JG98258

Hello Minidisco Community- I'm seeking advice: now that my RH1 is starting to act up, I need to get a new one! But do I have to have an RH1? My RH1 had a NO DISC error that seems to have stopped(the error that is). I can play it as before but for how long? There is a good looking lightly used RH1 on Ebay right now for $550. That's not too much for me to spend on a unit I can hopefully expect many more years of life out of and enjoy so much. Having a HiMD unit means I can play my HiMD discs at any time. I'm hesitant to use my existing RH1 now. . . . There are lots of Std MD units on Ebay, and they're MUCH MUCH cheaper. But all my HIMD discs, and all that great music on 'em, become less accessible to me. As I see it, for portable use, I can: buy another HiMD portable unit and play everythingrecord all my CDs to my Sony JE520 deck(which makes GREAT sounding discs), and use either my MD-510 portable or another Std MD portable unit. Would require the purchase of a Std MD unit and a bunch of Std discs, which are still available and relatively cheap. Got any suggestions on the better quality Std MD units they sell on Ebay?maybe a more forward thinking possibility: use either SS or Sound Forge to record the CDs into a high quality codec, and play them either with my Sony MZ-E385 portable unit or another, better quality one?As I understand it, any HiMD .OMA files I have in SS cannot be converted to a Std MD format, transferred to the MD-510, and come out sounding as good since SS does not really have the 292 kbps codec in it- they get converted to LP2, correct? Thanx for the advice. . . .

got the same problem with my 8 year old RH1. . . . no disc error, std or hi-md. will try above suggestions. does sony still repair these in '15?

I too picked up 3- 10 packs of the 80 minute Neige discs, at $14.80 each from an Amazon retailer, to go with my new used MDS-JE520 deck. Any quality concerns about these discs?

I didn't think of that- hi-SP out of the computer would be 256 kbps, and going into the 520 deck using standard SP would be 292 kbps. If there is something I have on hi-SP that I want to play on the big stereo through the 520 deck, I can either rerecord the original CD or vinyl using the deck, or connect the RH1 using the Monster stereo mini to RCA cable as I've been doing. But the idea is to minimize the use of the RH1. . . After connecting the 520 deck to the receiver and playing some of my SP discs, my first impression is man, this deck sound pretty darn good! I think I'm entering a new world of minidisc by having a deck, albeit SP only, in my home stereo system. If only I had one of those Onkyo hi-MD decks. . . maybe someday. The next step is to enter the world of semi- high end sound card on the computer.

Is the OLED display necessary? Are there things displayed on it that aren't displayed on the remote at the same time? I've never checked. On my RH1, I always use the remote to start/stop tracks, FF, rewind, etc. to save wear and tear on the control on the RH1, and I turn the OLED screen off to save it. I want this little guy to last. . .

For 5 bucks from a second hand place. They didn't know what it was. This is actually my first deck; all my MD recordings were done with an MZ-N505(replaced by Sony with a MZ-N510) in SP mode, or a MZ-RH1 in hi-SP or PCM mode directly out of my Denon analog CD player using a Monster Interlink 400 Mk II cable or from vinyl through my venerable Tandberg receiver. So cool! I can play my SP discs in my stereo system! I don't need to connect up the RH1 into the receiver and play that way. I can save the RH1 for portable use only. I still have plenty of regular discs left, and they're still available, so new recordings can be done with the new deck. Cool. Plus I can then play them in either of my portable units. The service mode says this unit has only been in record mode 12 hrs, although the manual says this is like one quarter the actual amount. Says playback mode 115 hrs, assuming it hasn't been reset. I've never actually done optical in/out recordings with the RH1; none of my other components have that type of connector. The sound card in my computer doesn't have an optical in/out either, but a new card wouldn't be terribly expensive. All my discs are backed up and non-copy protected in SS. Can I do this: with an optical out sound card and using an optical cable, play a hi-SP recorded album in SS on the computer, and have it be recorded into the 520 deck in SP mode? Or import an album into SS in SP mode(can I do that?), then play it going out of the sound card optically and into the 520 optically? I suppose a CD player with optical out would be very useful, but this Denon DCM-360 player sound really good, and I've always been happy with the sound quality of the MDs recorded out if its analog connectors.

It looks like the Macally IP-A481 external battery, mentioned in this forum in the past, is no longer availablbe. Macally now has the JboxMini, which looks to be the repalcement. Any one have any experience with this unit? Thanks

See the posts in the topic "MD Users Today"- a similar question is being asked. The format will last as long as we keep the demand alive.

I'll give you a good analogy of MD users sticking with the format when there are other newer formats available: film cameras vs. digital cameras. Sure digital pictures are quicker, easier, etc., but are they better, when you take all things into consideration? A hard question to answer. . . Film camera users are in a similar situation to MD users: few available models that do the work(the camera, the minidisc player/recorder) currently being produced; limited selection of media (film, MD blanks)currently being produced and sold in the retail market. If there are enough people out there using the products, the products/market will survive. Maybe for many years- there are plenty of similar situations. I'll be doing my part to keep the minidisc format and film camers alive!

CDs and vinyl albums I record get done with HiSP 256 kBPS, either out of of my vintage 30 yr old Tandberg receiver for vinyl or directly out of my not so vintage analog only Denon CD player. I use a Monster Interlink 400 Mk 2 RCA to miniplug cable into the RH1. My really favorite stuff I record at PCM, but it uses up the discs quickly. . . I did a test with several tracks from one of my favorite Pat Metheny albums recorded onto the minidisc at PCM, 352, and 256. End result of the test was 352 and 256 were indistinguishable and PCM was only slightly better than those two. So- 256 it is. Works well for recording time- 8 hrs worth on a Hi MD, 2 hr 20 min for a regular minidisc. Good headphones and a headphone amp help a lot too.

It was the sound card. Got a new one, a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE, and the problem is gone. Of course now that I have a sound card, after what I read about this model, I may have a new set of problems pop up from time to time. A new Windows thing to learn how to troubleshoot. But it's all good, it's useful knowledge; kind of like knowing how to diagnose and repair your car

Thanks for the help y'all. I didn't mention before- when I imported the OMA files, I had my AV and firewall turned off. But there may be more to that- some other small resident app. that is working with the OS on a frequent basis. I went into services.msc and disabled several things that may have caused the problem. That didn't help. Maybe it's system restore. Could be a buffering problem with existing onboard sound card. I just finished downloading updated drivers, incl. the one for the sound card. Maybe that'll solve the problem. If I don't get this solved that's ok; I just want to make sure I can recreate a disc if it gets lost or damaged. Being able to transfer onto a disc in the RH1 using the files from SS, and having it play back on the RH1 without the artifacts is good.

Good evening all- let's hope I can explain this properly- I have previously transferred my minidiscs, both Hi SP 256 kBPS and SP 192 kBPS from the RH1 into SS v.4.3 on a now dead computer. Still have the hard drive with a directory of "SS Optimized Files". My idea for this is so I can listen to them on the computer and have a backup for each one should I lose it. I then converted them, removing the copy protection, with the same codec. So I have a folder on my computer of optimized files with the .OMA extension- 15 GB worth in directories by group from the MDs. So I get a new(used) computer- a Dell Optiplex GX280 P4 3.2 Ghz with a built in sound card, and reinstall SS 4.3. I import the .OMA files into SS. When I play them, I get little artifacts, or short "blurred" parts of the music, reoccurring every few seconds. Not pleasant. More evidence: if I transfer one of these groups of .OMA files onto a blank minidisc, using SS, and play it on the RH1, I don't get the artifacts. If I play the disc through the RH1 attached to the computer running SS, I don't get the artifacts. More evidence: if I transfer a group of .OMA files that were stored on a different computer into this version of SS and play, I don't get the artifacts. I don't record my minidiscs using SS; I record them straight out of the CD player using an analog RCA to stereo miniplug cable(CD player doesn't have optical out). Seems like the sound card could be the culprit. Does anyone out there know enough about this to offer an educated opinion? I don't know much about the various features sound cards offer, especially optical vs. analog, etc., but I know they're not terribly expensive for a decent quality one. If my artifact problem is because of the current mainboard embedded sound card, I'll spring for a separate one. If not, well I guess I could transfer all my discs one by one into SS again, and convert them. . . unless someone out there can shed some light on this. Thank you for whatever help you can offer.

I too record my MDs only by realtime, straight out of the CD player into the RH1, using a Monster Cable Interlink 400 RCA to stereo minplug cable. The CD player is a Denon DCM-360, analog only for the output. I record onto the MD at either HiSP 256 kbps or PCM for my really favorite stuff. I did an extensive comparison of this method(HiSP 256 kbps) vs. Sonic Stage @352 kbps, and came to the conclusion the straight out of CD player method sounded just as good if not better than the SS method. And I compared a variety of well recorded, dynamically wide, and complex CD music that I know well. Stuff recorded onto the MD by PCM sounds even better- essentially the same as a CD. I use SS for titling and backing up, but not for recording. I don't use LP for anything musical.

Actually I just received my order- not bad, Quebec to WA State in 8 days. The LIP-4WM battery is identical to my original one except for 2 things: the new one has a "Recycle 1-800-..." logo thing on the front right side, where the original one just says "Li-Ion"; and on the back, lower right, the new one says "FHA"; the original one has "EAA" here. Anyone know what those mean? Both batts say made in Japan, but whether or not that's true. . . . The new battery did not come in a case.