Wendy

Hello most helpful MD friends. A new problem for moi. I got a new computer so installed sonicstage on it and deleted everything from the old one. No problem (I thought) as I faithfully have backed up every oma file I've ever recorded onto cd, thinking it best to save a copy of the source. THese are live recordings of kids' concerts and so on, etc. Of course, you already know what I've done. Rendered my cds full of oma files useless because of the licencing encryption thing. A couple of questions though - 1. Is there any possible way to use them now -through a codec or something? and 2. Why won't the HiMDRenderer still convert them to wav files? Does Sonicstage somehow scramble the oma files when you de-install the software? Any help for me whatsoever? Well, I guess that's 4 questions - sorry about that! Thanks, as always, Wendy

Hi A440 - thanks for this. I'll try the headphone extender thingy. Also, I tried recording one of my groups on Saturday - this time with the volume set down to 4/30. Well, the static is gone, but I can barely hear the music now! But at least that leads me to believe that I'm on the right track and can fix the problem. Next practice = tomorrow night = another chance to experiment. I noticed yesterday in a local store a little set made by Panasonic that included a headphone extension and three plugs for headphones: one to convert between the large and small plugs, one for use on airlines (although I think the airlines are moving away from those things) and the third was a splitter that would permit two headphones to share a single output. That seems a must if you watch dvds on your laptop while on an airplane. Anyhow, the cord was 'coily' like headphone cords on old. The set was only $10 which seemed reasonable, but a bit on the bulky side for my needs because of the coily cord. I'll see how it goes tomorrow night. Fingers crossed! Thanks for all the help.

Thanks for taking the time to write this. I'm sure my problem is something I'm doing. Someone has asked for a clip of the problem - so maybe I'll get some further advice based on that. In the meantime, I did notice that the static does seem to be related to the full band as opposed to some of the quieter passages. Today I taped my smaller ensemble with the manual volume on 4, but although I didn't have the static problem, the recording is so quiet I can barely hear it. I may be on the right track though. Is that just a standard headphone volume control you have there? I have a different one so maybe I'll try using that. My mic is on a peg and I do pick up a fair bit of machine noise (different from this static problem), so was thinking I'd buy an extension cord, but maybe I already have one! Your description of SPL (thanks for explaining that - I have been wondering what it stood for) would lead me to believe that our band probably plays somewhere slightly lower than a rock concert, so maybe that's part of the problem. I think you are right in that my settings were confused. I didn't realize that manual volume overrides the Loud/Standard setting. Does it override everything, for instance also the mic sensitivity? I didn't realize it was an either/or setting. I thought you could set all the settings independently. However, as noted the static did seem to increase as I turned down the volume manually, but now I wonder if I had adjusted the volume and then accidentally overridden it by changing something else afterwards. Would I be able to hear the static if I had the headphones in while recording? I'll try this, although it isn't ideal because when the band is playing, I should be too, so can't be fooling around with the recorder too much. But I'll try. Thanks for all your help! Back to the drawing board.

No, this static-like noise seems to occur whether or not I listen to it on the md or after converting. I'm sure I must have a setting wrong somewhere. What settings do you use for recording your practices? Thanks!

Thank you, Mrsoul - I do have a cheap mic - I'll try it with that. The mic I have though is the same one my brother has, and both are new. He bought his because of the results I got with mine. I thought for sure it was a recording level problem, but alas, it got worse with lowering the volume. Sigh. Thanks for the suggestion - I'll try a different mic and see if there's any effect.

Hi all - having gotten some very helpful assistance here a few weeks ago, I'm hoping for more of the same! Thanks in advance. I have the Sony EMD-DS709P microphone in use with a Sony MZ-NHF800 which I'm using on a trial basis. My main objective is to record the kids' concerts and my own band practice sessions so I can practice along with the group from the comfort of my own home. I have gotten some satisfactory band practices recorded, with some very faint static on the loud parts. Hard to define, but like a crinkling sound. I usually set the sensitivity to "Loud music" as the band is quite loud obviously. I assumed that this was maybe a recording level problem, so tried last night with also setting the recording level lower, to about 10/30. However, that seems to have made it worse. I know the recording is subject to picking up machine noise, but it's not that. That has a distinctive sound and I can live with that for this purpose. This is static. I have a small mp3, if anyone cares to hear it. My brother has the same microphone and uses a little flash mp3 player/recorder and his recordings sound better than mine with no static. And his cost half the price, I might add! That shouldn't be right, should it? I bought the minidisc hoping for quality recordings based on what I'd read, so I assume it's user error here. Any help greatly appreciated. Wendy

Thanks - I've downloaded the newer renderer and will try that. I noticed that the web page said 'gui only' so I assumed that was a skin that you could download and not the app. Now I realize he means "windows only". Anyhow, regarding the mic - I bought a sony one. Don't have it with me, but it's just a little mic on a peg (no cord) and it's T-shaped - one side pointing left and the other right. Apart from the fact that it picks up the motor noise from the md device while it's recording, I also get a few bits of static every so often. I taped one of my sons' strings concerts last week and sometimes, in the middle of a song it kind of sounds like someone crinkles a candy wrapper or something. It's not something that was recorded from the room, anyway. It's not a big deal, however it IS annoying and since everyone's been ranting about the quality of md recording and I don't believe most serious amateurs would be satisfied with it. Thanks again for your kind concern and assistance, Wendy

Hi - thanks so much for listening! I have the Sony MZ-NH700 which seems adequate for the job, although as I mentioned, I do get some static in the recordings occasionally and would expect crystal clear. By updating the SonicStage software, I am able to get my files to import in an OMA format, which I can then put through the wav converter tool. I did manage to find the omg to oma converter and use that for my older files that were in omg format. It seems like a lot of work though and takes a long time. And the wave converter creates two wav files for one source oma file, if it's over a certain size. I tried using the HI-MDRenderer for Windows version 0.21, and it created stutters and skips in the files. I haven't listened to the ones from the converter tool yet to see if it does the same. The source files do not have this problem. I also haven't tried the Hi-MDRenderer with the oma files, as opposed to the omg files. So in short, it's looking like I can do what I want, but all this importing and conversion and pasting back together seems to be a lot of work compared to how other devices (such as mp3 players or cameras) work. I was hoping for drag and drop functionality and files saved in wav format natively. I would then drop the wav file into an editor, delete the chatty bits and voila! The Sony software certainly leaves a lot to be desired - and I hope there aren't more unpleasant surprises waiting for me as I try to do more. I did try a voice recorder before the minidisc, but the sound quality was horrible. It had other problems too (like some wav format that wasn't compatible with my software, which also required a conversion). I don't need cd recording quality, but I do need to be able to hear it enough to play along. Should I be trying some other device? Is the minidisc the wrong thing? I just want something I can throw into my rehearsal bag without a lot of setup and mikes and tracks and things. Is there a better way to edit oma/omg files? I just feel like it shouldn't be this much work! Thanks again, Wendy

Hi all - just wondering if there's anyone who can help as I'm at my wits' end. My objective was simply to buy a device that could tape my band practices as a wav file, get it into the computer and edit out the chatter so that I could practice along with the music bits. Also to record the kids' concerts for keepsakes. Numerous devices, utilities and hours of time and effort later, I'm still no closer. Am currently trying a Sony minidisc. The recording quality is okay, although every so often there is some static. That would be okay for my purposes, but it's a bit frustrating as it seems this device should be capable of crystal clear. I thought the minidisc might be worth keeping if it can double as an mp3 player - well sorta. The most frustrating though has been the software - it is VERY hard to use, and I'm good at this type of thing. I have upgraded and have the conversion tool. HiMDRenderer created files with skips and blips in them. Some of my files are in omg format as that was what the old SonicStage software created. I can't get the files back on the disk to recreate them in oma format so can't use the wave converter. At this point, I'm ready to pack up the whole works and take it back. Anybody have similar experience that I could learn from? I guess specifically I would like to know if anyone does anything like this easily - record your practice (or concert) in its entirety, create a wave file, edit it, save it. Bang, bang, bang - that's all I want to do!