The Low Volta

guys guys please... we've all heard this MP3 vs ATRAC bickering before and it is/could be very interesting but: - I haven't really read anything yet that hasn't been said umthousand times before (on these forums as well) - I'd like to see this discussion being fed by arguments and not by speculation and most importantly... - this is very off topic!! the real questionw as: "Would you really buy a 3rd gen HiMD?" so please take this somewhere else (start a 'new' thread or something or perhaps the mods can do that with all these posts here as those posts haven't really contributed anything to the main question) or just agree to disargee, but please stop discussing such in this thread...

thunderbird (I get my private/work/g-mail/RSS-feeds all in there)

the important thing would be getting SS to work with all directshow codecs (including flac and ogg)... I really don't mind atrac(3/+) on the machine, but I would love to simply import my music library in flac->SS without having to convert to wav manually first

currently listening to Mogwai | Mr Beast (+bonus DVD) 1. auto rock 2. glasgow mega-snake 3. acid food 4. travel is dangerous 5. team handed 6. friend of the night 7. emergency trap 8. folk death 95 9. i chose horses 10. we're no here mogwai just manages to make my day... every day

the bluenote/verve "first class jazz" compilation... 20cd's with the greatest jazz-legends: - Miles Davis - Billie Holiday - Chet Baker - Louis Armstrong - Sonny Rolins - Art Blakey - Thelonious Monk - Charles Mingus - Charlie Parker - Ella Fitzgerald - Oscar Peterson - Toots Thielemans - Dizzie Gillespie - John Coltrane - Stan Getz - Duke Ellington - Sarah Vaughan - Wayne Shorter - Count Basie - Djengo Reinhardt hmm... hours and hours of good music

HiLP really is too low a bitrate to record any music... especially when the source material is low bitrate to start with... the combo: grainy, harsh and artifact ridden non-music lesson learned, even when recording from the radio: for music, never go <HiSP on a HiMD!!

hi rayzray, as you and I did already say: HiMD won't be here to stay... but I kinda live for this day... and taking a portable DVD-recorder into a club for recording? no way... ( ) So my main point is: as there is no real alternative for cheapish recorders outside the (different) MD-technology (flash/HD are still too expensive and untrustworthy IMHO) you could just as well buy into HiMD for the time being (heck you can even reuse all your old discs) and save everything to PC and then to CDR/DVDR (with SS3.4 all DRm-issues are gone and it works a lot smoother now... Sony is really listening to this community!) if you wait a (couple of) month(s) (april-june = teh predicted launch) for the 3rd gen... it is a real recorder (Sony has listened to us again) and it will easily last you a couple of years. By then I expect the flash-based stuff to be reliable and even to have dropped in price a bit... so there's finally an alternative. But for now... just pick your weapon of choice and record anything you hear...

^^^^ dito

welcome to MDCF, while rayzray's way of avoiding PC's is a good one (well, it works for him so who am I to complain ) another way is HiMD, a higher density MD (from Sony) which allows to transfer recordings -> PC through USB cable. This format isn't 'here to stay' either (like MD/NetMD), but it could easily bridge the time untill good flash or HD-based alternatives will eventually pop up... just research this format a bit (in the minidisc.org equipment browser, in the find-your-minidisc section overhere on MDCF, in the product reviews...all links can be found here on these forum's pages, no need for me to repost them) the best options IMHO are - 1st gen HiMD: NH700/800/900 as they can sometimes be found pretty cheap (if you can find them) and they offer the same rec capabilities as 2nd gen - 2nd gen: RH910/10 as they are simply good machines, and the RH10 has a beautiful display as well - wait for the 3rd gen RH1... it has just been unofficially announced (see the newws section) and promises to become the best HiMD recording unit Sony will ever make so search around and read enough (as there are also non-recording download -D- and player only -E- models as well, so don't buy without informing yourself first) and feel free to ask further questions after researching

timonoj... I think rayzray was actually just trying to say that it's a matter of live and let live... he enjoys the analogue-feel of a piece of music so he likes to introduce an analogue stage in the remastering-proces. ChrisG is happy with a lossy digital step... so let him be... if your ears are happy, you're happy and we'll all be happy as it's one nag less (jus' kiddin') so let's just use this thread for ppl to explain their ways of doing this and if you see something you like, try it, if you don't...feel free to ask questions about any method, but without wanting to slack off any method or stating too much truths please master and let remaster...not?

see I knew it... I used to have an older version of Nero, but it got 'lost' in a minor PC-crash... then I moved to daemon tools for mounting, but it can't handle flac (even with filetype set to wave) darn my lousy memory

The real question you should ask yourself is: why would it be faked? there really is no point to that... SP is an exisiting ATRAC bitrate that can't won't be 'computerised' for some reason... 352 is new, A3+ and isn't 'needed' by any hardware... the only reason to fake it is for Sony to make us think we gained a higher bitrate while in reality we didn't, but 1) would Sony be that cynical? (ok, perhaps they would be ) 2) why? we got PCM (the 'top') already so why not really give a higher birate than 256? so concisely: yes I think it is real but I haven't checked it... as I really do not feel any doubt about it honestly

well, I honestly didn't buy any 2nd gen as I was hoping there would be a good 3rd... I was hesitating a bit with the advent of the M-models but now I'm kinda glad! I will definitely buy 3rd G HiMD, long live recording!

T C, are you using mics that plug in directly to the machine? if so, please don't use some simple stereo cable or something as it really must pick up the machine's whirring etc. (hm reread, I don't really think you do, but I can't really imagine your setup) and besides for home use... why the need to keep it in a pouch anyway? I for one really like the placement... I would lead all cables out a small hole in the bottom while my view of the screen would remain free... still, I'd love some more shots of the machine (all sides, and preferably from a real one ... not a mockup or a prototype) but I guess everyone would love that

top cat, you could just let the cables come out besides the recorder and keep it upright

welcome to MDCF, this problem has been addressed before on this forum... try the search function for "OMGjbox.exe" and see what you can find...

I don't think so, but I really haven't tried... I use the image cue method for my own recordings and I mostly do not name the separate tracks (you can add the tracknames to the cue file, but I dunno either if it gets those, never tried) with CD's it uses gracenote CDDB (just like SS) so if it is a full CD you'll most likely get the info and tracknames but I guess now's a good time for someone else here to chip in and help us out with a good way of going FLAC->HiMD (and not someone with a lousy memory like me )

umph... sparks, you stumped me... I really thought I did, but I've just gone back and tried and daemon tools wouldn't do it (seems like it requires wav) I know I did mount 'em before... but I just found out I have quite some wav+cuesheets from my own recordings (and when transferring CD's I use the CD normally, not the ripped flac) so perhaps I was simply wrong and I always used the wav+cue or I used another mounting tool (but I really can't recall which)

- I rip my CD's as a flac image + cuesheet - I mount the cuesheet with deamontools (as an audio CD) (doesn't seem to work! remembered this incorrectly, sorry) - I transfer the 'audio CD' with SB I thought of simplifying this by using WMA-lossless but that crap can't remain gapless and A-lossless still isn't real *edit: it seems that I am mistaken and I actually had wav+cues of all recordings I transferred this way... sorry for the confusion!!

just to throw in my humble opinion... I've always been very happy with my NH900 and could resist the RH10, but this one with the very excellent recording options (hey anyone else got the idea 'we' kinda designed this one?? ) will probably be my next purchase!! (and with the RM-MC40ELK remote I already have and greenmachine's mics and B-Box no concert will go untaped anymore whoohahahaha )

well, if one of you guys has the time to perform a simple measurement before and after the hack and present the results, we could actually settle this discussion once and for all (I would do it, but I haven't got an NH1) I'm sory, but 'percieved loudness' is no ground to settle this (not in favor of one way nor the other)... a real measurement of output will...

I have suggested in this thread to use EAC -> WMA-lossless so you can build a lossless library that can be used in SS without any prior reconversions. I personally stick with this (even though I have much more sympathy for opensource stuff like flac and wavpack and I would switch the minute SS enables support for those)... but thanks to greenshank I've noticed a little problem with my suggestion... it doesn't work well, it does, but EAC can't use the encoder built in WMP to create WMA-lossless files. Even though the WMA9 encoder is listed in the dropdown menu, this only gives wav-files and a very briefly flashing error that converting to WMA didn't work. I had forgotten about this as I had set EAC up a long time ago and once functional... problems like this slip easily out of your mind... So here's the solution to use a great ripping tool (EAC) for building a library in WMA-lossless: - install the Windows Media (WME) external encoder (download can be found here but it does need a microsoft genuine check... ) - after you have installed the WME, just set EAC compression to 'use an external encoder' - select 'Microsoft WMA9 encoder' out of the dropdown list (now it will find/use the encoder needed!) - select bitrate = lossless - leave the 'program path' (greyed out so you can't actually fill in this one) and 'command line' blank - check 'delete wav' and the 'control' checkboxes if you want to (I would advise to use 'delete wav', as otherwise your HD might be full pretty quick) So now get ripping

happy quarter century skradgee!!

as you are in the UK... consider getting a pair of greenmachine's stereo mics (and also a battery box)... he's a (very much respected) member here and makes cheap but very good mics and sells them as well I'm using them and I have loved every recording I've made with 'em

as it isn't MD-related you really should post this over at the atraclife sister forum (the link is at the top of this page)