mbhbaritone

Many thanks for your reply A440 I've inset a couple of comments below. kind regards

Thanks again Stephen. I will do as you say in 1) tomorrow when back on the laptop and try and play with WMP and then ask you further about the "magic". And yes it was me that you advised about decrypting - rest assured I did do that and then, when I hit the other problems I outlined, I did it all again (just to be sure) with originals and re-imported the whole lot a second time. I'll have a go with WMP as you suggest. Many thanks Mark

Stephen, Many thanks as ever for your time and taking the trouble to reply. I do appreciate it. What I don't understand is that if I search the new laptop C drive with windows explorer I eventually find oma files but not in the sonic stage folder where I would expect to find them (given I imported them through the SS screen. And if I click on them they then open and play...automatically opening up SS to play themselves. BUT when I'm in SS and wanting to play them - compile playlists to make CD's etc - I see them listed but when I click on them won't they play (giving the error message I refer to above). To my complete laymans eye it's as if the files can link to SS but SS can't link to the files?! This is all with the external hard drive disconnected by the way. (The external drive is a portable Seagate thing I bought with USB connection- big capacity - that comes up as an E drive when connected.) I note what you say about the way forward may be to manage files with Windows Media. If that doesn't alter the sound quality then maybe that's the answer. I'm slightly perturbed by your reference to having to do "some fancy stuff (once) to get set up" though. holds head in hands and emits nervous laugh. If there's a link to a thread explaining what to do I'll give it a go but I fear it'll be beyond me. Just to be clear what I'm using my HiMD for is mainly just to record (own) concerts. I then want to be able to edit the recording into songs (cut out intervals/applause etc) and make compilation CD's. I've spent ages on old laptop carefully dividing up the recordings and titling them and hence want to keep all that. I'd always thought that maybe I could try and edit more - cut out annoying inetruptions from passing sirens etc but that proved way beyond me. Also I guess I'd like to be able to turn the tracks into other formats that I could send as attachments or put onto a web page etc. Again if there are threads that might guide me please do point me in the right direction. I'm hoping that one day someone will bring out a reasonably priced recording device that will allow simple souls like me to record and then drag and drop files and really easily create. Maybe it's already out there? As best as I understand from posts over the years HiMD has always been considered not very user friendly but people have put up with the hassles for the sound quality? Many thanks again for your kind patience. Regards Mark

To add. I'm inporting from the external harddrive (and playing) ok while it's plugged in but I see once I remove it the track error message comes up when I try to play from library?! So it hasn't really imported the tracks at all - it's just playing them from the external drive. How do I properly save them. I'm going to Music Source Import Folder finding the album(s) on the ext drive and saying yes It shows them saved in library but clearly they aren't! Help please. Thanks

A new and bad problem - help please. It seemed that all the tracks had loaded well after doing what you suggested later Guru (thanks again). BUT when I came back to listen later major problems. i) Every time I click on a track in any album it comes up with an error box: The music file for the track is not found Specify the music file to restore track playback etc If I then laboriously go to the drop down and find the track in C drive and press 'go' it does then play it....but that means that I have to do it track by track for every track in every album...!!! And the thing is I suspect that if I turn off and turn on tomorrow the same will happen because they were playing ok on the day I imported from external harddrive. Anyone have any idea what is going on? It's driving me nuts. Thanks for your patience

Thanks again Guru I'm still clinging on to the old laptop til I've tried everything to get it all on the external hardrive/new laptop. So I still have some options by the sound of it. On i) Noted on the numbering. So delete the ones that have re-ordered, go back and rename (with leading numbers)tracks on old laptop and retransfer. ok. I think that's quicker than re-ordering on the new as there are too many little similarly named bits of applause etc between songs that have beeen jumbled up. On ii) Hmmm, it's a shame if I can't transfer as these are compilations from other 'albums' (concerts) made to then create CD's from. I guess I should just make the CD and rely on that as my source going forward. My concern was that i would then be saving the music in a poorer quality form? I'd be interested to know what other classical/any musicians do about keeping their recordings ie what format they keeep them in as a kind of 'mastertape' (not that my stuff merits archiving for posterity but...). WAV or oma/OMA etc (I'm really ignorant on these things). Is there any place this has been discussed on this site? kind regards

Guru, you star, thank you! Finally got the file transfer to work (just old laptop being v v slow) and it plays on new laptop. Just two problems/queries if I may i) I notice that all the album files copied over have had their tracks re-ordered alphabetically rather than as I'd carefully edited chronologically as the concerts were in reality. Why does it do this and is there any way of leaving as was or do I have to re-order? ii) I see it hasn't copied the pink logo albums which I think were playlists I created and usefully edited recordings. Again, why and any way around this? Many thanks again for your kind attention and help. regards

sorry, just to add then when i try to run/launch the file conversion tool direct from All Programs it tells me that SS is running (even though it isn't!) and I have to quit SS to run file conversion. Sigh...round and round in circles

HI again. Just tried quickly before leaving. I see I'm on version 4.2SS. I can see that the file conversion software seems to be part of that package but when I select it as you say via library and then tools then it says it will hav eto disconnect SS, do I want to, I say yes, it disconnects but then nothing - no file conversion appears. Grr If I upgrade to 4.3 will all my library be auto saved across or do I need to protect that somehow first - I note your warnings about backup! thanks for your help and patience kind regards

Many many thanks Guru I will follow what you say. Off for a few days but when i get back and try it I'll certainly let you know if successful. Thanks again for your time - much appreciated

Hi there - any help appreciated. I've got a new laptop through work and have to surrender old one. Old one has all my HiMD recordings in the SS library. Just tried saving all those onto a portable harddrive and they seemed to save ok. But then when I try to play from that on my desk top PC (which also has SS installed) I'm getting error messages about Licencing?! These are my recordings of me! Can i not move my own stuff around?? Help Please. Many thanks

Thanks again A440. Interesting stuff. Where's a good place for me to read reviews of these alternatives? I'm recording classical music, mainly vocal rehearsals/gigs so I don't know to what extent that would favour certain equipment either. cheers

Many thanks for everyone's replies and helpful comments. Thanks A440 for bringing me up to speed. And yes, it's for own gigs not "stealth" recording so no worries on size/mic The new options/alternatives you mention - what is the recording quality like? Is it comparable or perhaps better than HiMD? Also I notice that you say Sony have certain products....given that they seem to have ruined their own chances with HiMD (and I know I'm IT illiterate but hey it really wasn't very user friendly was it)...my instinct is not to buy anything they make again. Am I cutting off my nose to spite my face? Thanks again to all for helpful responses.

Many thanks for the reply Syrius. Much appreciated Slight misunderstanding on the first point. Yes - I've got the recording now on minidisc and know I can upload it into Sonic Stage but how do I get a sonic stage library item into some sort of format that I can email to relatives - most people won't have SonicStage to listen to it on. Can I convert the file to some sort of MP3 and how do I do that? Sorry if it's an ignorant question. On 2) Noted about using the line-out. I guess I need to buy a single jack to single jack line of some sort then? I bought one that goes single to double to link into hifi so I guess I need to buy something similar. Finally, Am I right in inferring from the level of views etc on forum that since I was last on the site a couple of years back the numbers using HiMD have dropped? And, as per my original query, is that because there is some new technology that has superceded it for basic gig recording? Thanks in advance for any answers.

Two questions if I may - I have searched forum but if answers are out there already apologies and please direct me. Plus please keep any answers very simple. 1) I've recorded onto my minidisc an old interview with a relative which was on a cassette tape via my hifi system etc. Now - how do/can I make this into a simple file that I can email to other relatives? I know I could make it into a CD but surely I can just keep it 'virtual' as it were? 2) As a singer I'm finding a lot of useful choral 'midi' recordings on the net which help with rehearsing. But I can't work out how to capture these onto to MD player to carry around. They play on computer autmatically through windows media or realplayer. I save them but when I look through files whilst in somic stage it refuses to see/display them but they are there in windows explorer. Many thanks Mark PS It's been a while since I've been on this site. What's with the ebay adverts and is MD still the best reasonable price recording method for performaers like me i.e. do a gig and then want to keep a record of it? Cheers again