curls

Where did you find it? I ended up having to do the install from Sony. Luckily it didn't delete the setup files from the temp folder, nu tone setup file would be better

Thanks for the reply. I knew how to stop Connect loading, but I didn't want to install it in the first place. Trying to get MS Jet working again in Vista was going to be more trouble than it was worth, plus I couldn't get my eBookman to work properly in either Vista or a VirtualBoxed XP, so I decided to dual boot Vista and XP from two physical drives. Installed SS 4.2 (with no Connect) and everything is as it should be.

To answer myself, I'd used vLite on Vista and apparently removed the MS Jet DB support. I managed to get 4.3 running on XP Pro in a VirtualBox. Is there a copy of 4.3 anywhere that doesn't install Connect? I've been trying links in the forum but most appear to be dead.

Just got a new computer with Vista Home premium installed, and I have just installed SS4.3 direct from the Sony site. First it complained that three MSJet dll's were missing, so I downloaded those and copied them to the system32 folder. Now when I try to start SS, I get two errors saying "Cannot find database file..... click to recover database." I then get another error saying "Cannot start SonicStage. The files required to use the database may not be located." Any ideas?

About 4 years old, with very little use as I couldn't get out of the habit of using my portables with headphones. Seems a shame for it to be stood doing nothing. £45 plus postage, or pick up from near Wakefield, West Yorks.

There's no problem with downloading it, I've just done so, but making it available here might be a bit iffy.

I really didn't think anyone would actually care *why* I wanted a single earphone, I just expected anyone who knew to say "yes, I know", and everyone else to ignore my request. I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition. No one expects... well, you know the rest. Still, I guess we all have a little to much time on our hands. I listen to a lot of radio drama/comedy which was broadcast in mono. My own fault for saying music, which, of course, isn't necessarily in stereo. I never said I was young; my first hi-fi was mono, and I have[1] a hell of a lot of music on vinyl which is in mono. [1]Had. I sold out but transcribed to CD first.

Heheh, 15 years using usenet learns you not to take things too much to heart. Thanks for the link. It gave me food for thought and a brief search in the right direction found me one without the microphone, and with a 3.5mm plug instead of a 2.5mm one, which seems to come with most single earphones, probably because most are made to connect to a mobile phone. I also found one that looks like it might be an in ear one with the ability to take the rubber piece from my old EX70's. Local enough for me to go take a look, and very cheap too. Cheers.

Thanks very much for the replies. Very helpful indeed. I don't know what I'd do without you. Rude to music? Meh

Yes, I have mono adapter, but that makes the connection to the minidisc much longer, and you still have the second earbud dangling down. I don't find anything difficult about that. Try conversing to someone on your left and ignoring the person to the right. I'm sure just about anyone can cope with that.

I often want to listen to music but be aware of the conversation around me, for instance, if I am out walking with someone where the conversation is sporadic. At the moment I just use one side of my earphones, but obviously I am missing some of the signal. Being able to switch the minidisc into mono as I can my radio would be ideal, but since it isn't possible, I am looking for a different solution. I've never seen a good quality single earphone, probably because the market is so small - i.e. probably just me - except the tinny ones that can be used with mobile phones. I suppose I could hack something together using an old pair of earphones, but I wondered if anyone had ever come across anything like this.

I'd be inclined to see if the plastics are broken before worrying about the circuit board. The NE410 is very similar in construction to the N510 I have, and I just used the NE410 service manual instructions to remove the bottom, then the top cover from my N510 to have a look. Allowing for a being a bit timid about it, I reckon I had it apart and back together in 5 minutes. It would take a bit longer to get to the plastics of the button control, but not by much. Don't mix the screws from the top and bottom covers as they are different. Also be careful of the spring for opening the clamshell; there's a tiny slot in the top cover that it..well, slots into, that is difficult to see when you put it back together. You'll also need to take the flat cable out of the ZIF socket before the top cover will come off. After that it looks like there are just four more screws to remove to get the circuit board off so you can see the button conttrol.

Going on your description of the problem, taking a look at the service manual, and my own similar problem with an N710 (here), I'd say the plastic of the button control has broken. See page 8 of the service manual. Assuming you can get it apart, it should hopefully be obvious what is broken. I repaired mine by melting the plastic together with a very fine soldering iron. Overall it was a very fiddly little job, but as you can see, it's possible. Good luck getting it apart. Once you manage that, the rest should be easy. Umm... honest!

Just got a pair of these off ebay. Creative ones but not in Creative packaging and with a pair of their ordinary 'phones thrown in. I agree with tekdroid that the treble is a bit "tizzy", though it helps mask my tinnitus so it's not all bad. The lead is very microphonic, more so than other 'phones I have owned, and I also have a pet peeve about the type of lead that is made to go round the back of the neck; I much prefer the type with the same length both sides. Having said that, I much prefer these over my old Sony EX70LP's. There's no point me trying to compare them as they are so different, but they seem to suit my taste in music - mostly progressive rock - much more than the Sony's. I have another pair of Sony's - no idea of the model - which are much better than both these, but they are not the ear canal type and hurt my ears if I use them more than a few minutes. For the price of under 5GPB for two pairs of 'phones - my better half is pleased with the other pair - I am very pleased with my purchase.

I just came across this error, and vague as the original poster was, it's not half as vague as the SS message. Anyway, I just made (or rather my brother did) a battery module for my mic and I was trying it out. I decided to try to upload the 7 short tracks to the PC as I'd not recorded in HiMD before. Recorded on an NHF800 and transferring using SS 4.2. This was where I came across the error message, whilst trying to upload the tracks. However, I found that if I uploaded the two groups they were in, they transferred successfully. From my, admittedly brief, search on the error, I didn't see this mentioned anywhere, so hopefully it might be of use to someone in the future. Oddly enough, after transfer. SS 4.2 decided to name the first group of 5 tracks - a total of 1 minute 32 seconds - to Ronei Jorge E Os Ladrões De Bicicleta and named the first track Mulher Gigante. Strange, to say the least, as the recording is of me snapping my fingers, with a backing of torrential rain hitting the nearby window.

No link because the auction ended. It was buy now and nobody did, but I thought you might get a laugh from the description.

Picked up a Kenwood KMD-673R for the car off ebay for 26GBP. I just hope I can get the old radio/cassette out.

There's someone from Wales selling the NH-14WM for 2.99 and 60p postage - over 400 of them available. Item number 300063883261. If that one has gone, there is a link to his shop.

A friend who saw this happened to mention how filthy my nail is in the photo. I'd like to point out for his sake that I had just finished fitting a cylinder head gasket on someones car before I tackled the minidisc. My nails aren't always that colour. Er, well, if I haven't worked in the garage for a few days they aren't.

There have been around 130 guests online every time I have visited over the last three day, and I am here a few times every day. A guy in the minidisc newsgroup said the other day that this place is dead. It's far from it. The trade in minidiscs on ebay.co.uk is quite brisk and even 8 year old recorders sell well, with lots of sellers giving a link to here. Sony is missing out 'cause this format is nowhere near as dead as some people think. (says curls, whilst bidding for a car player)

Ok, thanks.

When I click on the gallery link, it takes me to the forum index.

Thanks for the info. I just put an order in for 10. Do you mind me asking, what is all the gear for in the photo's?

Anyone in the UK made the mic's? I've been trying to source some mic's here but haven't been successful. Digikey want so much for shipping to the UK that I suspect they send someone to deliver them personally. I know I could buy them ready made from Green Machine, but, being a tinkerer, I'd prefer to make my own (and to save money of course)

I bought my first MD to record all my vinyl. That was an Aiwa F65 in 1998. It broke just before the one year warranty was up and the store swapped it for a JVC XM-R70, which I still have and it's still in use most days. I think it was the same year that I ended up with one of the first MP3 players - a Rio PMP300 with 32 meg of memory. Expensive and a pain to use as MP3's were transferred using the parallel port. I also bought two CD MP3 players, one of which was a small one and took the 3 inch CD's. About 2002, I needed a new micro hi-fi to connect to the computer and was lucky enough to find an Aiwa with minidisc. That was pretty much it until last year when I spotted a Sharp MT280H that was practically being given away, so I bought it simply to get LP2. 3 months ago I found out about Hi-MD, which shows how long it had been since I last visited minidisc.org, and went straight to ebay looking for an Hi-MD unit. I ended up with an NHF800 and have since bought an N710 for the wife as she needs one with mic input, plus I bought a JE480 deck. As I don't use the radio on the remote for the NHF800, I bought a much more useful 35ELK backlit remote off ebay this week. I already have an MP3 player with FM radio that isn't much bigger than the NHF800's remote. Hopefully that will be it for the time being, except possibly for a mic. I wouldn't mind recording some nature sounds, or something along those lines, but I've been put off a bit by the price of good microphones. I do have a cheapish Sony stereo clip-on mic, but the seperation is practically non-existent. All in all, I'm basically a sucker for small electrical/electronic 'gadgets' for music, or anything else for that matter, which is probably the *real* reason I bought my first MD.