Killroy

What a day!!! First, after years of feeling like a looser on that matter, a stock I was holding finally superseded the price I'd acquired it for. And then, while still thinking what to do with the earnings now, Kurisu's broadcast about this new HiMD-unit dropped into my mailbox... I begin to believe, that really nothing in this world happens by accident and without a reason... Cheers - Killroy.

Glad, that you managed it that way! Although not very probable, it is of course possible that the disc has a physical defect indeed, so you might bring it back to the place of purchase and ask for replacement. May also be the case, that your recorder's laser drops out sometimes, which - in best case - is just because of dust that covers the lens... Cheers - Killroy.

Oops, I missed that - sorry! Perhaps you've got a friend who owns a HiMD-unit other than the NH600D, or you ask a friendly merchant if he was ready to format your disc with one of his HiMD-units for sale. If neither is an option for you, maybe you'll find a member here who is located close to you so you can send her/him the disc. (I myself would like to help you, but if you're not located in the EU like me, I fear that shipping costs will exceed the value of a new disc). Cheers - Killroy.

Hello, Most frequently this error comes from an incompletely written TOC (aka "System File") and it has been repeatedly reported here, that SonicStage often fails to format a such damaged disc. Usually, the MD-unit itself "invites" you to format the disc after inserting it, but only if it is not connected to the computer through USB at this time. Alternatively, you may try to do a manual format through the unit's menus. Cheers - Killroy.

Hello, thank you too, Dex, for this really scientific analysis! I want to add an experience of myself to this topic that perhaps might be interesting too: Whenever I use my MZ-NH600 for recording of FM Radio broadcasts, it always seems strange to me that my unit never ever automatically inserts any trackmark - not even into continguous recordings of >2hrs in length. Could this be, because the radio program never contains any section of sufficient silence that woud trigger a trackmark? This does not seem much probable to me. Or could it be the 19 kHz pilote-tone that continuously comes along with FM stereo broadcasts (at least here in Europe)? If the second is the reason, would it be feasable for live recordists to add a similar and unnoticeable hi-frequency signal to the (analogue) input and completely avoid auto trackmarks that way? Cheers - Killroy.

Hello, Possibly, your TV has some setting options for the digital output signal within it's on-screen menus, like many DVD-players/recorders do. If so, set it to PCM, 16 bit and 48kHz, which is the only format that MD-units can recognize. Any (default) setting like "Bitstream", "Dolby Digital", "AC3", "DTS" etc. will lead to the symptoms you described and can only be decoded by home-cinema devices. Cheers - Killroy.

Is SonicStage or MD Simple Burner running at the time you connect your NH600? This applications lock the device in a way so tha Windows can't "see" it! MD Simple Burner by default installs itself as self-launching at Windows startup, for example... Cheers - Killroy.

Even if it existed, I'd strongly recommend NOT to use such an option ever. What, if SonicStage messes the upload but succeeds deleting the source "automatically" - a source like a live recording that you cannot repeat for example? Better you upload, check if it worked OK, export to WAV, preferrably on different media, and THEN delete the source from the disc if you want to... Cheers - Killroy.

Hello, this is not totally clear to me: Tracks recorded with a HiMD device could be uploaded to SonicStage ever since, regardless if they were made from the analogue or digital input. But only analogue recordings could be saved as WAV then (except with Mark's famous HiMD Renderer). So does it mean that in Version 3.4 both types of recordings can be converted to WAV after uploading? Would be great for me since I sometimes record tracks from my DVD-recorder's optical digital output! Cheers - Killroy.

Hi, not necessary to uninstall dbPowerAmp - it has a configuration menu where you can disable this tooltip informations if they bother you (Start -> All Programs -> dbPoweramp Music Converter -> Configuration -> dMC Configuration): [attachmentid=1324] Cheers - Killroy.

Even if HiMD units supported USB 2.0, it would be without any benefit since the maximum read/write speeds of the magneto-optical MiniDisc media don't even utilize full USB 1.1 bandwith. European MD-units usually come without some accessoires like remote control, AC adapter, optical cable etc., and the EU-model's maximum output power is limited due to a French law. And all that for an even higher price because of extended warranty obligations, which are almost useless if you are an non-European resident... Cheers - Killroy.

Hi, old small devices like analog photo cameras or portable cassette tape players that are not used and/or usable any more will be precious sources for spare parts like this. Also, any watchmaker or optician close by will surely be able to help you out. Cheers - Killroy.

Fantasy, right! Remember, that the magneto-optical MDs need to be simultaneously accessible from both sides by the optical laser pick-up/writer and the magnet. Thus, a MD-unit with two read/write head pairs would require a new type of disc with two access areas and sliders, and this would make the units incompatible with the current format of the disc shells... Cheers - Killroy.

Hi, best way will be to simply try it out! You should start with connecting the adapter to line-in and make a test recording. If you cannot achieve a sufficient recording level there, then switch to mic-in with mic sensitivity set to "low". If this is still too quiet, switch to "high" sensitivity. Cheers - Killroy.

You are of course totally right on this, and thus my advice to operate at a recording level as high as possible to avoid this side effect as good as possible. Adding high-frequency gain with the MD-unit's equalizer at recording time may also help a little to compensate Dolby's treble cut. In some cases, I achieved very good results with this methodology when I digitally recorded some of my vinyl albums - with the side effect of efficient noise reduction. However, as already stated, it's worth a try! Btw: glad to see you back here in MDCF in your "old mood"! Cheers - Killroy.

Oh, "Malaka"! If your brother made a type of backup of the HDD (e.g. disc image) that allows you to restore it so far that the old versions of Windows and SonicStage could be launched again, then you might have a small chance. Also, if nothing has been written yet to the HDD after the format, some unformatting/undeleting tools might be able to restore it. - otherwise there are no known means to recover your SonicStage library by now. WARNING: If you happen to have some of your recordings still available on MiniDiscs itself, never even try to upload them again with a version of SonicStage older than 3.2, or you will loose them for eternity. Older SonicStages will delete already uploaded tracks without prior warning from the disc instead of uploading them again! SS 3.2 or 3.3 will not upload again tracks that have already been uploaded with an older version too, but at least they won't delete them either. Cheers and good luck - Killroy.

Hello, if you happen to have available one of those good old cassette tape decks with Dolby C noise reduction, it would be worth a try to record your gig to a cassette - with Dolby C off and the highest possible recording level. Played back with Dolby C on then, this recording will experience a considerable dynamic range enhancement that might undo at least some of AGC's compression. Using one of this cassette adapters that feed the signal straight from your MD recorder to the tape unit's playback head (I think they are still in use for playing back music from iPods on car stereo systems with casette tape player only), you could even bypass the analog recording to tape. Just playback from yor MD unit and record to your computer via the soundcard's line in from the tape deck's line out. Cheers - Killroy.

Hi, my personal favourite are the AKG K24P that I got for 29 Euros. They are very sensitive and efficient (125 dB SPL), sound incredible and can be folded for easy transport. Cheers - Killroy.

If my logic still works OK, you'd need a unit with many, many keys, or a touch screen to achieve this. A MD device like this has yet to be designed and built... As an approach, you could organize your tracks so that the album name matches the atist's name and each album contains only tracks from that artist. With the navi-key album list function, you should be able to locate your favourite artist very quickly then. Cheers - Killroy.

Well, did you ever hear about this story? Once, the CEOs of three major European breweries met by accident in a pub. They recognized each other and decided to sit down together, have a drink and talk about their business in a relaxed manner. As the waiter came to get their orders, the first of them ordered a pint of his company's beer, the second - of course - a pint of his own brewery, and the third a glass of - Cola. Asked, why he does not prefer to take some of his own beer, he answered like this: "Well, if you guys don't drink beer, I don't like to do so either!" Insert CEO and brewing company names as you prefer and tell your friends the next time you meet them in your favourite pub! Cheers & Beers - Killroy.

For tracks downloaded from PC, it behaves like a NetMD in terms that you can neither edit this tracks nor upload them to another computer. Tracks recorded on the NH600 itself can be managed in (almost) any way you like. Possible, that you mixed up the NH600 with the NH600D, which is a pure NetMD unit that cannot record any track. The unit has capability of sorting and accessing the tracks through title, artist and album - that's what the "navi"-key is provided for. All track infos appear in an alternating mode on the display. In my opinion, the major difference of the NH600 to most other (albeit more expensive) models is, that it does not have a microphone input and is not that useful for field recordings therefore. Cheers - Killroy.

Well, that might be an explaination. Although Windows versions down to Windows® 98 Second Edition are supported, Windows® XP Home Edition, XP Professional or XP Media Center Edition with latest service pack are recommended. The term "depending on the operational environment,..." leaves much room for various interpretations :-( Cheers Killroy.

Hi, It's there, although in a place where most don't expect it :-). The path is as follows (hope that I translated correctly from my german version of SoncStage though): Menu "Options" -> "CD Drive Settings" -> "Get CD Info" -> "CDDB". Check the "Manual Proxy Settings" radio button, push "Proxy Settings" and viola, there we go! Regarding the problem of CD burning not possible at some installations, I had an interesting experience after I installed SonicStage on my "private" home PC yesterday! Guess what, all CD brning functions are available there - even one to burn MP3-CDs :-) Until yesterday, I only installed Sonicstage on my work's computers which belong to my company's corporate network that is shielded from the raw outside world by external firewalls and proxy servers and are - I think this is the more interesting point here - Members of a Windows Computer Domain! This leads me to the assumption, that SonicStage does not like you to burn CDs on computers that are not totally "owned" by you, since the Windows domain admin can overrule almost any right the local user has over such a computer by means of so called "group policies". Would be interesting, if others that share the problem of not being able to burn CDs can confirm this... Cheers - Killroy.

Hello, ad 1) Some other forum members including myself are still seeking an explanation/solution for this behaviour. SonicStage help mentions something cryptical like "depending on your operating environment, you may be able or not be able to burn Audio/ATRAC CDs". ad 2) Most probably, your computer is part of a private network with external firewall and internet proxy server. You must specify the proxy's name/address and port (usually 8080) to SonicStage in this case. This can be done somewhere in the advanced options menu. Cheers - Killroy.

Yeah, that's just the way I use to transfer my .WAVs to my "archive machine" too. But don't forget to close any Sony MD software before you try to access the MD-unit as external USB drive from Windows Explorer, since SonicStage and MD Simple Burner lock the device as long as they are running! Cheers - Killroy.