johnobuttons

This is not an easy question. I own both the MZ-RH10 and the MZ-RH1. It depends on what you want to do with your machine. In terms of features, there is no question that the MZ-RH1 is better. It does everything anybody ever wanted a minidisc recorder to do. However in terms of ease of use (especially playback and editing and adding titles), the MZ-RH10 is better. The right answer depends on exactly how you plan to use the machine. The MZ-RH10 is easy to use in a dark room because it has a big OLED screen, a simple button layout, and all functions available on the unit itself. The MZ-RH1 requires that you use both the remote control and the unit itself if you want access to all the features. The buttons on the remote are hard to remember and hard to find in a dark environment. Some of the information (titles) is only available via the remote. Other functions (recording)are available only on the minidisc. Sony should definitely keep both the MZ-RH10 and the MZ-RH1 available, because the two machines complement each other. But if I had to choose one, I would choose the MZ-RH10. This is because I often record, add titles, edit, and playback in relatively dark environments. John

"For those that have already taken delivery and have played with it a bit, I had a features question? Is it true that the play mode is only selectable from the remote and not the unit's front button controls? (pg. 43-44 of the manual)." Yes it is true. You can play a disk using only the buttons on the machine, but you cannot set play mode that way. Many of the functions of this machine are accessible using the remote but not the recorder. Similarly many functions are accessible from the recorder but not the remote. The manual spells it out in detail. I never used my remote with the previous machines I've owned, this one will force me to use the remote!

I have several live recordings made in the early days of hi-md using the mz-nh900. Those tracks were transfered using an old version of SonicStage maybe version 3.1. Of course back then only one transfer was allowed and the transfer process put some kind of transfer restriction on the original hi-md disk. Now of course I use SonicStage 3.4 or 4.0. However those old hi-md disks still have the transfer restriction and the tracks cannot be transferred again using the new SonicStage. There must be some way of removing that transfer restriction? Did SonicStage have some way of removing the tracks from the computer and checking them back onto the hi-md? If so is that functionality available in SonicStage 3.4 or 4.0? I could start trying this, but would like to know if anyone out there has experience with this process. John

Duley, I bought my MZ-RH10 from Minidisc-Canada. I've never had any trouble using US software. You're not likely to have problems. John

SonicStage 3.4 is the answer! It converts Atrac3plus advanced lossless to WAV. Works great!

Sonicstage 3.3 has a new feature called ATRAC advanced lossless compression. Lossless is definitely good in that it means that what is stored is as good as the original. Think WAV or PCM. I ripped a couple of CD's in advanced lossless compression just to see what happened. Sonicstage put some big (think 60% of size of WAV or PCM) files on my hard disk. I was able to use those files to put atrac3plus files on my Hi-MD recorder with any bit rate available to SonicStage. Thats handy since maybe sometime you want Hi-LP, the next time you want Hi-SP, and the next time Atrac3Plus 352kbit. All of them work on first or second generation hi-md units. It's also possible to burn an audio CD using these lossless compressed files. However, SONY always forgets something. It would be nice to be able to make WAV files or something like WAV files from these advanced lossless compressed files. Does anyone know if that's possible or do you have to burn a CD and then rip the tracks to get a WAV?

One comment: The Minidiscs in these bundles are 80 minute (not Hi-MD discs).

The NH-600D is a great choice as long as you plan to record using your computer with USB connector (windows only). There is no line in or mic in on the NH-600D. It plays for a very long time on a single AA battery. It will play all existing formats of minidisc. It will not play mp3 files unless they are first converted to Sony format. You can find the NH-600D for maybe $60 or $80 new on e-bay. I bought one for myself, one for my wife and one for my son! I use it to listen to music at the gym and at work.

I am a long term fan and user of minidisc. I have owned the first Sony Minidisc, Aiwa and Sharp units, a couple of NetMD units, and recently the MZ-RH10, MZ-NH900. and the MZ-NH600D Hi-MD units. My use of minidisc is as a musician - I record performances and live music lessons. I also listen to my MZ-NH600D at work and at the gym in order to avoid losing or damaging the more expensive recording units. There is a fundamental problem with minidisc for the mass market. Magneto-optical storage (which is what minidisc is) is a complicated technology. A qualified minidisc repairman posted that it's a miracle that minidisc works given the alignment, sturdiness, etc. Magneto-optical storage has gone the way of the dinosaurs for mass storage in computers. SONY performed a miracle in engineering first MD and then Hi-MD units. They are not a cheap and easy mass market technology. When I read Kuritsu's posting on this forum, I reacted with total disbelief. The light bulb came on when I read a newsstory talking about how flash memory will take over the audio market. Flash memory will soon be available with 8GB capacity and it's price will fall dramatically. All the other audio players are going with flash memory. All the big players are going to flash memory, even Apple with the IPOD nano. The big question is who will come up with a really good flash memory recorder at a suitable price point with good preamps, volume limiters, etc. etc. So far my impression is that no one has hit a home run in that area yet. But they will. When that happens, I might buy one. In the meantime I'll use the Hi-MD units I have. In other words, even though I love minidisc, SONY is making the right decision damn it. The thing I will miss the most is the physical minidisc one of the most beautiful storage media ever invented.

We all know we should back-up our important audio files in some way or another. There are lots and lots of posts here about losing stuff saved by SonicStage. Even Sony tells us to use the backup utility in SonicStage before doing anything much on our computer. I recently transferred a whole bunch of live recordings from old regular MD's into WAV files using WinNMD and an old NetMD machine. I then loaded all of this onto a Hi-MD disk using ATRAC3Plus Hi-LP in order to have it all available for listening on my Hi-MD machine. So far so good. The question is how best to back up this music. I definitely don't want to have to do the transfer using WinNMD in real time again!! I don't trust or understand the backup facility in Sonicstage. It seems like it's useful only if you want to backup EVERYTHING you have in Sonicstage onto some huge backup volume. I thought to myself, "why not make an ATRAC CD?". Sony's ATRAC3PLUS is known to be a very high quality compression format. Besides, I though I would be able to move stuff from the ATRAC CD to the Hi-MD in the future. I made the ATRAC CD but it apparently the stuff on the ATRAC CD cannot be moved back into the computer or onto Hi-MD using Sonicstage or anyother software! Is that true????? In the end I just said "Sonicstage SUCKS big" and ripped the files into MP3 and burned them onto CD's. At least I KNOW I can recover the music if it is lost. I don't have to worry about Sony changing their formats and losing the music sometime in the future. MP3 will stay around for sure. Even my DVD player can play the MP3 disks. What do you all have to say about this backup issue? Thanks, John PS Don't get me wrong, I love minidisc, especially Hi-MD. I'm just frustrated with Sonicstage (even 3.2)

You might consider going on e-bay and looking for used SHARP recorders. The old machines are definitely easier to use (fewer functions means easier to explain to students). I use the latest Hi-MD machines, but have suggested used machines to musician friends who are very happy with them. My wife still uses an old Sharp just because she is used to it. You should be sure to understand enough about Hi-MD to be sure you want it. There are lots of advantages, but the disks you record on the newest (2nd generation) Hi-MD units are not directly playable on the old machines without converting them on a computer. As far as new Sony Hi-MD machines go, the MZ-RH910 is a good value at about $200. Any new machine with a mike input will cost close to that. Personally I use the Sony MZ-RH10. The bright light up display is perfect for live recording because it's so easy to read which makes it easy to avoid dumb mistakes.

I have a MZ-RH10 and love it. BUT there is nothing in the manual about MP3s. That's advertised as one of the features of the second generation machines. When I use SonicStage, it spends lots of time converting the MP3's (128kbps) into ATRAC3Plus (64kbps - HiLP format). Does anyone have experience with putting MP3's on the new machines without converting them to ATRACplus? How do you do it?