kino170878

Type in the website URL directly in your browser. The forum is still accessible.

There are studio professional grade discs made by Sony, TDK, and HHB. Quite expensive, but I am not sure there is that much difference in the end. Digital data is after all zeros and ones. Although perhaps if you used them in conjuction with the best decks out there, it might be possible to realize superior recordings.

In addition to the Panasonic there is also the Kenwood CLK-7i-S and the Sony Netjuke NAS-M95HD. It's good news for Legacy MD isn't it. I always figured the 'old minidisc' would keep going while Hi-MD would be phased out. Although Onkyo are still making their line of Hi-MD units, they are the only ones I think still with an interest in Hi-MD.

How easy is it to replace a recording head on portables? I guess every portable one day is going to be facing this problem.

Here's some Sony decks with digital out. There may be others that I have forgotten: JB920 JB930 JB940 JB980 JE770 JE780 The only deck which Sony is still selling that has a digital output is the JE780. Edit - you might like to check each model, as I am not sure if all the decks have the full set of digital connectors (coaxial and optical).

^ Ahaha, makes you want to throw the disc at the wall sometimes doesn't it?

Sounds like you are recording nothing, which is recordable of course. That's why it shows on the MD which correctly plays back dead space. Make sure the computer soundcard is actually sending sound out of its connectors. Perhaps check on the 470 by putting in headphones and monitoring the sound as it is received. Keep trying, messing around with the menus on both machines and you will get it in the end.

If you can live with standard minidiscs, why not record in SP and buy those Sony decks off ebay? I have 8 (last time I counted) Sony decks which I use frequently. My Sony store down the road even sells new MD decks, can you believe it.

Maybe it's time we all go back to cassettes. Nobody is going to waste time going through a tape that has no instant access to tracks. I still have a separates tape deck lying unused in the garage, and hi-fi systems are still being made with tape decks built in.

True the RH1 is an elegant solution. To get a CD for his friends though he will have to convert from Atrac to WAV through Sonicstage and then again to CD audio. I think in this case a straight digital transfer via hardware isn't really too bad.

Get a PC

Sounds like you don't have access to professional equipment from companies like HHB and Tascam. But you must surely have access to consumer level decks in Thailand I would imagine. Lots of companies should be selling those. If you can then buy a consumer CD recorder, all you would need is a Sony MD deck with digital out (optical or coaxial) like the 'JB' series and a SCMS stripping machine. It should be able to get rid of the copy limitation and you can make CDs from MDs in the digital domain. This is a strictly hardware solution with no computer in sight. On the other hand, if you had decent software editors on the PC and a high quality soundcard with digital connections maybe you can go the computer route. Hardware though is more straightforward I find.

Can you please get rid of the stupid ads, thanks.

I don't think it needs a large sum of money really. Some guy has supposedly already reverse engineered the Atrac3plus codec and nearly achieved full unrestricted access of Sony's OpenMG platform. The NetMD stuff I think would be similar, so it should definately be possible.

Just use 74 or 80 minute discs and you will be ok.

No. Your old Sharp MD model only works with SP atrac. The Hi-MD format uses atrac3plus, a different format created in 2004. Unless you use the Sonicstage program to heavily compress tracks to 'NetMD', which effectively fools the disc into thinking it is SP atrac.

I thought that digital data was simply 1's and 0's and would therefore allow for exact copies? Or is Sony even capable of changing that too?

http://www.sony.co.uk/view/ShowProductCate...MiniDisc+Player MDS JE480 and MDS JE780 are decks that are still being sold by Sony UK. Maybe you can try importing as you live in the States.

MP3 cannot handle gapless tracks natively. The Atrac format supports native gapless playback. Sony (the creators of Atrac) never liked MP3 (and even tried to cripple it) so I am quite sure they will never implement gapless playback with MP3 on their players. Sony do however allow gapless with WAV. If you want gapless tracks at MP3, well good luck mate but aside from the iPod I can't see it possible or the solution being elegant.

This is how you deal with bullies http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAifvU8IQps...feature=related

Indeed you are correct. The 11EL also works with the R37, another reason to invest in this wonderful unit.

By all means try to fix it yourself. I never had the confidence to perform surgery on portables. Sony made the thing, so I am quite sure they would have a good chance of repairing it. I have no idea how much it would be. If you decide to do it yourself let us know how things go. The remote for the MZ-R55 is the RM-MC11EL. I got mine from ebay. It is the only remote aside from the original MZ-R37 remote (which is almost impossible to find for sale separately) that will work with the R37. To be honest, I think you should treat yourself to another one of these. The MZ-R37 is one of the coolest, best sounding units ever made in my opinion. The only thing which let it down (as this thread shows) is the buttons. That's why I invested in another remote.

Sony I believe are still selling DAT tapes even though DAT recorder/players are now totally gone. They may therefore continue selling Hi-MD discs after the RH1 is officially stopped, however I think it is quite likely that these will only be obtainable through "professional" distributors and retailers. The supply in other words will dry up, but not altogether.

Hmmm. Could have sworn that I read some MD tech guy who fixes Sony units saying that the internals were the same. Hence why both were much more reliable than newer units. Anyway, the main thing is that we can offer some help to the thread starter.

Short of sending it to Sony, here's what you might try 1) Ebay for another one - the MZ-R37 is a classic I have one myself 2) I am having exactly the same problems as you, the ff button is almost gone although the other buttons work fine. Maybe learn to live with it. 3) Get a remote control - again from ebay. Note that you can also use the MZ-R55 remote which has a LCD that mysteriously works on the MZ-R37. The R37 uses an old style connector and it is very hard to find remotes that fit. The sound on the MZ-R37 is in my opinion the best of all the minidisc portables. This is probably because of the mechanism used (same as the R50), the high quality of the components and the fact that it uses 2 AA batteries allowing for much better sound than is usually possible.