greenmachine

A disc recorded in non-HiMD mode can only be transferred in realtime, and if you don't have a deck with a digital output, you need to live with quality loss. Thanks, Sony! This topic will explain the process: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=7070

As long as you don't expose it to extreme temperatures (like direct sunlight) or mechanically beak it, MD is a very durable medium, unlike (re)writable CD/DVD. There are various ways to encrypt your data, for maximum protection try HardEncrypt: http://www.softpedia.com/catList/95

Most of them seem to use Panasonic WM-60 or WM-61 omni capsules for their 'binaurals'. Unfortunately, the less sensitive WM-60 seems to be discontinued, but http://www.digikey.com/ (US located) has a large quantity of WM-61 available. In europe these seem not available without importing, but we have a variety of Monacor elements instead, which partially seem to be re-labled Panasonics as well: http://www.monacor.de/en/produkt_aufl_gesa...I&spr=EN&spr=EN The MCE-2000 and MCE-4000 (omnis) perform pretty well IMO. I have no idea about cardioids, never felt the need for using such yet. There are various online stores which carry them, google for it. Since they're not that expensive and need to be matched, it's advisable to buy more than you need.

It would be a real waste of disk space to decompress a HiLP or even HiSP recording and store that. Is there no reliable and efficient solution? For pcm recordings i obviously don't bother with oma files either.

The nh700 / nhf800 should be less expensive, yet still performs excellent.

Sounds like you already would've uploaded it at least once with a pre-3.2 SS install (upload only once restriction). If so, all you can currently do is to transfer realtime and keep the recording on the disc until someone finally cracks all these useless protection schemes.

Actually i like it better than all the other bright skins we've had before. I hope you keep it (or at least something similar). It's much more enjoyable for reading the boards at night.

I've just spent 5.49 EUR ( ) for used, but good condition Sony MDR-CD470s. My other similar pair is showing first wear so i thought to invest in a spare one, just in case anything stupid happens to them. I really like their clean, analytic sound. Additionally, they're exceptionally comfortable. I'd also like to know what others think about them. They look like that: [attachmentid=940]

Why bother with lossy transcoding other than for compatibility reasons if you can have Atrac3(+) files without DRM?

RH10 and RH910 are both 2nd generation machines, so they cannot record directly (without computer connection) in the old MD modes. Only 1st gen HiMD like NH600 (without 'D', no mic-in), NH700, NHF800, NH900 and NH1 are capable of this. The MD mode is fully compatible with older, non-HiMD equipment but is less effective regarding efficient use of available disc space.

He'll stop laughing as soon as you present him the results. Good job.

The quick mode avoids re-reading the whole file system of a disc each time you start the recorder, which can take a while when using 1GB discs but has a somewhat higher power consumption when idle ('off'). My NH700 takes about 1.2 mA with quick mode on, or 0.04 mA without. If you use the device regularly, don't worry about it, but if you use it like every few months once, it's better to take the battery out or at least turn the quick mode off to avoid deep-discharging the battery. A few hours / days won't drain it noticeably. The noise of the transport system is propably nothing to worry about.

Does the pic on the left show the finished design? If so, it looks rather fragile. For a better seal maybe you should add more of that gray material (cement? ) and loop the cable around in order not to have stress on the connections when used in rough conditions.

I should make you aware of some major annoyances / limitations: If you record via line-in, the recorder will place auto track marks between quiet and loud passages. Unfortunately this feature can't be turned off, so you'll propably end up with lots of individual tracks. If you combine / remove track marks on the unit, you'll most likely get into troubles during the upload. It's better not to edit the disc at all before uploading. There's a combine feature in SonicStage (definitely use the latest version - 3.2), which doesn't work perfectly (short repetitions around the combining point) and uses lots of resources but is more convenient than combining individual tracks in an audio editor, so the whole upload/conversion process will be a pain in the ass and rather time consuming.

Some people might say: "If you want a mp3 player, get a mp3 player", myself included.

>100 GB Hard Disks are rather inexpensive nowadays. Your ears decide if HiLP will do suffice, but for speech it propably will.

NetMDs don't play mp3s natively, files need to be converted to Sony's proprietary Atrac3 first. Conversion/transcoding often causes problems and pretty much always quality degradation. Try to transfer from CDs directly without the troublesome mp3 step in between.

Your MD can record in SP (Atrac at 292 kbps - best quality), MONO (Atrac at 146 kbps - mono), LP2 (Atrac3 at 132 kbps - medium quality) and LP4 (Atrac3 at 66 kbps - low quality). Unless you need more than 80 minutes of recording time or the source is mono, always use SP. The transfer will be some kind of problematic, you need to do a realtime analog copy form the line-outs to the soundcards' line-in, as described here: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=7070 After this, you should have a wav file on your harddisk, which you can edit to your hearts content with an audio editor, for example the free Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ After this, you can use your favorite burning program to bring it onto CD(s), for example Nero, Alcohol or other free alternatives to make an audio CD out of it: http://www.softpedia.com/catList/5

There are only two quality settings available for you: LP2 (Atrac3 at 132 kbps - medium quality) and LP4 (Atrac3 at 66 kbps - low quality). If you're using the latter, try LP2 instead. Although it doesn't sound perfect, it should be a huge improvement to LP4. Since your unit has no audio input jacks, realtime recirding in SP (Atrac at 292 kbps - best quality) is unfortunately not available. SP through Sonicstage is in fact bloated LP2 quality or slightly worse, so don't use it.

Looks like you need to install sonicstage first.

Can you play this one? [attachmentid=928] La_Grange_48.zip

It's not great, but at least 2000% better than headphones. Main limitations: relatively high self noise, fixed distance between the elements, weak bass response - but for speech propably more than good enough.

The source follower mod: I can't explain why it works, all i know is that it does work. It improves Panasonic (and maybe other) electret mics' performance at high SPLs and lowers their sensitivity by approx. 5-6 dB. There are at least three different methods to implement it, this one is the most practical in my view, no reversed polarity or additional wires required. But you need to isolate the outer shell properly to avoid touching it directly since it becomes the new (+). [attachmentid=930] I'd never go without.

You should take a closer look into the source follower modification if your mics are overloading at high SPLs. This involves some delicate work of cutting a trace on the tiny pcb in back of the microphone cartridge and making a different connection to the capsule housing. I'm using it successfully for a while now. Never had noticable clipping caused by my equipment, no matter how awfully loud the source has been. Further details per request. The problem of overloading microphones can't be avoided by using a more aggressive bass roll-off as it's just a filter between mic and recorder. You don't relieve the mic from low frequencies this way.

The main job of the capacitor is to block DC voltage from entering the line input. If you want to use it as a bass roll-off filter, the formula for calculating the roll-off frequency or capacitor value of a 1st order (6dB/oct) filter is given by: fc = 1 / (2 * Pi * R * C) C = 1 / (2 * Pi * R * fc) fc = cutoff / rolloff frequency in Hz Pi = 3.1415927... R = Input resistance in Ohm C = capacitor value in F (Farad), 1 uF = 0.000001 F Assuming that fc should be 150 Hz and the line input impedance is 47 kOhm, your cap would have to have about 0.0226 µF (22.6nF). A first order filter lowers the volume by 6dB each octave below the cut-off frequency (fc). Having fc at 160 Hz would equal: 0 dB at 160 Hz and above, -6 dB at 80 Hz, -12 dB at 40 Hz, -18 dB at 20 Hz and so on. Each doubling / bisection of the frequency equals one octave. Capacitors usually have huge tolerances of 20 % or more, so they should be picked in pairs for a precise roll-off. I don't have specific values for the RH10, but line-in impedances seem to be around 47 kOhm average. I usually prefer to set the roll-off point well below the audible range (20 Hz) for several reasons: - why alter the frequency response of close to perfectly linear mics? I rather would roll off afterwards via software if really necessary - you won't know how a roll-off will sound in the end. If you have filtered too much , you need to raise low frequencies afterwards again. - tolerances of capacitors and unknown line in impedances - mic and line input have different impedances - only 6dB/oct. The resistor determines the maximum current available for the mic caps. Electret mics usually need up to about 1 mA, often less. At 10k (resistor) and 2k (mic impedance) the maximum current at 9V would be 0.75 mA (9/12000) per channel. If you use a value significantly above 10k, there wouldn't be enough current available to power the mic caps adequately -> lower output, higher distortion. A lower value would allow for a higher current, but lowers the output signal because of a parallel connection to the mic. The art is to find a good average value (usually in the 2-10k range, although i tend to prefer higher values between approx. 5-10k). Don't worry too much about it, something in the aforementioned range should fit well for various capsules. Don't worry about it, two matched carbon film resistors should perform equally well. I used such in my first BB with equally good results. Even if you don't match them, there shouldn't be a significant channel difference. You'll have more problems to find two matching mic elements anyway, there are rather huge tolerances.