Deanage

Where the hell is the optical in?! If it's basically the same as the 600/D then the optical in should be between the USB port and the headphone jack. (late edit) It does say Hi-MD storage, and it has a "download" button instead of REC. What the...?

Wow. there's a lot of (justified) abuse towards SS in that article. I wonder if any of those posters realise that you don't have to use SS, or a computer, to use MD...

Try telling that to the MP3/iTunes kids. I cannot believe that some people actually PAY money for compressed audio when uncompressed has been available since, what, 1984? Isn't the whole point of technological advancement to make things better? Sorry about that; technological regression just gets on my nerves. It just reeks of corporate nonchalance.

True. I bought my ZEN 20Gb around Xmas and I'm starting to move towards the Hi-MD unit more and more each day. There's nothing wrong with the ZEN; it's a great device but I miss the versatility (and sound quality/signature) of Hi-MD more and more each day. Hey darkangel, is the software any good?

Nice post steve_s I 100% agree about the sound quality; I use the Hi-MD for classical and reference stuff and all my non-essential stuff gets loaded to the 20Gb ZEN. It's second only to a really good CD walkman and the size of the Hi-MD units make CD walkmans look like behemoths! I'm yet to hear a HDD player that can match Hi-MD for pure sonic quality (using the same bit rate; 1411Kbps). Maybe it's because of the storage medium; hard drives were invented to store data, MO was invented as a medium to playback music from. Each has their strengths and weaknesses.

I recorded all my MD stuff to PC using line in on the soundcard (plug the cable into your headphone socket on the walkman). I also have an Audigy and MZNH600. It worked fine when I did it. Looks like you need a deck for optical out, sorry (anyone know of a walkman with opt' out?)

The only 2 reasons I can see why real-time optical recording would be better than USB is that you can use a dedicated CD deck for slightly better sound quality and the CD isn't spinning at "super speed", thus reducing the chances of getting errors (although you would presume the chances of that happening with today's optical drives is miniscule). I use real-time because I gave up on SS a long time ago (don't have 3.4 yet), and my first MD walkman was an MZG-755 (pre Net-MD). Old habits die hard, I guess. Oh! Also, If you have a CD deck capable of holding multiple CD's, you don't have to swap them all the time. Just program the songs you want, hit record and walk away.

Too right! That was one of the things that drew me to MD/Hi-MD. For batteries, it doesn't get more convenient than AA's (not to mention how long they last. My best is 20hrs using Energizer MAX [AUS market] using just PCM and MDR-F1 cans). You would like the nav' scroll on the Creative Zen's. Up is up, down is down; none of this clockwise/counter-clockwise arthritis-inducing crap. Speaking of the ZEN, IMHO it's an great size (20Gb version is the same size as a deck of cards). I don't know why Sony don't make their players more more rectangular, that way they can put more stuff that the typical Hi-MD user (prosumer) wants in them. TOSLINK out? Space for 2 AA's so you can record PCM w/out AC adaptor? A bigger screen [monochrome to save battery life]? Bigger, less fiddly buttons? (my hands are huge). I'm expecting a reply from someone saying "they don't make it rectangular so that it looks different!" True. I don't have a comeback for that. I just find the ZEN easier to hold than the square walkmans IMHO. (Mind you, the only reason why I got it is because you can use the software as a virtual Hi-MD recorder and I got sick of carting 12 Hi-MD's around. I just use Hi-MD for classical now). My wish list for future (likely to happen?) models: -A Blu-Ray version with 15 or 20Gb discs (same physical dimensions as current MD's), but with backward compatibility for Hi-MD's and NetMD's -AA battery support! -TOSLINK out -SACD/DVD-A recording and playback (chance of happening 1:983296982765239876). -How about some on-board flash memory to use as a record and playback buffer? You could also have a "timeshift" sort of thing, which will record audio from mic just in case you miss the start of your recording (of course, you can turn this on/off in the menu). Should be really cheap to implement; 8Mb should get you about 40secs in PCM. -9 band EQ. -A bigger screen. Can be monochrome; leave the photos and movies for every other player (and PSP), and leave MD to do what it does best: audio. -Bigger buttons for freaks with big hands like mine Phew! Anyone else care to add something? Should be interesting...

Absolute gold! Well written Come to think of it, DRM on Hi-MD is kinda pointless. Your friend wants a copy of your new CD. Can't copy the CD? Just buy a Hi-MD and copy it to that (provided that you and said friend have Hi-MD walkmans, etc). If said friend has iPod, MuVo, whatever, just get them to bring it over and copy there and then (possibly the reason why you can't just plug & play with the new Creative gear like you could with the old gear. Record companies don't seem to like easy copying...).

I see your point here. However, I can't agree with the Creative products not having a recording feature because of piracy. iPod, yes, because Apple have iTunes music downloads. Creative don't sell music downloads so why should they care what people do with their music? My friend has a 20Gb Zen Touch (awesome playback device, except for the skittish touch pad), and he's had no trouble playing dodgy P2P aquired music on it. Maybe the technology isn't mature enough to make a portable HD recorder cheap enough for Joe consumer.

Excellent response. No really, it is. I'm more worried about Blu-Ray pushing up the costs of the PS3 for Sony and the end-user. Do you really want to go and buy your movie collection all over again on Blu-Ray? Will it even be the huge leap forward from DVD like DVD was from VHS or will it be used only by home theatre junkies, much like how DVD-A/SACD is used by audiophiles? If Sony uses a game-lock feature they'd better expect to get owned by Microsoft. Sure, someone will develop a crack/mod chip but if Joe average, who knows nothing about what's inside his PS3 (he just wants to go home and play it, not muck about getting chips installed), can't sell or buy 2nd hand games then do you think he'll want to keep it? How are you going to be able to hire out games from the video store? The end of "try before you buy" = end of PS3*. *(I'm sure a few fanboys will stay on but fanboys can't keep a mega expensive business like game hardware/software development [or electronics] profitable. Dreamcast? MD in Australia?)

Believe what you like. Just don't rely on a computer to tell you what sounds good and what doesn't. Why the hell do you have ears if you aren't going to use them? Believe what you like. I'm wasting my time. Languish in sub-standard "music" if you like.

Yeah, the post wasn't meant to be taken as gospel. It's just meant as a dig at iPods and it's less than stellar reputation for reliabilty. I'll be the first one to admit that SS is shite. I f*ckn hate SS (MediaSource forever! if only it worked with Hi-MD). I just haven't had a good experience with iPods.

Provided that you used a data compressor (i.e. Winzip), and not an audio compressor. Also, chopping half the info out from a song (like most lossless compressors seem to do) is a fair deal more than a few bits. If it was "it's compressed down to 1300kbps", then I wouldn't bother arguing, as you would need SERIOUS ear training and a playback system to make the gods jealous, but how often are you going to get a bitrate that high?