The Low Volta

Dex is right you know... there might be a difference between the bass coming from the diffrent machines, but it matters more to switch to bass-heavy headphones...just read the 'best headphones under $100' thread in the phones section as there are a few phones mentioned that are very bassy

atrac3+ = the newer version that came with the launch of HiMD while atrac3 was already used since the coming of MDLP models with SS or on the HiMD...but only when you have the disc in the HiMD of course...please read the help/manuals of SS (in the program itself) and the NH600 (which can be found here) space problems? I don't really understand you I'm afraid... but there are other problems as HiMD can't play 96kbps... only PCM/352/256/132/105/66/64/48... just read the NH600 user manual at page 49 (well actually read it completely) and 352 is a special case as it came with SS3.3 but apparently works with even 1st gen HiMD as for space/quality ratio... I (and a lot of ppl here) won't use anything less than HiSP (256kbps) while others mostly use 132 (LP2) and a few seem to enjoy the really low bitrates as well... I'd go for LP2 if yo want a lot of space or even HiSP if SQ is important for you but do not go lower than LP2 as I really think you'll regret it...especially when using better headphones than the earbuds that come with the HiMD I hope this helps... but please read the manuals carefully before asking more questions as all that's been asked here until now can be found in there

I'm afraid it isn't as HiMD's can't use atrac-lossless and any further conversion is done using the lossy part (you have to specify bitrate with the lossless, which produces a lossy part which is used for transfer and recoding)...so useless and degrades SQ there's a difference with SS when transferring all the tracks from an album by selecting them all (this produces gaps) and selecting the album (in album view) and transferring as a whole (this produces no gaps) IIRC

it fits the interview mic specs perfectly: - Uni-Directional (stereo) -> records two channels but you can 'point' it towards the speaker(s) - Frequency Response: 100 - 15,000Hz -> for recording music this is too limited (you'd really need 20-20,000) but for speech this is good as irritating low or very high frequencies are not picked up by the mic and therefore not present in the recording - Comes with: Wind Screen, Microphone Stand/Holder, Carrying Case -> or all the bells and whistles to make interviewing more practical - no worries, any mic ending on a 3.5mm minijack works with MD as far as I know but... - as I said for music it is too limited in frequency response -> no prob if you won't be needing to tape music) - it is quite big-n-heavy for inconspicious (stealth) recording (be it music or speech or ambient recordings) -> but no prob if you do not need to be stealthy - it requires a battery which can be flat just as you really need the mic -> you will learn to carry a spare and it works on one AA which can be found literally anywhere so it is good for interviewing and if it comes with the bundle it will be of use... if you can choose a mic freely and want to have a smaller and cheaper mic without the need of a battery, perhaps the Sony ECM-CS10 would be a good alternaive (again only for speech/interviews)

with SB you don't rip any CD's...it encodes and transfers immediately without putting anything on your HD...so this is good but quite useless without a HiMD with you with SS you can rip CD's in a specified bitrate (medium would be Atrac3 @ 132kbps) and you can do that already to have a bunch of tracks ready for transfer when the HiMD arrives as for 'how you do this'...well, first of all, SS is pretty obvious so you can do a lot of it without reading the manual... from (very bad) memory I guess it's something like: go to prefs, select 'ripping' and specify the folder and bitrate...if it isn't, just have a look in the prefs and/or read the SS-help/manual (that is why they make 'em you know )

another option if you have some roomon your HD... instal SS3.3 and start ripping CD's into the atrac of your taste...this way you can speed up the actual transferring process once the HiMD has arrived by eliminating the conversion-step (see, if you already perform that step now, you'll need less time with the unit connected) personally, I only use SB to download CD's...but I'm not really pressed for time

the 'always on' recordings lasted for 6x1hour (so 6 hours ) in HiSP with fully charged gumstick (1400mAh) and AA add-on (2300mAh)... on the way home (45min) I listened to the recordings and afterwards I still had (quite) some juice left...so perhaps it uses more b-life, but I wasn't really 'limited' by that when recording longer periods in PCM (which uses more b-power I guess) I have been careful not to use the always on function, better safe than sorry

what a strange remark

mono mics can be used, but only the left channel will record... a bit of a waste of discspace... best to get a one point stereo mic (preferably cardioid/unidirectional) if it will only be used for interviews if you will also try to record music, go for omni (omnidirectional) separable stereo mics (sometimes called binaural) as they give a much nicer stereo separation (also for ambiance-recording this is the way to go)

the latest version of Marcnet's HiMD-Renderer (just donate something if you use it though) offers the same stuff as WinNetMD and free stuff like audacity can let you capture the music as well IIRC the pseudo-error "the music is not from the original pc" links back to the good old days of very strict DRM that would allow only three check-outs so you needed to check songs in before you could use them again... the songs actually needed to be on the PC for this to work so even if your PC would still be recognized as the originating one, you would still be lost...

I have used the 'always on'-setting for recording a concert in a dark venue to check levels whenever I wanted without risking to compromise the recording by accidentally pressing the wrong button later I found out that one click of the scroll-wheel will light up the screen while set on 'auto' without changing levels, but be careful, two clicks changes them!! So it is a bit more risky than 'always on' but better on the battery and also a bit more stealthy

well... almost. - All pre-HiMD models (including MDLP) required realtime rerecording to PC through headphone out (on MD) -> line in on PC - HiMD allows digital transfer through USB, but it's no drag-n-drop yet... SonicStage is required for this operation and this Sony-software only works on PC, so if you have got a mac, either get one of the M-models (M10 or M100) as they allow PCM->mac digital UCB transfers or you are still bounded to realtime rerecording but if you have got a PC, SS isn't that hard to use...just get the latest version (3.3) from our downloads section in stead of installing the one on the CD with your purchase

the NH900 has this option...but it comes with a backlit remote itself, so it could be logical that models that come without a backlit remote do not offer the option

just a couple of remarks... - I bought a 1400mAh gumstick for my NH900 for €5... I wouldn't call that too costly (especially given the price of decent 2300/2500mAh AA-rechargables) - I've also been using a 2500mAh rechargable AA in the battery addon (or 'sidecar' as ppl love to call it overhere) without any problems whatsoever... this combo gives great recording times (I have recorded for 6hours and afterwards playback for another 6 and there was still quite some juice left) but besides that, I do think that the NH700/800 are very valuable machines... just see what you wanna spend/what models are available and what features you need... and do not get the NH1 except for its looks

no, get a NH700 or a NH900 instead sorry!... that was mean it still depends... if you really only need a player (like the NH600 essentially is), get the NH600 (or an MP3-player)... if you reckon you will be wanting to record with a mic in the (relatively) near future...get the NH800, it's worth the extra cash...but only if you will ever record

the minidisc can't 'read' data as playable music...so double capacity80 min discs wouldn't really be useful for music at all unless you only want to transport for data I use USB-sticks when speed is essential or CDR/DVDR when it is not HiMD is IMHO only really useful as a recording decvice and if you have got one on you and you urgently need to grap some data, the data-abilities could come in handy... otherwise I wouldn't really use my HiMD as a data drive

"yes it is" = very simple answer

I never said 'good'... but I've upgraded from a 'very low priced-windows Me installed-crapalicious-toshiba' to a HP. I know, not A+ for media uses, but for DVD I've got a BIG screen Lowe and a real DVD player and at home I still prefer music through a decent stereo (and often headphones as my g-friend doens't really like my taste in music) but for work use it is 'pretty ok' in my book

here's a link to an older thread on stealth taping... the first post has a couple of pics of my setup I really prefer the "mics on glasses" setup, as the stereo effect and cleanness of sound are so much better than with other setups, even shoulderheight fastened mics...

I am using the RM-40ELK on a NH900... but from the NH1 'how to' stuff you can still learn things or at least try if they work for your MD-model

I got a small user manual (very basic) with the RM-40ELK I bought from 'buyfromjapan' on ebay and the NH1 user manual also explains all there is to know about the buttons on the RM-40ELK... just spend some time flippng through that one, each time an action is explained with a 'how to' from the player and from the remote... also a list of all the menus and how to access them IIRC

hi and welcome to MDCF, the MZRH10 will power the MD (and with 2nd gen HiMD even charge the battery) through the USB connection, so just hook it up to PC without the battery in the machine, it should work just fine BTW: you could always get an external gumstick charger, or just get a (generic or Sony) 220V adapter for the RH10

In Belgium it's legal to drink alcohol at 16, but lots of places don't really check... so I actually started on kriek (cherry beer, pretty sweet/sour) and palm (amber ale) at 13... been 'developing' my taste ever since (for another 13 years) and have passed through almost all (idiotic?) stages of alcohol (ab)use. Still I have always had a love for slightly bitter tasting, strong(er) beer, like Duvel, Westmalle or Orval (not really strong that last one) but nowadays I'm talking about a 'heavy week' if I had more than 3 'units' spread over the entire week ah, the joys of getting older/more serious and having a g-friend that's pretty anti-alcohol

looking very...euh ...sharp (sorry for the lousy pun :blushing: ) no really, a very nice looking unit

your MZ-M10 should be able to play 132kbps (LP2) and 66kbps (LP4) as well... other Sony DAP's (HD/flash based, PSP,...) can sometimes handle the other bitrates as well