himd_user

Check this out. Record some audio on your HiMD deck. Import it into SONICSTAGE on your PC/MS-Windows machine. Save this file as TEST.OMA. Now take your MACBOOK PRO running OSX. Install "Parallels". This allows you to run MS-Windows natively, as a "window" inside OSX. (Cool by itself) Mirror your PC/MS-Windows hard drive into Parallels-OSX using the Parallels "Transporter" network transfer program. Now "BOOT" your MS-Windows hard drive on your MACBOOK PRO. Your MS-Windows is now running inside a window on OSX (where it deserves to be caged). This MS-Windows-on-OSX has Sonicstage. Run it. See your TEST.OMA track. PLAY YOUR OMA TRACK. Hear the track on the MACBOOK PRO's speakers. HiMD Audio recordings transferred to the PC machine play on the Macbook Pro. HELL YES. DRM for self-recorded tracks has no place here! More items of note: Running Marcnet HiMD Renderer under Windows2000 inside MAC OSX+Parallels can convert the track from OMA to MP3. Both the OMA and the MP3 can be played under Windows Media Player running inside OSX+Parallels. Drag & Drop the MP3 file from Parallels window -> OSX desktop, double-click, the file is now playing in iTUNES! I will never buy another microsoft product again.

Luckily the mylo is easily recognized by macbook pro as a usb storage device. In case you decide to buy both! However the SONY bundled s/w only supports... wait for it... PC/Windows! Never would have guessed that, huh.

It's fun but it's useless. If you want mp3 player, get a cheaper flash mp3 player. If you want pocket video, maybe get an ipod(more video selection/integration with itunes) or PSP (adds great gaming). If you want pocket web surfing, forget it, it doesnt exist yet on any device (screen size still too small for web surfing and flash player is not supported so youtube, etc, wont be visible). So what exactly is it good for that is unique? It is 100% A+ good for skype wifi voice calls and instant messaging. But there's specific products for that purpose too that are better (skype wifi handset / cell phone dual mode, or PDA + YIM/AIM/etc). The engineering quality of the MYLO is great. Really solid engineering, great sound, great video (bad video codec compatibility, however). For $$/usefulness though, it's a toy. If you're into buying expensive electronic toys, it's fun. Seperately from audio, I've been attempting to encode video for the MYLO. Sony has a very strange/cryptic/specific format for video encoding and file naming, though, which does not make it easy - so for pocket video with "quick download, drag, drop, and view", think again, it won't work.

FYI, I have a new sony MYLO (music/video device) to evaluate and when I plug it into the PC via USB, Sonicstage will automatically start up. And, Sonicstage recognizes it as "ATRAC Audio Device" & wants to register it as a device for transfer of DRM content. I am using Sonicstage 3.1. I've just transferred a recording I made with my MZ-NH1 in LP4 mode (64kb/s) and sonicstage copies this to MYLO to the MYLO internal flash as the file: F:\OMGAUDIO\10F00\10000001.OMA When MYLO is unplugged via USB it shows "Updating database" on the screen (probably looking for new/modified media). I can play this track on the MYLO just fine. The MYLO player shows the original filename, and "Transferred from Hi-MD" (song title) and also shows "ATRAC 64kbps" and "AtracAD".

So I was recording this gig with my band mates, all is well.. then CRASH. While on record, my guitarist dropped my favorite deck on the concrete. It still plays discs fine... Except... When recording, it seems OK unless it goes to write. Then the write head goes crazy with a stuttering noise / vibration, like it can't position itself. It will continue this forever, or for 15 minutes then display RECERR, or until the battery is removed/drains completely. Any suggestions on repairing this myself ? I'm assuming there's a seperate read/playback head, and a seperate write/recording head, otherwise both play & record would fail. Since only record is broken, maybe it's stuck and can't step properly? Or is the laser irrepairably broken? Or, tips on sending it somewhere for repair? A new replacement is ~$300, so repair would have to be much cheaper than that.

Several people here have remarked it would be much better to have AA battery connection. What about powering the deck via USB? What are the specs on the USB connector allowed input voltage? Is it possible to connect +5v (or approximate voltage using multiple batteries) with a custom cable to the USB connector and have the deck powered & fully operational?

Sony MZ-NH1. I've been using this deck on a weekly basis for some time, with different hi-md and md discs. The past week, I've run into this situation: Recorded some stuff on one of my hi-md discs. Press play, the deck beeps 3 times, the display says AuFileERR, and shuts off. Ok, the disc TOC is bad??? So I formatted that disc, recorded a bunch on it, no problems. Playback is Ok too. I switched to a different disc yesterday. Put some recordings on it, listened to them this morning. No problems. I was just now recording on this same disc. I hit Stop, it blinks: AuRecERR. Now, when I try to play, the deck beeps 3 times, then same as above: auFileERR. I use this deck for a LOT of recording.. and playing.. all the time, for a year now. Never had this problem until recently. What's the deal here? Any way to get my recordings back? Is my deck dirty on the inside? Unlike another poster here with the same error, I can press eject and the disc comes out, no problem there. Edit: If I connect the deck to a PC with this disc inserted, the deck blinks "AccessERR". SonicStage shows the deck as a drive, but shows an error message that says, "This disc has been formatted with a program other than blah blah blah..."

I have listened to some of the audio clips in the Gallery. I have also uploaded a few of my own. Hope to upload more soon. One thing I am curious about is adjusting levels. Several of the recordings in the Gallery were VERY SOFT. Had to crank my PC speakers up all the way. Usually I record with a lot of head room. I do this out of habit from recording in SP mode on an MD deck, where I noticed clipping really sounds BAD. So with HiMD, I record with a lot of room (maybe -6 dB max) then upload to PC, then edit in Cool Edit Pro, and hard limit with amplification to get the levels to hover between -12dB and -4dB. Even for voice interviews, this is what I do, and it sounds OK. However I recently ripped a Tool(hard rock band) CD to WAV , and noticed the levels are near constant peaking between -3dB and 0dB. No headroom! All red! All the time! And still sounds crisp. Should I be amplifying my recordings and saturating with hard limiting (i.e. "compression"?) so that the audio signal hovers i.e. between -4dB and -1dB ? If anyone has experience with "production" level post-process, please comment? . himd_user

NH900 allows on-deck editting? Is it possible to buy a different remote for the NH1 ? Can I buy one of the small-round-pencil-sized remotes from another deck, and use it on the NH1 ? . himd_user

The above comment is very wrong. Simple "silly" cell phone features like DOWNLOADABLE RING TONES are a huge, huge, huge profit maker for cell phone vendors. Simple "silly" cell phone features like Text Messaging are also huge profit generators. Simple "pay for picture download" camera phone features are also huge profit generators. And they are easy to add to the phone with little engineering effort. I dont know what it will be called, but "personal communication device" is the future, it may not be a cell phone, however it will have a similar form factor, and combine many features, in convergence, just like the new HiMD-PHOTO or cell phones with built-in MP3 players. FYI new cell phones will have built-in WIFI, and that will allow for many new internet apps (like voice over IP, conferencing, file transfer, client apps, etc). Personally I wish there were a HiMD-PHOTO with cell phone, then I could wear the same headphones and use them for multiple purposes. Oh it should also have PDA email/calendar features. And it should also have... . himd_user

You can also convert OMA->MP3 using himd-renderer, and specify MONO MP3 output. himd-renderer will detect audio in the loudest channel (either left or right) and use that for the MONO channel. Besides if you are recording telephone, note the frequency spectrum will be limited to 300Hz to 8000Hz, there is no need to record in format higher than HiLP, so conversion to OMA->MP3 (rather than OMA->WAV) will not lose fidelity.

I have been using my hi-md mz-nh1 for some time now, for the following purpose: live voice recordings and occassional music listening and occassional boot recording. I'm not in the class of users that has 20gig of MP3's on a walkman, I use this deck primarily for professional use. I previously used a sharp md recorder. Here is what I like about this product. 1. small size (I am amazed it's so tiny, even smaller than my old deck). 2. metal construction. 3. Incredible audio codec (ATRAC3) sounds great, especially HiLP mode. 4. USB file upload to PC. 5. Good, solid software on the PC. (Yes it has some bugs; it runs on top of buggy microsoft software though, and that's a tough job to get working.) 6. Great AGC response at the mic-In. 7. Great sound electronics - D/A, A/D, low noise floor, in short it is pro-gear. 8. Low price. For $250, PCM or LP recording. Fits in your pocket. Awesome. Here is what I think are the bummers. 1. Can't edit tracks on the deck. (Arrrggghhh!!) Must use PC to edit/move tracks. 2. The track information/display on the deck is very bad. Tough or impossible navigation through tracks on the deck unless the remote is used. (I don't like to carry around the remote.) 2b. One line display that does not display track name. (Arrrrggghhhh!!) Must use remote to see what is playing. Also One line display does not display group name. (Arrrgghghhh!!) There's dozens of tracks on a disk, I can't tell which is which, unless the remote is attached. 2c. One line display is unreadable in the dark - no backlight. 2d. The remote is huge. It can be wide or long, but it is also thick. So, it doesnt really "fit" anywhere. 3. No external battery connection. HOW can I connect an external battery to this deck. (I'm thinking: buy a second USB cable and hack it, to supply power.) I think Sony should at least sell a battery box or cable adapter for this purpose. Because, the internal battery life is too short and they are too expensive to get spares, when AAA's are cheap. This matters when out on site and running out of power is not an option. 4. Can't convert to OMA->MP3 within PC s/w, can only convert OMA->WAV. (Must use third-party s/w like himd-renderer to convert OMA->MP3, or convert OMA->WAV->MP3 also requiring third-party software.) I don't enjoy MP3 that much as an audio format, though unfortunately it is the lowest common denomenator today. 5. Need Higher density disks. A 1gig disk is... well.. about 2 years too late in 2005. Not enough storage space. Sony is a leader in data storage - lets pump up that data density! 2-3 gig disk would be competitive compared to other data storage choices today (hard drive or DVD-RW or flash memory). Basic suggestion: Deck didn't come with a stereo microphone. Considering that a pair of mic capsules are $5 of the shelf, and a stereo plug is less than $1, why not bundle a cheap microphone? The cheap headphones are always bundled, and this deck has great recording features. I am really looking forward to buying a photo-hi-md once they have a model with full recording capabilities.

To followup other asked points: 1. The problem occurs with either SS 2.1 or SS 3.0 2. The problem occurs when converting from OMA -> WAV or OMA -> himdrenderer -> any format. When playing OMA within SS, the audio is gapless. When playing from the deck, audio is gapless. Convert on the PC to any other format, and there are missing/corrupt/blank samples at the end of the track. 3. I was using Hi-LP for audio interviews. 4. The method I used to avoid problem #2 was to re-record in real time into a single file for editing (ugh!!). I agree, from #2 above, it seems it may be a frame length/algorithmic problem in PC s/w. I did try SS "combine" function without success I think. It would be good to hear your experience here. It seems you are suggesting a method like this: a) Use Time Mark while recording as desired. Upload tracks to SS c) Combine all tracks in SS into one track d) Convert single track to WAV/MP3 e) Edit WAV/MP3 as single file (including re-splitting tracks) f) Save edited file in desired format Unfortunately step © removes the time marks (obviously) so notes taken regarding different tracks is lost, while this is not desirable, it is still better than not using time marks at all! Also unfortunately, step © means there is one huge file to edit. Kind of a strain on the PC sometimes, especially for WAV's. (example: 2 hour voice interview) So while slightly more time consuming, I prefer to edit using smaller audio files (individual tracks) sometimes, or concatenate in some other cases.

YES That would be great, thanks.

I use my sony Hi md MZ-NH1 for "man on the street" recording all the time. Works great, upload to PC via USB afterwards, then convert to WAV or use himdrenderer to convert to mp3, then optionally load that file into cooleditPro to audio edit / filter / etc, and re-save the editted file. I can record with it in my shirt pocket while walking around. I can record with it in my front jeans pocket while walking around. I can record with it while holding it in my hands walking around (normal arm motion is okay). Works great. Never had audio problems from "shock". In fact the disc only writes (spins up) every so often, there must be a large RAM buffer at work inside. Audio problems are only within the PC s/w sonicstage! This s/w crashes/hangs for some people, and audio can fail to transfer from deck->PC. Usually salvageable because you can usually still "play" the audio, just not transfer it, so worst case, you have to record it via deck playback -> line in to PC -> real time record into PC audio s/w. You can monitor via headphone while recording. Not a problem. Usually AGC works Great. In fact I have recorded in very noisy places and it tracks very well. (Like, very noisy pubs or concerts!) Microphone placement ensures the interviewee is picked up well. The pesky thing is that the AGC has behavior to reset itself to "On", so it takes practice to know when to modify this setting, that's all. Manual recording level can be set w/o any beeping in recorded audio. THough, usually you set it at the start, and just go. Set it lower than any expected loud spikes in volume, and amplify in PC audio s/w later. Noise floor is very low, so amplifying later is okay. Few weeks ago I hooked the deck up to my DVD player's headphone output and recorded audio from a movie, using AGC. Also okay, came out perfect. So you can likely TRANSFER all your analog tapes to digital if you want, just hook your old deck "headphone out" to new himd "mic in" with AGC "on" and record away. Easy way to transfer analog -> digital when out in the field.