KJ_Palmer

That's right, though it's a moot point anyway as the MD part doesn't operate with the radio on, not even the display. My Sharp MD/Radio combo (MD-MT285) is the same. They possibly separated the radio from the unit because too much interference with the digital circuitry or something. It's a shame as even my old sony cassettte walkman can record the radio, which is truly built in, as can some cheap MP3 players (not that I've ever tried). Oh well.

Some of the Sony radio remotes are interchangeable to an extent. The one for the MZ-G750 works with the MZ-G755, in fact I believe they're the same, though they won't work with the Hi-MD models. Meanwhile, the MZ-NHF800 can use the remote from the MZ-N610/N810, and the MZ-NH700 can also fully use these remotes (RM-MC37LT) and it's not even a designated radio model! They can be picked up quite cheaply on eBay, and I've equipped my 3 NH700s with these and bought a few spares. The bad news is there's no way to record from the tuner on the (same unit anyway), as the MD functions completely switch off when the radio is on and vice-versa. I've never seen a hack to do this either, but at a guess it may be possible.

That's just what I do

Indeed, I'm keeping two seperate versions on MD, LP2 for the decks/legacy portables and Hi-MD versions. Bit of a pain really, but just about manageable.

Yes, Sonicstage will transfer 256k and 352k ATRAC files to the NH600, without further loss. You'll probably want to use a later version of Sonicstage, 4.2 or 4.3 (if you have Vista) than that supplied with the NH600, to ensure the best software installation. I have had a couple of NH600's for several years and find them to be very reliable and the sound quality very good with higher bitrates. Some people have found the jog dial to wear out after heavy use, but as I mostly use a remote this hasn't been a problem for me. Note that the NH600D is a downloader only, whereas the NH600 also has a line/optical input.

You can transfer the higher ATRAC bitrates (256k,352k,PCM) to the NH600 via Sonictsage, so it may be worth getting for portable use. The higher bitrates won't be compatible with your old deck though, so you'd still be stuck with real time for 292k recordings, which would be compatible with all your equipment.

There's no way to transfer 105k to a NetMD unit via Sonicstage, without conversion to 'true' LP2 (ie. 132k) or even worse LP4, though any Hi-MD unit will handle 105k. Perhaps you'd be better off using higher bitrate encoding into Sonicstage first as any transcoding especially at these low bitarates is bound to ruin the sound.

It's been OK as far as I know, I've been on and off there today and yesterday without any trouble. What problems are you experiencing?

No sadly not, the radio remote won't even fit into the RH710's remote socket, or get the power needed. The NH700 is pretty unique in this way, as far as I can tell it's exactly the same as the NHF800 but without the radio remote included. I also slightly prefer the NH700's brighter sound over the RH10's which is a tad 'warmer' (I have both units).

Also note that you can add a radio remote to the NH700 (the one that works with the NHF800, or the later Net-MD radio units), which can be very handy. These can (or could) be found on ebay quite cheaply.

SS 4.2 and 4.3 will work with NetMD units, though you'll probably also have to install NetMD drivers (available here in the downloads section I think). You can't upload from a Net MD unit however, only the RH1 can upload non Hi-MD recordings. These days I only use my NetMD recorders for playing and the occasional LP2 transfer, leaving the RH1 for transfers to PC. It works quite well for me..

Sometimes the shutter can come open by itself, which can be worrying.

MD and Hi-MD's strength is in making personal compilations, so I probably wouldn't bother. I only ever had one pre-recorded MD, a Mozart one from Naxos, and that was a bit dull really. Buy the CD and you can do what you like with it, make lossless or compressed versions or whatever, but you get to choose what goes on your compilation, and still have the CD quality original as backup.

An non Hi-MD walkman can 'format' a standard Hi-MD formatted disc. Just use Erase - All. It worked on my old Sharp recorder when I tried it just now anyway.

LP2 is fine for me, as I can still play these recordings on my home decks and bookshelf system, and gives a reasonable 2 and a half hours playback per disc, enough for one session, for me at least. I tend to use Hi-MDs for commuting and travel, so as not to have to change discs too often, but take an LP2 or SP compilation as well. Best of both worlds really, I'm not coming back to MDLP - I never actually left it, and still make LP2 compilations of new CDs..

Excellent idea - I'd even be happy with a Hi-MD dock, a la Ipod docks for easy attachment to the Hi-Fi. Maybe the USB port could be used? Perhaps even Sony could be cajoled into the idea as a final parting gift to us loyal MD users...

Have you tried recording without the battery attached, as it's plugged unto the mains you don't need it anyway. Maybe the battery charging circuits somehow kick in and interefere with the recording process. Or vice-versa - batteries and no mains - you'd likely get a 'cleaner' recording like that anyway, with no mains hum.

My first deck, the MDS-JE640 still works like new, since it was bought in 2000. It's had plenty of use, too, and though by no means a high-end model in terms of build quality and components, it's a great deck with plenty of nice features. One of the first MDLP decks too.

You can use the external USB battery packs with or without the internal battery installed. That is, the ones that work with the RH1, be careful since they don't all work. Check the forums for recommended battery packs for the RH1.

Just a thought, but Syrius might have the Save in Wav format upon uploading box ticked in the Transfer options dialog. I remember I had this at one time and wondered why it took so long. An extra .wav file is created in a separate folder which is handy, but obviously this adds extra time to the process, and probably increases the chances of a crash. Worthwhile checking anyways...

Hello. It's been a while since I did an SP upload. Seemed to be about twice real-time speed, i.e. about 30-40 minutes for a full disc to .wav format. Probably depends on your processor speed etc. Obviously you can't expect flash/hard drive speeds from your Hi-MDs..

Can you skip past track 6 and the rest plays ok? I'd say try a new disc before blaming mechanical failure. Perhaps some place near you has a few blanks not on display behind a counter. May be worth asking - it can be surprising who has a few MDs left around.

Hi, you can't use Sonicstage to upload your recordings to a computer unless they were either made on a Hi-MD recorder in Hi-MD mode or you have an MZ-RH1/M200, which doesn't appear to be the case. You can still record to the hard drive in realtime with software as long as it's set up to record from the line in. Many of us use Audacity, but Goldwave is probably just as good. See this link for our handy uploading guide (Net-MD part). Hope that helps.

Sorry, it's just the way Sonicstage does things. You get used to it eventually. It's the the way with minidiscs anyway, though I think with the hard drive machines that used SS (I had the Vaio pocket and HD5), it may have been different, I can't quite remember.

For MP3 320kbps would give the best quality, although if there's an option to record in wav format this would be better still, and would retain the quality for burning to CD.