eriktous

You can try it yourself. You can download Sonic Stage for free (from this forum, or direct from Sony). The software doesn't require an MD unit to be connected to import music and convert it to ATRAC.

Lol, has anyone actually ever had problems with plastic shutters? People advise to avoid them, because they appear cheap, or flimsy (which, granted, they do), but I don't know if anyone ever has had any problem with them. In fact, I have a couple of disks with metal shutters which have been bent out of shape or have dents in them. I think metal this thin is actually easier to deform than plastic.

Yeah, I've been thinking about this as well. I don't understand why Sony hasn't developed a portable recorder yet, which uses a different storage medium than MD, like embedded flash memory, memory cards or an internal HD. With minidisk they have gained a lot of experience in making high quality recorders. It would seem only logical to use that to make a device which isn't bound to the limitations of MD. Maybe they're just afraid that they would create a device that will kill MD, but it will only be a matter of time before another company comes up with something like this, so why not do it themselves?

Are you using one disc, or have you tried with different discs?

Nice pics, Volta (and I see you're listening to some quality music on this quality device ). For a split second I thought you had gone wild and bought six RH1's. Glad to see your minidisc addiction hasn't gone that bad (yet).

If your reasoning is correct (and I have no reason to doubt that), then the sound quality of this 'fake SP' is actually worse than LP2. It is LP2, transcoded to SP, which introduces even more loss of quality, right?

They have a maximum of about 55,000 characters. (It is in the manual, under the section called (surprisingly ) 'Adding Titles'. At least, that's where it is in the manual for my NH900.)

As has been said this is not true. Making assumptions about MD has already given you more trouble than you liked, so I would advise you to research the subject before you make claims like this. This forum happens to be an excellent place to find information on any MD-related subject. Developing Mac-compatible software costs money. Mac-users have to pay for this. As there happen to be much more Windows users than Mac users, the cost per unit for software is significantly lower than it is for the Mac-compatible units. No marketing trick, just simple economics of scale.

But isn't it possible to create legacy discs in NetMD mode with these models?

I don't own a NetMD, but I have a Hi-MD and I don't think what you want is possible. You can program tracks in advance and then start play, but you can't program 'on the fly', so to speak.

Your car deck can only read discs in SP mode, so no LP2 or LP4. Both the JE510 and JE480 can produce these, but your NetMD should also be able to record discs in SP, so I suggest you try again. Have a good look through the options, because there should be something like 'transfer in SP mode'. (This is not true SP, though. It is actually LP2, padded out to look like SP. So the sound quality is less than true SP, but this shouldn't matter much when listening in a car.)

Even the RH1 won't do it, because he is talking about NetMD tracks, Volta. So the only option is real-time.

It's not the same unit. The RH10 will not do what you want. The RH1 isn't available anywhere yet. I believe it will become available in May, but I'm not sure. Check the thread on it in the News subforum. All the info is there.

I just did a search on eBay for nh1 and a couple of those cables came up. Have a look at these items. Two from China and one from Germany (which only ships within Europe, so depends on where you are). 5874257985 9702369593 7603732010

Your soundcard has nothing to do with it. It isn't used at all during downloading to your Hi-MD. (You could even download music to your MD without any soundcard installed in your computer.) It sounds like you have a problem with Sonic Stage. Either it isn't installed properly or it doesn't play nice with the mp3 codecs that are on your PC. Post your problem and your system specs in the software subforum and someone might be able to help you fix it.

[Off topic] How is the sound quality of the Archos gmini xs202s? I've been looking a bit at the specs, and I like what I see. 20 GB, very small, nice menu structure and buttons, drag and drop. I can't find many reviews of it, but I've read one that said the sound quality wasn't the best. How did you like it? [/Off topic]

Using Sonic Stage, you should be able to create Sp mode discs. I don't know which version you're using and if there are any differences in menu structure between versions, but in SS 3.4 click on the 'Transfer mode settings' button (it's one of the buttons between the My Library panel and the MD panel). In the dialog that comes up you can choose 'SP transfer mode'. This should do it.

Sure, but do you know of anyone who has AVLS turned on on his or her unit?

They (and other Europeans) will have, compared to the rest of the world, who will wreck their hearing with 'non-crippled units'.

On a side-note, why do you refer to it as a faulty optical block, when you say it is the magnetic head that has a problem? Aren't you getting things mixed up a bit?

The NH700/NH800 uses a single AA battery in the unit, while the NH900 uses a NiMH gumstick (with an optional AA battery in a seperate, detachable compartment). Also, I think the NH700/NH800 doesn't have a digital amp, while the NH900 has a HD digital amp. See the equipment browser for more info. MZ-NH700 MZ-NH800 MZ-NH900

Still using Netscape 7.2

Doesn't mean anything. It has said 'Hi-MD Audio' on all Hi-MD devices so far, I think (at least it does so on my NH900 and on the RH10; I'm to lazy to check the others).

IIRC, this question has been asked before on this forum. I'm not sure of the specifics, but I seem to remember that there were differences between the European and US NH600. One of them has a connection for a remote, while the other doesn't. So make sure of what you are getting, when you buy one. (And don't take descriptions on the websites of retailers as the absolute truth, because they often contain errors.)

Dutch electronics store Correct has the RH1 in their online catalogue. www.correct.com Unfortunately no pictures or info, apart from stating it has an OEL display. Edit: Just received an answer to my email from them. They are expecting to get it in July.