greenmachine

no digi out iirc

Although i don't see the grain in this particular picture (it seems to be resized to 1.2 mpix), cameras with small sensors and lots of pixels (smaller pixel size) generally tend to produce more grain in not so well lit situations. Applying noise reduction will cause blur. Professional cameras use larger sensors.

Don't have Li-ions (like any rechargeable battery) a limited lifespan (cycles) and fully discharging each time would just cause unnecessary wear? Professional use differs from consumer use.

You may not be able to erase separate tracks, but all at once should work if the MD itself isn't write protected (check the tab).

I've noticed this as well, but as long as the recording is ok, i'm not too much bothered by it. Previous versions oddly finished at 70% iirc. Here's a translator from current Sony percent to real world percent: 30% = 0% 35% = 10% 40% = 20% 45% = 30% 50% = 40% 55% = 50% 60% = 60% 65% = 70% 70% = 80% 75% = 90% 80% = 100%

Heavy duty batteries are for low power consuming devices like clocks, calculators, etc. Try Alkalines or even better Ni-MH rechargeables.

The best quality you can get when transferring to NetMD via software is 132kbps ATRAC3 LP2, which is often acceptable but definitely not great (imo), while mp3 at 192kbps can be quite good. Depending on your demands and the quality of your headphones, you might experience a significant quality loss. Better quality SP is only possible when recording in realtime.

PCM recording will also give a shorter battery life than either of the other modes. Nevertheless i'd generally use the best quality i can afford. If the recording wouldn't be longer than 90 minutes (an occasional upload / disc change doesn't hurt), i'd use PCM even for speech. You can then convert the WAV to any other lossless/lossy format for backup. Bear in mind that ATRAC[3(+)] is a proprietary format, that needs the use of proprietary software to be usable. Here are some hints how to back up your files, for backing up Hi-SP or Hi-LP without conversion to a different format, you need to remove DRM first: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=16088

Track marks can be removed pretty easily either before or after uploading. There were issues with this in the past, but it seems to work now.

Bear in mind that TFT's are pretty power hungry (shorter battery life). Power consumption: TFT > OLED > LCD

There is no auto track marking when recording mic-in unless you manually set it to a specific interval, is it?

The original atrac was limited to 292kbps only, while the newer atrac3plus comes in different flavors like 192, 256 (Hi-SP), 352kbps. Although both SP and Hi-SP have been designed with transparency in mind, what sounds 'best' is up to your own ears. You might find 192kbps perfectly acceptable while others hear artifacts even at 352kbps. SP can't be used on 1GB Hi-MDs and takes considerably more space (less efficient formatting of disks). Software transfer of SP will give inferior quality (fake SP - re-encoded atrac3 132kbps LP2).

The NHF800 (US model only?) came with a radio remote, which should also fit on the NH700.

By the way, the title says you're looking for a player for more than 50$.

There are usb to optical out converters, but you would have to record in realtime and your mp3s would be converted to atrac.

Apropos stealth: What about wearing high heels to raise mic position? --- j/k Those little foam pads were wind screens by the way, not necessarily necessary in your situation.

Because of their directionality, cardioids are more susceptible to movement (like a tele lens in photography). A loose mounting on the lapels will amplify shifting effects (when you move). The higher above the crowd you can get the mics, the 'cleaner' the recording will be. Because of the natural separating effect of your head (HRTF), fixing the mics close to your ears will result in a very realistic recording (almost as perceived on location), but that would be my suggestion for omnidirectional microphones - cardioids may need different placement. Also you have to be a good human mic stand and stand as still as possible to avoid shifting effects. I'm glad the battery box helped you on your way.

Having the levels at around -12dB to -6dB is ideal (always leave some headroom). You can always amplify it later. The lack of bass is most propably a shortcoming of the microphone. Use the 'low sens' setting most of the time and adjust the level setting if necessary. For listening through an external amplifier, propably set your levels to a relatively high setting (~25-30).

If you need to record for longer periods, Hi-MD might be for you - almost 8 hours on one disk in high quality Hi-SP or 34 (!) hours in Hi-LP, which should be acceptable for speech. Both modes are stereo recording modes.

These seem like standard MDs so they should work. The new 1GB Hi-MDs won't work on older equipment though. Have you tried the R2 with other disks to be sure the unit is still working properly? Have you tried to format them with the R2?

Also i wonder if realtime encoding (Hi-SP/LP) on the unit itself has improved over generations. Any thoughts on this?

I've seen low cost variants for as low as 1€ per gun including 2 sticks and 1€ per 12 pack glue sticks. Quality equipment isn't too expensive either. You'll propably need no more than one glue stick for a miniature battery box. It's a great tool for any kind of DIY though.

What kind of mic / model are you using? For very loud sounds without battery box, set the recorder's mic sens to low and use a low manual level setting, something like 10 out of 30. Consider to get an attenuator or a battery box to avoid distortion, see the pinnned threads in the live recording subforum. 2)It depends strongly on the kind of mic you use, but you'll propably need to use the low mic sens setting here as well. 3)Not necessary, enjoy the flight and record a few airplane ambience sounds instead. 4)Leaving the unit in direct sunlight for longer periods will propably cause more damage than xray. Mine has gone througha few airport checks without any damage, so i suppose xrays won't do any harm at all.

You can use the gallery of this forum for uploading samples. Flac files are rather huge though and should only be used when perfect accuracy is necessary. Otherwise well encoded mp3's will do. I'd suggest to create a new thread to discuss the subject in depth.

The download is very slow /doesn't work, but have you thought about mic placement, how do you do it? Also you cannot expect great results when recording from a stack of speakers or any other low fidelity source.