genghisbunny

Thanks to everyone's advice. Thankfully, I haven't had to suffer through ichoons, as MD Simple Burner is doing the trick so far. I still haven't done Hotel (double album - much better than the single disc, by the way), but a Copy-Disabled (and therefore non-CD technically) James Brown disc seems to have gone through just fine.

Just got one myself, my second md, my first net-md/hi-md. Gotta agree with the lads here - 3.2 is much better. My favourite change is the ability to upload your own recordings unlimited times. I'm just disappointed that there's no way to digitally upload the last 5 years worth of standard MD recordings. I'm going to chain my old md (line-out) to the line-in of this one and record across all my live recordings (gigs, concerts, rehearsals, weddings, etc.) and then drag them back to the PC as data. Gives me a decent backup first, then can fling the data across. oh happy day, I love my Hi-MD. My wife is calling me an obsessive over it though!

Thanks for that. Hopefully I won't have to use (shudder) itunes, but I'm willing to try anything. I might call the maker to see if it's possible to get an actual CD of it, rather than this copy-protected trash, but I doubt this is possible in Australia.

A great review. I can't wait for tomorrow night when I get my own, special delivery from the USA - My parents are bringing one back with them! (Aussies have to go to great lengths to get decent, new MD stuff - on the plus side, I only pay 4.75AUD [3.70 USD] for a Hi-MD, which seems to be cheaper than they are over there judging by web sources) I might post a review for mine myself, to give an Australian (although born in US) perspective on them.

I'm with faelnor here. I can't get over the attachment to physical objects. I personally buy a sh'load more CDs since file sharing came out, because I can be exposed to so much more music without any danger of losing out. My wife got into '70s funk because her best friend at work made her an MP3 CD (a la mix tapes from the good ol' 80s) of lots of Funk tracks. 18 months later, and she owns about 30 funk and soul and motown CDs which she bought as her tastes expanded thanks to illegal music downloading and sharing. Before that she hadn't bought an album for two years. I don't end up giving much to record companies because I buy a lot of my CDs secondhand. I often have tastes that are "vintage" and therefore readily (and cheaply) available secondhand. And without being ruined by copy protection biting into my ability to enjoy the music I buy. (Many re-releases with copy protection added as an extra feature!)

Sorry to have dragged this thread so far off-topic. Give someone an iPod and 3 minutes and ask them to show you how to turn the backlight on and off - give someone the rh10 and 12 seconds. See who gets farther. I have never been impressed with Apple's UI design, and far less so after having studied the discipline in University. Apple are a great marketing company. It's just a shame that their little electronics and computer divisions don't do as high quality work as the marketing company they're part of. 'nuff said. BACK ON TOPIC: I think it's great that they're doing some mac-compatible MDs, because the 3 to 4 percent of the market that use macs includes some professional recording studios, and a fair few hobby musicians (whoever can afford one who likes them). I think "re-imagining" the Hi-MD for what it's best at - e.g., live recording - will help to reinvigorate the product. I just wish Sony would do some marketing. God knows apple never sold ipods on word of mouth, the way Sony seems to with MDs. And by the way, I'd imagine a firmware difference will be the only change (apart from the bundled CD and microphone) between these and the rh10/rh910. So I'm sure the community will hack the older, less expensive ones to work on macs with the new mac software. I personally use the much higher-quality ECM-MS907 microphone for live recordings, so I'm not a big fan of "bundling" cheaper microphones with gear and charging extra for it. That's what Sony Australia do, and it really hurts them in the AU market. Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come.

Thanks so much Syrius. I really appreciate your help. I'm really annoyed that companies that own music make this so hard for those of us who want to FAIRly USE our bought media. I have a friend who deliberately burns copies of all copy-protected CDs (without buying them) and distributes them to everyone he knows, because he's so ticked off about the thing. I'm not that cheesed personally, but it does annoy me. Anyhow, thanks so much for your input. And ZeroDB, Thanks for the extra info. I'll check this all out tonight.

Yeah, I have a really old non-net MD, which I've been using for over 5 years, and I feel like it's only now that the rest of the world is catching up to me with MP3 players, Ipods, etc. But I'm still ahead in terms of recording. A friend of mine did a whole album on this a few years ago, and I've made countless recordings of concerts for friends, recorded audio of a mate's wedding, etc. The 6 year-old MD I have is like a reel-to-reel machine, but digital, tiny and archival. MP3 players are like playback-only cassette walkmans. I carry my MD with me on the train, listen in the car (my car stereo has a line-in) and occasionally plug it in to my stereo at home to listen to live recordings, etc. I've been doing all this for years, and now the MP3 crowd is getting on trains with their cheap white headphones and joining the club (only with lesser sound quality). I'm getting an MZ-RH10 in about 2 weeks, and now I'll be ahead of the pack again for another few years. "Apple - A large marketing corporation with a small electronics and IT department." Apple used to say "think different" (sic) Now to be different, you have to NOT use an iPOD. They're part of the uniform now, much like mobile phones five years ago.

I have (sadly) acquired a couple of CDs with copy protection on them, such as Moby's Hotel double-album. I want to upload this music to my new Hi-MD (second-gen, mz-rh10) in about two weeks when it gets delivered. Is this possible? I know that computers tend to butcher the rendering job when converting the discs to MP3, and was wondering if they're just as cruddy when going to MD. I hate to think the only way to listen to music I paid for is to get illegal (and possibly lower quality) versions... I hate the thought that the industry is pushing users TOWARDS piracy with its restrictive practices (e.g., the illegal copy could be "better" because it's not restricted by arcane design that makes an audio disc not actually a genuinne red-book audio CD!) Please tell me it isn't so! I do not promote piracy, and am the proud owner of nearly a thousand CDs. I don't want to break the law just to use my music.

UPDATE: The new version of Sonicstage gets rid of this STUPID, WORTHLESS restriction which annoys the majority of MD users who use it (as I do) for live recordings. My brand new RH10 comes in from the US with my parents in about 2 weeks. The Australian market is hated by Sony, so they don't give us the new toys, and overcharge us for the old ones. (last-gen HI-MD recorders cost AUD $500-$700. I'm getting the new top of the line unit from the US for AUD$300 after currency conversion) So glad I have parents who travel to the real world from time to time. Makes living in this great country ok after all.

Apple has a history of bad user interface design which wins awards. "Pretty" does not equate to usable. The quicktime interface has been in so many user interface halls of shame it's not funny - yet it's won awards for its interface (from sites and bodies that use visual appeal as the prime determiner) In terms of IPOD UI, it's a terrible user interface made bearable by the clever use of the click wheel. Without the wheel (which is the element which has won awards) Apple would not have sold any IPODs, because no-one would be able to get through its arcane menu structures. Yes, I have used IPODs lots of times. I elected not to buy one in part because of the bad user interface.