MichaelBeardy

Well, I must be one of the lucky ones then - this weekend I recorded REM live at Hyde Park off my DAB radio on BBC Radio 2, and did all of my track marking, combining, removing commentary etc. on my MZ-NH900 and then squirted the whole lot into WAV files on my PC using SS 3.1 without so much as a second thought. Then I used Nero Express to burn myself a CD of the concert. So yeah, it can be done. Not quite sure what to suggest... wait until SS 3.2 is available in an English version? Peace, Michael

A part of me wonders whether the "end" of the MD format as discussed in some of the other posts on this forum could, in some small part, be due to Sony's willingness to release inadequately developed, buggy products (dodgy buttons, missing characters, SonicStage glitches) to its customers...? It's just a thought... BTW, I still really like my NH900 - don't get me wrong. Peace, Michael

Hmm... And there was me wondering if the 2nd-Gen units were free of the curious button malfunctions of the 1st-Gen NH900s. It seems not. I'll think I'll put up with the stop/skip button on my NH900. Peace, Michael

Personally, I would look upon it as the fates prompting you to upgrade your battery. A couple of 2000mAh or better AA batteries are so cheap nowadays, you'll be wondering why you didn't replace the original Sony battery ages ago. BTW Greenmachine, my understanding is that it's better to store NiMH cells charged, and cycle them down and then back up to full charge every few months. The thing a NiMH cell hates the most is being discharged too far - which is what can happen if they are stored in a discharged state, as they tend to have a higher rate of self discharge than the older NiCd cells. Peace, Michael

Not a stupid question at all... ...but the resistors are hardwired in series with the headphone/line-out, so sadly no way to bypass them through service mode. You'd need to get down and dirty with screwdriver and soldering iron. Having said that, I would still argue that there isn't going to be that much audible difference between 2.8mW and 5mW. I find a volume setting of 8-11 on my Euro-capped NH900 more than adequate for most applications - and my ears aren't exactly hyper sensitive - I'm 41, and my ears have taken a bit of wear and tear over the years - can't hear bats anymore. Very occasionally I might turn up the volume to 15-20 for a really kicking track - but most of the time I just want to enjoy comfortable listening levels. I don't think I'd ever need all of the 2.8mW per channel the NH900 can put out. Peace, Michael

Hi all, I just wanted to get a poll of experiences from folks who had upgraded the NH-10WM battery in their MZ-NH900 Hi-MDs to the NH-14WM. What I'd like to know is... Does it take much longer to charge the NH-14WM in the MD unit than the NH-10WM - if so, how long? Does the MD get any warmer whilst it's charging the NH-14WM. When the standard battery is nearly full I notice it gets a little warm - does the bigger capacity cell make a difference here in your experience? I don't want to cook my Hi-MD... How much extra playback time do you get using the NH-14WM - on average? I like the idea of using the higher capacity cell, but I'm a little bit wary of overloading or overheating the charging circuitry of the NH900. I'd welcome the experiences of those who've made the upgrade... Thanks, Michael

By the way, I did have a quick squint through the RH-910 service manual today and couldn't see any "region specific" resistors, so I'm guessing that the volume capping on that unit is achieved through the service-mode firmware settings. It'd make sense really - it must cost Sony less to make one mainboard for all markets and then tailor it through the firmware setup, rather than having to have a separate production line or production run with different components added for Europe or wherever. Peace, Michael

Yeah, To be honest I'm not sure that the power output difference of 3mW as opposed to 5mW makes a huge difference at the listening end - it'd probably amount to a couple of dBs - you'd hardly notice. My (standard Euro) NH900 comfortably drives my MDR-EX71s to very loud levels - I normally listen somewhere around 8-10 on the volume scale which probably equates to less than half a milliwatt from the amp, so plenty of headroom. I can also listen at reasonable volumes through an old pair of Sennheiser HD420s which are big, supra-aural phones and not very efficient - so for me at least, the power output really isn't an issue. I don't think I'd want to listen at full power (3mW) for any length of time - it'd be just too loud for me - so who really needs 5mW? Having said that, having looked at the service manual, if you were handy with a miniature soldering iron, and familiar with anti-static procedure, it wouldn't be too hard to solder a couple of bridges across the offending resistors to bring the output back up to the 5mW. But like I said - I'm really not sure it would make that much difference. I like to listen to my music on my HiMD player, but I don't particularly listen to my HiMD player - if you understand what I mean. Peace, Michael

Bad news for those of us with Euro-region NH900s.... I was poring over the service manual last night as I was doing some backups on my PC and discovered that the European volume limitation on the NH900 is achieved by more than just a change in the destination code in the firmware. There are some extra resistors on the mainboard in the audio output stage which are specific to the Euro-region model - the other regions have these replaced by a zero-value resistor (or a shorting link if you prefer). There's a 22-ohm and a 47-ohm resistor wired in parallel between the output stage and the headphone/line out socket on each channel. This gives an effective resistance of 14.98 ohms - which with a headphone impedance of 16-ohms (or thereabouts) represents a significant restriction on output power. Sorry folks... When connected to a high impedance input - like when used as a line out to an amplifier, which will have an input impedance of maybe 47k-ohms, the exra internal resistors will have virtually negligible effect. I don't dispute that altering the region setting in the service mode may have an effect on output levels, but that ain't all there is to it. It gets me wondering if there are similar resistors in the second-gen Hi-MD models too. Haven't looked at the service manual for the RH910 yet.... Peace, Michael

Most NiMH chargers need to charge the battery a bit to determine what state of charge it's in and if it needs any more charging - so even with a fully charged battery when you try and charge it again, the charger "has a go" for a while in order to monitor the change of voltage across the cell (sometimes referred to as delta V). Once it's detected that voltage change again, it stops charging - so once it has finished charging, it's best not to keep on trying again as you will eventually overcharge the cell and degrade its capacity - or worse cause it to leak, swell, or even burst. Michael

Sat up till nearly 2 am listening to the wonderful sound from the new NH900. Amazed by the clarity in Hi-SP mode - and the total absence of backgound noise - I guess that's one of the benefits of the digital amp compared to earlier MD units. Anyway, I'm happy - just a bit tired this morning Peace, Michael

Hi All, Just thought that those of you in the UK might like to know that Argos are selling off the NH900 for £99. Not quite the killer deal on the 900 that Amazon were doing a couple of months ago, but a good price nonetheless. Just picked up mine today and it's sat on the charging stand right now... I had been thinking of going over to HiMD for a little while now, but not 100% convinced by the NH1 due to the issues of the expensive (and hard to get hold of in UK) Li-Ion battery, that charging stand (pretty tho' it is), and to a lesser extent the Sony-specific USB lead. So the NH900 is an ideal solution for me. It will be driving MDR-EX71s so the volume capping isn't likely to be an issue for me, and if it is, there's always service mode... Heh, heh! Got me a little collection now: a Sharp MD-MT161E (Wow, that thing is BUILT!) which I did some wonderful recordings of streams and waterfalls with - great for meditation/relaxation , a Sony MZ-R410 - which made me realise just how much I prefer MD to my mp3 player, and a lot lighter in my pocket than the ol' Sharp (still think the Sharp sounds marginally better tho'), and now the NH900 - all whistling, all dancing - though I think it's gonna take me a while to get my way around all the available functions. Anyways, back to the instruction manual... Peace, Michael