The Low Volta

I live in Belgium (Europe) and I'm looking to buy a decent but cheapish stereo mic and battery-box (would like a boostbox, but it's kinda expensive) I'm looking whether there are any (good) European alternatives for the US ( r)etailers and the nice items mentioned here on MDCF... not because of chauvinism, but 'cause I can't get a clear picture of the actual (high?) costs of ordering overseas I was tempted by the SoundProfessionals SP-BMC-2 mic: http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-BMC-2 the SP-SPSB-6 battery box (with or without bass roll-off, not sure yet): http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/.../item/SP-SPSB-6 but I can't really get complete info on import costs (taxes and stuff)... to the best of my knowledge, I definitely have to pay a TAV of 19% on the total cost which is the cost of the items + shipping costs + the "douanerechten" or 'custom rights?' I can't find what these custom rights would be (a percentage of the cost+shipping, but I don't know how big a percentage for audioware like mics and stuff). Using the highest percentage I saw for audio stuff (14% on cd-players) I calculated this ‘worst case scenario’ : Cost of mic: $39.00 Cost of batt box: $69.00 Shipping cost: $19.97 (USPS Parcel Post Airmail Insured; they also offer $31.90 USPS Global Express Mail Insured, but this just seems faster, not better, right?) Total cost= $127,97 Custom rights=$17,92 TAV=$27,73 Total=$173,62 for SP-BMC-2 and SP-SPSB-6 (with bass roll-off) So if anybody knows about good selling points of comparable items within the EU, or knows whether I would still be doing a good deal in the supposed worst case scenario or any other ideas… I’d be glad to hear it! thanks

the next passage in another thread got me thinkng... hm... this guy's troubles seemed so familiar to me, but especially after I got to know the pleasures of HiMD I seem to get a lot more of ignorant shopkeeper behaviour! at the first shop I went to, in search of a recording device (I didn't know of himd at the time yet) an employee tried to convince me that some rubbish no-mark mp3-player with about 128mb storage space that couldn't even use an external mic surely would suit my needs...hm, I went in asking for something that could record lectures/interviews as well as concerts!? After considerable effort I convinced the guy it wouldn't, but then he said with a big grin that there was no such digital device to do the things I wanted...hm by now I knew not to trust shopkeepers too much and I decided to try another retailer. This one introduced me to HiMD and I will be forever gratefull for this. But then again his entire explanation came from the side of the box and the only extra argument was: 'I know a rock band that bought one to record their rehersals' which is ok, but one expects more before spending $250 (yes, all you lucky fresh nh900 users out there, it cost that much once!!). I went home to think about it and did some research (which led me to the old MDCF). I also went to our electronics-mega-mart to se whether they had a more competetive price on the nh900. It was the same price, but they also sold all the other 1st gen models (of which I had read on the forums) so I tried to ask the person working there for some more info on the differences... I dunno what got into my head, but NEVER ask an employee of such a gigantic store anything! I only got a blank stare as I described what I'd already read and he only answered me with a muffled 'huh'. As I requested to take these machines out of their glass cage so I could at least handle them to get a feel he (and I kid you not!!) called for the security as he thought I was going to try to run off with 'em!? After this little incident I swore to never enter that store again (a promise I would have kept, hadn't they just recently stocked up on relatively low-priced Himd-blanks I'm weak, I know) I went back to the second shop and ordered my nh900 after they first tried to sell me the displayed one for full price and were quite shocked when I demanded a discount for a machine that had actually been used in store. Believe me, I am happy with my little machine, and I never really believed that pro-sumer bollocks before, but after each and every one I spoke to in a shop insisted that 1st gen himd's could play mp3's WITHOUT conversion even as I pointed to the relevant passage in the manual, I knew I'd have to get my consumer-knowledge from sites like these... and believe me, this works much better!! MDCF has helped me more than all (sur)'real' shopkeepers I've met untill now Later I have been through almost the same routine while looking for a decent mic for my interviews... and I didn't even plan to go to any reallife shop anymore now that I'm looking to invest in a decent setup (stereo mic and batt-box/boostbox if it wasn't that expensive) for concerts... I will order through the net, especially as the most interesting/affordable options are US-products anyway... but now I've run into another layer of totally ignorant persons...customs officers (just try to get info on import costs for audio materials from the USA to Belgium! I need to know before I order just to know how big/small my budget actually is, as I'm really stretching to afford this stuff... I'm still a poor student you know ) So I would like to end with this: thank you HiMD, for letting me enter the wonderfull world of recording and for giving me the chance to interact with some of the lowest life forms disguised as shopkeepers... and an even bigger (and sincere) thanks to all ppl on MDCF for providing me with real info and tips! Sebastiaan aka The Low Volta P.S.: for the ppl who don't know Bill Hicks mentioned in the topic title (shame on you!!) just check him out... he was (regretfully died way too early) one of the greatest and sharpest American comedians of all time* http://www.billhicks.com/ *unlike me! I'm sorry all to bug you with this rant, but I grew up in a time where shopkeepers were also the kepers of a lot of hidden knowledge and this really burst my bubble

ah, but this 'eurocapping' can be removed (see http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=8157 )... so now I'm listening with my big sennheiser 'phones and an even bigger grin to my no-longer-really-euro-nh900 big 'phones + md = big audiopleasure btw ... (for listening at home at least) who cares what your 'phones look like? what they sound like is much more important...

have bought my 1450mAh GP stick today and am trying to wear the batt out after charging it for the first time... at first I thought it was only going to last a couple of hours (at the first charge-cycles at least), especially as it rapidly dropped from full to one bar left (playing through my big sennheiser-power absorbing 'phones and with the remote backlight permanently on) and then it started flashing the 'almost no batt left'-sign... but since then it's been playing (with big 'phones and backlight and blinking sign) for five hours straight!?! I can't wait to see this baby in action when it's been primed... let the good times begin btw, I bought this 1450mAh GP gumstick batt brand new for 9euro which is about $10.80... don't think I did a bad deal there

It's getting a habit of mine to point you to MDCF-problems perhaps you could make me member 'useability tester' or something any idea how long this downtime will last? my hands are itching to post some (non-personal) pics [edit] still no gallery for me I only get this javascript error in the js-console... "do_op is not defined" [/edit]

yep, I saw them at a local shop, but I was still not sure whether the nh900 could charge 'em itself... so thanks for the correction Latexxx, this saves me quite some money 'cause now I can just go and buy this rather cheap GP-stick I saw without worrying! thanks all for another usefull tip from MDCF

ah yes, , as a strictly-himd user (only picked up md-technology at the first-gen-himd-point) I forgot that the backward compatability is also an important criterium for a lot of users... thanks for the correction, makes the summary even more complete

just been looking through some of the old posts/threads using the search function(!!), as I was sure this was already quite extensively covered (as are a LOT of the topics brought up by the new and old HiMD users ) so I came up with this list: for kurisu's tips on batteries: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?act=ST&f=90&t=7423 for a good deal on sony's 1400mAh battery, this retailer was mentioned on MDCF: http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prod...aitem=4&mitem=6 also for us NH900 and NH1 users out there, seems from mid 2005, there will be a disposable sollution (was also covered in a topic, but got lost in the big MDCF-crash of early April ) which could be usefull as a back-up: http://www.duracell.com/products/prismatics.asp?id=41& so, for the moment, I'm just looking whether I can get a good deal on Sony's 1400mAh (in Europe, so the shipping is important and goldmine won't ship internationally under $50, and I definitely do not need THAT much batteries ) and if I can't find any, maybe this could be nice (and I can just pick it up at my local retailer): GP PowerBank/Audio:2 x GP 1450 mAh NiMH prismatic batteries+loader (image and description available on http://www.gppowerbank.co.uk/powerBankRange.html)

batt-life becomes a question when you go and record stuff... it's horrible to have your battery die right in the middle of an important recording. As an example: I have already recorded for eight hours straight and then still used my nh900 for music playback on a 'daytrip': train Brussels-London (= 3hours music playback); London conference 10am-18pm (=8hours recording); train London->Brussels (=3hours music playback). My fully loaded sony 1000gumstick and AA-addon could handle this, but I'm mostly concerned with the brilliant summer festivals we have here in Belgium: three to four days of excellent music and no powersupply to charge overnight I NEED MORE POWER!!

was this a typo, did you mean "has NO problems with it" or did you actually mean this and you use an external charger (which one?, what price?)? Just asking 'cause I too saw that 1450 GP(powerbank)-stick in a shop and was very interested in bying it myself... thanks

if I'm summarizing correctly, we could state that as we arrange the most used formats: - in descending quality it would be: true sp->hi-sp->lp2 (and fake sp) - in descending space required: hi-sp->true and fake sp/lp2 (@ same bps) - in ease of use: hi-sp & lp2 (available through SS & SB) -> true sp (only with direct recording/optical cable) - (edit) in terms of backward compatibility: only sp & lp2 can be considered if md's need to be playable on pre-himd material, hi-sp works on himd (/edit) so it actually still depends on what criterium you personally think is most important... in my case, hi-sp is (except for the large space-requirements) definitely the preferred option (sp=too much hassle and I haven't got any cd-player with optical out and lp2 has lost it's appeal after listening to hi-sp, especially now that the price of 1G-blanks has lowered) but I would like to see what other ppl think of when choosing their format

I used to think ('till very recently, see my previous post in this thread, it really wasn't long ago) that (fake) sp@132 suited my listening needs as I mostly listened on the move with the crappy sony earplugs that came with my nh900. At home I used my big sennheiser 'phones and I DID notice all the artifacts and stuff... So now I decided to burn a couple md's in hisp with SB, just to get a better listening experience at home. But as I was traveling by train I decided to pop on in of the newly recorded ones, with an album that I also had with me in fake sp@132, just for the ( c)heck of it and... even with the sony 'buds and on a train (though we have very quiet trains in Belgium ) I noticed a BIG difference between fake sp@132 (is this actually lp2@132?) and hisp!! ok, it was a very demanding album (The Mars Volta: Frances the Mute... but then again, I have a LOT of demanding albums) but the sound was so much crisper, details more present and less artifacts (though these are easily muffled by external train noises anyway)... so I guess I'm going to opt for hisp for my entire collection (still very small, my actual music collection is kept on cd and not on pc and I record and erase md's as I need 'em)! Just to show you guys that a person can change his mind ...and yes, I AM aware that listening with sony'buds on a train to one album recorded in different formats on two different md's doesn't really classify as an objecive listening test, but it did represent my listening needs, so it will stand for me.

ok, you may call me dumb-as-a-dodo, but how do I upload pics in a gallery of my own? I got as far as "Minidisc Community Forums > Your control panel > Your Albums" I have created an album and I can see the "select an operation" dropdown list, but I can't get it to work I can select any operation (I was thinking of 'upload image' or 'bulk upload') but it doesn't do anything (the selected option just sits there in the box) and I can't find any buttons to press so please enlighten me... what am I doing wrong? PS: I've tried this in firefox1.10 and IE6.0, I run windows XPhome, on a HP-portable, pentium4, 3gHz, ... anything else I need to provide to follow the rules for software-support

thanx... I do my best to be a bit original... I will put some other bulb-experiments up in the gallery (if kurisu lets me, it's actually very off topic/non-md ) edit: I still hope to put some more bulbs up, but I'm having some troubles with uploading pics (and with actually any action in the gallery) see http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=9422&hl=

as I already said... I only vaguely remembered hearing this somewhere, and tried to remember till I could test it myself (still need to order stereo mics and batt box so I can go and record some shows) with my nh900 (my old mic has recently died). So, if it works, that would be good to know; if it doesn't, sorry to get your hopes up and my humble appologies to you dex (I should 've known )

T. the entire point of this thread is to promote the new 'gallery' function of MDCF (the nice logo (if you're in refault-MDCF, otherwise just the link 'gallery') on the top right, next to search, in the header; it has a personal pictures devision) - thanks again kurisu - so Tiesto, go ahead and throw your pic in with the other goofballs

dex, chill... I was actually just teasing (see:"lol" and later "no but serious")...inspired by the many times here on the forums that your comments/explanations (even if they might not always be completely correct) DID clear thing up for a lot for people. Your input is highly appreciated! I was actually just glad that for the first time, I could be that person so see you soon on these pages and hope to learn more from/share more with you all p.s.: I have actually remembered something in my life before to (so that's all cleared up)

I'm sorry dex to rub this in a bit but... this is a multiple 'first-time-ever'-experience for me: -I actually remembered something -I actually helped someone with my advice -I corrected the high and mighty dex lol no but serious, I don't even remember where I read this, but I was trying to remember it till the time I myself could get back at recording, so...pleased to help, whenever I can, just as MCF has helped me LOTS of times

hi-sp sure sounds better (I'm recording from CD>ss3>nh900) but for me the extra space I gain from using sp (fake/132) was more important, especially since I mostly listen on the move (with so much background noise, it's hard to distinguish between hi-sp and fake sp)... I do notice the artifacts when I'm at home with my big Sennheiser phones, so now that my CD-player died, I'm thinking of getting a few extra 80minMD's to put my alltime favorite albums on in hi-sp or even PCM (via sb) just to enhance the experience

I used my NH900 for a couple of months with restriction... but I'm very pleased now that I've removed it. Just to put all you new Hi-MD users at ease, indeed, there are serious dangers attached to messing with the service menu, but I hadn't done anything like that ever before and it was a piece of cake! Just make sure you follow the very clear step-by-step instructions presented in the thread that was mentioned above and you should be fine... but then again, I wanted to hack because I listen to my player with my big Sennheiser phones a lot and the volume was a bit low, but if you only plan to listen with little earbuds (like the ones supplied), you DON'T need the hack (imho)!! If the volume is too low for you, I would rather suggest a visit to a doctor but either way... welcome all to the NH900-users club and I hope MCF will be as usefull for you al as it has been for me... p.s: just make sure you use the search function a lot... MCF has been around for a while and a lot of your questions have already been answered

I vaguely remember some trick about setting the autotrack function to 60min, that way it would override the "autotrack when sound is too low"-function and you'd end up with only a few tracks (which can be easily joined in SS or before uploading)... but alas, I don't remember whether this works with line in... so if anybody knows (I don't have any mics at hand, nor any empty md's, so I'm not able to test this myself)... I would be interested to know whetreh this actually works

-The Mars Volta: 'Frances the Mute' -> absolute brilliance, best buy for this year...and their live show was even better!! -Godspeed You Black Emperor!: 'Levez Vos Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven' -> was on my wishlist for a couple of years, but couldn't find a store that sold 'em... again brilliant (in a the-fast-show-annoying-teenager kind of way) springs to mind!

thank you...thank you this is so touching! (sobbing in a Céline-Dion-at-the-awards-fashion) You've made me feel so special! What? You do this for EVERYBODY (that fills in his/her birthdate)?! thanks and greetings from a nearly old person

hello all, first a little introduction and then some relevant questions I hope, so give me a chance... I bought my setup to record lectures and interviews so I've only got a Sony ECM-10 mono omnidirectional mic (50-15,000Hz and 110dBspl) with my NH900. As I am a frequent visitor of one of the best Belgian clubs (Abcienne Belgique in Brussels), and I really love concert memorabilia (i.e. recordings of concerts I personally visited, other live recordings just don't sound as good ) I ried recording two shows I recently saw... Of course I realised that my mic probably wasn't intended for this work, but then again it was only a test/tryout also because I wasn't really sure how easy stealthrecording and sneeking the material past security (pretty strict around here) would be. Of course, I really messed uo the first time (manual 10/30, mic in, but High sensitivity) and the resulting recording was all, well let's say awfull! (too bad, it was a 'the mars volta' (loud prog rock) concert second time a 'Mastodon' (metal), I did switch to low sensitivity (mic in) and even turned the vol down to 05/30(!). the resulting recording was very quiet but a lot better than the first one, but still distorted at times (the bass and the vocals overloaded something mic? pre-amp? I know very little of this stuff!) now my question is: what caused the disortion? the mic and what parameter? (Hz or dB range?) and/or the pre-amp (try line in in stead of mic in?) and most importantly, will my problems disappear if I go for the sound professionals SP-BMC-2 mics (20-20,000Hz and 105/120dB) and SP-SPSB-6 mini battery box? Is the bass-rolloff usefull? (and how does it work? seems to be quite complicated, not minispecs?) hope somebody has some tips, P.S. does anybody know of european selling points for these products (or very similar ones) or does anybody have good/bad experiences with the overseas shipping service of soundprofessionals/minidisco

just a worn out lightbulb from my student room, a 100kp digital camera (yes, you've read it correctly 100 Kp) and a lot of free time... (actually, I should be writing my masters thesis right now, but then I discovered minidisc... doh) see you