Want To Upgrade To Hi-md - A Few Questions

[Jacob]

Hello everyone,

I've been using MZ-R30 for over 7 years now and thought it was time for an upgrade. I'm looking to buy MZ-NH900, it should match nicely with my Sony ECM-717 mic. Not that my old recorder has died (works fine after countless live recordings I've made), it's just that I'm fed up with changing blanks during the show (although I usually don't have problem changing discs before the next song starts, it still makes me nervous and distracts from enjoying the show) and Hi-SP mode on new models looks very promising. However, the transfer problem really bugs me. Therefore I'd like to make sure I understood this correctly:

You can transfer your live recording only once. If there're some reading errors then your live show is ruined - there's no way you can make a new upload.

Is there any way to avoid SS software and transfer your recording made in Hi-SP from MD's line out directly to soundcard's line in with, say, Cool Edit? If it's possible will that affect the sound quality of the transfered recording compared to USB---->SS transfer method?

With Hi-MD can you be 100% sure that your live recording won't be lost or damaged? If not then using Hi-MD for live recordings doesn't make any sense, does it?

Any comments on these issues are greatly appreciated.

[A440]

Hi-MD simply adds the USB option, it doesn't prevent you from doing what you've been doing with the R37.

If you're used to doing the realtime transfer, recording analog through Cool Edit, you can still do that before or after a USB transfer.

SonicStage 2.3 has so far been reliable for me in transferring 5 full-length shows, including one that ran over two hours and 52 tracks in Hi-SP. If for some reason it doesn't do the transfer, you still have the music on the the disc and can do the realtime transfer. But you DO get one upload only via SonicSludge.

So far, I have only been screwed once by SonicScrooge 2.3, and it was partly my own fault. I transferred a show, mistakenly deleted some tracks from the computer, and then tried to transfer them again. SonicStupid detected them on the disc and DELETED THEM FROM THE DISC. Sony Customer Service said it wasn't supposed to do that, and of course were "sorry for the inconvenience."

But I was relatively lucky. My computer is partitioned with one logical drive used for daily operations and the other for storage, so the storage drive, where SonicStuck was placing the tracks, wasn't getting rewritten regularly. I used the free PC Inspector File Recovery software

http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/UK/welcome.htm

and all but one of the .omg tracks were still there. (There's also a big .tmp file that's probably the other track--if anyone knows how to turn it into a usable .omg file, let me know. Simply renaming it doesn't work.)

But anyway, if you play by SonicStooge's rules, you should be OK. For safety's sake, you can always do the realtime transfer first until (or if) SonicSlave earns your trust.

[Jacob]

Hi-MD simply adds the USB option, it doesn't prevent you from doing what you've been doing with the R37.

If you're used to doing the realtime transfer, recording analog through Cool Edit, you can still do that before or after a USB transfer.

←

Many thanks for your reply.

When I do the analog transfer of Hi-Sp mode recordings, do I need a .wav file converter or does it work exactly the same way as with older models?

If for some reason it doesn't do the transfer, you still have the music on the the disc and can do the realtime transfer. But you DO get one upload only via SonicSludge.

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Can SS actually delete music on my Hi-MD master?

Now a question to those who used to record shows with old Sony models like MZ-R30, 55, etc. and now switched to Hi-Md recorders. Is there improvement in mic recording sound quality or the only pro with Hi-Mds is the ability to record in Hi-Sp mode? And one more thing: how big is the difference in sound quality (I'm speaking of mic recordings) between PCM and Hi-Sp modes?

[dex Otaku]

There's usually little discernable difference between HiSP and PCM. I use HiSP for general recording quite frequently, though for important stuff I stick with PCM. This was my main reason for holding out for HiMD; there's something about being able to get recordings with nearly the same quality as DAT [i.e. uncompressed] on something that fits in your pocket and runs off a AA battery...

Compared to your R30, there have possibly been advances in the quality of the mic preamps. HiSP itself isn't such a revolutionary thing, either. It does a good job under most conditions, though.

Probably the biggest difference between your R30 and any of the current models would be the user interface. The days of buttons and switches that actually do something are gone - most functions are menu-driven, and some are a pain because of this [like having to turn on manual record levels through menus after every 'STOP' in a recording session.].

Anyway.

http://dexotaku.ath.cx/sound-art uid mdcf pw mdcf

mostly recordings made with an NH-700

[A440]

If you're recording into Cool Edit as .wav files, you're done. No converter necessary. Same as it ever was.

And yes, SonicStench can delete tracks from the disc. It won't work if you have the write-protect tab open.