Poor Gumstick Battery Performance On Nh900

[Shermy]

Hey folks,

I'm getting frustrated with my battery performance on my NH900.

I've lately been playing my music off and on throughout the day - probably a total of about 3 or 4 hours - and the battery meter goes down to 2 or sometimes 1 bar. I don't believe I'm doing anything that would put an excessive pull on the battery (such as editing tracks, etc. which the manual states as power hogs) except for maybe cycling the power on and off and possibly playing in shuffle mode. So, I've come up with a few theories as to why the battery might be draining so quickly.

1. The recorder uses up more energy when starting and stopping as opposed to continually running because every cycling on or off runs the servo motor(s).

2. The recorder uses up more energy when operating in shuffle mode because it has to run the servo motor to move the laser.

3. The recorder uses up more energy when the remote is attached (mostly debunked because I've operated it with and without the remote and the results have been close to the same).

4. The recorder uses up more energy to drive the after-market MDR-EX71 headphones.

5. I leave it on the charger too long at night (at the end of the day I put it on the charging cradle until morning). I thought the battery was a "smart" battery meaning it would stop charging after it's reached a full charge.

6. The charging cycle doesn't complete itself. This is alluded to in another post (I'll post a link later).

7. The stock battery - NH-10WM - is a P.O.S. and Sony grossly exaggerates their performance figures. (IMHO this is probably the answer)

I'd like to know what anyone thinks on this matter. I'd also like to know if anyone else has had similar battery performance issues.

I'd also like to get closer to the posted performance figures before investing in a new battery such as the NH-14WM. Any tips or tricks would be appreciated.

I've also occasionally attached a rechargeable AA battery when the internal battery gets low. However, I'd like to not have to use them except for recording live music. This is worrisome as well. I would hate for the recorder to conk out in the middle of an important concert and have everything lost (would this really happen?).

Sorry to ramble!!

[KJ_Palmer]

Try a NH-14WM instead. I do and get a much better performance, it charges fine in the NH900 too. You might also be in quick mode which drains the battery quickly - I think that's the factory setting. And you might want to turn the backlight mode off, etc., etc..

[dex Otaku]

This is exactly the reason why I stick with equipment that runs on standard, widely-available, cheap AA alkaline batteries.

[Shermy]

Try a NH-14WM instead. I do and get a much better performance, it charges fine in the NH900 too. You might also be in quick mode which drains the battery quickly - I think that's the factory setting. And you might want to turn the backlight mode off, etc., etc..

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Thanks KJ Palmer!!

I'm giving that a try right now.

I'll let everyone know the difference.

This may become troublesome when I go to make live recordings if I understand correctly. Does it take longer to cycle on?

Dex, I do wish my unit ran solely on AA batteries for the reason you give. I needed these added features however (extra battery life with attachable AA for live recording for 4+ hours at a time, line out setting, digital pitch control for transcriptions).

[mrsoul]

I have used and charged 3 different prismatic gumsticks in my NH900 without any problems. I do get a much longer life with the 1400 mAh and above. Plus, you CAN use a rechargeable AA in that dry cell case without problems. I have recorded at least 10 shows with my NH900 and I always use the AA case along with the gumstick. I have yet to have any problems with batteries dying while I record (ususally 1-2 hour sets). I do change the gumstick out during set break if I have the chance or the set was long just to be safe although my at-home test tell me I am being paranoid.

The prismatic gumsticks really are cheap and have worked fine for me.

You might also be interested to know you can record in PCM for over 2 hours with a standard AA battery alone without the gumstick. During my test, I had to change the Hi-MD disc long before the AA battery got below 2 bars out of 4.

Edited January 20, 2005 by mrsoul

[Shermy]

Thanks mrsoul!

All of that info hits right at home.

I recorded a 4 hour performance with an Energizer LiIon AA battery attached and a fully charged gumstick in Hi-SP and it worked fine. In fact, I don't think the battery meter went down at all. Those Energizer LiIons, though expensive, are workhorses. I've had a set of 4 in my digital camera for almost half a year and they still read a full charge.

The unit with the NH-10WM and without the AA attachment is pitiful though. I will seriously look into those prismatic gumsticks.

Thanks!

[dex Otaku]

Dex, I do wish my unit ran solely on AA batteries for the reason you give.  I needed these added features however (extra battery life with attachable AA for live recording for 4+ hours at a time, line out setting, digital pitch control for transcriptions).

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Indeed, at least the NH900 has the option.

I'll point out, though: I have made 7.5 hour recordings on my NH700 using a 30-cent generic alkaline AA [in HiSP mode with a HiMD 1GB disc] and still had sufficient power for about 10 hours playback afterwards.

[Shermy]

I'll point out, though: I have made 7.5 hour recordings on my NH700 using a 30-cent generic alkaline AA [in HiSP mode with a HiMD 1GB disc] and still had sufficient power for about 10 hours playback afterwards.

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That's good to know. If I recall, I was able to use that LiIon AA battery I used for a 4+ hour recording session for a good week or two afterwords before it began to drain. So perhaps, I'm being a bit paranoid.

I did order two of these batteries. I also switched to Quick Mode Off.

Hopefully this will resolve one of the two frustrations I have with my NH900.

The other one is one I share with you Dex. That is AGC being the default recording mode. I'm hoping a hack is discovered. Has there ever been a hack for the older models that have AGC as the default?

[dex Otaku]

Not that I'm aware of.

Though in all honesty - the AGC of my 700 is so 'clean' compared to what I expect AGC to be.. that I end up using it for most 'quick' recordings anyway.

My wish isn't really that manual would be the default anymore.

My wish is more that Sony would stop back to a few years ago, and make it so that if you held the record button for a couple of seconds it would put the unit in manual levels mode.

Although really - what I'd prefer is a switch. "manual / AGC" .. but then a switch has to mounted on the board &c., increasing complexity.

I just hate having to hold 'menu' for 3 secs, press down 5 times, enter, down again, enter, down, enter.

[ROMBUSTERS]

id just like to point out that as long as you dont manually change the songs and let the recorder do its own thing and buffer as it goes there should be no higher or lower battery strain no matter what mode you are in.

What was aluded to was that shuffle play takes more power. Incorrect as no matter which song is playing, bits and pieces are scatter all over the disc for the laser to seek to anyways.

[Shermy]

id just like to point out that as long as you dont manually change the songs and let the recorder do its own thing and buffer as it goes there should be no higher or lower battery strain no matter what mode you are in.

What was aluded to was that shuffle play takes more power. Incorrect as no matter which song is playing, bits and pieces are scatter all over the disc for the laser to seek to anyways.

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Thanks for clearing things up ROMBUSTERS!!

[Tiesto]

I recorded a 4 hour performance with an Energizer LiIon AA battery attached and a fully charged gumstick in Hi-SP and it worked fine. In fact, I don't think the battery meter went down at all. Those Energizer LiIons, though expensive, are workhorses. I've had a set of 4 in my digital camera for almost half a year and they still read a full charge.

It is possible to mix two rechargeable batteries even if one is NiMH and the other one is LiIon on the NH900???

[ROMBUSTERS]

  It is possible to mix two rechargeable batteries even if one is NiMH and the other one is LiIon on the NH900???

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probably but not recomended and not covered by warrenty (read the manual)

[Shermy]

All Right, I think I spoke too soon. In fact, I know I spoke too soon.

I was getting all paranoid that my battery was going to die when it got down to two bars on the meter. Well, about 18 hours later, it finally quit playing. I had a 1GB HiMD disk filled to the brim with music in Hi-LP mode (around 35 hours of music) with the player set on shuffle. I only used the original battery (NH-10WM) with no AA battery attached. So, the so called "pitiful" battery supplied with the player lasted close to 21 hours!! It omly took about 3 hours of continuous playing time for the first two bars on the meter to disappear, which is why I was getting panicky.

I realize that Hi-LP is not a big drain on the battery, however, 21 hours is more than twice the amount of play time mentioned in the specs for Hi-LP (10 hours).

I'm still not going to go out and record a 2+ hour show in PCM without an AA battery attached. However, I'm shocked and pleased that the NH-10WM battery performed well above spec.

I need to clarify something said before. Tiesto, The AA battery I used was not a LiIon rechargeable it was a Lithium battery...the blue and silver Energizers. Sorry for the confusion.

I did get 2 of the NH-14WM batteries in the mail. They are in the player now. It does seem to take longer for those first few bars to go away on the meter. I'll post a more detailed review later. I have only drained them from the level they were at when they came from the company, which was reading two bars in the meter.