KJ_Palmer

Well, everything you can listen to on MD or Hi-MD will have to have been recorded at some stage (although there might be some pre-recorded disks). But Hi-MD (like MD) will remain primarily a recording medium. If you want to download your MP3s etc to Hi-MD you still need a recorder to do so - a player like the MZ-EH1 will only be able to play back material previously recorded with a recording Hi-MD unit (eg. MZ-NH1). So basically, to make a start in Hi-MD you will need to get a recorder, even if you don't want to 'tape' live shows or CDs etc.

Hi. I listen to classical music too mostly (well all the time really). Oh well, if it's not loud enough, you'll have to do something. To answer your question, earbuds are small earphones that go directly in your ear, like the ones that came with your N910. Headphones are bigger units that go over your head with a solid band connecting the left and right ears. There are some pictures at Auduocubes. EDIT: Yes, I saw your pictures, that's right . I think it might be a problem of isolation, earbuds usually don't block out much outside sound, so in heavy traffic etc, yes you might not be able to hear everything. You can either accept this (as I do), or get some isolating earphones/headphones. Note that headphones, even though they usually cover your ears don't always provide much isolation, especially the "open" type.. I really recommend the Sennheiser PX200. They are small headphones that provide good isolation and are very sensitive, so your N910 will be able to drive them well - they sound loud enough for me anyway. More importantly they sound very good for classical music! You could also buy the headphone amplifier you mentioned for an extra volume boost, but it's probably best to use these with even bigger, full size headphones.

Yes, you can trust minidisco, they are the main sponsors for these forums. The headbanger amp would certainly increase the output quite considerably, but really you'd only want to use this with some high quality, high impedance overhead phones like the Sennheser HD600. There's no point using a headphone amp with earbuds. As I said in my earlier post, even the Euro N910 has enough to drive decent earbuds to high levels (unless you have very bad hearing). Have you turned the AVLS feature off on your 910? Maybe this is limiting the volume - I think it is the default setting?

Actually guys, the Euro N910 has 4mW x 2. OK, it's not 5mW x 2, but it doesn't suffer badly at all from the volume cap. You could try some better headphones (eg. Sennheiser MX400) and/or trying some different customised equaliser settings. The standard supplied settings are very poor I found, some tweaking is needed.

You just need to be patient really. The Sony LAM-X1 will almost certainly have a timer, as do all other such bookshelves. And the external timers that are used with decks work well and are more flexible (in terms of programming) than built in timers. They only turn off in the middle of a recording if you program them to.

Sorry to hear that iceeedtea is leaving. He will indeed be sorely missed on these forums. I hope he will be back, or at least pop his head round occasionally... I think I can say on behalf of us all here that we wish him the very best for the future.

Hello. Don't worry, your minidiscs and player will be fine to go through the x-ray machines. Under normal conditions MDs are completely impervious to radiation or magnetism.

Hi. The good news is yes, you can use a new NetMD recorder to create disks that are compatible with your old car stereo. You will probably need to use the SP mode (standard stereo play mode which all MDs have) to record if your car unit is pre-2001 and thus not MDLP compatible (the newer long-play mode). With most of the NetMD machines you can either download your MP3s etc to a minidisc from PC, or record in real-time in the traditional way, eg. from a CD player. The latter will give you the best quality, but that might not matter for car use or if you only have low bitrate MP3s.

Yes it will overwrite part of the next track. MD overwriting is conceptually (if not necessarily physically) the same as tape overwriting.

There aren't any MD portables recorders with a timed-recording facility. You would have to invest in a bookshelf system or a full-sized deck. The nearest equivalent to the DR420 spec-wise would probably be the Sharp SD-CX9, but you might have to order direct from Japan for this.

Of the Sharp MD recorders that I have access to, the Sharp MD-MT88 and MD-MD180 both have 2x playback for mono recordings. They are both reliable units and shouldn't suffer from the UTOC error problems, but are not exactly new units.. Of the newer units, I'm not sure about the MD-MT290 (I can check later at home), but the IM-DR420 does not seem to have it. The "Fast Play" mono feature seems to have been limited to Sharps only, at least I haven't seen any Sony's with it....

Yep, and a lot of disappointed users would agree with you. I guess Opening a "Magic Gate" would imply endless possibilities were just round the corner . I've ony used the software for titling, it's pretty good for that at least...

M G = Magic Gate (apparently), but don't ask me the background to it...

Yes, the only playback issue is MDLP compatibility. "SP" mode recordings to your 610 will playback on your car deck with no problem. Not sure if the MDX-C6400R is MDLP capable anyway, though I suspect not.

Glad you like them Stevo, yep they have exactly the same spec as the MX500. And yes, like any decent headphones, they needed a little "burn-in" time to loosen up the coils. They don't leak much sound unlike many buds, I've always found them a nice tight fit with the foam pads, and so are quite safe to enjoy on the train, etc. Cheers!

No, there don't seem to be any easy mods for a volume fix, none posted at least... Have you played with the N10's equaliser? I have found that this generation of MDs sound much better with a few judicious tweaks (and good phones like the Senns). If you do decide on the N910, try to have a listen first if possible, or make sure there's a return policy. I love the N910, but for such an expensive piece of equipment you can never be too sure. Have you considered one of the Sharps (eg. IM-DR400)? These can be bought for under £100 here, are somewhat basic but deliver the goods on sounds (through the headphone). The N910 is seductive (I have the blue one) and good in its own right, and has a better line-out than the Sharp which may or may not be important to you. You're right, you can easily start a collection of these things, they ALL have their own strengths (and weaknesses)...

No, the JE530 was released before the introduction of NetMD, and can't be used with the software, though you can play back recordings made with a NetMD unit.

Yes Geoff, I am indeed happy with the N910. I haven't heard the (capped) N10 so I can't directly compare, but I would say it does compare very favourably with my older Sonys, which were all 5mW units. The maximum volume may be slightly less (I don't know as I've never needed to go above 20/30 on any). I'm sure you'd be happy with the 910 too. I use Sennheiser MX500 earbuds with the 910 which are easily driven and miles better than the Sony stock buds. You should get an improvement if you tried them on your N10. You're pretty much right in that it basically the same as the N10 in features, the main difference is it's powered by a replaceable gumstick battery, which in my book is far better than the built-in Li-ion of the N10. It's a shame Sony saw fit to cap their latest portables (not only MDs - I have a D-EJ2000 CD player with only 0.5mW of power!). But at least the N910 doesn't really suffer in this respect...

Sorry to hear that you're not happy with your N10. I'm not sure what Sony were doing with the volume limiting, but 2mW can't be the Euro limit as the later-released N910 has 4mW x 2. I have just bought one (in London) and I'm very happy with it. The difference from 5mW isn't noticeable to me. And besides, many of Sharp's recently released MD units all have 2 x 8mW or 10mW. Sorry, not much comfort to you (unless you can exchange your N10). There used to be the thing that portable units sold in France had low output, but Sony seem to have spread this Euro-wide, possibly as a cost-cutting exercise. I really haven't seen anything that confirms this is an EU regulation.

Not yet, but apparently both Sharp and Panasonic have licensed the Hi-MD technology, so we can expect their units later in the year or perhaps early next.

No, I'm afraid you're still stuck with analogue real-time"uploading" with the R37 and indeed any current MD unit. But there is a new type of MD just round the corner, called Hi-MD that allows true uploading, amongst other things. You still won't be able to upload your R37 recordings with it, although you can playback the recordings.

Well, yes, but you can't record from the "built-in" radio in the remote if that's what you mean - you'd have to connect an external radio to the line-in of the NF610. (For that you need a 3.5mm stereo line lead - the other end goes into the headphone or line out of the radio).

You can't program them to record at certain times either. Only decks or bookshelf units can do that.

It should tell you in the back of your manual (in the specifications section) what the output power is. It might be more to do with the headphones, though. EX71's aren't very loud anyway, though you can help matters by pushing the earpieces right into your ears. However I suggest you try another set of phones, eg. the Sennheiser MX500, which are fine with my even lower spec Sony CD player.

With NetMD downloaded tracks to delete the track you normally have to check it back in with Sonic Stage and delete it on the PC with that. Apparently you can also delete the track with a non NetMD recorder, but I haven't tried it so can't vouch that this works.