chorismos

Reading these helpful posts, if you leave out the PCM/decompressed option as being space-hungry and the MD deck/analogue option as being equipment specific, there seem to be a couple of options offered by the RH1: 1. To Minimise transcoding and loss: - Upload SP recordings via RH1 and save as PCM - Import to SS as ATRAC AL (50% space of PCM) - Delete the WAV file (optional) - Transfer ATRAC AL to Hi-SP A3 @ 352 Advantage: very minimal transcoding and loss Disadvantage: can't fit so much on a 1Gb disc. 2. To Copy on the fly (if available) - Upload SP recordings via RH1 and transcode to Hi-SP (A3+ 256k) on the fly. Disadvantage: slight bit rate quality loss from 292k to 256k and transcoding loss (amount depending on what SP recording was transcoded from) Advantage: on the fly transcoding and fits heaps more on a 1Gb disc. There seem to be lots of things to weigh-up between size vs quality vs hassle-factor vs lossy-ness. I think the on-the-fly option would be the one for me because it would be the easiest! I transcoded most of my SP format discs from CD (so relatively small loss from original). I find 6-7 CDs to a 1Gb disc (in Hi-SP) is a good combo length (I get about 5 per 1Gb disc using A3+ @ 352). Would miss the A3+ 352 sound though...once you're spoilt...

So I wouldn't be able to upload older format recordings (SP, LP2, LP4) with my NH1, but RH1 can upload non Hi-MD audio (eg SP material) via USB. Presumably, that means on a RH1 you can convert the SP via SS 3.4 to a Hi-MD format eg Hi-SP, without any loss of quality except for the lower bitrate @ 256? Oooh, more temptation to buy an RH1 (although I'm very attached to the NH1 it will be an add-on rather than replacement probably). I have heaps of SP discs and am a sucker for the (eighties?) compilation 'theme disk' approach but this could just wait a bit. I don't have an MD deck unfortunately, and the analogue upload method seems to be a bit of a workaround with the real-time copying requirement. Incidentally, I reckon there's an appreciable enough difference between Hi-SP @256 and A3+ @ 352 through Bose QC2's to make it worthwhile using SS 3.4 over Simple Burner, but Hi-SP is fine for me overall. Thanks for your advice about this.

I would like to compile older SP disk content onto some Hi-MD disks so that I can take more music with me on the go. I'm using SS 3.4 with my MZ-NH1. I know that SP runs at 292 kbps, Hi-SP at 256 and A3+ optimal at 356. Music quality is really important for me so I don't want to lose SP standard of reproduction if possible (I usually burn from CDs via SS using A3+ 365). Could someone please recommend the best format to use for burning the Hi-MD disks from the SP disks? If this isn't a lossless process, what's the impact on quality of reproduction from the Hi-MD disks? How do you 'minimise' the impact? Thanks for your help and if this repeats other thread contents it would be great if you could direct me to them (couldn't see it in a topic).

Totally - let's not get into the 'if only' and 'why it didn't' territory which is covered elsewhere ad nauseam. It is interesting to look at the context of MD: Sony revolutionised the seventies 'boom box' carrying generation with a miniature personal cassette player. With Dolby NR etc the quality was ok and with all the clones the price tumbled (remember the bright orange foam headphones? Wow I'm getting old). I'm *just* young enough to remember the impact of CDs on the acoustic vinyl market: CDs were often considered 'cold' and lacked the warmth and ambience of vinyl playback but they were relatively robust, comparatively compact and the music was digital and pristine. Vinyl is still played, largely it seems by DJs and classical music buffs with expensive valve pre-amp systems. My prediction is that in 30 years it will have gone the way of the gramophone and be found only in museums. Most DJs I know (ok they aren't big names but I think it's indicative) are shifting over to or using Pioneer CD mixing decks and the vinyl is only available in swap meets and from specialists. Everything is going HDD or solid state: Bose Lifestyle systems are symptomatic of this in dumping your entire CD collection onto HDD for playback. With CD sales now falling on the High Street there isn't much doubt that CD days are numbered- who knows how long but they'll probably only be in specialist stores in ten years. I think that outside Japan MDs were only ever really a niche market between CD-Walkmans and the highly PC-literate MP3 generation. HiMD probably was a little too late and was in-between the mass storage space of IPods and the tiny size of MP3 players, without the marketing support and facing the (let's face it) design genius of Apple. We have been totally spoilt in having near CD quality reproduction in the beatifully designed and sized MD units, with (nearly) all the recordability, battery length and disk exchangeability we could want. (The one thing hard to beat about Hi-MD for me is the disk-swap. For some this is a liability, I like having different themed disks and the ability to store music away from the actual unit etc). I think that outside Japan Hi-MD has already become a niche market and I earnestly hope that Sony continue to support it at least in the short term. I love the look of the RH1- stunning look and capacity with few restrictions. I'll almost certainly buy one when I'm next over in Tokyo. Bring it on. I have no attachments to technology (although I've a soft spot for MD): I'll move on from Hi-MD when there is a suitable replacement offering: CD quality sound, recordability, affordability, gapless playback, data archiving etc. I don't want to get into endless discussion about what constitutes 'CD quality sound' it's covered in other threads by people who know a lot more about it than me. All I will say is that I'm subjective in that I know what a difference Hi-SP makes through decent headphones. It's like riding a bike: once you've been on a top line racing model it is very hard to go back to what you once had. Sure, we all have fond memories of our first bike but we know we can't return. Some things are improvements and some are retrograde: the question is how can Sony keep the sound quality and other great features of Hi-MD especially recordability in their next generation of products? Ok I won't get into the 'Sony shouldn't compete with Apple on the same turf' argument, but if you buy the whole bike-shop analogy here's my petition to Sony: Sony please don't abandon the manifold strengths you've built through Hi-MD, without offering alternatives! It won't be easy to improve on the Hi-MD attributes (sound quality, recordability etc) and it will need strong marketing and design but you could do far worse than building on this technology! And keep supporting this brilliant format.

With a pair of decent cans some IPOD music can sound excruciatingly HIDEOUS. The small white phones (same problem as the Sony Bud phones that come supplied with the MD units) mask horrendous sounds so Ipods can actually appear to sound reasonable. I'm assuming typical MP3 stuff at lowish bit rates on the IPODS --decent PCM will be OK but IMO if you don't use PCM /WAV then ATRAC3 plus at HI-SP or the old GENUINE SP sounds far better than other compressed formats by a UNIVERSE. -------------------------------------------------- I completely agree. It is astonishing to me the relative lack of attention paid on these excellent and highly technically competent threads to what brings me back to MD everytime (after six happy years of two different Sharp and Sony models): sound quality. With a pair of decent headphones (I'm using Bose QuietComfort 2; incidentally, if you buy in the States they are far more reasonable than UK in price) on a MH-NZ1 at HI-SP there is simply no comparison with standard MP3. IpoD sound quality is embarrasingly bad. A couple of mates use IpoD Nanos and the acoustic range is limited, the bass muddy, the response muffled and strangely flat. In short, the sound is bland and gutless. Until a decent bitrate and acoustic range is baselined as standard for hard disk playback devices I'll be holding onto my MDs. I use the NH1 for gym as well (with smaller Sennheisers) and it never skips with intense workouts. My DJ mates burn MDs of their mixes straight from the decks and I use the unit at work to record meetings and take minutes (just plug the ECM DS70P straight into the unit)- far better reproduction and capture than the current generation of digital notetakers. I also use the unit to backup data - who wants to pay £35+ for a 1GB data stick when you can just plug in your 1GB disk at £5 (and change the disk)? Call me 'old school' but I will keep buying CDs and burning to Hi MD until a realistic better optimal sound solution emerges. Also, I don't want to pay for half-rate bit-rate quality downloads from sites that don't have half the music I am after. It has been said again and again...if only Sony had marketed this technology right.