The Low Volta

Miniman, welcome to MDCF, but please don't double post... you have two threads on exactly the same subject now, and ppl trying to answer won't know which one is active or not...therefore they will sometimes stay away, or the discussion won't be as fruitfull as it could be 'cause the group is split up... please post only once...sometimes you will have to wait a little while before ppl react and read the older posts a bit before you ask, this subject was addressed many times before greetings, Volta

I'm not very computer savvy...I can work with my PC, but won't be opening it up for fun or something...but would chip-DRM only be intended against music piracy? Won't it be also used to prevent software 'borrowing' and stuff, another step to make sure everybody pays for all their programs! It's high time the opensource movement focusses on hardware imagine that

whether it are oneliners, serious thoughts, smart@ss remarks, whatever... spill your guts and let the world (at least that part active on MDCF) see the light! I'll kick this topic off: never mix philosophy and logics! I think therefore I am and I am what I eat ... so does this mean that when I'm thinking of food, I exist only in thoughts?

with my NH900 I either let it run on shuffle withe the backlight continuously on, driving my bigger Sennheisers, or put it on shuffle and line out through the stereo... that way I even enjoy those recondition cycles always charging through USB really doesn't seem like such a good idea...then I would really suggest a couple of full re-/full decharge cycles each month or so greetings, Volta

please keep these forums english guys just kidding thanks, BTW I'm already trying to keep my rants/nags more and more to myself... greetings, Volta

Corduroy, that is the NH600D manual which he already knew how to find. The NH600 is the European version, which also has line in (and mic in?)... the service manual for this model has not been posted yet...

I just took mine back to the brick and mortar store I bought it from and insisted to show them what was wrong... the first guy aknowledged it immediately, the second one (that came in a bit afterwards) tried to laugh away the problem as "he got it to work perfectly, I wasn't pressing hard enough or something" (yeah, he only tried once and the problem didn't occur every time so he was just lucky) but then I and the first guy protested so it was sent back for repairs. I do not know whether they have sent it back to Sony or to a registered Sony srvice centre, and I don't really care as it came back fully repaired, and withot any costs, as it was still under full guarantee... so that worked fine for me... You can always contact Sony or the nearest service centre and try to explain the problem, say that you have heard of others like it and ask whether they think they could fix it, and if it isn't under guarantee any more (or only partially) what it would cost you... hope this helps a bit, Volta PS: haven't had any gaps since I wrote that post (March 14th) so that's again good news for me

I've just noticed that since I have a cold (sinusitis), which disturbs the pressure on my ears, I can't even really make out the difference between wav and Atrac64bps I guess my vote will have to be postponed till after my cold Volta PS: I do still have a response to physya's comment on non-exact sciences, but I do not want to clutter this thread any more so PM me if you would like to receive it as well

but once converted to wav, the Sony-DRM is gone and I consider that wav file as the master (there are some non-lossy steps in between to make sure no recording ever gets lost, see Dex's way of gapless uploading which works wonders) about the 80min discs (which are aparently pretty cheap here, compared to the 74min, def not +50%), I actually meant any non-1gig disc so your test with 74min discs answers my question... I think I only have a couple of discs with transferred music (I don't want to erase) with me at the moment, so the test will have to wait a bit...but I will post my findings greetings, Volta

just about to cook me some dürum (the Turkish version of tortillia or enchillada or something): -strips of lam or chicken, grilled -lots of fresh raw vegetables (carrots, corn, lettace, white&red cabbage, paprika, ramanas (a white and large type of radish), cuecumber,...whatever I can find) -some hot sauce (originally with white garlic sauce, but I do have a girlfriend and I would like to keep her) -throw it all in a 'pancake' (made of unrisen wheat dough) -roll up and eat up great, they sell 'em at kebabshops (is actually a version of kebab) but they taste that much better when you make them yourself

I'd really like to, but... I had to give up my instruments (piano and bass guitar, played them only for a couple of years) as I developed rhumatism in my fingers and they aren't supple enough to play anymore (I type in a very strange way too ) so right now I only play a jew's harp I got as a present (looks like this) and that's not really wanted in a band (even though some of my friends who play in a 'tool-kyuss-qotsa and everything in between-alike'-band once promised to write a song with jew's harp so I could perform as a special guest with them, but that never happened) so to anyone who plays an instrument... keep at it! 'cause there are a lot of ppl out there that can't (for many different reasons) , are very jealous and that think it's a shame if you don't use your talents... greetings, Volta

hm, I don't have 1 MP3 on my PC (or in my entire music collection), I'm one of those freaks that uses CD's and Hi-MD only and if I find myself obliged to compress to save space, I'll use Flac (lossless compression, so no info is lost at all)... My entire music library (sounds library is better) on PC consists of just my own recordings (mostly interviews) all the rest I have on CD and I use Simple Burner to get them on Hi-MD without cluttering my PC Besides, I have never had the opportunity to listen to an RH10 (or any 2nd gen Hi-MD) so I can't compare... others have said that a converted MP3 sounds better on the RH10 than the original MP3 due to the MP3-playback problems, but I can't say whether that is true or not... perhaps someone who has had the opportunity to test all this can help you out here? sorry to be of no real help here...greetings, Volta PS: on the subject of preamps: all Hi-MD preamps are considered to be a bit noisy, so if you plan to record very quiet sounds, it is a good idea to check out some good external preamps and use the line in on the Hi-MD

the Battery University is a useful source for info on batteries... as Dex says, Ni-MH does suffer from the memory effect, but having a couple of full charge/decharge cycles at the beginning and once every couple of months will repair it... charging through USB isn't advisable: it will only charge really slow, and never fully so this will amplify the memory effect enjoy your Hi-MD!... greetings, Volta

I did read the first post, and think that this one indeed is documented much better. I think I have quite a clear picture of what you're doing and I think it's funny you found a use for a bug (does it work for Hi-MD formatted 80min discs?)...but I don't see myself really using it. I'm usually satisfied with editing the version I uploaded on my PC and then working on with that one (so I mostly erase my discs right after I've made sure the recording uploaded ok) but I am willing to try it just for the heck of it with my NH900 (will have to wait a bit though, haven't got any discs with me that can be offered for the cause, at the moment) so greeting and have fun with bugs, Volta

Kate you need to put the WMP9Codecs as they are downloaded in the folder the error message indicates, that should solve it see these posts: 1 & 2 hope this helps, Volta

You could use the equipment browser at minidisc.org... the models that would allow USB-uploading of recordings (only Hi-MD) that immediately spring to mind are the 1st gen Hi-MD NH900 and NH1 the 2nd gen (RH) and the lower priced models of the 1st gen (NH700-800) haven't got a line out I think, but that isn't that big a problem... don't get a D model (NH600D or RH710D) as they are download only and havent got a line in (or mic in) just read the browser and these forums a bit... if you still have concrete questions, ask them and ppl will try to help greetings, Volta

(point taken ...no hard feelings vitvip) Freud (if you're still reading this after our bickering), please keep us up to date about your final choice -about mics better to check the 'live recording' section and I don't really think you would be needing extra cables (no matter which one you choose) -I use a little Caselogic MiniDisc Case MDC-2, which is handy, except for the fact it only has a belt loop (but with a muskton or what's it called, a climbing thingy) it clips to anything; when I need to crry a lot of stuff (mic, a addon, extra MD's, ...) I use a Lowepro D-Res 10AW camera pouch greetings (and excuses), Volta

you should really ask Ishiyoshi, he's always hunting for older MD models on e-bay so he would now more about the prices... but it sounded a bit funny...a bit like: I've tricked a 'friend' into buying it so... (ok, I've got a lousy sense of humor, I know ) so please don't mind my remark... greetings, Volta

I just tried to comment that you stated it as something so obvious, while it actually isn't (mostly because of the clearance reasons you yourself mention), you can always 'accidentally' stumble on a good deal (couple of months ago the NH900 were £69 from Amazon UK and they sold like hot cakes...the NH1's were also pretty cheap, but still a lot of ppl preferred the NH900) I would say, Amazon being cheap on the NH1 right now is only a reason to look for a good deal on the player you want, not just to buy the one they're selling cheap at the moment... (they are selling new&used NH900's for £94 right now btw) I get from your post that you don't think having to use the charging cradle is such a drawback and that the NH1 is cheap right now (which can both be seen as refutations of my arguments contra the NH1)... I'm afraid I'm missing the other (constructive) arguments. Please feel free to explicitly sum them up, as they can only help Freud to make an informed decision... greetings, Volta

as you still have the deck, I can't see why you wouldn't sell it... the Net-MD can't really do anything the other two can't do better... but selling it to your 'friend' for $50, only if you really think it's still worth that no really, I don't see why you should hold on to it except sentimental issues greetings, Volta

I will definitely look for their other albums (but they are hard to find, like most gems ) if you like the kind of soundscapes GYBE! produces, you should check out: - Explosions in the Sky: especially 'The Earth is not a Cold Dead Place' but also 'those who tell the truth shall die, those who tell the truth shall live forever' - Mogwai: 'Young Team' and if you don't min some strange vocals 'Ten Rapid' and 'Rock action' and many more - Tortoise: I don't know the title of any albums (copied them from a friend, forgot titles) ... greetings, Volta

I'm sorry if I seemed harsh and hard to understand... I did try to help...I'll try again well, even though all recoding is lossy, it still comes down to a space/quality equation... I wouldn't go for Hi-LP though, sounds crappy in my ears, but Atrac3 132bps will be better already and Hi-SP might be overdoing it a bit for recoded MP3 (although they will sound better than the 132bps tracks) If you want to give it a try, you can always download SonicStage and try some conversions, listen through your PC (with 'phones preferably) and make up your mind...it is a personal thing you know no, no...I said ...while transferring them (look around in the SS-options a bit and get used to the program). I only tried to warn you about the quality loss that comes with that. If you convert all to Hi-SP, and decide to transfer to MD in Hi-LP, it is possible, but then you would have had MP3->Hi-SP->Hi-LP which are 2 lossy steps (not counting the initial wav->MP3)...if you just import the MP3's into the library (as MP3's) then you can set SS so it will ask each time in what bitrate/mode you would like to transfer them and you can set it also that it won't keep these converted tracks on your PC (as they will take up a lot of place otherwise) so I meant to say: "no need to convert them all if you want to transfer in different qualities, just import the entire MP3-library as MP3 and set SS to ask every time" (takes a bit longer to transfer each time, but you don't have to worry about converting yourself and no extra, unnecessary lossy conversion neded... sorry, I just reread my post and this was not clearly explained, I forgot a part! my fault well, haven't seen any 2nd gen here in Belgium either, but no problem. I agree that 1st gen and especially the NH900 are just as good if not better than any of the 2nd gen so I don't think you've done a bad deal... it's just a shame that you have all these MP3's which will suffer a bit in sound quality (but they would so too when played as MP3 on a 2nd gen Hi-MD, so no big deal ) well, most important things to do... -download SS3.1, make sure it works (the most secure way is explained in this thread, but it's more work than a normal installation, but it could be worth it) -try some conversions to check out the bitrate you prefer -set the options of SS so that your uploaded recordings will be saved as wav / set the folder to save recordings / that SS asks the bitrate each time before downloading / ...just go through the entire options (isn't that much) -remember that you can only upload recordings once but after you've got them in wav you can do with these un-DRM'ed wavs what you want -get an audio-editing program for your recordings (try the free audacity from the downloads) -learn about totally gapless burning from Dex so you don't ruin your recordings -use Simple Burner for transferring CD->Hi-MD (it's much better than SS! you can get it from the download section too) I could have forgotten something, but this will be good as a software starter I guess believe a fellow NH900 user: it's not! Once you get the hang of recording and learn to work with...ehm...around the SS-software, you'll love it... well, Im pretty sure you'll love (Europe and) Belium too...good food, very good beer (try "Duvel"...much better/stronger than Aussi brew), nice summer festivals (Werchter, Gentse Feesten, Pukkelpop,...), nice clubs (Ancienne Belgique, Vooruit), nice girls and a lot of rain (but you're coming at the right time of the year, not that much right now) greetings, Volta

if you would see his signature, you'd see he still has a pre-NetMD player which can do SP, while he also said that the NetMD hasn't got a line or mic in so CAN'T do SP

short answer: "no" no, you can recode songs in your library, but remember each recoding means another lossy compression (bits of info are left out) so each recoding (even if to a higher bitrate, unless to wav/PCM which aren't lossy) means a loss in audio quality You quote Sony on the Atrac3+ 64bps being better than MP3 128bps...but among users, noone will say that this statement is true... Most ppl use Atrac3 132bps or Hi-SP for listening to music, some still real SP, some Hi-LP (but not that much). If you really have a lot of MP3's it could be wiser to get a 2nd generation Hi-MD (RH710, RH910, RH10) which have MP3-playback (although a bit crippled) no, when you convert to wav/pcm it will sound the same, any other conversion will result in quality loss (even though some say it will still sound better with the quality loss than as the original MP3 on a second gen Hi-MD...see the link up higher) no, Sony is very paranoid about copying music...there is someone who mentioned in succeeding to transfer his library to another PC, but I do not have the link and I don't know whether it really worked (you'll have to search these forums a bit yourself, knowledge requires effort) no, I wouldn't hope on a complete rundown... that would be a lot to write down (even when being more concise than me, which isn't really hard ) so just search these forums and learn...if you still have questions, ask concrete answers and ppl will try to help greetings, Volta Summary: "no"

try the SB version fom the MDCF-downloads section, there are some different versions (all 2.0???) about and some do and some don't offer PCM transfer you do need to use a 1gig Hi-MD disc or a normal one in Hi-MD mode, so make sure it wasn't set on MD mode