Kevin J

Is this maneuver still required in the latest versions of SS (3.4 and 4)? I thought the later versions dropped all the DRM nonsense. ~ peace, Kevin J.

I would think that the Connect Player feature of CP 4.0 takes up more memory than ver 3.4, hence making it not as "lean" as ver 3.4, yes?

Hello all, I recently bought a new PC for dedicated music work ... primarily for recording and editing (via Sony Music Studio, Cakewalk, etc.). No word processing, no spreadsheet work, no digital photo processing. I want the system to stay clean and agile for my music work. Regarding use of my MZ-RH910 MD recorder, I work very simply -- mostly either: a) recording live performances in Hi-SP or PCM, dumping the performance into my PC and then converting them to WAV files for subsequent CD burning, or, capturing analog sources (cassette tapes, Rhapsody streams, etc.) and dumping those files to my PC for CD burning. I rarely do much with MP3s, and don't use my MD player as an "I-Pod like player" containing tons of tunes. To date, I've been using SS ver 3.2 on my other, older PC (and have had good success, but would like to enjoy the "non-DRM" features of the newer versions.). So my question is this -- given these working requirements, is there any advantage to installing ver CP4.0 versus ver 3.4? I’m really wanting to install the most stable, uncluttered, no-nonsense, lean version of SS that I can use (and I don't forsee using Connect Player). Ver 3.4 seems to be pretty solid from the past posts I've read, and I'm sometimes leary about the "latest, greatest, whiz-bang" versions of software. Any thoughts on whether ver CP4.0 holds any advantages for my minimal needs versus ver 3.4? ~ peace, Kevin J.

I recorded a 5 hour interview in Hi-SP format (Atrac3plus/256kbps) using my RH910 and uploaded them into SS ver 3.4. The recording spans 33 tracks of varying lengths. I then used SS to burn the 5 hr interview to audio CD (as is...no conversion), which took 4 standard 700MB/80 min CDs. The resulting CDs sound great. However, I'd like to be able to burn a copy of the interview which will perhaps fit onto 2 CDs, maximum. I know I could have recorded in Hi-LP mode, but I wanted to have a master copy with decent audio fidelity, so Hi-SP was a good tradeoff. So, is there a way to transcode/convert the existing Hi-SP files into smaller filesizes (either within SS, or with some other freeware) so that the 33 track interview will perhaps fit on 2 Cds? I realize the audio quality may degrade a bit in the process. The only requirement I have is that the CDs I burn must be playable on a standard home/car CD player. ~ peace, Kevin J

Whew!...how confusing! I must really have the wrong slant on the whole DRM thing. When 3.4 was released everyone was happily exclaiming, "Finally, no DRM restrictions"...so I assumed that DRM was now a non-issue, but apparently not. You wrote: How does one remove DRM post-upload? Also, I'm a bit puzzled by your statements that: but yet, In my mind the two statements seems at odds with other (?) Thx for taking the time to walk me through this. ~ peace, Kevin J

Thx for the info, dex. I've successfully updated to 3.4 and my old files are intact. One quick follow-up question: Now that I'm running ver 3.4 is there anything I need to do, as far as settings, to ensure that all future recordings will have no DRM restrictions, or check-in/check-out nonsense?. Or is SS 3.4 set in "non-DRM mode" as a default? ~ peace, Kevin J.

Hi All, I'm about to update to SS ver 3.4 from ver 3.2. I have about 30 tunes in "My Library" that were recorded on my RH910 and transferred into SS 3.2. My question is this: is there anything I can do to "un-DRM" the tunes that were transferred under ver 3.2?, ... so that I can have the full non-DRM access to these old files. I know the whole DRM thing has been freed up in ver 3.4, but I wasn't sure how that impacts files created in older versions of SS. I have not updated yet so if there's something I should do to the files in My Library BEFORE I actually update to 3.4 I'd like to know. Thx in advance! ~ peace, Kevin J

Please forgive me if this issue has been discussed previously (I couldn’t find a specific reference to it.) I am about to upgrade from SS ver 3.2 to the new ver 3.4, and have a general question about what preparations I should make prior to upgrading. Specifically, in the “Hi-MD/NetMD Software FAQ” (under the heading “How to properly reinstall NetMD/Hi-MD”) there is a section which states: “Uninstall all OpenMG related software via the Add/Remove Programs control panel and reboot as necessary. This includes, but is not limited to, OpenMG 2.2, related 'Limited Patches' and the 'Secure Module', SonicStage 1.x/2.x/3.x, Simple Burner 1.x/2.x, and software by RealNetworks.” So my questions are: 1) is it recommended that I perform the removals indicated above, in order to ensure a clean, bug-free install? and, 2) is it recommended that I uninstall ver 3.2 prior to installing 3.4, or will ver 3.4 install smoothly “on top of” ver 3.2? Thx in advance! ~ peace, Kevin J

I just did an experiment with my RH910 to see if I could duplicate your problem. I recorded 20 seconds or so of my voice, then stopped talking and just let the 910 record dead silence. It did not add a track mark. I tried this several times and it never added a track mark during a pause in speech. I've had it recorder add trk marks during silent portions using line in, but never with mic in. ~ peace, Kevin J

Bingo! -- you nailed it...the problem was that I was NOT leaving the recordings on the disc; I was uploading them (erasing them in the process) and then transferring from "My Library" back onto the disc. It's working out fine now that I've changed SS's settings to leave the tracks on the disc during transfer. And yes, I agree that the best route is to ultimately convert the recordings to WAV files. I guess I need to consider buying a DVD burner to store those WAVs...and also look into saving in FLAC format, which I had not heard of until I joined this community. Thanks to all who replied! ~peace, Kevin J

----------------- OK, I see how this would apply if you're importing a CD, but in my case I'm dealing with recordings that I've made with a mic onto my MZ-RH910. Is there some way to render self-made recordings "non-DRM"?... so that I could freely upload/download those recordings between my RH910 and 2 different PC? Thx for the great info! ~ peace, Kevin J

I'm still foggy on the concept of SS ver 3.2's ability to allow "DRM-less" oma files. I've seen numerous statements posted in various forums here such as: 1) "Only using the new SonicStage 3.2 can you choose to leave the DRM off." 2) " ...but a drm-free oma file created with sonicStage 3.2 can be played on any PC with sonicstage 3.2 and allows transfers..." 3) "SS3.2 brought us un-DRM'ed oma files (for the first time ever) and allows unlimited uploads." How exactly does one create DRM-less oma fle in ver 3.2? I'm still searching for a method to share files between 2 PCs with SS 3.2 loaded on both. Statement #2 above implies that this is possible. ...or does 3.2's DRM-less feature simply mean we now have unlimited transfers to the SAME originating PC? Thx for any insight you can share! ~ peace, Kevin J

Hi All, This is my first post here...great forum, btw! My question has to do with what you do if you've already transferred a lot of recordings to "My Library" in Sonicstage, and then you buy a new PC and want to move all of those old recordings to your new PC. When I transfer a recording to "My Library" and then look at the file properties of the transferred file in the "Hi-MD" window on the right, under "Rights info" it states, "Can be transferred to the original computer". I've installed SS ver 3.2 and am using SS to upload recordings of gigs, rehearsals, etc. recorded on my Sony MZ-RH910. I'm considering getting a new PC in maybe 6 months to a year, and I'd like to be able to migrate any recordings uploaded into SS in my old PC to "My Library" in SS on a new PC. I know I could just convert all the old files to WAVs, dump them to CDs, and then re-import them (as WAVs ) into the new PC, but I'm wondering isn't there a better way to do this? Thx for any insight you can share. ~ peace, Kevin J