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Hi-MD Recording Modes

Christopher

By Christopher,
in Essential Hi-MD info/FAQ's.

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Christopher Grand Master

Christopher

Posted
Posted

Hi-MD Native record modes (Using Line / Optical in etc)

Hi-MD formatted disc gives PCM, Hi-SP & Hi-LP

Standard MD Disc gives SP, LP2 & LP4

Hi-MD Using Sonic Stage (V2.1 or above)

Hi-MD disc gives PCM, Hi-SP, LP2 (2 flavours), Hi-LP(64k), LP4, Hi-LP(48k)

MD disc gives SP (fake as LP2 transcode), LP2, LP4

Hi-MD using Simple Burner

Hi-MD disc gives PCM, Hi-SP, Hi-LP(64) (Mine also gives me Hi-LP(48) but not mentioned in specs)

MD Disc gives LP2, LP4

Hope that clears things up

ADMIN edit: More info here: http://www.sony.net/Products/Hi-MD/capacity.html#3

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Crono Newbie

Crono

Posted
Posted

Hi-MD Native record modes (Using Line / Optical in etc)

Hi-MD formatted disc gives PCM, Hi-SP & Hi-LP

Standard MD Disc gives SP, LP2 & LP4

Hi-MD Using Sonic Stage (V2.1 or above)

Hi-MD disc gives PCM, Hi-SP, LP2 (2 flavours), Hi-LP(64k), LP4, Hi-LP(48k)

MD disc gives SP (fake as LP2 transcode), LP2, LP4

Hi-MD using Simple Burner

Hi-MD disc gives PCM, Hi-SP, Hi-LP(64) (Mine also gives me Hi-LP(48) but not mentioned in specs)

MD Disc gives LP2, LP4

Hope that clears things up

ADMIN edit: More info here: http://www.sony.net/Products/Hi-MD/capacity.html#3

How can you get 10 or 13 hrs out of an 80 min MD like it says at the site?

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big_raji Newbie

big_raji

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With which program?

Is there a Hi-LP/Hi-SP that exists somewhere between 64kbps and 256kbps?

I've done some searches here, and I've turned up some people saying they get 105kbps and 133kbps in Hi-SP mode, but I think they're confusing LP2 and Hi-SP... Of course, if they're not, I'd love to know how it's done.

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atrain Newbie

atrain

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the new sonicstage 3.2 can give you atrac3+ in many extra bitrates, sadly these wil not transfer to himd units only flash, hdd nws & vaio pockets.

gen2 himd gets 48&64 hilp, 105&132 lp2 [atrac3],

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Crono Newbie

Crono

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I'm still trying to work out why SONY say everywhere (on sites in the manuals) that you can put put 10 hrs or 13 hrs of music on a standard 80 min MD in Hi-MD mode, when it seems that there's no way to do it. Can someone help me out with this?

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webbphonic Newbie

webbphonic

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Hi-MD Native record modes (Using Line / Optical in etc)

Hi-MD formatted disc gives PCM, Hi-SP & Hi-LP

Standard MD Disc gives SP, LP2 & LP4

Hi-MD Using Sonic Stage (V2.1 or above)

Hi-MD disc gives PCM, Hi-SP, LP2 (2 flavours), Hi-LP(64k), LP4, Hi-LP(48k)

MD disc gives SP (fake as LP2 transcode), LP2, LP4

Hi-MD using Simple Burner

Hi-MD disc gives PCM, Hi-SP, Hi-LP(64) (Mine also gives me Hi-LP(48) but not mentioned in specs)

MD Disc gives LP2, LP4

Hope that clears things up

ADMIN edit: More info here: http://www.sony.net/Products/Hi-MD/capacity.html#3

I've just bought a MZ-NH700 nad my son was about to buy one when I discovered that recording to the mini-disc from the computer using Sonicstage 3.3 to a standard mini-disc only occurs in LP mode. Thus one of my resons for buying teh recorder is negated. I record aweekly radio programme and need to reord it on Mini-Disc in normal mode not LP. This is because the stations players only support normal. Even if they supported LP I would not record my programme in that mose. It seems that I can only continue dubbing in real-time to my Mini-Disc deck.

I also found when recording from a microphone I could not get the recorder to work in normal Mini_Disc mode only LP unless I alraedy had a trrack in normal mode.

I alos find it incredible that discs recorded via analogue in on older mini-discs (or Net MD)cannot be transferred to the computer via teh USB port. Again these will have to be transferred in real time form my old deck.

It's no wonder this foramt didn't ctch on, Sony has made it as awkward as possible to use.

Pity I bought somany discs with my unit.

Webbphonic

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twodogs Newbie

twodogs

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OK, I'm getting more and more confused. Using SonicStage (3.4) can someone explain the different CD Importing options...I thought I was OK with it, but the more I look the less I understand.

I've got the different formats, and I'm only interested in the Atrac ones (not atrac lossless

What does the "recording quality" dropdown do (toggles between Normal and Fast)?

I've then got a whole bunch of Bit Rate options, from 48 to 352. Alongside the 132kbps option it says "Atrac 3"...why? What are all the others? Atrac3plus? Is 132 the only one that isn't Atrac3plus? Also, if you select 132, the "Recording Quality" dropdown is removed.

I'm using Hi-MD 1gb disks to record onto...what bit rate, quality etc should I use? My understanding was that 64kbps Atrac3plus was of equivalent to the old "standard" recording quality on standard (pre netMD) minidisks. Is that roughly correct?

If I import at a higher bitrate, will I get a better quality recording on the minidisk?

Sorry for all the dumb questions...I need a really simple explanation.

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Roamer Newbie

Roamer

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The quality drop down 'Normal(Fast)' / 'High'allow you to tune the quality. If you chose high, it will take longer to process, but use a better way to encode for the same bit rate.

132k is old Atrac3 as you have guessed (aka LP2). This is mostly usefull is you want to use legacy netMD.

If you use higher bitrate, the quality should improve, but the quality option does also matter.

352k with 'High' quality should give the best quality, and 48k 'Normal(Fast)' should give the worst. I think the 64k Atrac3+ will be worst than LP2 , but better than LP4, although i haven't done any real testing (IMHO, they are better options to use).

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twodogs Newbie

twodogs

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thanks..it's making more sense now. I've done abit more playing around, and, as I think someone else said on here earlier (and I have now seen), when you copy the file to the Hi-MD, the bitrate seems to get changed anyway, so you can only have 64 and 256, or 132 atrac3.

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Richard Grand Master

Richard

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somone said on here earlier (and I have now seen), when you copy the file to the Hi-MD, the bitrate seems to get changed anyway, so you can only have 64 and 256, or 132 atrac3.

Only if the bitrate you ripped to is not compatible with Hi-MD or you have chosen to forcibly convert all transfers irrespective.

As "someone" has probably also said you can rip to 48,64,132,192,256,352,PCM and if you transfer "As-Is" you won't have any issues.

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mzucaro Newbie

mzucaro

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well actually my Simple Burner provides also PCM for HiMD =)

Not sure whether this is the place to ask, but which yields greater audio fidelity (near CD quality) -- Quick Burner or an optical digital cord (straight from the CD player to the MD recorder?

Thanks for any help.

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JG98258 Newbie

JG98258

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I too am confused by the many options available to me for recording CDs with my new RH1. Here's how I did it before with my MZ-N510, keeeping in mind my desire is to get the best sound quality possible on the MD:

1. older model higher end Denon CD player with RCA analog out, connected directly to the 510 with a Monster Cable RCA to stereo mini plug cable

2. record the CDs onto the MD using ATRAC 3 SP mode, manual record level(most of the time)

Results were pretty darn good- nice detailed sound, especially after purchasing a headphone amplifier. I didn't mind carrying lots of MDs at 80 minutes each for an extended day of hiking or etc. I never tried the Sonic Stage recording options. . . .

Now that I have the RH1, with it's supposedly better sounding ATRAC 3+ and HiMDs that can hold 7 hrs 55 mins in Hi-SP mode when recorded from the RH1, I am thinking about re-recording some of my CDs onto the HiMD discs in the HISP mode straight out of the CD player as above. From what I've read, ATRAC 3+ at HiSP/256 kbps should be better sounding than the old ATRAC 3 at SP/192 kbps. Sure I can get 4 albums onto one HiMD, and free up 4 standard MDs, and have a better sounding disc. . . . but what are my other options?

I know I am limited in a couple of ways: 1) my CD player does not have digital optical out, only analog. New CD player with that: quite expensive; 2) I only have a built-into-the-motherboard variety of sound card- no digital optical out on the computer. I certainly could get a new sound card with optical out, and from what I've read here they're not expensive- 30 bucks or so.

I have SS version 4.2 installed; I see there is a way to record from the computer to the MD in ATRAC 3+ at 352 kbps. Maybe this is even better sounding than the 256 kbps directly out of CD player option. My question is- can I do that with the connection method being the USB cable, or do I need a new sound card with optical out? Is there a loss of quality going from CD in computer going into SS, getting coded to ATRAC 3+ and then transferred to the HiMD? Thanks for the help.

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greenmachine Newbie

greenmachine

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352 kbps is only available by using SS, not for real-time recording, which means USB transfer only. The quality should be superior to 256 kbps in theory, but whether it's worth the increased space demands and if you can hear the difference depends entirely on -your- ears. The only significant audible loss (or not, depends on your ears) happens when PCM is compressed to a A3+ (or any lossy codec). There should be no quality loss at all from cables, software or the like since it's an all-digital transfer (unless something goes wrong like CD read errors). In theory, software transfer should be quality-wise superior to real-time recording since there is no re-sampling (hardly audible difference though).

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cochra1 Newbie

cochra1

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In theory, software transfer should be quality-wise superior to real-time recording since there is no re-sampling (hardly audible difference though).

You would certainly think so, but see my posting elsewhere (click on my name and look at my other topics, there aren't many).

I have done numerous testings and found that without a doubt the quality of recordings captured in realtime via an optical cable are superior to even the highest spec copy made using SonicStage software. It's more tedious - but the gains are worth it.

I say 'without a doubt', but you wouldn't believe how hard this is to convince others of! But see my posting.

Edited by KanakoAndTheNumbSkulls
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