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Well, I use SonicStage 4.3 and Simple Burner 2.0 on my Macbook Pro. How? Parallels Desktop (build 3188) or Boot Camp, although Parallels works great! Cheers EDIT: I can do anything with a Mac, including testing Vista, as that's part of my job...

That, and there's an enormous amount of intellectual property in analog circuit design that only a select few manufacturers have (Sony being one of them). Yes, you read that right. Analog. The Chinese factories can put out a 64-bit 500MHz flash recorder encased in some g*d-awful plastic ("Designed in USA," what a crock) and it still will sound like **** as far as I am concerned. Let me repeat: The device, regardless of those wild "specs" is worth nothing in my book without the analog circuits to back it up. I was interested in the Korg MR-1 - I'll admit that, even after the MT2496 fiasco - and then I read the specs: 90dB SNR. What a joke. "Future-proof recording is here!!! OMG!!!" Yeah, right. Oh wait, I just remembered: My MDs from 1997 still work like new. What, me worry?

What would you need a full-size deck for?? Pros edit 32-bit floating point files on a DAW! All you need is a portable for field recording...

It's all about actual sonic performance and the ol' garbage in, garbage out routine. We recently used multiple different recorders (24-bit flash, 24-bit hd - computer, DAT, HiMD) at the output end of some high-priced preamps and German-made mics, XLRs, the works. Guess which recorders excelled sonically according to our customers? DAT, followed very closely by MD. It was an interesting experience, to say the least. Numbers are great and all, but when they don't have the analog stages to back it up, it'll all sound like s**t.

Perhaps someone with more 'inside info' can chime in here. What we do know, however, is that HiMD has been positioned as a low-end DAT replacement starting with the M-series, i.e. M10, M100, M200, ... It was only a matter of time before the transition from a consumer product to a professional one would be made, as it appears to have been recently. Look, MD has been dead in the consumer market for a long time. The public has voted with their wallets (in more ways than one! ) and seem content to purchase flashier player-only gadgets with no record capabilities and crummy DACs to listen to even crummier quality downloaded tunes. I still enjoy listening to the superior sound quality of my DAT machines, even though most of them have been out of production for ages. I also take comfort in the fact that I possess the ultimate freedoms of creating my own compilations without paying for the same thing over and over again, and that my original MD media from the mid-90s are still going strong whereas several CD-Rs and DVD-Rs have gone south on me that are much newer. And don't get me started on the problems my flash recorders are having.

No, they are just responding to market realities. The RH1 is unique in that it also is identical to the M200 pro model. The consumer channel seldom stays open for more than a year, and we all knew (or strongly suspected) that the RH1 was going to be the last consumer MD hurrah. However, the M200 will continue to be supported (and probably sold) for some time to come. There simply are no good alternatives in that price range yet, and Sony is well aware of that fact. As I stated in the other 'RH1 is dying, OMG!' thread, there's nothing to really see here, move along...

The RH1/M200 is still where it should be: Sony Pro Audio Nothing unusual to see here, folks. Move along...

I hope you're right, because that would give us more choice in the portable field recording market...

Whoa Nellie! While I agree with you on most of your points, you clearly have never owned an iPod - they are most certainly NOT drag and drop. Neither are any optical media such as CD/DVD-ROM. The US media cartel would never allow that. You will always need specialized software, i.e. iTunes and Nero etc. respectively to enable music (not data) storage and to (theoretically) prevent unauthorized copying. Some cheaper flash recorders do allow drag and drop, but make terrible players. Right now, only (Hi-)MD strikes an ideal balance between convenient recording and ergonomic playback. I suspect that this will remain so for a long time to come. Ironically, it is probably because Sony is a member of the cartel that it "gets away" with releasing machines such as the RH1. Have you ever tried to use iTunes with an iPod? It's just as easy with SS 4.2. But iTunes is much more restrictive than SS - you can only use one computer with a particular iPod at a time!!! If you're not careful, you can ERASE the ENTIRE contents of your iPod if you plug it in to another computer. Also, the sound quality of any PortalPlayer-based product (iPod, M-Audio Microtrack, etc.), is not that good to my ears. The success of the iPod was due to clever marketing and design, that's all. Cheers

I'm not a zealot either (although some of my posts can sound that way sometimes) - and I simply can't afford to hold on to the past simply out of nostalgia. Just a couple of months ago our MT2496 crashed yet again during a field recording session. It was embarassing for sure (we went through several of these trying to find one that works reliably) but luckily we had hard drive, HiMD, and DAT backup recorders. We let our customers listen to various machines in our arsenal. Even though they profess to prefer "modern"* flash recorders, in a blind test they almost invariably prefer the sound of the DATs (!) and HiMD. I suspect that Sony's patented analog stages make the difference here. I somehow doubt that this situation will change in the near future, i.e. several years. While under $1000 MP3/flash recorders generally outperform MD/HiMD for radio broadcasting/voice and podcasting, they continue to lag behind when it comes to instrumental music capture. The voice recording market is much bigger and more lucrative than the music recording market, for various reasons i.e. copyright issues with the cartels. Cheers * Flash technology predates MO (e.g. MD/HiMD) by many years...

I get the same flat response. That graph looks bogus to me (mp3?? volume level? compression? POS Nano WTF??). But then I realized it was posted on Head-Fi. Mystery solved. Cheers

Exactly. But many consumers out there don't seem to care about how the machines actually sound, only gee-whiz-bang specs, high capacities, and appearances. That's what sells. From my personal experience, on modern Core 2 Duo Mac laptops, our RH1s upload PCM almost as fast as USB 2.0 card readers and faster than our MT2496 flash recorder*. For under $1000, in terms of sheer convenience, economy, and overall sound quality there is currrently nothing better out there than the RH1. Cheers * We keep that POS as a testament to our temporary stupidity.

If a new MD doesn't help, then it needs a new optical block. Edit: Is that what you meant by "enigepart?"

Try this: 1. Remove all power sources, batteries, etc. 2. With a slightly moistened (with CD lens cleaner) cotton swab VERY GENTLY clean the lens. Please, never ever "whack" sensitive and highly engineered Hi-MD recorders. It hurts just thinking about it. 3. Reinstall the batteries, power sources... 4. Insert a brand new MD or Hi-MD and format it. Use Sonic Stage or record your voice live. 5. Try to play it back. 6. Let us know if it works any better.

Welcome on board! Yes, the old standard MD media can be reformatted to HiMD using the RH1. Once you do this, you increase the capacity of the disc but it will no longer play on old non-HiMD machines. For much more information, please read the FAQ: HiMD FAQ Cheers

The screen only stays on for about an hour. After it goes out (at ~80% capacity), charging continues for another three hours or so. Re-check your manual. EDIT: Oops, I keep confusing the RH1 with the RH10. There could be multiple causes for this charging behavior. Did you try cycling the batteries? Do they have a known good capacity? Are the contacts on both the cells and the RH10 clean?

Exactly.

The RH1 is a entry level pro recorder. Cowon DAPs are cheap little players. Where's the connection? Oh yeah, and the future is PlaysForSure - drag'n drop will just be a dream HiMD is still less proprietary.

This reminds me of my first DAT trauma - watching in horror as my precious tape wound itself around the capstan and pinch roller. I finally recovered after weeks of professional counseling. Some members here would believe I've not had enough... But seriously, every format has its shortcomings, as I'm sure you'll agree. In my view, the RH1 remains unmatched (for its size) in analogue performance. At least it has digital-in, unlike the R-09. That said, I would be very curious to see the results of your comparison! cheers

Exactly. Everytime I need to recharge my MT2496 (cheap sealed battery in an even cheaper case) I have these horrific visions of the flaming unit posted on taperssection... If I hadn't paid $400 for that thing I would have thrown it out long ago! cheers

Yes, normal d normalizes and compresses the dynamic range, which limits loud passages and bumps up the softer parts...

Apologies - our RH1 is extremely popular and hard to get to sometimes The answer is yes - it works fine on AC with the battery taken out. cheers Edit: PS Note to self: must order additional RH1 units ASAP...

Volta, the battery manufacturers will hate you for posting these tips The LiIon battery that came with the MZ-R50 is still going strong...

I was referring to the meter/charging circuit, not the battery. Check the manuals... cheers

As hard as it is not using it right away - but for a completely accurate battery meter try to charge it for a full 3 hours before first use. Enjoy!