Sparky191

I don't think theres a future in your stand up career to be honest. Came across more of a muddled rant to me. Maybe I need a humour transplant stat. Posting primarily to make jokes, is funny, but kinda off topic. However for the others who may be vaguely interested. No I meant the line out. If you want the best SQ, and a large portable music library, that means lossless, a large HD, fast transfers, decent music management and a line out. The iPod/iTunes has all that. Even if most people don't know it does. Apple completely fails to market that feature. Maybe a Sony guy was in charge of advertising that feature? I though it was simply that VHS was cheaper then BetaMax, and that DAT was simply too expensive. However I dunno much about it, I'm not THAT old. Though I do think theres a parallel in HiMD. If someone is primarily is interested in a player compares a 20GB HD unit vs a 1GB HiMD for the same price, and every where they see that the latest technology is the HD/Flash players, theres a comfort zone in buying what they percieve to be the dominant technology. No one want to be left with an expensive betamax again do they.

If there was I think you'd have seen it before now. If the do release something now, most potential customers will have already moved to another format.

Its just dumb. For example you can use lossless though a line out on an iPod and the Sound quality is excellent. Yet someone here is going to say HiLP sounds better than an iPod which is nonsensical. Just because you don't like what "the mass'es" like, doesn't automatically mean its a bad product. Thats just a sweeping generalisation that has no real meaning. Like the prices. Where I live the iPods are the same price or cheaper then HiMD. Its a completely different product with a different use case. End of.

Must have borrowed Harry Potters HiMD.

All products have their good and bad points, but anti ipod rants are annoying especially when they are based on poor product knowledge and half truths or a "spin" on the truth. The iPod fills a need that other products didn't. Thats why it has 85% of the MP3 market. MD/HIMD/SS just didn't cut it in the portable market. Especially since Sony hardly promoted the format. Its a MD forum, not a anti ipod forum.

Others want the cheapest, despite the low SQ. I have a load of cassettes, and am ripping some of them to MP3. Many have deteriorated so badly I've decided to replace them with CD, even 2nd hand CD's. But not many people would bother. Also many cars still have tape decks.

Sony is pulling MD/HiMD from many of its own stores and markets. I seriously doubt they'll put any effort into getting it into other retail chains. That train has already left the station. The best you can hope for it that they retreat to the domestic Japanese market and release new models there. and that Everywhere else they'll reposition it as musicans/recording tool.

The only difference is the display. One is better at night (rh10) the other during the day. Most people who own either, usually get a LCD remote to replace the supplied one. The rh910 is better value for money, but it does have white plastic in place and visually isn't as bling as the rh10. Theres some in the gallery I think. The Japanese model rh10 is the one to get for bling. As it has a colour matched remote. Theres a blue on in the gallery.

Use the original source, not the ATRAC you've created from it.

I'd agree with dex Otaku. I reckon you should keep the original somewhere, even stored on a CD somewhere. Then keep a ATRAC copy in your library. If your library process/system, changes in the future it would be good to have the original encoding somewhere. If you plan on keeping a Hard Disk Library, I'd always recommend buying two large disks. One as a backup, archive and one as the live library. 200/250GB disks are cheap these days, and personally I find the convience of extra space worth it. I also archive some stuff on DVDRW or CDRW too. I have a mix of mp3's and WAV's in my library. I tend to change my mind on what I want every few months and usually up the bitrate as I get better audio equipment. Then I'll recode some of my original stuff at the higher bitrate. For example, initially I was happy with my analog recordings from my cassettes, but now I plan to look for CD's of fav albums 2nd hand. Just to get the better quality. As my HiMD isn't my primary player, I tend to encode from CD rather then from my MP3 library when I want to put something on a MD. Lately this was to experiement with 352 and it meant ripping to WAV/PCM then encoding to 352. I think your library and bitrate should be set up to best suit the player you use most.

Theres really nothing else to say....

1) I'd say they stop, and you'd be searching ebay for HiMD units. 2) Once you get used to them they are ok. Not iPod simple though. 3) Sound quality varies a lot dependent on bitrate. SQ is also subjective. Different people are satisfied with different levels of quality. Theres many different levels of MP3 quality. 4) Not sure why you'd make a copy of MD, but it would depend on the source. I think through SS is the only practical way. Unless you use two decks with optical in and out. 5) The input used to be the only way to get digital source on to a MD. Now with USB connection you don't need it. So you can get download only units that don't have analog or digital in. Some claim that the hardware encodes better then the SS software.

I'll check it out. But placebo effect or not, I like what I like. HiSP is fine for most things. Its only at night or in a quiet office when you'll really hear the difference with 352. Also I tend to listen the same couple of albums for couple of weeks, before I feel the need to change them so I don't need a shedload of tracks with me. Which is why despite having a large 60GB+ music collection my Shuffle, and Zen Micro aren't maxed out.

With the Panasonics I have the right ear doesn't fit well. No one has two ears the same, so its obviously not going to fit the same for both ears. That siad if theres a problem with the cable then thats a different issue.

I feel I can hear a difference between HiSP and 352kps from a WAV. Copy 2 copies of the same track one HiSP and the other 352. Let some one else select which track to play say 8 times. with each track being played four times. But in any order. See if you can tell them apart 8 out of 8 times. Haven't tried it myself.

Theres a new options of high quality for 256kps HiSP in 3.3. Did you try that?

Any chance of an update sefu?

I couldn't listen to it, wish I could. I'm moving to 352kps now. But if you can thats great. You get a ton of stuff on a disk. I think I'm turning into a Audiophile myself. BTW I checked the spelling because I wasn't sure myself and turned up this word... http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=autophile

What antiskip is on HiMD units. Is it compressed or not?

Pretty much anything else. I have a Sony TV and HiFi, and MD/HIMD units and they are all consistent bad UI design. Small example. Why is pause not on the play button on the HiMD units? The menu closes immediately you do anything. So if you are changing settings, you have to drill down through the menu continually. No backlight on the units. etc. Theres loads of examples. The older models seem to be better. Though the remote and menus on my old G750 were annoying. My old Sharp MD has much better controls.

Thats what I do. I select multiple tracks, usually an album or two. As I then rip them to MP3.

Thats a big ATRACtion for me too. I take it you haven't used a Sony portable then. Ergonomics are pretty poor IMO.

AFAIK sonicstage is it. I have v 3.2 and/or 3.3 installed on 3 PC's and had no problems with it. I don't use it that much though to be honest. I don't like it, but I haven't any problems with it....yet.

I've heard a lot of people comment that decks are far better than the portables. Since the process is digital I'm not clear on way that is. I suspect that its the playback is better, and that theres no difference in the actual encoding. In the same way a cheap CD sounds worse than a quality CD deck. But I'm only guessing.

I think once you "hear" the difference between Hi and low bitrates you can't go back.