Azureal

So, I tested this on the computer I am using by removing the battery and plugging the unit into a USB port. I did not have the driver installed but Windows 7 64 bit did recognize the device as a NetMD and looked for a driver. I downloadad the driver from here in the forums and loaded it, I had to unplug and replug the unit in and it was then recognized and powered up. The issue with this is that it places the unit into "connected mode" and you can only transfer to and from it in this mode. One other difference I have on this computer is that the USB ports are all SS USB 3.0 which may have different capabilities with regards to sourcing power to devices. Placing a battery into the unit shows it charging.

The maximum current sourced from a USB 2.0 bus powered port is 500mA and that is only if the unit is enumerated to ask for that much current, the default is only 100mA which may be your issue, since there is no battery, the device is not recognized and cannot enumerate properly to request the additional power. Your best bet is to use a wall power adapter which provides a full Amp and you will be able to run it, if it is working. Do you have any USB power adapters, like for and iPhone, or other USB phone, iPad, Kindle or other device? I have nearly a dozen such adapters around my house leaching power at any given time :-) Check this link for details: USB Spec

Thanks Stephen! I had forgotten about this great tool. I downloaded it last night and did a conversion of my ATRAC library. I still personally prefer the sound of ATRAC but I have been playing with streaming music from my Kindle via Bluetooth to my HiFi, just for fun.

Quick update, the database is indeed in an Access db file and is not locked. I spent a couple of hours last night playing with it, I can query it from Visual Studio and list all Artists and Albums in my library. I should have a beta tool to use for generating a printable list n a day or two.

So, the SonicStage database file is freely usable and I can open it and query it manually (or a copy of it). It should be a pretty trivial task to write a small application to query the file and generate a few reports of the library contents. I'll work on it over the next few days.

I picked up a couple of NiMH gumsticks on eBay with the label "PowerStream", I don't see any for sale currently by the same seller but they seem to work great, hold a charge and run for nearly a week of 2 - 3 hours of use per day. This seller was in the US but I am sure the batteries are made in China. Both I bought have been charging and discharging for 6 months or so without issue.

I know SonicStage stores it's library details in an mdb Access database file. I don't know if it's locked or not, meaning it may not be possible to open it at will from outside of the application itself, if it is possible, one could open it with Access or any small application which was developed to open, read and query the database file. I'll have a closer look at this later. It is possible someone has already done this and there may already be a tool out there for this purpose but if there is not, I need a good winter project! :-)

That is funny, it looks like a huge dent in the top! You can see from the the other pictures that as you say the camera obviously has a problem. I still would not consider it to be in "good clean condition" either!

I wish the NW-HD1 or NW-HD5 units could playback AAL files, I recall trying to transfer them in the AAL format a few years ago and being disappointed that it would not work.

I remember looking through his gallery several times and it was a fantastic collection of MD units with very cool little model girls! Id would be great to see it preserved.

Stephen, that guide needs to be preserved in some sort of "sticky" form for all to easily locate for future reference. Good stuff my friend!

If I am not mistaken, and Stephen can certainly correct me if necessary, anything recorded in real-time via microphone input, line input or optical input onto any disk in any format can be uploaded to the PC using the RH1. If the disk was created using NetMD you can only get it onto the PC using realtime playback and recording via optical or line level playback. With respect to the platform to use for transfer, I would personally suggest either Windows XP or Windows 7 with the 4.3 version of SonicStage located in the download section of the forums here.

That's interesting philippeb, I never realized there were two different densities designed for the MD Data storage scheme. I wonder, how long did the Data2 format predate the HiMD 1GB technology disks? I never use HiMD disks any longer, I never had a problem but my use of them was limited because I really liked the sound of realtim SP recording over HiSP. I will occasionally format a standard MD as HiMD and store three hours or so of music at HiSP.

Hey Jimma, I have had two of the BC-7DC chargers for years and also have never had any issues with either one. This unit has no indicator light which would be nice to know when the charge has stopped. The chargers state they are for Ni-Cd although I use it for Ni-Mh.

Just to clarify, I have been referring to this software by the incorrect name, it is "Sound Forge". I just ordered this version: Sound Forge Studio 10 For 19 USD I figure I can't go wrong, I hope it's a full Studio version.

Very cool, thanks for the feedback. I'll have a look around to see what sort of prices I can find. It looks like a cool tool. I mentioned sometime back that I use the Sony Vegas Studio software for doing Non-Linear Editing of video and for making DVDs from video recordings. I could be wrong but I believe the division of Sony that writes the Vegas tools is also the same division who write the Sonic Forge tools as well. They produce a very high quality product. It is a group of developers in Wisconsin or someplace in NA who I am sure were purchased by Sony years ago to allow them to jump into the market quickly. Thanks again Stephen!

Hey Stephen, I was interested in getting your thoughts on a suitable version of Sonic Forge for editing and manipulating sound files, specifically ATRAC files. I see there are many revisions and I don't intend to shell out 400 USD for the Pro version for a tool I really only want to use to play around. What are your thoughts on the less expensive Studio version?

I have had this issue before as well, there is a limitation on the number of characters that can be stored as the metadata on a standard MD as well as HiMD. For a standard MD it is surprisingly low and can easily be exceeded for a bunch of tracks in LP4. For HiMD Sony increased the limitation with a completely new mechanism in software to store the track information.

The browser shows that my Sony JA-20ES dates to 5/1998 and it has a Type-R ATRAC.DSP, this was confirmed by opening the unit and DSP chip. I wonder if OEMs used Sony chips to implement the ATRAC compression/decompression, you could open it up and have a look. If you could find the DSP chip it may be easier to determine the version of ATRAC in the unit.

Welcome Mosaic, and if I may say, very nice collection! I love your display cabinet, that is the right way to display one's units!

The NW-HD5 is a great little DAP. I bought one for myself and my wife 7 0r eight years ago, I now have two! ;-) I am glad to hear you worked out the authorization issue. I have had to do the same thing several times over the years fortunately the authorization does not seem to be required for nice fresh copy of file to the unit.

Seriously. Those blanks alone are worth a fortune!

Being recognized as a Windows compliant Mass Storage Device, I think any HiMD units set to HiMD mode typically work without any tweaking of drivers. The first time you pop a standard MD into the unit and close the lid it will switch to NetMD mode and Windows will no longer recognize it. You will have to install the NetMD drivers from the package in downloads prepared by sfbp. If you never use MD mode, you don't need the NetMD driver.

Were you plugging into microphone input? ;-)

I remember noticing you were right up the road a while back, Pittsburgh is a very cool city, I have been there several times! I agree with you Chris, this will be the best way to make the most of the lot you have to sell. I think you are right, although this is the far less common NH600 versus the NH600D. The NH600 has Line and Optical inputs as well as the remote jack, DC input with charging circuit. 95% of the 600s on eBay are the NH600D cheaper model.