Sparky191

it will be tied up in courts for so long,I doubt it will matter.

Whats the reason for the two MD ?

I think I understand it now. Apologies if its repeating the same point again. Take 64kps CBR If for example, you encoded at 64kps. The compression needed to record slience @ 64kps is nothing, but in the middle of a very complex symphony you'd need very heavy compression to squeeze it into 64kps. So while the compression rate is constant (64kps all the way) the quality of the music is perfect where its silent, but terrible in the middle of a very complex symphony. So the quality varies/ Take VBR in the silent bits the compression would be 64kps so the quality is still excellent, but in the middle of a very complex symphony the compression increases the bits to 320kps so the compression is less, but the quality of the music is the same as silence @ 64kps. So the compression is variable, but the quality is the same through the track. So hence

What modern units don't have the ribbon cable problem?

I'd say they are more likely to make a dock for their MP3 players. Pity. Still it means you might pick up an old unit cheap.

Just wondering does anyone prefer the sound of their old MD units to their new HiMD? I haven't done a direct comparision myself... yet.

Whats a N920?

How does it define "Quality" ?

You didn't like the FLASH MP3 player because it couldn't hold enough music. The HiMD hold a lot more, and you can use multiple disks. Thats one reason. HiMD supports playback of your existing SP/LP2/LP4 recordings. The MD sound quality is still good on the new units. Even better with PCM instead of SP if you want. The charges via USB and uses a standard USB connection/cable. MP3 support is useful. Sometimes you can only get certain tracks as MP3 and transcoding to ATRAC will hurt the SQ. If you don't have to do that, that has to be a bonus. You'll get a warranty on a new MZ-N10 I've only got a NH700. One thing I really like is the jog wheel. I miss not having a backlight though.

Try a different ATRAC bit rate.

I'm puzzled why you think a transcoded ATRAC file can sound better then a the MP3 its been created from. Certainly tha vast majoirty of them should be worse quality and should sound noticeably worse.

I thought that aswell??? 256 Lame variable on a 910 should sound fine. I wouldn't bother transcoding them to ATRAC. Leave them as MP3's and buy a decent and appropriate set of earphones.

News to me. I use the AC supply all the time when recording my cassettes and I don't get any buzz. Why would using the AC supply be a problem?

Just because a feature isn't of use to you, doesn't mean its not useful or critical to someone else. I need to bring data with me quite a lot, and usually its a few hundred megs. Using a MD for transporting this amount of data is just not practical. Its simply too slow (for whatever reason) So I bought a MP3 player (Zen Micro) for this now. If you only need to move a few documents then HiMD would suffice. But for me it was a non runner. If it works for you then great. I guess thats off the point though....sorry. Mp3 players and MD are very different. Like you say it depends what you are looking for. I find having one of each works well for me. I wonder though do many people do back to back listening test between one device and another. I noticed myself that all the portable audio devices I have, some sound much better than others.

I'll certainly agree that SonicStage is not the most intuitive or fastest application I've ever used. That said I've only used 3.2 myself and have not had any problems with it. But from I've read either it works fine or it drives you insane. I suspect it has a conflict with something else. But I'm a bit bit puzzled as to why you want to create a ATRAC CD? Is it for a Discman that only plays ATRAC? AFAIK SS is the the only app out there that can create ATRAC files. As an alternative I suggest using something else to rip the CD to WAV. I use AudioGrabber and the LAME.DLL to rip CD's myself. Then import the WAVs back into SS. Alternatively, these links might be useful. http://www.audiotstation.com/forum/showthr...=&threadid=4825 http://www.minidisc.org/NetMD_faq.html#_q84

I'm using a Zen Micro as player and flash drive. The HiMD I have, I use primarily for recording.

Which remote is it?

I don't think theres any point turning this into a Mp3 vs ATRAC debate. If you want a MD that supports MP3 buy a 2nd gen.

I think that better earphones will show up the artifacts low quality of HiLP more than cheaper ones. I've been experimenting with better earbuds, sennheiser MX500's and Panasonics HJE50W, and it has made lower than 192 bitrate stuff sound so poor that I can't listen to them anymore. But the better than 192 is sounding great!

Personally I never liked LP2 that much. For some albums it was ok, older rock stuff. But I notice artifacts in a lot of my favorite albums though. SP was noticeably superior to my ears so that I usually used SP. I've only had a HiMD a little while, but I find HiSP sufficent for portable use. In a direct comparision yes PCM is better, but you'd need decent earphones and a quiet enviroment to really notice it. For me HiSP is fine my music sounds good in HiSP. But I didn't like anything I encoded in HiLP. That said I intend using the HiMD primarly for recording. Though I do find myself using it as a portable when my Mp3 player is out of charge.

Any device I've seen that can't draw enough current from one USB port, uses a Y cable to draw power from two ports. Like the faster and larger capacity 2.5" Hard disks.

Seems odd to release a new non HiMD unit.

How can it do that?

Why not just buy a backlit remote?

Very nice. Thanks for the photos.