KJ_Palmer

The NH600 doesn't have mic in so wouldn't be much good for recording lectures. If it's the downloader model (NH600D) it won't have a line/optical in either (though the plain NH600 does). However, the 600 is reported by some users to be a very good player, so why not get one for playback/uploading and just use your NH700 for the recording duities? As you say, the R91 would be good for recording and playback, but you'd be stuck with real-time copying for sharing or loading. If you could also find a cheap remote for the NH600 (any Sony remotes made after about the year 2000 will work) you could save wear and tear on the jog dial, which seems to be the NH600's only weak point. You can use your NH700's accessories - AC adapter and remote with an NH600. Or look for a cheap 700 on ebay - about a year back I picked up several ones in perfect working order very cheaply. Not sure what the second hand market's like now though. Good luck!

I use the Sony fake leather pouches for most of my MD units, and a small cassette player case for the RH1, much nicer. Could never stand those tatty fabric pouches.

No, Standard CD's use a format called CD Audio (or Redbook Audio), not Wav. Wav files have to be converted to CD audio before they can be played in a normal CD player, but it's a lossless conversion the data in equivalent. Hi-MD players use a variety of other formats - PCM (also lossless) and various forms of ATRAC (a data reduced or compressed format), and the latet Hi-MD understand MP3 tracks (in a protected envelope but oyherwise unaltered). The names are usually propriety acronyms describing some aspect of the coding process. There's some more info here.

Indeed, I also have the Boss Micro-BR. Fantastic recording quality and features, truly a portable studio. Takes a while to get used to, and the buttons are a bit fiddly, but well worth the effort. I still use an MD for practice purposes though..

I'd like (big hope): A Sony Hi-MD deck, available in UK Larger capacity discs (2GB+?) A 'business' recorder/player with built in mic/speaker, like the MZ-B10 for Hi-MD. Not too much to ask for is it...

For Hi-MD the 45 hours refers to the maximum amount of extremely highly compressed (ie. low quality) recording that you can squeeze into the 1GB Hi-MD discs. In fact I don't think you can actually record live in this format, only transfer it from a PC. You can record in low quality (64kbps - Hi-LP) for 36 hours, or medium quality (256kbps HiSP) for about 8 hours or CD quality (PCM - equivalent to Wav) for 1 and a half hours. Meanwhile the PCM-D50 has 4GB of built in memory giving you 6 hours of Wav reording, more if you add flash cards. Uploading to your PC is probably more reliable and certainly quicker with the PCM-D50 as it's drag and drop, whereas Hi-MD has to go through Sonicstage software. As something of a musician myself, I'd probably go for the D50 myself, as it's somewhat more current, though the ultimate quailty obtained on both may be quite similar. Hi-MD is great as a general-purpose recorder and player though.

I've got one on pre-order, but sadly they don't hit the UK until mid-December. Hopefully it'll be as easy to use as my old Tascam cassette-based 4 track (judging by the manual it should be). Never really got to grips with the Boss Micro BR and its fiddly controls, feature-packed though it is.

Hi, I think that should be OK for the RH1, may be a little tight though. I actually use an old cassette walkman neoprene case, which gives that little bit of extra room for a microphone, spare discs etc.

Well, my RH1 doesn't have a single scratch after a couple of years and still in (near-) perfect condition. Then again, it hasn't had many opportunities, as it's kept safely in a neoprene case. The front LCD panel is plastic (I think) so might be prone to scratches, but that's protected with a PDA sticky film. Not sure what the casing is made of, some sort of brushed metal, I think, that's lasted my fairly moderate use. Perhaps some hardened gig 'tapers' can tell you what it's like in the rough world, but I'm very happy with it's durability.

Ok thanks, that works now. My link was broke, so I fixed it...

I can't get to the MD manuals page. Otherwise all seems fine...

You need to install a seperate NetMD driver for SS4.3, as it's not included in the main install. If you go to the MDCF Downloads section (link at the top of this page) you should find it there. I think it's presently the top link "Windows Vista Compatible Driver for Net MD and Hi-MD Walkman", but it's been a while since I installed it. It doesnlt work with the 64 bit version of Vista, apparently.

Well, just a thought, but one way to do it could be to use a Sharp MD portable, which, as far as I know all have a 'Name stamp' function. This copies all the titles from one MD to another, as long as they have the same number of tracks. You could create a 'temporary' NetMD (eg. in LP2 mode) with Sonicstage with the titles, and then Name Stamp them to your deck recorded disk. You'll need to acquire a Sharp portable - I got a couple very cheaply from eBay just for this sort of thing.

Indeed, there are few things more impressive than bookcase stuffed full of great works. The e-readers might be useful for people who travel a lot, or for the odd throwaway bestseller, etc. Not planning to get one however.

My first MD recorder was the MZ-R500, back in 2000. Sold it, as far as I know it's still working. Now have the MZ-B10, NH800, RH1 and MXD-D40 and JB980 decks. I'm 44 (and counting).

I've still got a couple of cassette walkmans, a boombox and a tape deck incorporated into a bookshelf, along with about 50 recrded tapes, but to be honest they're not getting used at all. They're just there for nostalgia really and besides, my MDs can do all the recording needed, and better!

Nice gallery, perhaps those of us with a few MDs should post a pic of our units. Most of mine are in a big box awaiting their 'turn'...

It's a shame, but hardly unexpected, sadly. I'll just keep using my MD kit until it wears out rather than stock up anymore. It'll probably outlast me though, I reckon!

Yes, they were bought in London England, were I'm from. Seen a few on Amazon (.co.uk) lately, maybe eBay will have them too. They're really nice as there's plenty of room for a mic, spare battery MD or two etc, but still not too bulky. Be careful as Caselogic later brought out a much smaller version of the MD case which was barely larger than (say) an NH1 etc.

Here's mine, a Caselogic MDC2 for the RH1. I also use the Sony leatherette pouch for the NHF800 etc. Caselogic_MD_Case.bmp

They should have gone for Mini Rack or Compact Rack instead...

You can delete these 'optimised' files automatically, or in the Advanced options Tab, shouldn't be a problem really. I regularly get them in transferring from 352k to LP2. Just a matter of knowing how to really.

Personally I prefer the way the Hi-MD units sound to all the earlier portables I tried, albeit with a bit of of EQ tweaking. The decks are a different matter, but the portables seemed far too bass-heavy, apart perhaps from in flat mode, especially for 'classical' and accoustic music. But definitely, each to his/her own.

Well, er MD's not useless. I use mine every day!

Er, yes well some people say that