doubt if you'd locked up 5 or 6 people in a room for a week and gave them the brief to design the most rediculous piece of software ever I'll bet they would never have come up with anything as stupid as SS . TR protecting YOUR OWN discs is just totally absurd. Cheers -K