Sparky191

Haven't heard them myself, but theres meant to be little different is sound from a technical point of view but some reckon they can hear a difference. Do a search on Digtia Amps. You'll find some old posts on it.

You don't need a Sony Vaio to use SonicStage it works on any PC. I get the impression you are recording via analog. You should use the USB cable and transfer digitally. Version 3.3 as others have mentioned. Do you have the manual for the NH700. I assume its all in there.

I'm confused by what your asking. Whats do you mean by NetMD? What bitrate is that. Also since you can't record directly on a HiMD in lossless, you must mean transferring. Recording and transferring are different. Where on earth did you find a commerical MD? Who is it?

So if they couldn't sell enough units in 97% of the PC market to make it worthwile you think selling to another 1.5% (or 5%) will make all the difference?

An external drive is always useful, as backup and as transport for large amouts of data. No matter which player you get an external drive to back up your library I would say makes a lot of sense. I've two of them myself. But I've a lot of other data in addition to my music. I've a Dual 2.4GHz Zeon never had a problem with SS(HiMD), or iTunes (Shuffle) or Using drag and drop to my Zen Micro. To be honest I've never had a problem with 2.8 or 3.0 P4's either. These portable players have slow drives. So you don't get desktop speeds from their drives. But 3hrs seems excessive. I might have been some other problem, with the USB bus or drivers. Who knows. Seems "off" though. I reckon it takes about 10mins to fill my 5GB zen and about 20-30mins to fill my HiMD. Shuffle about 5 mins. Theres lots of things that could be the cause of it. While I like ATRAC. It only works on one of my 3 devices. So MP3 is the best format for me. Maybe if I had only Sony units I wouldn't mind re ripping my music to ATRAC. Though I'd need something better than SS.

Packardbell you are kidding. They couldn't make a cardboard box properly.

I would have said the opposite. Thats an even smaller number. On a global scale is that small a number worth it? I doubt it. This is not a small specialist company, but a massive one where economies of scale are all important. Sony needs to reposition the HiMD to leverage its strengths, not enter the home market of iPod as a player. What hope does it as a player against the iPod? Its best hope is to repostion as a tool for musicans, home mixes and recordings, and for recording lectures, meetings etc.

I don't see a business case for it either. The windows market share is 97% Apple 1.5%. Why bother? Its a pity but thats the reality.

Thats a great example. The guidelines don't discuss the issue. This thread does. So its annoying when is closed arbitrarily. Thats off putting. IMO.

I think you are confusing transferring music to a device with recording. I dunno how you couldn't find Head Fi. Its the first link in Google. http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&q=head+Fi&meta= What you want is the http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/forumdispla...p?s=&forumid=22 Do a search for the units you mention. True. I think ATRAC was one of the only formats to be designed partially with battery life in mind.

You can get 80-100GB 2.5 Notebook drives. However they tend to use more power than the smaller ones and thus need two USB ports. (they draw power from both). If you are using it for music I suggest you look at which models are the quietest. Some 3.5 drives can be quite noisy. I would go for Seagate, Samsung quieter models. I bought my own enclosure and stuck a standard 3.5 drive into it.

I think your 100% right Herri

I think you either have to allow duplicate threads or don't. But if you don't you have a much bigger workload administering the site. Thats a choice that the admins make. I think you shouldn't post read the FAQ or do a search, you should just not post at all in those thread. That stops experienced posters from getting jaded (tired) from newbie posts. If you really don't want newbie posts, create a newbie subforum specifically for them. Perhaps constrain them to that section till they hit 100 posts or something.

HiMD would be great for what you want. The other option is to use a computer/laptop instead. But assuming you want a portable device, a HiMD unit is the way to go. I'd agree with everthing said so far. A NH700 NH900 or RH910 would be the models I'd pick. The offer from Minidisc Australia is the best around. Wish I could get one.

I don't find SS slow itself. Just the transfer to HiMD. SS is as quick as iTunes on my P4. However Audiograbber & Lame is quicker than both. Like the phrase, "I'm a lover not a fighter". In my opinion HiMD is a great recorder not a player. But you can also use it as a player.

No effect at all I'd say.

Have done a ABX test between them?

Maybe it was just the player you were using then. Many of them have iffy SQ. I always heard the Rio was ok. never used one myself though, and SQ is subjective.

I just plug my MD into my sound card line in, and run the resultant WAV file through a program called CD WAVE. It splits the WAVbased on the sliences between tracks. Then I run them through an encoder to convert them to MP3. Slow process. Better would be to run them from a MD deck with an optical out into and optical in on a sound card. Then split the WAV and encode them. I don't think Marcs HiMD render works with non HiMD disks.

LP2 (132kps) is low quality not high quality. A well encoded MP3 (256-320kps) can rival SP (292kps) for SQ. Recent Personal CD players (PCDP) do not have very good SQ. The Sony Discman D-NE20 is their best model. If I were you I avoid CD players and get a HD unit. Check out the portable section over on Head Fi. If you a lot of music on MD already, maybe just get a HiMD unit.

The iPod screen issue got sorted very fast. Also all players including MD break. MP3 players definately are not very robust, so you need a good warranty and RMA process. Apples is one of the best. That said I don't like the iPods all that much. Cowon is ok. Video isn't very good and the subpack dock isn't great. I've heard people haaving problems with their RMA process too. iRiver are very slow to fix problems with their players. Check out the portable forums over on Head -Fi

Lifes too short for SonicStage after you've used another player. Personally after using HiMD I wouldn't go back to a realtime unit ever. I use my HiMD for recording and but as a player only occasionally. Takes to long to put music on a disk. For a player I'm currently using a iPod Shuffle and a Zen Micro. Both have excellent SQ, but you have to use higher bitrates (min192kps) usually 256-320kps and encode them using lame.

Depends on what you want to do. If its record then yes. If you don't record then its a harder question. I would suggest a MP3 player makes a better player. Will it be around? No one knows, probably Sony haven't decided yet. They are pulling it out of most markets, with the only new new units being released in Japan. That doesn't bode well IMO.

Only true IEM like shures are truely isolating, and its a characteristic of all IEM 's that you use less volume. However ambient noise is sometimes required, if you are commuting, or in an office etc. Which is why I rarely use my in ear Panasonics. What way is the cord on the PX100? I prefer asymetrical but the Senn MX500 earbuds I have are symetrical.

Which one did you get?