milomind

I bought two spare batteries off eBay from two different merchants, both from China, and have had no problem whatsoever. Total cost $30 for both. There has been some question on this forum as to the origin of said batteries, whether or not they are genuine Sony or not. All I can say is that they work, and that I've found them to be as good as the original. I also got some cool stamps from China.

As far as podcasting goes, hell I've been involved in podcasting the show Destructomundo for over a year and a half now with my RH10, and pretty much the same way since the beginning: four headsets run through splitters into a single mic input. I call it the octopus. It's ugly and gets kinda tangled from time to time, but it's totally portable and fits comfortably in my messenger bag. I set up the recording level, and go. I own a mixing board, about twelve different microphones, a PC and a Mac, and have plenty of recording software for each of them, but I always opt to record the show with the minidisc recorder. I really can't imagine doing it any other way. Even in my office with the mixer, the computers and all.

Are they self-recorded MDs and Hi-MDs, or are they Atrac files converted from CD or purchased from Sony Connect? If you use the Wav Converter in SonicStage to convert the atrac files to wav files, then you can convert them into mp3 using Lame MP3 Encoder. Once they are in mp3 format, you can have iTunes import them. All of this assumes that you still have access to the SonicStage database where the songs came from, if they did come from SonicStage. Otherwise, it's a bit more complicated.

AVLS is only applicable during playback through the headphones. It doesn't effect the recording in any way. If the volume of the source is very low, then you will need to compensate by either getting closer to it, or by increasing the recording level. Getting a microphone positioned properly is your first step. If it is for vocal recording, use a vocal mic. If a lapel mic would make the subject feel more comfortable, you might look into that as well. If you are thinking about getting the RH1, I would highly recommend it as a recorder. It isn't as hard as it looks to get through the menus, and you have an entire forum of people that will be happy to help if you need it.

You are right about that, and I should have made the distinction. I was speaking mainly of multiband compression and its use in the studio and radio. A lot of the stuff that is produced this way sounds crappy to begin with, is what I meant. After that, it doesn't really matter what you do to it, it will still sound like crap. GIGO, like 1kyle said.

Unfortunately, in the music industry these days, studios are putting out extremely compressed albums in order to get them louder for radio airplay. The sound has been pre-ruined in the studio. The fact of the matter is, since the music being produced is already compressed, further compression does little to ruin its sound quality further. The range is already gone. It has loud midrange, and little else. Now, on the other hand, take a very well produced album of complex range, and variable volumes such as jazz records from the fifties, and you will find that almost any compression at all causes audible distortion of the music. It's just a sad fact that most pop and rock from the early 90s on has this malaise of over-compression, and is the reason why 80s pop sounds so much richer in comparison. Pick up a Tears For Fears album, and play it against The Fray if you don't believe me.

Mine did that too. I was walking with my case clipped to my belt loop with a carabiner, and it stopped, and would restart again. It's more than likely just experiencing skipping due to the buffer being unable to load a nonskipping section of audio. Completely normal. All modern Sony units have anti-skip, but it isn't infallible.

The charging times for the RH10? The owners manual. The RH1 however, will fully charge from either the adapter, or the computer. Again, from the manual.

Are you charging through the USB or the adapter? Charging with the USB port will only bring the battery up to 75-80% capacity. In order to fully charge the battery you must use the adapter. it's 3V AC in case you don't have one.

You can use a powered USB hub. One that comes with an adapter that plugs into an outlet to provide extra power to the hub for things being powered by the USB port. I use one and it charges my RH1 fine.

I am one of those moaners about SonicStage, and you make a good point about being turned off by some of the things said turning people off from Minidisc. It can get a little cynical in here sometimes. However, as an audio professional who uses his Minidisc recorder to do my work, I am often stymied by how the DRM Sony uses in their software confounds my efforts. If I didn't firmly believe that restrictive DRM issues have and will cause serious problems in the future, I wouldn't complain so vociferously about them. You should be able to do what you want with what you own. We have come a long way from NetMD, and I applaud Sony's efforts to free up some of the features in the format, but in waiting so long to do so they may have killed their own creation, but hopefully not. So, welcome to the community, and take heart that there are tons of Harley Davidson fanatics out there who would die before riding anything else, and those bikes are truly crap. At least Minidisc is top notch equipment to be a fanatic for.

Right, you can add track marks to anything that wasn't transfered from SonicStage. I had a recording that I had intended to add track marks to, but I needed the space on the disc, so I uploaded it to my PC and wiped the disc. Later, I downloaded it back to my RH1 and realized that I was unable to add track marks once I had transfered it to my PC. I could record it via optical from my soundcard and have very little signal degredation, but what's the point? Once again SS ruins the use of an otherwise great product.

Didn't work when I tried it with the Energizer charger. I think it needs to sense a battery in the unit in order for the charger to turn itself on.

All charged up. Seems to be fine, and charged a half charged battery to full in about an hour.

Killing two birds with one stone this morning. I'm charging a LIP-4WM battery I bought off ebay from China, and I'm doing it with the Energizer instant cell phone charger. I'll check back in later to let you know if my RH1 blew up or not.

Check this thread. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=15378 and this one http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=16982&hl=

That seems like a good way for me to recharge the RH1's battery away from a power source, but in order to make outdoor festival stealth recording more doable there needs to be a small footprint single or double battery solution. With the sheer amount of USB devices out there, there has to be a ton of products. Thank god Sony has kept a non-proprietary USB miniplug instead of something cradle recharge only. I think that a Spaten Octoberfest will be my next purchase, however. I drank a liter at our local German Club's Octoberfest last weekend. Like this thing. I didn't even look to see what the product was, sorry.

Personally, I have a bit of a deaf ear to the differences in digital, and HD digitally amplified sound, but there is a difference in frequency response. You have to look at the components that make up the path from the signal to the DAC(Digital to Analog Converter) in order to judge whether or not it is true digital - In short: the HDamp has a microprocessor and instructions to process the signal without an analog conversion until it reaches the headphones/line out. A digital amp has a digital signal processor too, but with one or more analog conversions before it reaches the headphone/line out, and analog is without digital signal processing at the amp, but may originate from a digital source(like a CD player). (Ham handed explanation, I know) All of this is a bit overplayed by audiophiles looking to justify an expensive purchase of quality hardware, and for simple one-upmanship. All the MD Walkmans sound really good with quality earphones plugged in them, regardless of amp type.

I have had mine for a week now, and have taken it outside a few times without freaking out. More than I could say for my RH10 that sits in it's safe little scratch-proof place until I need it to record with. I ran it through it's paces with what I consider to be the best audio test for a unit: Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique, and I must say it passed with flying colors.

1-bit refers to the modulation used by Sharp in their digital amplifiers. It is different than Sony's HDamp, but better is a decision of asthetics. Some say that Sharp units with 1-bit sound crisper, while Sony units with HDamp sound warmer. Either way, they both sound better than plain digital(which often times means that somewhere in the circuit there is an analog signal) or analog amplification. Choose on functions and sound quality to your tastes. Don't let esoteric audiophile marketing make your purchasing decisions.

My RH1 battery has FEH on it. I ordered a battery for $18 from libflea, and am waiting for it to arrive so I can look it over. I have a feeling that these are genuine, because if you look at the other Sony things he has for sale, they are also going for low prices compared to retail as well. I find it hard to believe that he is selling all kinds of knock-off Sony products that look virtually the same as their retail counterparts. What we seem to have here is a case of sale at reduced mark-up. Jewelry, for example is marked up considerably, and can be had much cheaper at outlets than at merchant retail stores. Mexican Coca-Cola uses pure cane sugar, and US Coke uses high-fructose corn syrup. I happen to prefer Mexican Coke.

You and I both. I can't decide whether or not to keep the RH10. I am so careful not to scratch it, it almost never goes with me as a player. Great recorder in the dark though. I'm looking forward to field testing the RH1, and seeing if the menu settings are as intuitive as the RH10 in a live setting.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/07/nb-mate...source-charger/

You'll need to do a real-time upload to wav file via line input from the headphone jack into the soundcard line in. Use Audacity if you don't have any sound recording programs to record the wav. Be sure to set all the EQ inputs at mid-level in order to avoid distortion, or set your MD playback to line level, instead of headphone, if you have that option that is. You'll be better off monitoring the upload with headphones also.

I have had mine since the launch, and it works like it did when I first got it. Battery life is a bit suspect in the recording department, so you may want to get spare gumsticks or use the auxilliary battery case when you record for any more than an hour. I don't recommend using the power cord to record. I had some artifacts come out of a recording once, and I really think it was the cord. If reasonable care is given to the case of the RH10, scratches won't be a problem. I don't have a single one on mine. I have used my RH10 to record TV using the line in, and record a four person podcast, using three two way splitters run into the mic jack. Believe it or not, it sounds great. Link to the podcast Destructomundo