soundalike

True though - I used to work in marketing!

I think that this pretty much includes all that I'd require. You could go on forever with subcategories (accoustic/amplified or classical/pop/metal/whatever.. concerts) but you sacrifice usability if you make the organisation too complicated so I'd say the fewer categories the better. By the way, was it only me that found the old Gallery hard to use?

Thanks for all your help on this guys. It's appreciated. I've finally managed to access the menu when the unit has no disc in it (took me 10 minutes though!) and have changed to PCM. Hooray. HOWEVER, I've just noticed that every time I press and hold the stop button the display shows HiSP but reverts to PCM when I release!! Good grief. I've got loads of concerts planned and I use the minidisc for work so I'm reluctant to send it back to Sony for *&^% knows how long. I bought it from a catalogue chain of ill repute (Argos - it was really cheap) and there's no way that they will have any techy people to look at it.

Me Too!! Bloody thing! Great to know that I'm not alone

I agree - there's loads of streaming video I'd like to save for offline viewing. What's this magical software you speak of? I use Audacity to record streaming audio but a widget to rip video would be a real joy. Agree with the Bush rant - but then I've not heard a single person say he's done a good job in helping the hurricane victims.

I'm in advanced menu view. Also, I've just realised that I should be able to access the menus with no disc in the unit, however the NO DISC continues to flash no matter how hard/often/long I press it for!

The automatic insertion of trackmarks is a real pain as most users here will testify. The only way I've got round it is to set the levels as loud as possible (but then you risk clipping) to discourage the unit from making its marks. Of course, this isn't appropriate for most live recording so it's best to read the 'totally gapless recording' topic here and do the editing on your computer. I've found it almost impossible to listen back to a live recording on the MD (before computer editing) as I usually get around 50 tracks for every concert! forgot to say, if you record from the microphone input and ensure that auto time mark is switched off, then you won't get any auto trackmarking. I think this is true of all units but others here will know better.

Yeah, I thought that. But for now I should still be able to select PCM by going into the rec set menu the other way shouldn't I?

Hi all While the forum has been down I’ve struggled with a problem on my nh900. Hopefully now that normal service is resumed someone can come to my rescue once again! I’ve been recording without problem in Hi-SP but have decided that it’s time to go for quality and record in PCM. Straight forward enough you say, however my minidisc won’t let me! According to the manual I should have access to the rec set menu when the recorder is stopped but I can’t find it!! The following options are the only ones available: Normal Group Artist Album Bookmark ProgrammeWhen I press Rec pause I can access the rec set menu and am able to change to manual volume etc but when I select rec mode I am unable to change to PCM. The unit will allow me to switch between Hi-SP and Hi-LP but when I try to select PCM it says ‘cannot set’. Anyone know why? I’m using fresh batteries and have tried several different (reformatted) 1GB discs to no avail. Any assistance is would be much appreciated. An additional but unrelated problem is that the stop and navi/-menu buttons seem to be faulty/unresponsive. When I press stop it sometimes scrolls through tracks and it’s difficult to make it charge/safely remove disc without multiple presses of the stop button (and a few choice words)! Also, getting to the rec menu using the navi/-menu button is really difficult while in rec-pause (but not when the recorder is stopped). I appreciate that you need to press and hold but it shouldn’t take 2 minutes! This can be very frustrating while setting up for a covert recording in a crowded WC! If my worst fears are true and I have to send the unit back what's likely to happen? Has anyone had experiences of repair/replacement? many thanks

So that's what they look like inside! As the proud owner of both of these gems it would be quite remiss of me if I didn't share some of the spoils. As soon as the gallery is back up and running I'll post some samples.

Great work getting things up and running again. I'm glad it wasn't just me that felt the loss - isn't it weird that so many people can feel such misery when faced with a little message as simple as 'this menu has been disabled' !!!! It's testament to the great community that you have set up here, and to all the great people who contribute. Keep up the good work

Found it!!!! The joy of the dry battery case. Thanks for all of your help with this - I've charged the NC-6WMs in the original CD unit and will take them to see how they cope with playback on the car journey. I don't think I'll risk them for recording though. I should have a few snippets for the Gallery next week. I've got some new mics (thanks greenmachine) and have bought some Croakies to mount them at ear level so I'll be doing some experimenting. Incidently, I usually record in Hi Sp - if I record in PCM will the quality be worth the hassle of more batteries and discs? Thanks again for your help - Leicester here I come......

Hi I'm going to a 3 day music festival tomorrow and need to do some recording but can't find my dry battery case I have the standard gumstick that came with the NH900 (i.e. the Ni-MH, NH-10WM) which I know isn't the best battery in the world and there's no way it will last the weekend. I do however have two gumstick batteries from my old CD Walkman, Ni-Cd NC-6WM. From my searches on the forum I've realised that they are pretty low powered - 1.2v, 600mAh - but will they do as spares and can I charge them in the MD cradle without fear of smoke, meltdown and tears?? Thanks

Good point about the mono-stereo solution (or lack of). Seems like I need to read through the manual for Audacity. Anyway, this should be academic soon as stereo mics are hopefully on the way.....

Thanks for this folks I've just picked one up this morning from a car boot sale! It cost me 50p - less than a can of coke! Quality is as good as I could expect for this price and blogger is correct in saying that the balance between the MD and the car stereo has to be right. I'll wait until this one breaks and then maybe spend a little more on a Sony one from eBay. Cheers PS. Is it safe to use the power supply from this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...ssPageName=WDVW on a Sony HiMD (NH900)?

Anyone know if these are available in the UK?

I got a couple from Amazon to keep me going until I can find the nice blue ones in the small cases! http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B...1890866-1595643 £4.99 GBP each - not sure if it's cheap but it is a fast and fuss free way to get them to your doormat! Cheers

Hi Can anyone recommend a brand/distributer for one of those dummy cassettes that you use to plug your MD/CD player/iPod /... into an old car stereo? I had a look on eBay e.g. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...ssPageName=WDVW but I'm not convinced that this will produce a decent sound quality or last more than 5 minutes. I've also seen the FM transmitters that purport to do the same job - they're illegal in the UK but I'll take the chance if anyone can convinve me that they are any good Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

Not trying to bump up my own post (or whatever the term is) but I've added my first live recording to the Gallery. This link should get you there if you're interested http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?act=m...&cmd=si&img=982 Pretty poor I'm sure you'll agree but an improvement on my very first attempt where I forgot to turn the mic on! I'm not sure of the limits on file sizes etc but let me know if it needs to come down and I'll post an excerpt instead. Cheers

Yeah, sorry it was a bit off topic but if people are criticising HiMD then they have to come up with something better - and this is the closest I've seen. A lot of US tapers are using these - including the stealth guys - but it seemed to me to be more trouble than it's worth with all of the additional kit to carry.

Anyone tried one of these (of course, I'm sticking with my NH900)? http://www.creative.com/products/product.a...oduct=296&nav=1

Moving the volume above 25/30 doesn't seem to do anything on my UK MZ-NH900. Is this the same problem and if so is it safe to let an idiot like me hack the unit? I use it for work all the time so 'breaking' it isn't an option! Also would changing the region also change the language - of course changing from UK to USA would not be a problem if this did the trick. Apologies if this info is repeated elsewhere. Many thanks

Hi I'm trying to find a decent (matched) pair of mini omniaural mics for recording live music. Has anyone got a spare pair for sale or seen any on e-Bay? I'm looking to spend no more than £40 GBP. I can get SP-TFB-2 from the US for this price but am a bit concerned about postage/customs/returns etc. It's a jungle out there and I'm getting really confused Cheers

Yes I did mean 'separable miniature omniaural stereo microphone' and am easily confused! Listening to your different mic placement configurations I think that the 6" human head baffle sounds really good and from a practical point of view (standing inconspicuously in a crowd), it's the way forward for me. I'm not good with a soldering iron so I think I'll be scanning e-bay for an appropriate mic. Maplins in the UK stock attenuators so I'll try this first before buying a battery box. I'm not into really loud headbanging stuff so may not need the battery>line-in configuration. Thanks again for your help greenmachine

Thanks Greenmachine I'm looking for a pair of binaural mics so will use the recommendations on the forums here. However I'm not sure (even after reading the numerous excellent posts) whether I'm better off with an attenuator, battery box or both. Is there a rule of thumb for loud gigs without having to buy both and conducting lots of field trials? Cheers