an0nym0usmuse

Type-S would be the latest and the greatest (and last) refinement of the DSP chip, so it would be worth picking up. Type-R, however, is not really bad. I can detect a slight difference in quality, but not noticeable.

The taker was lucky. I still have one of these; I was fortunate and never had the "random on" problem. I finally put it in storage after getting a JE480. I think I paid about $300 for mine in '98 but I considered it well worth the money spent.

You're right about the battery life... fairly good, but not great. I'm thinking of getting the APC UPB10 Mobile Power Pack... it's an external lithium polymer battery that provides a charge via USB. I think it would work with the RH1. It's got excellent reviews on Amazon.com, and it's at a good price.

I think that Minidisc units use a standard optical cable that can be purchased at any store that carries general electronic supplies. At least, that's what I use. It's not Minidisc-specific, and it's not very expensive. (Correct me if I"m wrong.)

I was actually debating about buying one new on Amazon.com, but yours is about half the price of new and would make a great bargain.

Kewl. I've been tempted buy the new 160 gig iPod Classic, but I just can't bring myself to bite the apple. The Creative Zen seems like a better alternative.

Just curious, what was your experience with the Creative Zen 60 gig? I've been debating buying one....

Hopefully Sony will come out with another innovative portable audio device. I've sampled other portable audio products, but I still prefer the quality and versatility of Minidisc--for now. It's apparent to me that the Minidisc technology is being rapidly eclipsed by other formats. I would like to see what Sony could develop next--should they care to.

My RH10 is listed as a "removable disk" under My Linux... but then, Xandros has a proprietary file manager that resembles Windows Explorer. Ubuntu may very well be recognizing it... it may just be a matter of "finding" it.

My linux box (Xandros 3.0) recognizes my RH10 as a "removable disk" and can browse the file structure. It is possible that it would do the same for the nh600, if you are wanting to use it for external storage. It's my personal belief that linux will become a serious competitor to Windows in the coming years. However... the chances of someone creating an open-source emulator for SonicStage are slim, which is regrettable. I have no problems with SonicStage; I use it regularly, and almost never use that "other" piece of software... can't remember the name, but it's bundled with QuickTime...

For me, there is no perfect portable Minidisc; each has many pluses and a few minuses. But I recommend the DH10P because it's a solidly-built, classy unit that has the digital amp.. with the added appeal of album art display. The photos it takes are actually better, in my opinion, than many of the point-and-shoot digital cameras with higher pixel rate. And there will never be another camera Minidisc.

This is why I chose MD ten years ago and still use it... I record my vinyl LPs to Minidisc. And I have all of my recordings stored and alphabetized. It gives me a sense of ownership of the music and a way of preserving something of value. I'm grabbing all of the vinyl that I can, while it's still in circulation. I search for LPs in old record stores and thrift stores. Much of what's out there will never make it to CD. And many of the digital transfers that were made in the early years of CD are inferior to the sound from a good LP. It's what a lot of us did in the '70s... take vinyl records and convert to cassette or reel-to-reel, for convenience and archiving purposes. Yes, I know it's possible to route the analog signal from a turntable directly to a PC, either through a card or USB port, and then burn directly to CD. But a good Minidisc deck is a lot easier to use, and as you mention, you have a tangible product--a small Minidisc--that's more durable and serves as a miniature LP. I'm happy to see that LPs are making a comeback; they began outselling cassettes a while back and are very much in demand among collectors. Hopefully Minidisc will continue to thrive, at least as a niche product, for consumers who value audio quality and have an appreciation for the music.

I've been following this thread as an RSS feed of the most recent posts, so it's not buried. Even the administrators wouldn't deny that Minidisc is no longer readily available at many retail outlets, at least in my part of the U.S. I doubt that you can walk into a retail store within driving distance of where I live and find either a player or blank Minidiscs. This simply confirms to me what I realized over a year ago--that Sony has abandoned attempts to mass-market Minidisc as an "mp3 player." Hopefully, however, Minidisc will still be available online. I like the format, and I have a lot invested in it. I would be happy for Minidisc to continue a while as a niche product. I've decided that I don't care whether what I like is popular with the masses or not. It still works for me, and that's all that matters.

Yes. I've been doing quite a bit of transferring since I got my RH1. Keep in mind, however, that SonicStage will convert them to Atrac3Plus, at a bitrate equivalent to the older LP2 and SP. SP is converted to "Hi-SP" (Atrac3Plus, 256 kbps), which is identical to SP to my ears, and takes up roughly half the space. Just remember to select the standard transfer mode.

This does not sound normal; I have uploaded many legacy SP recordings (primarily vinyl records recorded with my MDS-JE510 deck). I select standard transfer mode ("as is"), and the resulting file is transferred as 256kbps Atrac3, which, to my ears, is indistinguishable from the original SP. I have not noticed any audio loss, dropouts, or artifacts. I am very picky about my audio files, so I would notice anything amiss, but I've been very happy with the RH1 upload features and process. The problem may not be with the RH1. About a year ago, I had problems transferring photos from a digital camera that I had just purchased. When I transferred the files to my computer, the images were all chopped or distorted (even though they looked fine on the camera). I returned the camera for a refund. A few weeks later, my hard drive crashed. Unbeknownst to me, my hard drive was going out and all of my files had CRC errors. When I replaced my hard drive and examined the SD card that I had used with the camera, the images transferred fine. Problems with my hard drive had caused the problem, even though I was convinced I had purchased a faulty camera. If possible, try transferring some files on another computer. If the files transfer fine and sound normal, there may be a problem with your PC software/hardware. Hope this helps.

I just did a quick scan of info on the 'net, and it looks like the 40D will have similar specs to the 30D. But this would be a good time to buy a 30D body. I paid over $1000 for mine last summer and I'm seeing it advertised for considerably less now. The 30D has so much functionality that it will take me several years to master.

I have 3 HI-MDs filled with CDs that I have just bought... a couple of HI-MDs of concerts that I have recorded. I have 4 regular MDs that I play in my MZ-S1 on a daily basis; mostly "Coast to Coast AM" radio shows that I download. But I have many, many more regular MD archive recordings of vinyl albums that I have made over the past ten years. These are indispensable and irreplaceable. Minidisc was, and still is, the easiest and most affordable means of digitalizing vinyl records.

You know, it's scary to realize that the RH10, which was so common a year or so ago, is now almost impossible to find. Minidisco is now advertising only the RH1, and it's out of stock. I suppose I ought to pick up one of those $50 Psyc players on Amazon.com while I still can.

Sony may have gotten burned by over-producing previous versions of Minidisc. They have gotten a bit conservative. The Sony Reader, for example, was released for sale in September, but suppy is so short that it's back-ordered until December. And the Sony Reader is definitely something I'm interested in. Better to have just enough, rather than too few or too many.

I've had partial success with the latest 4.2 version of SonicStage. It hangs at 69% about half the time I use it. When it does, I simply reboot and try again, with the same blank CD. It usually writes to the CD at the second attempt. With 4.0, I was unable to create any ATRAC CDs at all, no matter what I did. I suspect that the process fails after all the tracks have been converted, but prior to the actual writing of the CD. If you haven't tried SonicStage 4.2, give it a shot. It should be possible to locate an earlier version of SonicStage (probably from an install CD) and use that, as long as you back up any ATRAC files that you want to keep. The 3.4 version of SonicStage seems to have been removed from the downloads section of Minidisc.org. This is certainly a problem that Sony should address, and why they haven't, I don't know.

The players do look interesting; let us know what your experience is with it.

I am happy to report that Sony seems to have fixed this problem with SonicStage 4.2--CDs burn correctly now.

Stunning photos! The MZ-DH10P is a great unit, by the way.

Amen to that...

See if you can uninstall IE7 via Add/Remove programs; make sure that the "show updates" box is checked. I won't install IE7 until I'm sure that it works with SS. (Occasionally, I use the Connect Store to purchase exclusives.. and I'll probably use it with the Sony Reader.)