Brfff

I remember I did this for most of my pre-recorded MDs using my RH1 ... MD -> WAV -> iTunes. I've just found a couple more that I never imported so I've just tried it again and SS won't do anything ... they show up but dragging across to my library does nothing. And, I've actually ordered two new pre-recorded MDs from n5MD.com so it'd be nice to import those as well. Does it work when running on Windows 7? I think I was running Windows XP when I did it last time. I'm running Windows 7 under emulation on my Mac ... seems Hi-MD transfer also no longer works on Mac OS 10.6. Thanks, Brett

Hi Wiz Of Oz, Was considering one of them on import - they're 110VAC though, aren't they?

It seems that our MDs are on the way out - fair enough I guess as technology has moved on quite a bit since their debut. I thought I'd write a little bit about my minidisc story - not sure if this is the right forum, but I'm sure it will get moved if necessary. I remember back in my UQ days (University of Queensland) in the mid 90s having a long debate with a friend over which new digital format would reign - MD or DCC. I was firmly in the MD camp and he was adament that DCC was superior. Well, it seems we know which technology triumphed in that competition. In those days I had managed to splash out on a CD player and so had started buying CDs. These were my master copies with quite a few mixtapes being created for portable use. I could see where the MD would be superior - I could make a digital compilation disc of music from both my tapes and CDs. I couldn't afford an MD recorder then but I always held out hope. Fast forward a few years. I've graduated from uni (finally!) and have moved from Australia to Finland (big move I can tell you!). I can finally afford my first MD system! After some shopping around I picked up an Aiwa XR-MD85 mini system (tuner, tape, CD, MD). I bought it duty-free at the Helsinki airport and lugged it to Germany and back (hey, I was earning Finnish markkaa, most of which went to the Finnish government so every saved Finmark was precious!). The first MD I made was a compilation of my 80s tapes and CDs. Cool! I was in love. A few months later my South African girlfriend (who I'd met in London and was living with me in Finland ...) bought me a Sony MZ-R90. Now I could listen to my MDs on the move. Even cooler. I could make compilation MDs and play the tracks randomly ... try that on a cassette player! She also got me my first pre-recordered MD. Couldn't see much point in them back then - prefer to buy the CD because I could at least then copy the songs I wanted from the CD to MD on my Aiwa ... I couldn't with the MD. Those two MD machines kept me going - copied CDs onto MDs, etc. And bought another two pre-recorded MDs whilst in Finland - Midnight Oil. Thought it was pretty cool buying some Aussie music in Finland on an "obscure" format! Anyway. Moved to the UK, got a Mac, then an iPod. MDs weren't as much use anymore ... I could rip CDs straight into my computer, carry 20GB of music around with my on my iPod, make compilation CDs ... Moved back to Australia. Earning more money, paying less tax. Discovered Ebay. Never got rid of any of my MDs ... hoped one day to be able to transfer my pre-recordered MDs onto CD and/or my iPod. Found a Sony MDS-JE520 (with digital in AND out). Cool! Also picked up a Tascam CD-RW700 CD recorder (uses normal CD-Rs). Okay, okay ... would've been much cheaper to just buy my three pre-recorded MDs on CD ... but this was proof of concept! So I copied my MDs digitally onto CD-R, and then into iTunes. Sweet! It even came in use when I couldn't import certain CDs into iTunes on my Mac (such as Jakatta's Vision album). Easy - digital copy from CD to MD, and then back again. Yeah, yeah, loss of quality, etc. ... but I don't have golden ears. I've refined the process even further - any CDs I can't import on my Mac, I simply copy onto a cheap CD-R: my DVD player has optical out so source CD goes in the DVD player and I copy it onto my Tascam, and then import it into iTunes. No matter how difficult music publishers may try to make it for me to enjoy the music I've paid for, I will find a way to listen and enjoy it! So, now we are in the twilight of the MD era it seems. I still love my MD ... I have bought a Sony MZ-RH1 and MZ-NH600 plus have bought a whopping 57 pre-recordered MDs on Ebay (crazy, but I love them) in the last year. Sony seems a little silly though - I would buy a Hi-MD deck tomorrow if they put one on sale. As it is, I may have to scoop up a second RH1 before they disappear andd use that as a deck. Also ... why do they sell portable stereos, minisystems, etc. with cassette recorders still?! Anyway. Sony is losing enough money, probably need to stem the flow somewhere. This is in addition to the four Macs in my house plus six various flavours of iPods. I will keep a hold of my MDs for as long as possible - my main use now is recording the soundtracks of concerts on DVD onto my MD (my Mac has optical audio out) - I can then create a CD of the concert. Neat! I'm also making some CDs from some old tapes I rescued from my parents' place - childrens stuff I had when I was growing up that I want to play for my five month old (no matter how much my South African wife objects! yes, she married me even though I subjected her to several Finnish winters). It seems the tapes are originally from the late 60s so they're a bit older than me, but I have fond memories of those songs when I was growing up in Papua New Guinea. And I still have the first 80's compilation MD I made in Finland. And my little Aiwa is going strong - it's now in our lounge room as a tuner, CD/MD player, tape->MD recorder, as well as connected to an Airport Express for streaming from iTunes. Okay, a little long winded. Sorry.

I've just got a Kensington iPod charger and it works no problems with my RH1. Also comes with an iPod USB-dock connector cable so I can switch over to my iPod. Now I'm all set for the 17 hour drives between Adelaide & Sydney (after loading up a few Hi-MD disks by streaming straight from DI.FM on my Mac via optical out to my RH1, and also copying a few DVD concerts onto MDs). ... oh, and I'm still waiting for my Mazda3 MPS to arrive (which is why I got the charger in the first place)!

... or use a Mac.

Cool! Thanks for the tip Steve.

Hello, I didn't see any other replies so I thought I'd chip in with mine. My first MD unit was an Aiwa mini-hifi type gizmo - had tape/cd/md/radio built in. Remember it vividly - was living in Finland at the time and bought it duty-free at the airport, so had to lug it onto the flight to Germany and back (just before taxfree stopped)! Used it originally to make "mixtapes" from my tapes and from CDs. Then got a portable (MZ-R90). Then got an iMac G4 with iTunes (rip/mix/burn) and so kinda forgot about my MDs for a while ... got a 2nd gen 20GB iPod. My MDs languished for a while - had a few tape transfers but mostly CD mixes from my pre-Mac days. Plus three pre-recorded MDs. Back to Australia. Picked up a Sony MD deck cheap on Ebay with optical out. Hooked this up to a Tascam CD recorder that I also picked up cheap on Ebay that allowed you to use normal CD-Rs instead of those more expensive audio CD-Rs. Used this initially to copy my MDs to CD and then into iTunes on my Mac. Then came the RH1. Didn't really know about Hi-MD. Picked one up and have loved using it. I made a post in another thread - am using it to tape Internet radio streams, tape DVD soundtacks (i.e. live concert DVDs). And I take it jogging with me. Back to your original query. I'm in two worlds - we have four Macs in our family, plus my work Windows laptop. It's good that Sony have released some Mac software - allows you to rename and copy tracks off a Hi-MD disk. But I finally installed SonicStage on my work laptop and it's been usable. I find it strange to use, but at least I can get it to do what I want. Since I got my Sony MD deck off Ebay, have been "collecting" pre-recorded MDs from Ebay (54 current count, with a few more in transit). I like them. Same as I like UMD movies. Of course, I don't pay full price for them - a movie for $10 Aussie is a bargain. But I digress. I've been able to use SS to copy my pre-recorded MDs into WAV format, and then onto CD ... then into iTunes. So format-shifting pre-recorded MDs works well. Digitally recorded Hi-MDs I've not had much luck with. I recorded a stream off DI.FM onto an 80min blank in Hi-MD mode. Started importing on both Mac & Windows software but they both choked after a while. So I gave up on that - if I want to listen to the stream, I take my RH1 jogging with me (which works quite well). Idea was to copy it onto one of my iPod shuffles. But there is streamripping software that can do that anyway. I will try some microphone recorded transfers for you tomorrow if you like. Overall, the RH1 is a fantastic unit. It's a shame that it's the end of the line because it really is a pleasure to use. Well done Sony. Of course, why use a mechanical format when flash memory is so much more reliable and cheaper, etc. But the end-user experience is what counts to me. My RH1 does what I ask of it admirably.

More and more it seems. I've got an RH1 and an N600 (picked up new for $99 Aussie ... USD$77 here. Plus my original Sony MZ-R90 & Aiwa XR-MD85 (which I still use for copying tapes to MD). (1) Use it to "tape" Internet radio streams: mainly the DI.FM streams -> play them via iTunes to my Airport Express basestation which is connected to my RH1 via optical cable. Get about 2.5 hours on an 80min MD. About eight hours on a 1GB MD, which is just awesome. Yeah, yeah I could just use a streamripper & save it to my iPod but that's no fun. (2) Works well jogging with a pair of Sennheiser MX75s. Which is where point (1) comes in. (3) "Tape" soundtracks from DVD (i.e. concerts) - make a backup of the DVD via MTR/Popcorn, which then allows me to record the audio digitally to my RH1. An 80min MD in Hi-MD mode has more than enough room. (4) Backing up data on my Windows & Mac computers - like to see someone try to steal that data (security through obscurity idea I guess). Plus I have 54 pre-recorded MDs. A bit silly know, but I prefer to have my music physical. Besides, I've copied them all to my iTunes library via my RH1 or via a CD recorder anyway. I'd much rather pay a few dollars extra for the CD with booklet rather than an iTunes download at lower quality and DRM. My wife and I have six iPods (and four Macs) between us, but am just a little bored with them. Meh. Overall, I like my little RH1. Firmware update to allow shuffle play without the remote is badly needed! But am seriously considering a second RH1 to connect to my hi-fi and possibly replace my Sony MD deck. Also wish there was my Mac software so I could just drag & drop tunes from my iTunes library onto my RH1. Anyway. Would be nice to have more 1GB disks available (but I am not paying $12 Aussie for a disk!), however the 80min ones are plentiful and can store quite a bit compared to the old days.