paularmenores

I record music DVD's to MD all the time - using both analogue and digital methods. Some discs will allow you to copy the audio using the optical cable directly with the DVD player (but these discs are rare). Most of the time you will need to use the analogue method. But I have to say that if your equipment is good, you won't notice any difference in quality. Just make sure your DVD output is in stereo, not multichannel (I have made this mistake lots of time). I use an Xitel USB-Optical converter with my Mac. This also allows me to copy any DVD (even the copy protected ones) to my MD digitally in real time. But I don't find any benefit in the audio quality compared to analogue, so I always prefer to use my decks.

I still do my recordings in realtime using my MDS-JA333ES. I've compared SP to LP2 to LP4 and I don't think the difference is as big as some people would have you believe. Sure, LP4 doesn't sound as good as SP, but it's quite bearable. If you want CD quality audio, then use a CD. If you want to carry 5 hours of music around with you, then LP4 is fine. I'd much rather carry around 1 MD in LP4 than 4 MD's in SP. I've done lots LP4 recordings using sonicstage and my RH1, mainly for podcasts. If it's just speech you are listening to then sonicstage is fine (especially since it burns a disc so quickly). When it comes to music however, the sound from sonicstage just doesn't seem to be as rich as the recordings from the deck. There is a harsh quality about the recording. You can only really compensate for this with reasonable playback equipment - the portable players just don't give you enough control over the sound. If you plan to keep a disc for a long time, then perhaps spending the time to do a realtime recording would be beneficial. But, if you know you are going to erase the disc next week then sonicstage is sufficient.

Just hold down the display button on the remote. A menu will appear which you can scroll through using the fast-foward and rewind buttons until you get to 'SpeedCtrl'. Hit the play button, then you can adjust the speed using fast-foward and rewind again.

I thought it was worth mentioning that I was able to upload my premastered MD albums into sonicstage with the RH1.