User Manual Errors SONY MZ-NHF800

[n0g0THEf0li0]

According to Sony's manual, Synchro recording (auto track marks after a period of 3 seconds) is only available on an Optical Line In recording. Unless I am just completely inept, this is an egregious error. As a matter of fact, the reality is completely different. I have been attempting a recording that is a single track at around 120 minutes. The recording is from Mono MD to Hi-MD over a Line-In. The track is spoken word, and contains many silent moments. Regardless of whether Synchro is turned on (SONY claims it can only be enabled in Optical recordings) an auto track mark is created every time there is more than three seconds of silence. I have found that no matter the source, if a line is plugged into the Line Level (Analog or Optical) then Synchro is turned on and cannot be turned off. It can be disabled for Microphone recordings only. Has anyone else noticed this?

Another discrepancy: there is no mention of my unit acting as a recharger. On a hunch, I installed a NiCad battery into it, plugged it into the wall with the supplied power convertor and pressed the "stop" button. Sure enough, it recharges the battery. The manual states to only use alkaline "dry" batteries and to replace promptly when exhausted, making no mention of the recharging capabilities at all.

I was actually going to use WinNMD to record onto my PC, but it looks as though that website is gone and I get no response from its owner via email. Hi-MD with Renderer looks great and works well for Hi-MD, but WinNMD would really be the best solution for my older recordings on standard MD (no recompression).

Sigh.

Anyone have WinNMD and a way to pay the software author for the use of the software?

-N-

[Christopher]

Welcome to the forums.

About your inital dilemma, does this only occur with Mono tracks?

[linzq]

Another discrepancy: there is no mention of my unit acting as a recharger. On a hunch, I installed a NiCad battery into it, plugged it into the wall with the supplied power convertor and pressed the "stop" button. Sure enough, it recharges the battery. The manual states to only use alkaline "dry" batteries and to replace promptly when exhausted, making no mention of the recharging capabilities at all.

-N-

I also have the 800, and my manual does mention using it as a recharger. I don't know if we have the same manual, but on page 81 it says:

"On charging

- Do not charge any other battery beside the supplied one or the one designated for it (NH-7WMAA)

- Be sure to use the supplied AC power adaptor."

- Charge the rechargeable battery at a temperature of +5 degrees C (+41 degrees F) to +35 degrees C (+95 degrees F)

- The recorder may become hot during the charging procedure; this, however poses no danger."

I have also used Panasonic rechargables (P-3GAVA), as recommended by my local audio-shop-guy, and they work just fine. In fact, I prefer them to the Sony battery, and they were about $15 CAD for two.

Good luck!

[n0g0THEf0li0]

I also have the 800, and my manual does mention using it as a recharger.  I don't know if we have the same manual, but on page 81 it says: 

"On charging

- Do not charge any other battery beside the supplied one or the one designated for it (NH-7WMAA)

- Be sure to use the supplied AC power adaptor."

- Charge the rechargeable battery at a temperature of +5 degrees C (+41 degrees F) to +35 degrees C (+95 degrees F)

- The recorder may become hot during the charging procedure; this, however poses no danger."

Nope. In my manual, page 81 talks about using the Adapter and a dry battery and discusses the heat output from the AC adapter, but makes no mention of recharging. I should mention that I bought my 800 about two days after it came out. I wonder if this is an issue that has been corrected? Could you check your manual for the Synch related issue as well?

I've tried making Stereo Hi-MD recordings as well...nope, no matter what the setting, if there is an 1/8 plug in the Line In, Synchro is on. Anyone else notice this? I'm considering contacting Sony Tech Support to find out if it might be a hardware malfunction, unless someone else can corroborate the issue.

By the by, I use MD to record dialogue for ultra-Indy movies. It's not quality enough for a FILM, but a great option for low budget DV projects. Hi-MD promises to make uploading the tracks a lot easier too. In the future I'll use uncompressed PCM on 1GB discs, upload the files, convert them (thanks Marcus), and drop them straight into Premiere or Final Cut. Pretty simple--a lot easier/faster than rerecording an analog source onto HDD. My only issue is that the last shoot I did before I got the Hi-MD unit--and since Win NMD is gone, I've got no way to get the tracks to the PC without rerecording them. Grrr...

-N-

[linzq]

[quote name='"n0g0THEf0li0Nope. In my manual' date=' page 81 talks about using the Adapter and a dry battery and discusses the heat output from the AC adapter, but makes no mention of recharging. I should mention that I bought my 800 about two days after it came out. I wonder if this is an issue that has been corrected? Could you check your manual for the Synch related issue as well?

-N-[/quote']

I got mine about two days after too. Mine's from here in Canada, maybe yours is a different version?

The manual is the same as yours on the synch issue.

[deafplayer]

sorry this is off-topic, but you mentioned recording a mono track.... i thought this was not possible with HI-MD? what modes can you record in mono and does it give you extra record time like the old MDs?

[n0g0THEf0li0]

Sorry, should have been clearer:

The source audio was a mono MD recording from an old player. I was rerecording it to Hi-MD in order to upload it.

Which, for my purposes, will not work. The additional compression is just unacceptable. I am SO desperate to get WinNMD right now--it seems to be the only solution for getting these files onto my computer. I have tried every way possible to contact the software author but have received no response.

I hate to do this, but does anyone have a copy of WinNMD that I can get? I have the temporary use version, but I need to unlock it--I would gladly pay the software author if possible, if not, I'd gladly buy someone's (working) copy.

I have to get a rough cut of a movie by next week and the only thing left to do is replace the scratch audio with the actual tracks.

Please contact me if you can help.

Thanks,

-N-

njc596s@hotmail.com

[dmoog4]

Thanks for alerting me to this topic after I posted elsewhere about a similar problem - i.e. my Sony MZ-NH900 insets irregularly-spaced track markers anytime I use the optical line in, even though I have Synch mode turned off. It makes the deck useless for much of my recording, as the tracks do not seamlessly recombine.

Is there any hope that Sony can *repair* this if I send it in under warranty? Are we just "screwed?"

Doug

[n0g0THEf0li0]

Is there any hope that Sony can *repair* this if I send it in under warranty?  Are we just "screwed?"

I'm contacting Sony to find out...will post my results here.

-N-

[dmoog4]

I just examined a recording made from a similar signal, and this time there were no extra markers at all. It's not easy to explain the other event; there were markers in the middle of sound, so it wasn't smply that the unit was in Synch mode. One difference this time was that I used Hi-SP rather than PCM mode; some further investigation is warranted.

[JavaGeek]

I also have the 800, and my manual does mention using it as a recharger. I don't know if we have the same manual, but on page 81 it says:

Don't ask me how I know this (I read it somewhere, but I can't find the source now), but Sony actually makes 2 NHF800 models, one for USA and one for Canada. I know this because I just bought mine in the US, and it doesn't say anything about recharging. And I know that only the Canadian models are able to recharge NiCad batteries.

Btw, this is my first post. I've just bought me an 800 for xmas. :laugh:

Edit: OK, I found the reference. It is a small note that came with my player, that says:

Note on Recording/Editing

When you record or edit on a 1 GB Hi-MD disc, perform followings:

MZ-NH900/MZ-NHF800 (except USA model)/MZ-NH700

Connect the AC power adaptor to the recorder, charge the rechargeable battery fully, or use a new alkaline dry battery

MZ-NHF800 (USA model only)

Connect the AC power adaptor to the recorder, or use a new alkaline dry battery

Does anyone know what other differences are between the US and the non-US model?

[RichM]

I also have the 800, and my manual does mention using it as a recharger.  I don't know if we have the same manual, but on page 81 it says: 

"On charging

- Do not charge any other battery beside the supplied one or the one designated for it (NH-7WMAA)

- Be sure to use the supplied AC power adaptor."

- Charge the rechargeable battery at a temperature of +5 degrees C (+41 degrees F) to +35 degrees C (+95 degrees F)

- The recorder may become hot during the charging procedure; this, however poses no danger."

That's the manufacturer covering themselves. If you charge another battery in the recorder and it damages the recorder, it won't be covered by your warrenty, that is if you disclose that you recharged different battery than supplied to technical support.

Don't ask me how I know this (I read it somewhere, but I can't find the source now), but Sony actually makes 2 NHF800 models, one for USA and one for Canada. I know this because I just bought mine in the US, and it doesn't say anything about recharging. And I know that only the Canadian models are able to recharge NiCad batteries.

Does the US version come with a rechargable battery? In some territories the 800 comes with a AA form factor Ni-MH rechargeable battery, for example it does in Europe or at least the UK. See here (pdf), the manual for the European NHF800. It's likely that if the US model does not come with a rechargable battery, Sony omitted the recharging functionality from the instruction booklet to cover themselves when people stick any old rechargable battery in their Walkman, rather than making another variation of the NHF800 (the European model has it's headphone amp crippled).

[n0g0THEf0li0]

Mine is a US model. It does, however, recharge--it just doesn't "say" it does.

-N-

[JavaGeek]

Mine is a US model. It does, however, recharge--it just doesn't "say" it does.

-N-

I also have the same model, and I use it with NiMH batteries. However, it doesn't say anything about charging, and I've left it connected the whole night and still the battery appears to have the same charge.

Oh, well, I do have a recharger and at least 4 fully charged batteries available at any point in time, so it doesn't really matter :smile:

[n0g0THEf0li0]

I've left it connected the whole night and still the battery appears to have the same charge.

Try plugging it into the wall with the AC adaptor, then press the "Stop" button. You should see the battery indicator come on...this means it is charging.

-N-

[Skradgee]

Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2004 2:29 pm    Post subject:  

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sorry this is off-topic, but you mentioned recording a mono track.... i thought this was not possible with HI-MD? what modes can you record in mono and does it give you extra record time like the old MDs?  

Could someone answer this question please? :smile: I am also unclear as to whether or not recording in mono is possible with Hi-MD. Thanks.

[Skradgee]

OK, so I sucked it up and checked through the user manual for the MZ-NH1 to find an answer to my own question. It looks like you can record in mono only when the unit is in MD mode and not Hi-MD mode. Is this correct? If so I'm a little disapointed that this didn't carry over to Hi-MD.

[n0g0THEf0li0]

OK, so I sucked it up and checked through the user manual for the MZ-NH1 to find an answer to my own question.  It looks like you can record in mono only when the unit is in MD mode and not Hi-MD mode.  Is this correct?  If so I'm a little disapointed that this didn't carry over to Hi-MD.

Yup. That's correct. I'm not sure why they decided to do it that way, because a mono track is MUCH better for voice recording such as interviews, etc.

[dex Otaku]

Yup. That's correct. I'm not sure why they decided to do it that way, because a mono track is MUCH better for voice recording such as interviews, etc.

This is sort of irrelevant. Since lower-bitrate atrac/3/plus modes use joint stereo for recording [read: MS-stereo], if both channels are identical [a mono signal sent to both left and right] you are basically recording with twice the quality that you'd get with a stereo signal, since you're basically recording at full or near-full bitrate on the M channel with nothing [or next to it] on the S channel.

It's a sacrifice that you can't record in mono and get twice the time out of the disc, sure. But given the option between twice the time or twice the quality, I'd go with quality, myself.

[n0g0THEf0li0]

This is sort of irrelevant.  Since lower-bitrate atrac/3/plus modes use joint stereo for recording [read: MS-stereo], if both channels are identical [a mono signal sent to both left and right] you are basically recording with twice the quality that you'd get with a stereo signal, since you're basically recording at full or near-full bitrate on the M channel with nothing [or next to it] on the S channel.

It's a sacrifice that you can't record in mono and get twice the time out of the disc, sure.  But given the option between twice the time or twice the quality, I'd go with quality, myself.

Well, except for now when I pull the audio into Adobe Premiere or another nonlinear editing machine, I have to go through the process of removing one of the channels. It's just an extra step that I could do without. Plus, yes, it would be nice to record in MONO PCM--instead of a twenty minute recording, it would be forty.

But I'm not complaining...I think the advancements in the Hi-MD outweigh losing something like mono recording. I do want to point out that the newest version of Sonic Stage makes WinNMD unusable--the drivers make WinNMD not recognize the Hi-MD unit. WinNMD is useless on Hi-MD originating recordings (with Marc's great Renderer), but it still applies to older recordings on standard MD. Any thoughts on novel ways to approach these older recordings? Right now I'm uninstalling and re-installing various versions of Sonic Stage as I need to upload audio. Once I have everything transferred I guess it's a moot point.

[Skradgee]

It's a sacrifice that you can't record in mono and get twice the time out of the disc, sure.  But given the option between twice the time or twice the quality, I'd go with quality, myself.

I just find this to be a pain because I combine two mono mics into a stereo signal with an adapter on the end of the plugs. Now if I want to use just one mic for a simpler setup, the signal is forced to the left channel instead of both channels. So now I need a mono adapter for muh headphones for listening to those recordings, or I can just cheat and pull the plug out of the jack a little bit.

[Abbstrack]

my manual makes no mention of it being used as a charger either.

and it does not come with a rechargeable battery, at least the US version that I purchased a week before this past monday...so the part about not charging any battery other than what it came wth is moot for US users.