alexis

Think what you want about me, but please keep it for yourself. About MDs to keep recordings: MDs are excellent long-time-music-keeping devices - I also have ten years old MDs that still play perfectly. But remember the past: first, nothing could be taken out of an MD (except using some decks with digital out output - real time only, PCM only, no ATRAC upload). Then came NetMD and the sony software, which made MD upload possible under strict restrictions. Then came (after almost 15 years) unhindered upload of legacy Md recordings using the RH1. I find CDs much more flexible and universal than MDs, even if they are more prone to damage. When talking about ease-of-use, admit it: just copying MP3s from one disk to the other, or to USB sticks, or whatever media is much more user-friendly than using SonicStage or performing real-time recording (this point has been a long-time discussion theme on this forum). About Mac software, it allows PCM transfer too, but this is not the question in this forum (MP3 vs. ATRAC3+). In any case, keeping a music collection on MD in PCM format is either unpractical (legacy MDs = 30min PCM sound) or expensive (new HiMDs = $6 for 2 hours PCM sound). However, the Mac software is much easier to use than SonicStage. It manages MP3 files (download only) or PCM files (upload from PCM recordings or MP3s) quick and easy. The same thing plus real download and upload from MP3s and ATRAC3+ files would be the perfect tool. About Minidisc recording: Minidiscs has excellent recording abilities: I even recommend them as recording device. However, I would recommend archiving recordings made on MDs on other media (except if using a Mac, where PCM upload is quick and easy). To sum it up, I am a full advocate of Minidisc format(s), but still recommend to base a music collection on another technology, for ease of use and format- and vendor- independence. What if Your MD player breaks one day? What if Sony drops support for MD? What if sony drops support for newer operating systems one day? As I said, I recommend keeping source material on open, non-DRMd, universal media, in a safe place, and to use copies on other media for other uses (that is where Minidisc shines). I remember the time in the 80s, where I used to buy 30cm vinyl LPs just to copy them onto tapes, which I used regularly on home and portable systems. I am still doing it that way, using CDs and HiMDs now.

My opinions about MP3/ATRAC3+: 1) sound quality: ATRAC3+ is infinitely superior in terms of audio quality at 64kbps. At higher bitrates, the difference is less obvious. ATRAC3+ is also technically more modern (first MP3 specification: 1991, first MP3 encoder:1994, first ATRAC3+ codec: 2003) 2) compatibility: ATRAC3+ is more compatible with sony hardware than MP3 - say, if you wish to listen to your recordings, you can use any Hi-MD player from Sony. Furthermore, only the RH1 (and maybe the DH10P, somebody corrects me?) can play MP3s without sound quality loss. On the other hand, MP3 is more compatible with other MP3 players (!), at the expense of having to use the obnoxious SonicStage software 3) Gapless playing: ATRAC3+ has true gapless playing, which comes in handy for live performances, clasical music, or mixed albums (house, dance, etc...) 4) computer independence: ATRAC3+ SP and LP can be recorded/edited without the need for a computer - good for people who are more music freaks than computer freaks 5) Macintosh support: the Macintosh software from sony allows download of MP3 only, which is a good reason to use MP3 as a music format for Macintosh owners 6) unreliable MP3 support: not all MP3s play successfully on Minidisc players - test before! Further tips & tricks: * using lower bitrates causes less often disc access and thus gives longer battery life - good for listening on the go * using older minidisc formats/units may be very useful as they can be bought second hand quite cheap and give extra flexibility/mobility My advice: Have high quality music sources (buy CDs, DVDs), convert these to whatever format that suits your purposes best (like, ATRAC3+ LP on an HiMD to have 34 hours of good music on the go, ATRAC3+ SP to have superior quality for some of your favorites, SP or LP2/4 to keep compatible with older Minidisc units (car stereo/deck), MP3 to give to your friends, etc... Having uncompressed, superior quality (and DRM free) source material is the best way to avoid format wars and to be safe for the future. I don't recommend using Minidiscs as music archiving media. The proprietary interface and SonicStage are too restrictive and only constrain the user. At the moment, Minidiscs are only good as recording media and playback-only media.

S/P-DIF is the format used for consumer electronics digital music transmission. It exists in two "physical" flavours: electrical (using RCA jacks) and optical (using various connectors and fiber optics). The binary content is actually the same, so if your sound card digital out is the electrical kind, all you need is to convert the electrical binary signals to optical signals, and the connect to your MD player. You will need a hardware device to perform the operation. There are kits to buy for home electronic hobbyists, or complete devices including power supply etc... for less problems but more money. Note that it is very important to setup your digital output to settings that your MD understands (16bit/44.1kHz). MD do not record or downsample 24bit/96kHz audio. Make sure that your digital output SCMS setting allows copying, then there should be no problem. However, if you need resampling or whatever additional signal procesing, you will need a much more sophisticated device, meaning also much more expensive (and sometimes these are also illegal in some countries because they could be used to overcome SCMS copy protection). Another possibility would be to simply add an inexpensive sound card providing optical S/P-DIF out (if applicable) and reserving it to the purpose of MD output (sticking to a 16bit/44.1kHz setup).

To make things clear to you guys: All MD recorders/downloaders have a built-in protection against ejection while the system file buffer has not been flushed on the disc yet. It means that any disc with no modification pending (like recording, editing, erasing, etc...) can be instantly ejected by the operator, which I think does not cause any damage to the unit itself (hopefully the magnetic head is parked somewhere safe when not in use). While there are still disc modifications pending, the unit will prevent ejection (i.e. the ejection button does not work). As soon as the unit is not busy any more (usually, when the user stops playing or recording), the pending modifications are flushed to the disc and the ejection lock is released. To take the RH-1 as example, as long as there are pending disc modifications, the recording light will flash and the ejection button is inoperable. As soon as the flashing ceases, the ejection button becomes operational again.

A little more about MD regions * You can display, but not edit, roman and japanese characters using any device. * You can edit english roman characters using a japanese model. * You cannot edit all european roman characters on a japanese unit. * You cannot edit a text that has been entered on a foreign machine, even if it uses the common subset of english-only roman characters. * The character set used on the remote is dependent on the region of the player. Try the following to make an example: Take an american or european unit, title any track "TEST", put the MD into a japanese and try to edit this track. You get a "CAN'T EDIT". This is because of the region. That is why it is useful to change the region of foreign devices to keep them compatible with other units of the same region. All this is based on my own experience with an RH-1 (japanese), an RH-10 (american), and an MC40ELK remote (chinese).

Hi Guys! Do not forget that the volume limitation is not the only limitation of foreign models. The region of the player is actually a much more important issue, because it determines which character set the player is able to edit (Roman/Japanese). So a region hack is also of interest for those who bought their models from Japan and want them to be able to edit MDs using roman characters.

If it was now, I'd probably go back to an iPod. If we are talking about the future, in a couple of years when MiniDisc has died, I would try to find some equipment supporting gapless playing, removable media, state-of-the-art DRM-free codec and computerless (realtime) recording. At this time, there certainly will be some codec capable of CD-quality playing at 32kbps, and small flash-memory (or some new technology) removable media, for 1$ a Gig... However, the recording may be an issue, as I am afraid that manufacturers will try to remove analog and unencrypted digital output (S/P-DIF) from their equipments. Maybe sometime they will implant a chip in your brain that will force you to pay each time you hear music.

The full extent of the Mac compatibility is not know fore sure yet, because the official, full-featured Mac software has not come out yet. With the current software, it is possible to upload any recorded track (mean: recorded with the RH-1) into a .WAV file. Download is not possible yet, but is supposed to be supported when the new Mac software comes out. On the other hand, recording in Hi-LP is acceptable for outdoor use using headphones. It is always a matter of taste, but frankly the Hi-LP quality is not bad. Therefore recording in realtime is still an option. The advice would then be to wait for the new Mac software to show its features and then decide if they meet your expectations.

The remote delivered with the RH1 can display the Title/Album/Artist/Group name, and if you are willing to pay the extra money, the MC40ELK "large" screen and its jog dial (and good remote control support from the main unit) make displaying things and navigating easier.

You are right! It is in the manuals section, but not in the download section. So much for breaking news:-/. Maybe some admin could remove this thread then...

I have not found any official link to it yet (in the european download section). I just manually edited the URL to access the RH1 manual - that is why I said I "hacked" it, not that I performed any kind of real attack Do you know an official Sony link for it?

Hi there! Casually browsing the web today, I managed to hack into a link to download the newest MZ-RH1 and MZ-M200 models user manual . A relief for all those that bought their RH1 with japanese manual only and for all that would like to know more about these two models.

It is definitely not normal. I have a RH10 that I often leave unused for a couple of days, and the battery never wears out. I suggest you have your unit and battery checked by a professional (maybe it is just the battery). Replacement gumstick batteries are quite inexpensive, so you may just try to buy a new one and see what happens.

If you want, you can have a look at my opinion on the RH10, RH1 and DH10P.

My opinion is that the choice between iPod and Hi-MD depends on three things: * your listening habits * your character towards computers * how you use your iPod/Hi-MD If you use your device it as a portable music library and for home listening, you will probably end up using mostly Hi-SP mode, which does not offer very big storage capacity. Furthermore, you would be stuck with the Sony software for ripping (OK, Simple MD Burner is not THAT bad), which is definitely not as good as iTunes. So if you are a computer man (which means you do not mind using a computer for things that do not really require it) and you use your device as an allpurpose listening device (home & on the go), stay with the iPod. It is cheaper and easier to use. If you use your device as a portable music device and if you like to stay away from computers (which is my case), you would prefer the Hi-MD device. Its easy computer-less digital recording/editing/titling abilities and the excellent Atrac3plus codec performance at low bitrates (which nit-picking guy would NEED high bitrates in the train, the bus or at the office?) are unbeatable. Thus you will become the most storage capacity and computer independence (plus the ability to easily record digitally from other sources like DVDs or video games). Another important point is knowing your listening habits. if you listen according to the 80/20 rule (80% of time listening to 20% of your music), the storage capacity of the Hi-MD is sufficient to keep your favorite 20% easily portable. However, if you permanently listen to everything you have on your iPod, you will miss the instantaneous access to your whole music library (which you will NEVER reach using a Hi-MD - it is a couple GB against 20,30,40 or even 60GB). Not to mention the superior Photo and video abilities of the more recent iPods. You could think of a trade-off between storage capacity and listening quality by keeping Hi-LP recordings of your "on-th-go" music and Hi-SP recordings of your "home listening" music (which could be the same, meaning duplicate recordings of the same music at different bitrates). It is a good trade-off, but requires you actively managing your music collection. In my opinion, Hi-MD devices would gain in acceptability if there were also available Hi-MD decks, bookshelves and car stereo systems. Then, the moving part of the listening experience would be the music only (the disks), and not the whole hardware (display, controls, battery, amp, etc...). This is what all the people have been doing so far with the CDs, owning a CD collection and playing it on a variety of equipments, suited for various purposes (home quality listening, rugged portable player, car stereo, boomboxes, etc...). Such a variety of uses is not yet achieved for the iPod, and is quite expensive anyway. So, to sum it up, the three crucial points are the following: * Would you miss the immediate availability of your whole music collection at once? * Would you miss the ease of use of the iTunes software? * Would you absolutely like to save money on your device? If your answers are "yes", stay with your iPod. If your answers are "no", and you like music more than computers, go for a Hi-Md device. I personnaly owned an iPod mini 6G for a year, having it filled with 80kbps AAC music, just to realize that I prefer to use my portable music device more like a high capacity cassette recorder than like a computer device. Maybe it is because I am older... In any case, I bought myself an RH10 and an RH1 and gave the iPod mini to my wife. Both of us are really happy now.

As far as I can remember, it managed to backup and restore an Hi-MD disk in a previous state by backing up all the relevant files (the HMDHIFI directory and the [something].IND file in the root directory). If you restore all these files ON EXACTLY THE SAME DISK THEY WERE BACKED UP FROM AND WITHOUT HAVING REFORMATTED THE DISK MEANWHILE, the Hi-MD disk will appear in the same state as at the moment of backup. I should retry this procedure to confirm, but I think this works. It would thus be possbile to backup sensitive recordings before uploading them with SonicStage and exposing them to irremediable trashing. If something goes wrong, try to restore all files and upload again. DO NOT REFORMAT THE DISK, otherwise you will render your backed up files unusable. However, the best solution seems to be the following configuration: * recording using the new RH-1 * uploading to WAV files from PCM or ATRAC3plus recordings using a Macintosh and the Sony Macintosh software With this hardware/software combination, upload of recorded tracks is possible EVEN WITH THE WRITE-PROTECTION TAB ON, thus making them absolutely safe (the other side being that the Macintosh software is not prone to crashing). However, my own experience shows that uploading recordings from another device using this method will not work.

Personally, I always liked the Hi-LP quality. Some honest listening shows that Hi-LP has no heavy artifacts, only some metallic sound sometimes, and loss of volume feeling. I listened to many of my favourites songs in Hi-LP and was never disappointed. For the extra storage it offers, I find Hi-LP unbeatable. I sometimes transfer CDs using Hi-SP, when I really want top quality and full auditive experience. I can only advise all of you to honestly try Hi-SP and Hi-LP transfers and to think if the little more quality you get by using Hi-SP is worth the loss of the storage capacity (4times) and the battery life. Anyway you can always transfer your favorite tracks in Hi-SP on legacy MDs for almost no money (either you already have plenty of them from your existing MD collection, or you buy them new: you can get a 10pack of 74min MDs for 6.90Euros on netonnet.de). Anyway I have all my music on CD for quality listening at home. Outside I am only using my transfers on Minidiscs.

No, there are neither track, nor author or album or disc names displayed on the main unit. Only the group number and the track number within the group.

As MDFreak points out, I failed to mention that my most recent post was about uploading Hi-MD tracks on Hi-MD format (Hi-LP tracks on a Hi-MD formatted 74min MD, to be precise) using Macintosh software. I have not tested upload of MD tracks using SonicStage yet, but it is on my plan. By the way, the first attempts to make a non-uploadable (RH10) track uploadable by superceding its track marks by RH1 track marks was unsuccessful: the track was eligible for upload (not grayed out), but the upload failed (not able to read from media). However, I have not tested yet if the sametrack recorded on an RH1 could be uploaded, so maybe the failure has another reason (SCMS or something). I will also try Hi-MD formatted MD media and 1GB Hi-MD media. I will keep you informed.

I have been playing a bit more with my RH10, RH1 and Macintosh software. One more fact: inserting track marks using the RH10 renders almost all the tracks un-uploadable even if they were originally recorded using the RH1 (one track keeps uploadable from times to times, randomly I guess). However, re-inserting track marks at the very same place with the RH1 (pause - seek - track mark (mark off) - track mark (mark on)) make them uploadable again. This weird behaviour reminds me of other players' behaviours regarding the Macintosh software (like all the tracks greyed except one, etc...). Looks like messing with the track marks is a bad thing. My next test will be to check if the RH1 can make a non-RH1-recorded track uploadable. I will keep you informed.

Yes, the currently available version is "Hi-MD music transfer", version 1.0.00.12141.

The currently available version DOES NOT download anything (neither PCM nor MP3). This feature is supposed to be introduced in the new Macintosh software planned for summer 2006.

Hello there! One more little piece of RH1 review. This one is about Macintosh support. Hold your breath... UNRESTRICTED DRAG-AND-DROP .WAV FORMAT IMPORT FROM Hi-MD RECORDINGS, EVEN WITH WRITE-PROTECTED DISCS Am I dreaming or what? No! It is true. Recordings (Hi-LP) made on an RH1 could be uploaded from a write-protected disc on a Macintosh with simple drag-and-drop operation using the Hi-MD Music Transfer software. In my opinion, it is the most user-friendly hardware/software combination so far to record and upload using MiniDiscs. The best is even that I performed the upload with an RH10. So you do not even need an RH1 to upload, only to record! I am a Macintosh user and was always bothered by the Windows-only Sonicstage software, which is by the way unbearably slow (my best PC is a 266MHz laptop on which ripping a CD track is performed in 0.5x time: slower than realtime recording). For those who would like to record and upload stuff, and are fortunate enough to own a macintosh, the RH1 is definitely a must-buy.

Yes, I am talking about the European RH10 remote (RM-MC60, non-LCD).

I do not have a DH10P, but I have an RH10 and an RH1 (and I have a Grado SR80). I would advise you to buy a RH10 because of a couple of advantages: 1) great display The OLED display of the RH10 is really excellent, although almost unusable in bright sunlight. However, I personally seldom use my RH10 in bright sunlight, much more often in dim or dark environments - in these cases, the OLED display is unbeatable. 2) ease of use The jog dial and the big display allow a very easy navigation and menu system, which can be operated with one hand. 3) battery life The RH10's battery life is easy and cheap to extend: you can use an external AA battery case, and you can use cheap, replaceable NiMH battery packs. So let's have a look at the three models capabilities and sum up things: display: * RH10: + big, bright & crisp, energy-saving display, problems in sunlight * DH10P: ++ very big & bright, energy-consuming display * RH1: - bright & crisp, but awfully small display, problems in sunlight ease of use: * RH10: ++ big display, jog dial, very easy, quick access to all functions even without the remote * DH10P: ++ very big display, rotary dial * RH1: - very limited display, many functions not available without the remote battery life: * RH10: ++ great battery life, energy saving display, external battery pack, cheap replacement for battery * DH10P: - average battery life, energy consuming display and photo function, no external battery pack, expensive Li-ion battery * RH1: + average battery life, energy saving display, no external battery pack sound quality: * RH10: + very good sound quality, but poor MP3 playback * DH10P: ? unknown * RH1: ++ very good sound quality, slightly better defined than RH10, but may sound too harsh for certain purposes recording quality: * RH10: + fairly good recording, but no MD recording, more restrictive about uploading * DH10P: - no recording * RH1: ++ good recording in all MD and Hi-MD formats, allows more uploading and Macintosh support summary: You will have more fun for less money with the RH10. Take the RH1 if you really have specific recording needs. The DH10P photograpihc features are more a "nice to have" fun stuff that comes at a high price.