KJ_Palmer

Isn't that the way it's supposed to be, adding tracks to the end? You can always change the order on the disc once you've transferred.

SS 4.3 is the version for Vista users, so you might have issues if you install that on your machine. It would probably be better to install SS 4.2 instead.

How about using MarcNet's Hi-MD Renderer to convert the mp3's to .oma or .wav and importing them into Sonicstage? They should surely be transferrable to Hi-MD...

That thing looks like it's eating the CDs and Ipod... Nice in a way to have everything in one box, but I'd prefer seperates in he long run.

Black remotes, headphones and cases with everything for me - RM-MC38EL or MC21 (non LCD) or the RH1 remote whth my black RH1, RH10, RH910 and NH900. Only differences are for the radio remotes to go with the NH700 and NHF800, which have to be silver. Black Senn CX300 are the headphones of choice. Not very imaginative, really, but it's got to be black, where possible.

Thanks, I can probably live with the Full-Stereo after all, then.

Really? Oh, buggery. I was working on the assumption that Full stereo was 'better' than Joint stereo, ie. like LP4, being joint stereo isn't the stereo separation not as good as LP2 (so doubly bad as well becuase of the lower bitrate)? Anyway, sod it - I'm not converting them (yet) again...

My settings are 0 (best) for both Encoding quality and VBR quality. It's not all that slow even on my humble spec laptop, and well worth it for obtaining the best quality. I always use Full stereo, VBR between 160 and 320 kbps (256k for my Hi-SP uploads), and Cut start/end silence. The results are superb. All the rest are the defaults, mainly as I don't know what they do...

6 bands: - 100Hz, 250Hz, 630Hz, 1.6kHz, 4kHz and 10kHz, adustable from -10dB, -6dB, -3dB, 0dB, +6db, +10dB. Here's a link to the RH1/M200 manual which might help you with further questions.

Hi Marc. Small quibble, but is there any chance of allowing commas (,) in output filenames, insteading of translating them to underscore (_). A lot of my classical tracks have commas, and I'm having to change them all manually. If not, perhaps could a space or semicolon ; be used instead. Cheers, Barock

You might like to try an adaptation of method that some Hi-MD users have done in order to obtain nicer casings for their 1GB blanks. That is, slit the original damaged MD casing open with a craft knife down the 'seam', and do the same with the target disk casing. Best to use a good quality new disc with metal shutter, eg. Sony or TDK etc. Be careful of course not to cut the actual disc itself. Discard original casing. Wash the gunk off with warm water only and allow to air dry for several hours, eg. overnight. Glue back together with a thin layer of epoxy resin suitable for plastics, or perhaps superglue would do. Trim off excess glue when dry, and Bob's your uncle, hopefully..

It's all to do with DRM policy really - Sony requires that MP3 files are wrapped in it's protective envelope to be playable on their units. And once your own recordings are uploaded to Sonicstage they're registered with that software. You can of course do your editing in Sonicstage and transfer back to disc, but the original rights are gone. I don't know if there are any workarounds - maybe someone else does, but that's the idea, in a nutshell, it seems.

Yep, I've done my 2 RH710's as well...

Looks like Sony messed up the firmware for the RH10/910. I didn't realise that about the title editing problem, as I do all my editing in Sonicstage. You could always switch the destination code back to the original setting (probably A0 for a Euro model) if you need titling on the unit. It's worth doing the hack anyway for the other features you enable - pitch control, equaliser and the volume increase, but in the end it's up to you.

Thanks Marc, it was me being stoopid, as I suspected. Great stuff!

Click this link for the 2nd generation Hi-MD hack. It applies equally to the RH10 and RH910 (on European models), and you get a full equaliser too. The output will, at best, be 5mW per channel - there's no hack that gives 10mW per channel for any Sony MD unit. You could try using some more sensitive earphones (eg. Sennheiser CX300) if that still isn't loud enough..

... and most likely there won't be any others, sadly

A disc cleaner might help, if the lens has got a dust build-up.

Click here for the Sharp MD-MT888, in pdf format (Adobe Acrobat needed). According to the Equipment browser the MD-MT770/MD-MT888 are the same beast. Hope that helps.

Assuming your 'normal' MD player is an older model that won't play LP format, you need to choose SP transfer mode in Sonicstage. Transfer mode settings can changed by clicking the black 'suitcase' icon in the middle of the transfer screen. Hope that helps.

Marc, a couple of points for Beta 3: - This might be me being stupid, but I can't group files in to Album folders, like in 0.54 etc where there's a specific option for this. Can this function be added, please. I've tried the various filename options but can't get the separate folders - they just all go into the root of the stated 'save' folder. - Could ID3 version 2 (preferably 2.3) be added for MP3 tagging please? My classical track IDs are all being truncated to the 30 or so characters of v1. Thanks and best regards.

Also, turn any EQ sound settings off on the RH910 to give the best approximation to a flat line level signal. The advantage over a line out switchable unit is you can leave your remote plugged in.

A Sony MZ-RH1 or M200 would be the only way to upload your Sharp's recordings directly to a PC and (slightly) faster than real-time. They're not exacly cheap though, going for around £200 in the UK. Another option would be a real-time optical transfer via a deck with digital out, as long as you have a soundcard or CD-recorder with optical input. Audacity is freeware that can record the input signal as a wav file. Sharps have a pretty good line-out mode, so you could record using that instead (again, real-time) and save yourself the extra expenses, if not time.

Sorry to be a meanie, but is there any reason the student's can't bring their own recorders to the class, be it tape, minidisc or flash recorder? I go to music classes and I don't expect the teacher to provide a recording. I'd do my own in that case, and don't think it unreasonable. If you're stuck in the 'tape loop' then maybe it's best to bite the bullet and buy a cheap new tape recorder and have done with it.

As to your first point, that would surely depend on the copy protection scheme (if any) of the software itself. Presumably it may have a similar 'facility' as Sonicstage for adding/not adding DRM/protection. If you use the convert to Wav option in Sonicstage, these will be completely protection-free, in fact you may as well just delete the files imported to Sonicstage and use the wav files instead (after you've checked they're OK).