The Low Volta

listening to Johann Sebastian Bach | cello suites (I-VI) performed by Viviane Spanoghe even better than the version by Mistlav Rostropovich (even though that is very pleasing as well, but it is more like listening to Rostropovich ... playing Bach while this version is more: 'BACH! humbly but skilfully brought to you by Spanoghe' if you understand what I'm saying)

umwoof... you do have a hang for dramatisation so you actually mean to say that two shops don't have them anymore... well, I'll just pop off to create a "MiniDisc LIVES"-thread because I just found out that not only the major electronics chains overhere (Fnac; Mediamarkt; ...) offer legacy AND 1gb discs (well, Mediamarkt at least), but also a whole bunch of general grocery supermakets (Delhaize and Carrefour) carry legacy 80 min discs as well (TDK, Maxell) ok... and this conclusion is really far-fetched this thread is about not stocking/selling the discs...not about making them, not?

as I said Ferzala... this was not meant as a critique, just a honest question for clarification (which you did so thanks you for that) so you actually offer (well, given a couple of practical limitations of course) to upload the discs even if it means realtime? I honestly applaud you for being so helpful and generous. but perhaps Valder's RH1 (or someone elses if he's not located near Valder) might effectively be a quicker solution (but this does not diminish your generosity at all as far as I'm concerned) but for now I'll just stay out of this discussion...unless the original poster is located in Belgium

the noise reduction effectively does what you describe (it needs a bit of recording of the noise without any other sound to 'learn the frequencies' that need to be eliminated) but it can create a very unnatural sounding result. Just experiment a bit with the different settings and look for a way in between background noise and artifacts

while I haven't read the articles yet and I personally do not own a standalone MP3-player (I do own a S-E 810i walkman phone and could have gotten a 30gb ipod video last year from work, but didn't need it and I wasn't allowed to sell it on ) I have a couple of remarks... while I understand your pov Sparda (you've invested all your money in the RH1 and therefore you'll defend it with all arguments even though they might be a bit off) there are a couple of things that need to be put into perspective (BTW: all quotes following were put inbetween [sarcasm][/sarcasm] quotes and need to be interpreted that way...but it was too much hassle to reproduce that in every quote): granted, the RH1's buds were slightly (really not much at all) better than the average stockbuds, but:- allmost all of the other MD/HiMD models I have ever seen come with horrible stockbuds as well - if you take music serious (your subsequent posts about SQ suggest so) you will not be using the stockbuds from any player... ever! both things lead me to conclude that HiMD is not any different in this respect than any other DAP (including the ipod) again a very big generalisation as not all (Hi)MD models do include the HD digital amp... and not all MP3-players sound like rubbish (heck, even my mobile sounds quite acceptable...when I replace the rubbish stock in-ear buds with my decent portable phones). I understand you love MD and hate MP3...still this doesn't make this 'true' all of a sudden a whole bunch of MP3 players offer gapless MP3-playback when rockboxed and I believe the latest ipod even offers something like it standard (note completely sure about that though)... further most MP3-players are actually multi codec DAP, some of which (rockboxed or not) can play gapless codecs as well (like flac etc...) oh, did I mention Flac-lossless? Yeah, a number of MP3-players (well DAP's) can play lossless formats; from ipods + apples AAC-lossless to rockboxed players and cowons that play the opensource Flac... and of course PCM (non-compressed and therefore practically useless) on HiMD... but that feature didn't really seem worthy of a mention I guess - should I still be pointing out that again you are very comfortably generalising any which way suits you? Only three HiMD models offer line out. It still is a software setting (and not a dedicated line-out) and I bet (don't know this really) a number of MP3 players can do this as well. Adding a small extra part to an ipod offers a real line-out as well and those irritating little machines come with an entire range of specially designed (and overpiced?) hifi's/speakersets/... - the RH1 may have a line out...but it only works when no remote is connected...and it only shows tracknames etc on its remote and most special (and not so special) navigation functions are remote-only as well... but this small design-mistake didn't make your post honestly, only since the coming of HiMD has MD been able to offer serious amounts of storage (300MB and up/disc) and besides, what you prefer (removable or fixed 'memory') is more a thing of personal taste than anything else IMHO:- HDD-based players (like some ipods etc) offer up to 80 gb... do you really carry 80 1gb discs with you? (whether you need to is another question, but that relates to the personal taste part) -> so I don't think you can say you are overly 'bound by limited memory' on MP3 players - flash based players offer up to 4gb nowadays (IIRC) so that still means 4 discs worth of music without swapping and without moving parts - there are a lot of MP3-players with very limited space (like the creative one you have), but 1) this is a choice you made when buying; 2) lots of ppl are happy with that space (they do not need to carry lots of music and the drag-n-drop lets them quickly change the contents when needed) so again this is all personal taste and you shouldn't use it as an argument for saying one is better than the other again: - overgeneralising... the NH1 and RH1 are the only fully metal HiMDs (except for some semi-obscure player-only perhaps) - I really don't know enough about MP3-players to be sure there is none that uses metal - the plastic nowadays can be pretty strong/light etc. but the ways it is used/treated can differ greatly (like the flacking paint with the NH600/700/800/900 or the easily scratched RH10...ow wait, those are HiMD's) but lo and behold... you actually do make half a decent point as well: this, my friend, is actually the one and only reason to really choose MD blindly over other DAP's... but then again there are a few remarks:- HiMD is a good recording device, the RH1 is the best of those... but legacy MD really is surpassed already IMHO - flash based recording devices are getting better every day and (soon?) there will be one that offers all HiMD offered and more for a comparable price and then you'll see MD fanboys sticking to the format and defending it but recording-fans will migrate to 'the best recording solution of the moment' ... which is completely ok, but it will negate this rec-argument so if I reread your post again, this is what it says for me: I have bought the best value-for-money recording device for the moment and I paid a lot for the top-model as well. But as I don't really use it as a recording device and I do have to legitimate the spending to myself and ppl around me, I'll defend it as the top player as well, even though I have to generalize, forget flaws and clearly do not know enough about the alternatives... I'm sorry if this sounds harsh and I do appreciate a thread aimed to show that technological journalists often do not have a clue what they are writing about... but blindly showing off how little you yourself know in an attempt to settle the ipod><(Hi)MD (but actually only RH1) fight once and for all is ludicrous as well... I do not have a general opinion as to which one is better (I do have an opinion which one suits my personal needs best)...and I do not think anyone has/can really have... they are different machines/technology meant to do different things while they share some features as well. Let us (as expert users of the HiMD/MD format) just inform ppl honestly about what the format does AND what it doesn't do (as well as other technologies). If you on the other hand do believe that the RH1 (and HiMD) is the ultimate technology on all levels; good on you! You have now found complete happiness and shouldn't even care about the things others say... *edit* wow right after posting this I was wondering wether I had been a bit harsh... but then I reread the post I responded to and saw a line I hadn't quoted before: so I just reckoned I'd add a similar disclaimer and all should be ok as well so here it goes (I'll try to stick as close to the original words as possible)... Maybe that was unnecessary, but I couldn't resist to flame an idiotic poster who has no freakin' idea what he is talking about. I hope he matures quickly.

indeed atrain... about the mod... it looks interesting and easy enough to do... I'll see if I think it is necessary once I get my hands on them (they have been shipped, but Japan-Belgium is a long distance )

@ tregate: best to give a bit more details (like where you live etc, will you send them by post?,...) and perhaps even an incentive (not mandatory of course and I believe there are quite a few ppl here that are willing to help you out without that...but it might still be a nice gesture to offer something cool/nice) @ ferzala: very nice of you to offer to help, but I do not really understand the limitation in bitrates... - if you can upload and convert PCM, that means you have a HiMD and should be able to upload/convert HiSP and HiLP as well - if you can upload and convert LP2 and LP4, that means you have an RH1 and should be able to upload SP as well - if you are talking about realtime rerecording to PC and reconverting, that 1) is something the person would be able to do as well (but perhaps not digitally) and 2) doesn't explain any of the bitrate limitations either (you should at least still have a HiMD as you talk about PCM) or... - you actually meant SP in stead of PCM, you only have a NetMD/MDLP but perhaps with optical out and your offer is even more admirable because you are willing to rerecord all the (30) discs in realtime ...I guess you both get my point... specify a bit

uhm... I don't know if this was a lapsus or something you didn't know yet... but just to clarify something: - NetMD recordings (i.e. realtime recordings made through line-in/mic-in/optical-in) CAN be uploaded faster than realtime, digitally through USB with the RH1 to PC (not mac) - NetMD uploads (i.e. tracks transfered from PC->MD through SS/SB or OpenMG/realplayer etc.) CAN'T be uploaded by the RH1 or any other device generally available for consumers so perhaps this machine has something to offer that the RH1 lacks (uploads of NetMD transfers are possible as well albeit realtime) or it really has already been surpassed by the RH1 as far as I'm concerned (the extra maintenance and repair functions are mostly of no use to me)

of course he knows that I'm sure, but if they had done a bit of research and had bought an NH700 in the first place, then that could also be used to record and those (HiMD- recordings CAN be uploaded; and even now they could do that for all future recordings... that is just what bob meant unless I'm mistaken

and even better... the RH1 will play those 320kbps MP3's without any conversion as well... so why the extra SQ-hurting step of conversion? (gapless playback is the only reason I can think of right now, but I even don't know if that is possible with converted MP3's)

The RH1 is indeed a brilliant recording device and it is good for playback as well (though there definitely are better devices if playback alone would be your concern) but if I were you I would look further for a mic! The Sony mics (including the ECM-MS907) do not record the full frequency range of human hearing (100Hz to 15kHz while we can hear from 20Hz-20kHz) and this can make recordings sound thin and unnatural (mainly due to the lack of deep bass-tones) and for example when recording piano forte this would be very obvious in the lower notes have a look at SoundProfessionals.com (if you're in the US or close to that) or do a search for A440's thread on greenmachine's mics as they are very good and better value for money if you're in Europe

a bit off topic... but: eddy before: eddy after (he's on the left): but to be fair, nowadays he has lost some weight again:

Hi there, please do read the rules for support and provide the ppl here on MDCF with as precise info as possible: - system/computer specs - SonicStage version - what kinda file (data/ audio (NetMD/HiMD), downloaded track/recording/...) - uploaded before? this way we can better try to help you

it is a NetMD recorder which does not allow uploading (from MD -> PC)... you should look into HiMD if you want a player/recorder that can upload and the RH1 is the only existing machine for now that is able to upload the recordings you have already made with the NetMD still there are other (realtime) options... just have a look at this thread PS: checking in only adds one unit back to the 'limited number of transfers'-counter for tracks that were already on your PC in the first place. This counter was used some time ago by Sony to limit the number of times you could transfer a track from PC -> different MDs. It never had anything to do with transporting audio info over USB from MD -> PC (that last thing is called uploading and was only introduced with HiMD) PS2: sorry to say this, but this is another example of lack of research before purchase (unless of course the seller lied to you... no really, even then it would still be careless not to check this, certainly when buying through ebay)

*sigh* ... that is quite a bold statement you're making there. This can mean a couple of things: - you have inside knowledge, which means you should have better routes to express your bitterness as well than just posting on some ignorant forum - you are a very good software designer that simply sees such a thing in which case I would say: 'get to work and rewrite SS to allow this' as you could make good money from it and lots of ppl would be grateful - you simply take your dreams for proven reality now which one is more likely? as said before (and as very thoroughly researched and explained here on MDCF by dex otaku some time ago)... the ulpoading disability in NetMD is also a hardware issue, so no it couldn't be fixed by 'allowing' it in SS (BTW, SS 'allows' it as the RH1 can do it and all HiMD units can do it for HiMD recordings) please read the replies carefully so: just to recap... it isn't (entirely) a software issue... it really isn't... sony never lied to you (well, not about this one thing at least ) ... they can't 'allow' your old machine to upload PS: let me try to understand your interpretation of A440's analogy correct there does this mean you have been stalking your CD-ROM drive manufacturer? because 1) it is also an audio-player (like MD and turntables); 2) it uses software that allowed one-way traffic (here from CD -> PC) which is quite like your NetMD (in reverse); and 3) was eventually surpassed by CD-writers which from the outside looked just the same, but used other software and allowed two-way traffic (CD -> PC and PC -> CD) and 4) installing that software on a computer with a CD-ROM reader didn't allow this two-way traffic (just like NetMD) ... and then we didn't even address CD-RW or DVD(-RW) etc. yet... darn you should have whined to a lot of ppl already if every technological evolution inspires such a reaction it is kinda funny but also very tragic to see that you missed the point of A440's analogy completely PS2: *edit* I still didn't mean to offend you... my tone of voice really was not personally directed, it is just my own bad reaction to the irritation the returning 'angry reactions to the wrong stuff' like the one you unfortunately made. I ranted about your post but it really was aimed at anyone that keeps on 'whining' about the NetMD issue

Eddy is a fellow Belgian... and he also cheated a bit (performance enhancing drugs) I guess I have to support A440's statement about the mic. I have heard quite a few Sony mics (most of my collegues use them for work and I get to try them out for different stuff ) and all the ones I've tried share that same thinnish sound and are much better suited for human voice than for anything else

no timonoj... NetMD downloads (from PC to MD through USB in NetMD-mode) are still non-uploadable as far as all the testers that have posted their results here (including Richyu etc.) have determined... please test such a thing before posting as this could give false hopes to ppl who come and complain afterwards that they got incorrect info from MDCF

not to nitpick, but that mic still kinda has the Sony-signature truncated frequency response, though less strongly than their cheaper mics: 50 - 18,000Hz... the human ear can hear 20 - 20,000Hz. It will always miss a bit of deep bass and while the (here missing) upper frequencies might be harder to hear, they do add to the fullness of the sound but as you said you didn't want to talk about your mic, and I'm not really tech savvy (well not more than moderately in Audacity at least) so just ignore this and wait for a better response

WMA-lossless will work and will be true lossless, but CD's will not longer be gapless when transfered to MD which is the main reason why I myself didn't feel like using WMA-lossless atrac has a lossless version as well for PC-playback (the lossless file is bitrate specific as tthe file contains a bitrate specific part for fast transfer to MD as well) for my lossless library (which will be rebuilt when I finally am installed in my new home), I'm probably going use flac CD-images + cuesheet and if I need them on MD I'll mount them as a virtual CD -> put them on MD through SimpleBurner (but other ideas are welcome as well)

indeed, just get what suits your needs/wallet best: - RH1 --> style / timestamp / lit display / legacy uploads / rec-settings memorized / uncripled MP3-playback / expensive - NH700 --> 'all you really need' (recording-wise) / AA-battery / cheapish / looks cheapish IMHO at this moment you can simply ignore all other models as they do not provide anything extra that is not outweighed by (possible) additional drawbacks (like the button malfunctions or cripled MP3-playback etc.)

one thing that springs to mind might be lower resource-hog... still I haven't checked if the latest SS still hogs my CPU and memory like the first versions did

I have just invested a little in a set of Audio Technica A900's... well, invested is perhaps a big word... I paid $182 shipped or €144 which would be almost the same as I would have needed to pay for a second set of Sony MDR-D66SL's which I was going to buy otherwise... you gotta love the low dollar if you're from the EU right now (sorry my NA-friends)

unless you buy an RH1 or borrow someones RH1 it is not possible... and sorry to say this, but it was never promised to be possible by Sony either have a read here

see, whining to Sony about features that haven't been implemented yet (as opposed to whining that they haven't been implemented in your older equipment as well) is something I do fully support we as MDCF also could have had an influence on: - direct MP3-support (RH710 and upwards) - (back)lit displays on the recorders being reintroduced (RH10, RH1, DH10P) - uploading possibility of legacy discs (RH1) - remembering rec-settings (RH1) and perhaps even a couple of SonicStage evolutions like: - dropping downloading restrictions - ditching the one-time-uploading restriction (3.2 I believe) and I guess there's still some I missed here So keep nagging about relevant stuff... and be proud of it! PS: see I completely forgot about (full) mac-compatibility already

none of the MD/HiMD-recorders requires the remote for recording (none of the remotes even features a rec button). The remote can even introduce static noises when recording more silent stuff so best not to connect the remote when recording honestly? not worth the hassle! (just like on the NH900 or any other MD IMHO) unlike the NH900 the RH1 has the timestamp feature so your recordings are 'named' after the date/time of recording and if you want to change this later, just connect to a PC or mac and use the provided software as this is so much easier/faster they'd better replace it or that service would really need a name-change as to which unit they would supply is only for the sony-service center you're dealing with to know I'm afraid... but it will most likely be either an NH900 (with the risk of weird button behaviour again) or an RH10 as it was considered 'equal' by Sony. One thing you can almost be sure of is it will almost certainly be a refurbished recorder previously sent in and (hopefully) repaired by the service center