greenmachine

Matching is the process of finding two (or more) capsules that perform (close to) identically in order to keep channel differences at a minimum. It can be done in different ways. The most simple yet effective is propably to wire two capsules, hold them as close together as possible, use a loudspeaker with random noise or music or different individual frequencies as the sound source, connect the mics to the recorder, set it to rec pause (with appropriate manual levels set) and observe the meters while moving back and forth to the loudspeaker (or fix them at a certain distance and adjust the loudspeaker's volume). If they read exactly the same in the upper range, you have found two matching capsules. If they don't, try again with different capsules. If you don't have more than two capsules available, you can skip matching and hope for the best. Good luck.

I don't know about the MZ-N505 in particular, but the mechanism usually stands still in pause mode, so i guess there won't be any significant wear.

Now that we know different Atrac3+ bitrates are possible, i wonder why they have added 'just' support for 192 kbps. If we had a few others (like 96 and 128kbps) we could get rid of Atrac3 altogether.

Also the mics are rather closely mounted together, not separable or adjustable, they're propably directing outwards. The stereo image might suffer, not to mention the lack of flexibility. Also left and right channel might not be matched closely, so you might end up with unacceptable channel differences. Ask the seller for more details. A mic - preamp - line-in (or mic - mic-in) chain is suited for low to medium SPLs and might distort at high SPLs, whereas mic - battery box - line-in works well for high SPLs, but low to medium SPLs might be recorded too quietly and you'll get lots of noise after normailzation. Each chain fulfills its own purpose. Preamps are usually so expensive that it might be more economical to invest in a (used) MD recorder with mic-in (and sensitivity switch). The resulting sound quality might be even better.

It doesn't seem to have a USB connection anyway, so this seems out of the question. You'd need a Net- or Hi-MD for faster than realtime transfer.

You have to record in realtime, preferrably via optical cable if recording from a digital source for highest fidelity. If you're not equipped with a digital out or you record from an analog source, use an analog line-out to line-in connection. No software is required/possible for transfer, just use the rec button.

You're right of course. It's not the smartest idea to charge a battery with a relatively high current of ~500mA in an enclosed case without any cooling / ventilation. Excessive heat can cause irreversible damage to both battery and device. Maybe use a fan to blow against the case during charging? This is what i do when using an external fast charger - using a fan to keep the batteries cool. I think batteries will live longer if not exposed to excessive heat.

What's so bad about the internal charger?

1) I found them in a local electronics store and have a few left. PM me if interested. 2) These usually have somewhat greater tolerances (+-5% instead of +-1%). Actually it makes very little difference unless you do it professionally. You can use them without thinking twice. If you have more than two of them, you can use a mulitimeter to match them by yourself.

Some might disagree, but i think the recorder or disc have very little / hardly any influence on the resulting sound quality as long as you choose a high quality codec (your recorder records in SP only, which should be sufficiently high quality). If you experience distortion, a battery box or an attenuator might be the solution for you. A headworn separable omni stereo mini condenser mic with a full, close to flat response is my personal recording weapon of choice. There are various manufacturers. Search the live recording forum for mic recommendations and read the FAQ / pinned topics there. Microphone placement is at least as influential as the mic itself. Don't expect a good recording if you place a good mic unfavorably.

I don't think so. Take a look at these pics: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&category=20332

Carlos Actis Dato Quartet - "Ankara Twist" (1989/90)

Also you can't easily compansate for what's not there (high frequencies) by adjusting the EQ. You'll just amplify some artifacts.

Cassandra Wilson - Blue Light 'Til Dawn (1993)

I have a few BASF/EMTEC CD-R's from ~2001/02 which stopped working after 1-2 years for no particular reason, they were stored in close to ideal conditions. Other brands seem to be much more reliable/longlasting though. I didn't have a failing MD or HD yet.

If you listen to the MD recording with headphones, you'll find out if the problem is in the first or second chain.

CDs are relatively convenient and fast to copy to HD. If you plan to get rid of the them, archive them losslessly compressed (e.g. FLAC, Wavpack...), otherwise i guess high quality lossy compression (like high bitrate vbr mp3) would be adequate.

It's propably the AC Adaptor. Try again battery powered.

Such batteries usually have higher voltages - calculate it to (m)Wh and it'll be the same or superior. 700mAh - 2.4V and 1400mAh - 1.2V can store approx. the same amout of power for example. 700mAh - 3.6V would be superior.

If your recordigs are in PCM, don't bother with Sony's closed proprietary format. Convert the uploaded files to wav and use that instead. The .oma files in the library may be deleted afterwards to free up disk space sice they're no longer needed. If your recordigs are in Hi-SP or Hi-LP and you don't want to waste valuable disk space by decompressing them, try the following trick: Upload the files, convert to the same bitrate (i.e. 256 or 64kbps), while uncheckig the 'add copy protection' checkbox. This will remove the DRM information without adding generation loss (it will not actually be converted). These files should be usable on other computers without library backups or similar. Still you need Sonicstage until Sony eventually opens up the format. Definitely upgrade to SS3.2 or 3.3 since these allow the un-DRM trick and unlimited uploads of realtime recordings.

himd is the way to go for uploadable realtime recordings and extended recording time and/or -quality. don't be mislead by netmd's usb port, they're strictly downloaders only. nh700 or nhf800 are excellent recorders and should be affordable by now.

Speaking from experience, having a large number of rechargeables is not the best idea because of their relatively high self-discharge / degradation when unused. One or two should be plenty for single cell operated devices. If regularily used / maintained, they will stay in good condition for a long time to come. It's more difficult to maintain a large quantitiy of batteries properly.

You can only transfer them in realtime. Only HiMD machines with HiMD formatted content can upload. Upload guide: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=7070

Why 24?

tan A = 5/12 A = 22.619864947 A = 22° 37' 12"