burns3016

I own the NHF800. Basically the same model, but it has a radio as well (in the remote controller - this is model specific). It is a good unit. I cannot fault it, apart from the cheap looking & feeling plastic body that houses the unit. Apart from this, it is a good unit.

Two movies I have recently seen & recommend are: PRIMER: an independent film about two young businessmen who stumble across an invention that allows them travel in time. The premise sounds a little silly, BUT, the subject matter is taken very seriously, and it is because of this that it ends up being a better than average film. The story, very wisely, focuses on the pyscological effects the invention has on the two men, and because of this it ends up being an extremely entertaining film. HIGHLY recommended ! 16 YEARS OF ALCOHOL: (winner of several independent film awards ..... forget which ones). Follows the life of a young man growing up in the UK surrounded by family that drink, argue and drink ! It shows how a chance meeting can change a persons life, for better or for worse. HIGHLY recommended ! Firewall starring Harrison Ford is a well made thriller. It is enjoyable, watchable & entertaining. However, it offers nothing unique. I would give it 3 out of a possible 5 stars. Recommended ? Yes.

I own the NHF800 and the screen is NOT backlit & neither is the radio remote that comes supplied with it. You can however, use other remotes with the NHF800 with backlit properties. But get this ! ..... the decription of the unit that I read prior to purchase stated that the remote WAS backlit ! Alas ! Actually, it is EXTREMELY SLACK of Sony (considering the price of these units) to NOT have backlit displays on them as a standard feature. I mean, how much effort would it take. And, in terms of gobbling up battery power, all you need to do is switch it off, except for use at night in appropriate situations. Come on Sony, do your customers have to come up with all the good ideas !

Many THANXZ ! I will try and find a friend etc. with broadband and see if they can downlaod it onto a Cd-R for me. Again, THANXZ !

Sorry Bob ! I didn't read your answer properly ! I understand what your saying about an installation file being able to be copied etc. and then reused to install a given program, BUT, when you download SS 4.0 from the Sony website, you don't download an installation file or executable file. What happens is that the installation process occurs whilst your on the internet (ie. registry entries are created, deletion of old entries, etc. etc.) ..... & with only dial-up internet at my disposal, I would like to create my own installation/executable file for future installations (eg. after rebooting OR for a new computer), as the process takes at least 5 hours. Sure, the easy answer is upgrade to broadband ! BUT, as I mentioned earlier I can't get it at my current address. Cheers !

Thanxz heaps for your response! I've tried that. But no luck. What about registry entries etc. ? These are the things I do not understand. Please, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi there ! I'm not sure if this is even possible, but because I don't have broadband internet (I'm stuck with slow dial-up as I cannot get broadband connected where I live), everytime I get a new computer or reboot my whole system, I have to spend approx. 5-7 hours downloading & installing SonicStage Version 4.0. What I'm wondering is, if it is possible (with the help of programs etc.) to make a "stand-alone" self installation Cd of SS ver.4.0 ? If yes, what programs & how would I go about it ? I'm not well versed when it comes to the techincal side of computers & would appreciate any input ? eg. is this even possible ? Cheers !

Hi ! LP2 is fine for portable listening, but I suppose it also depends on what you are listening to. I find LP2 (listening to hip-hop) via Audio-Techina earphones to be more than acceptable. And I fit approx. 15 albums on a single 1GB Hi-MD blank. At home I use 352kbps (via my MZ-NH900 line-out) for non-headphone sessions. It's all about trade-off between space & quality. (also, the headphone quality is very important).

Yep that's right. I have owned a yamaha 4-track md recorder in the past (excellent unit), and they are the md-data discs that give you MD Data disc, which records 8 tracks for 18 minutes or 4 tracks for 37 minutes .... i had to sell for financial reasons, otherwise i would never have let it go ! So try searching for md-data discs on the net. I found some a few months ago whilst browsing MD equipment, here are a few links: http://www.tapeplus.com/blank-disks-md-data-minidiscs.html http://www.minidisc-canada.com/shopdisplay...t=Data+MiniDisc Both sites have them in stock ..... hope this helps. CHEERS !

It's very true that the external AA battery case adds heaps of extra life, BUT ..... as I have said, why not just build all units to take ONLY AA's given that they have such a great relative playback life (compared to gumsticks) ? Who out there really wants to bulk their unit up with a flimsy AA-addon pack ? (I can see all the Apple iPod Nano uses out there gawking at my MD-unit's size already, so I imagine an AA-addon would have them in hospital with split sides from laughter). I absolutely hate the AA-addon because it adds heaps of bulk, and it feels very vunerable to damage. The only practical use I can see for the AA-addon is for stationary recording eg.band rehearsal or a concert. But in my case the AA-addon is useless, so I long for good-old AA power that lasts. I originally held back on my purchase of my MZ-NH900 because it used the gumsticks (I already owned the MZ-NH600 & MZ-NHF800 Hi-MD units which both used AA-power only). Actually, at the time I wished they had sold the MZ-NH900 in two model types ie. one that uses AA only and one that uses the gumstick plus the AA-addon), as I would have immediately gone for the AA-only model. Not to mention how easy & cheap AA's are to find & buy. If you find yourself out in public with a flat gumstick and no back-up insight, you are stuck. But, with the AA-powered models, you can buy an AA from any petrol-store or general store no problem. But, I guess that's what the AA-addon is for right ? I still hate it though.

It probably was done on purpose.

It's been a while since I watched The Matrix, but I don't recall that we ever found out exactly what was on the MD he handed over at the door. I could be wrong though ? Could it be that it was music OR even talking ? Why must it have been data of some type other than music ? And even if it was meant to be data, don't forget that he was in the MATRIX at this point, not out in so-called reality ? So I guess anything goes ! Also, since MD's look really COOL, the producers etc. may just have wanted that COOL factor to match all the black trenchcoats ! I mean who cares what the REAL function of the MD is in a movie like the MATRIX. ALSO - I have seen a Sony MiniDisc deck in Stargate SG1. I know it's a TV show, not a movie, but there you are. I will find the screen pic eventually & paste it here.

Pesonally, I think Hi-SP 256kbps is more than suitable for most portable listening needs, no matter who you are, and what and on what you are listening to. I could be wrong though. PS. I listen to 352kbps ATRACplus3 when listening at home via line-out plugged into my Logitech Z-680 5.1 System (THX Certified with 505 watts RMS).

Given that we're assuming the digital amps are more power efficient, I would say that the MZ-NH900 would be less power-hungry than similar non-digital amp models, not more power-hungry. I'm assuming you're saying it's more power-hungry because battery life is not very good ? The thing is however, we are talking about different battery types that power the digital vs. non-digital Hi-MD units. ie. MZ-NH600, 700 & 800 all use AA batteries. Whereas, the MZ-NH900 uses a gumstick with the possible add-on of a AA. To actually compare the "power-hungriness" of these models you would need to use batteries in each unit with the same power. I have not seen gumsticks that can get up to 2300mah etc., whereas AA rechargeables can. Gumsticks tend to stop at approx 1400mah (with the exception of the 1750mah RARE ones). So by using a 1400mah gumstick in your MZ-NH900 you will not get as much "life" as you would by using a 2300mah AA in a MZ-NH600 etc, even though the MZ-NH900's digital amp is supposedly more power efficient. These are my thoughts on the subject. Could be wrong though !

At the moment I am listening to: * Kurupt - Tha Streetz Iz A Mutha & Against Tha Grain Tha Dogg Pound - Dogg Food Dr.Dre - The Chronic Master P - Ghetto Bill Gates Palm Trees & Gangstas Mixtape: Hosted by Kurupt PLUS heaps of other mixtapes * on the move: I listen at 192kbps ATRAC3plus on my MZ-NH900 via AUDIO-TECHNICA ATH-CM7 earbuds * at home: I listen at 352kbps ATRAC3plus on my MZ-NH900 via the line-out plugged into my Logitech Z-680 5.1 Surround System (505 watts RMS & THX Certified)...the sound is just AWESOME! NOTE: I have 2 recordings of each album I own on MD - one at 192kbps on 1GB blanks (for portable listening) AND one at 352kbps on 80min MD's (for listening at home)

How long can a forum like this survive with a "dying" format as its' discussion topic? Don't get me wrong, I LOVE MiniDisc. I always have. I always defend it whenever I hear a negative comment, always have & always will. I grabbed a home deck when they first became available in Australia years ago. I even owned a 4-Track Yamaha MiniDisc recorder for my home studio (excellent unit, & the 8-track that came later was even better). Then I grabbed a MZ-R500 & it lasted me for ages. Along came Hi-MD, & boy was I impressed. I mean how can all the "haters" out-there question it's brilliance now? But still they don't listen. Not to mention iPod & the whole MP3 revolution! It's just made it that much harder for people to notice (and care about) my MZ-NH900 etc, when they all have their "niffty" mp3 players hanging from their necks. Again, don't get me wrong. I fully support this forums existence. I'm fairly new to this forum but I really appreciate it & the advice etc. it offers. I'm just wondering if anyone has an opinion on how long they believe that this forum can survive with a "dying" format as it's main discussion topic?

I'm a little confused ? What's wrong with using SonicStage 3.4 ? I've converted what few mp3's I have to ATRAC format without any problems. There should be a link to download SS v3.4 somewhere via this forum. I hope this helps you.

I like your line of thought ! Great idea .... that Hi-MD slot in the PS3. I mean, what harm could it possibly cause ? None! All it could do is bring a few more people over to Hi-MD once they see how good it is. Is that such a bad thing ? ..... would have been fantastic!

Spoke to MINIDISC AUSTRALIA recently and they confirmed the release out here in AUSSIE. But had no date OR price.

I thought that digital amps helped to prevent the units from heating-up as much & saved power etc.? If the sound were different to non-digital amps wouldn't that be stated in the specs.?

It could be that you have had a bit of bad-luck ? I have had my trusty old SONY MZ-R500 for about 5 years now & I have dropped it repeatedly (even on concrete) & it still works! Also, you must also remember that products are mass-produced today & with that comes all sorts of problems. ie. this digital revolution is resulting in millions of units being produced on a scale never seen before, and as such, the chance of someone receiving a defective unit has most likely increased.

Hi there ! Two points: 1. UMD is a joke! Why did SONY not use Hi-MD (as is, or revised in some way) as the format for the PSP? 2. in regards to the Blu-Ray issue, hopefully we won't all need new High Definition TV's if some distributors utilise the capacity of the Blu-Ray to squeeze more onto the discs rather than just making all the data HD (if this is possible?). eg. put a whole season of a TV series on one Blu-Ray disc, as compared to 4 episodes in High Definition. This as far as I'm concerned is the real potential benefit (obviously we all will need a new player). I'm not sure if this is possible however ? Just a thought I had out aloud.

Line-out sounds much better than headphone-out.

I keep my NZ-NH900 on it's charger stand next to my bed on a small table. My NH-600 is hooked up to the computer via USB for all my downloading etc. My NHF-800 is kept in the SONY felt pouch & stored in a safe place for when one of my other units fail. And my old trusty MZ-R500 resides with my younger brother who still to date has not used it once.

Although I am very angry that the "world" as we know it has not embraced MD, I am grateful that SONY did actually go for the Hi-MD concept. However, was it promoted & advertised correctly ? Unlikely. I plan to go into hibernation with my 4 MD-units - MZ-NH900, MZ-NHF800, MZ-NH600 & MZ-R500 -along with my 80 or so blank 80 minutes blanks & my 20 or so 1GB Hi-MD blanks. Hopefully this will sustain me through a long, long mp3-player based winter.