Wedge

And what the error is?

Well, I did it myself with SP-CMC-2s. I followed the instructions on Sound Pros website. Simple-ish job. Each 'arm' of the croakies are made up of 2 thin tubes. The idea is, you snip off the end, then roll back one of the tubes on each arm, leaving about an inch at the front end. Lay your mic cable ON the inner tube (not inside it!), and insert the mic capsule end into the 1 inch you left. Then roll the outer tube back down over your cable. Seal the loose ends with duct tape or elastic bands. Note - whilst you could take your mics out again afterwards, it is not a process that is quickly repeatable. You would want to keep them in, or out. I'm keeping mine IN.

I had considered OKM when looking at mics. The only one I would have bought would have been the OKM II Rock. But the problem with these are they are great for loud rock shows, but I also want to record quieter shows (e.g. acoustic) - and for these kind of shows, the Rock is no good - it is prone to generate feedback (I got this from Soundman's site). So I plumped for a Sound Professionals CMC-2 (and brilliant it is too), along with a second hand Core Sound Binaurals I got from a chap in Germany. If you are going to mainly record very loud shows, then the OKM II Rock should suit you fine.

Acrobat 4 is ancient. I'd suggest getting the latest version (7) - it is free after all. I had no trouble downloading and viewing the file using v7.

I think there is confusion here between NetMD and Network Walkman. Whatever, Hi-MD WILL NOT transfer NetMD recordings in this way. Unless Sony get their act together - it is only software, after all, that is stopping this!!! Just what is their problem?

I beg your pardon? When did this luxury happen? My NetMD (MZ-N1) wouldn't let me play tracks through SS over USB. The USB traffic on NetMD is ONE-WAY ONLY - PC>MD. You can't even use Hi-MD to play these back over USB! Whichever NetMD you have, the only option for a digital upload is through an MD deck with a digital output - the alternative of course, being an analog playback. Or did I dream all that?

I've got the same setup as you. I am very happy with mine however. Apart from perhaps they are not that comfortable for long term listening - say all day.

Actually, I'd suggest sampling both methods and see (or rather, hear) which sounds better. If the MD > Hi-MD via line-in is a cleaner signal than your MD > PC line-in, you could end up with a better recording that way. Try a sample of both before you decide which way to go. You've just reminded me actually, I've got some old cassette tape recordings I want to archive. Must get around to that someday.

If I needed to clean the inside of my MD, I'd be tempted to use an air blaster can first. If you know what I mean.

But the other way is ok - you can use older MDs in all Hi-MD models.

When you say twist the recorder and/or the mic, what do you mean exactly? You haven't got one of those tiny plug-in mics have you, that just stick out of the MD? They do tend to pick up noise of the MD itself - or so I have been told.

Out of interest rather than intent to buy (I am happy with my MZ-NH1), I popped into the Cardiff Sony shop yesterday to see if they had an MZ-RH10 on display. No, they didn't. What I laughed at (well, an inward chuckle), was their display of the "New" MZ-NH1, STILL retailing at £299.99. What planet are they on?

I too, have an NH1. I've recorded 2 shows using it. Both times 3 hours or just over. In each case, 1 bar of the battery meter was used up - so it looked like it had plenty to go. I haven't got a spare for it yet. I will have a look someday.

kibibyte. What a cute word.

I've checked my MZ-NH1 manual and it would appear not.

Why?

IF that is the remote supplied with the MZ-NH1 then yes, I've used it for live recording. From memory (please check the manual): To answer your general question: Once you do the manual Record/Pause thing on the MD unit, you can access any menu and option from the remote that you can on the unit itself (I think). Specific answers: 1. Yes. Press the volume wheel in for 2 secs I think, takes you into menus. Roll up/down to select menu. Etc.,.. 2. Yes. Just tap the wheel whilst recording will redisplay the backlight. Alternatively, you can set it to permanently on, should you wish. The recording meter is shown (a stereo level meter). 3. Yes - whilst recording, (and in manual record level mode, and not in any menus), simply move the volume wheel up and down. 4. I think so, but I've never tried it - I always remove any track marks and do tracking on PC after conversion to .wav Incidentally, there is a HOLD switch on the remote too - handy once you've got your recording going to stop you accidentally pausing / changing record level / etc.,.

Isn't the 900 supplied with a worldwide adaptor? I would check first before splashing out more money than you need to. Check what the input voltage range is on your new charger. Certainly most kit I buy in the UK usually has 100-250 volts input range. I'd be surprised if your 900 charger wasn't the same.

Thanks for the info.

Hi. I don't want to get in an argument about this, I'm just curious for the future. The samples I put up were originally put there for a small circle of friends - as a quick and dirty indication of what was coming their way once I mastered and burned the CDs. They were more than happy with what they heard. So what settings do you suggest I use. As I said, I used the default settings for Lame, which I believe are 128k (CD quality?). How much higher than CD quality should I go? Also, you need to bear in mind that I have limited web space available (50Mb). These 4 samples have already used around 15 to 20Mb of that space.

At your kind of budget, the choice is between omni and cardioid I think. If you want omni- then the CSBs are a good choice. If you want cardioid, then look at Sound Professionals CMC-2, CMC-4 or CMC-8 depending on what you want to spend. I went for cardioids (CMC-2) as my first choice as it is mainly largish rock shows that I will be taping and in general, cardioids are best for this kind of gig, for where I normally stand. So I bought the CMC-2 and an SP-SPSB-1 battery box (with adjustable bass roll off). I later got a set of CSBs with battery box second hand.

I can't access Amazon from work. How much are they offering the 900 for? Is it £69.99 again?

From my experience, I'd only use mic-in for acoustic / quiet shows. For any rock shows - I'd go line-in with bbox every time. The first show I did was with borrowed equipment, and I went mic-in, and AGC. What disaster.

These are only samples - the actual shows are converted from Hi-SP to .wav then CD. The .mp3s were just knocked up using Audacity with the Lame encoder plug-in and whatever defaults it uses. 128k I think.

Oh, and if anyone is interested, both shows were recorded in Hi-SP format on 80 minute discs.