Uplodaing Live Recordings

[infoman]

Hi

I've got a lot of live recordings made using an old R900 on LP2 and even LP4.

I don't have an optical in sound card and as I'm using a laptop I can't put one on cheaply.

I do have access to my fathers LPMD deck and my new Hi-MD 900 portable.

If I transfer all of the tracks from my fathers deck optically to my Hi-MD, is there a reliable way of getting them on to my computer without using real time methods?

I assume transferring the tracks optically will keep the original sound volume settings on the LP minidiscs.

I can transfer them to my computer without worrying about losing the tracks because I've got the original MDs. However I believe that Sony's software now treats them as digital even though they started life as analogue and so the wav converter will not work. I am not convinced that any other method, other than the wav converter, will preserve the original quality.

There is the free HiMD-render program but when I did a lot of short files to CD, at the end of last year (using ver 0.22), I noticed that some of the tracks had bits of audio repeating itself. Is still a problem with ver 0.31? I couldn't spend time going through all the recordings correcting them as it would produce more errors where by I miss bits or cut bits which shouldn't be cut.

I could transfer in real time but because my soundcard has a volume setting, for recording from the soundcard, I am not happy that I am getting a perfect digital copy.

Does any one have any ideas? What is the best way to do this so I preserve the original recordings.

I long for the day when MP3 recorders will be greatly improved, then mindiscs will become a thing of the past. I know that MP3 recorders may not be such good quality, due to the MP3 format. However all I ever wish to do, when transferring music, is preserve the quality I recorded originally and not introduced further loss later on. Since I am not happy that I have a perfect recording when transferring from my minidiscs, I am still having to keep the originals.

It would save me a lot of money if I didn't have to keep buying minidiscs. Although having said that I can get 10 for £5.99 from Dixon's (UK) so that's a lot better than it use to be.

Thank you for any help. I fear I'm fighting a losing battle.

[ROMBUSTERS]

All HiMD units can upload to PC digitally and since the advent of SonicStage 2.3 there have been no known problems with lost recordings

[infoman]

All HiMD units can upload to PC digitally and since the advent of SonicStage 2.3 there have been no known problems with lost recordings

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Indeed they can and I have done this using SonicStage 2.3. I have also heard that one person is known to have lost a recording using ver 2.3. However, that doesn't help recordings made from analogue sources and then transferred digitally to my HiMd recorder from other MD deck. I believe that SonicStage will see the recordings as digital rather than analogue. That means I won't be able to use wav convert on them.

I see that Total recorder goes before the soundcard when recording, but as you can adjust the volume setting I am not certain if it will keep the original quality. If you get the record settings perfect then there may be no loss, but I am not convinced I'll get it right.

I've not tired Total Recorder before. Previously I have used programs like AudioTools (UK based) and that will just have taken the sound off the soundcard. I will give Total recorder a go but I still want to avoid recording using my computer, if I can, as it does crash from time to time when recording. I purely want to use my computer as an uploading tool.

[mrsoul]

Use Marcnet's HiMD Render program. Regardless of the source, you will be able to convert to wav, flac, ogg, or mp3. Works like a charm without any problems. See the pinned thread for info.

[infoman]

Use Marcnet's HiMD Render program.  Regardless of the source, you will be able to convert to wav, flac, ogg, or mp3.  Works like a charm without any problems.  See the pinned thread for info.

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Hi

I used ver 0.22 last year and I found that some tracks had parts of the audio repeating itself. I only noticed this when I played back the CD.

I don't know whether ver 0.31 does this. I've still to try it out. However as I deleted the files I used last year, from my computer, I'd better not get them off the minidisc again!!! Not if I don't want the hassle of recording the songs off my TV recorded video tapes and records.

I was recording Austrian/Bavarian folk and Christmas music! I decided the easiest way to edit it would be to use my minidisc recorder. At that point I couldn't download Sonic Stage 2.3 because I was on a dial up connection. So I had to use Hi-md Render. Of course that won't work in my new case as it will treat my tracks as digital even though originally they were not.

I've thought of another way. Burn the tracks to CD using simple Burner and then rip those. That way the sound volume will not have changed from my original recordings. There may be a loss of quality though but at least the sound levels should match the originals.

Edited February 28, 2005 by infoman

[ROMBUSTERS]

any analogue recordings can be updated even if they come from another MD unit

[infoman]

any analogue recordings can be updated even if they come from another MD unit

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Thanks for that fantastic news. Seems I was wrong. I'll run some tests and see what the quality will be like. Should be perfect for what I want.

Thanks

[dex Otaku]

any analogue recordings can be updated even if they come from another MD unit

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Um.. Did you mean "uploaded" here? Because legacy MD and MDLP recordings cannot be uploaded with *any* existing portables.

[ROMBUSTERS]

yes i meant uploaded and i *meant* to state HiMD formatted discs only.

btw where u been dex? on vacation lol good to see you posting again

[infoman]

I tried to convert my uploaded recording and it didn't work. I wasn't surprised but I've got to try these things.

I took an analogue recorded minidisc and recorded a short section via an optical cable to a HiMD recorder. I then uploaded the new recording along with a piece of analogue, also recorded on that minidisc player.

When I ran wav converter it only saw the analogue recording on the new MD and not the digitally recorded analogue recording from the other minidisc player.

I was hoping for a easy solution so I wouldn't have to use my computer as a recording device. It seems Sony don't like my ideas.

In this case I couldn't have uploaded the original as it was an MD LP2 recording. However I would never upload my HiMD recordings for fear of losing them. I might forget that I've uploaded them or it might go wrong so I need to upload them again and then they will be lost from the minidisc. I fear for my lost recordings. Sony have introduced that fear but being so harsh. Not that they really care. After all there manual doesn't make it that clear otherwise I wouldn't see by slight confused by it all.

However when MP3 recorders are greatly improved may be they will see sense. By the time this minidisc recorder dies I am sure MP3 recorders will be greatly improved and I will never use a minidisc recorder to record again. I will however need a player just to play my old discs so they've got me there!

[ROMBUSTERS]

you cant upload something you've recorded digitally

[zerodB]

you cant upload something you've recorded digitally

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You CAN can't you? You can upload a recording you've recorded digitally, you just can't CONVERT it to wav using Sony's WAV converter tool...

Or am I mistaken?

[ROMBUSTERS]

You CAN can't you? You can upload a recording you've recorded digitally, you just can't CONVERT it to wav using Sony's WAV converter tool...

Or am I mistaken?

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hmm i actually do not know, i dont have an optical cable to test this out, anyone else know?

[dex Otaku]

You CAN can't you? You can upload a recording you've recorded digitally, you just can't CONVERT it to wav using Sony's WAV converter tool...

Or am I mistaken?

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Yes, you can upload optical digital recordings, but you cannot convert them with Wave Converter. You can convert them with HiMDRenderer, though.

Infoman: You and I seem to take opposing philosophies, here.

You appear to be so paranoid about losing your recording that you won't transfer it at all, where I'm paranoid to the degree that the first and most important thing to do, IMO, is get it off the HiMD. Kinda interesting.

Have you read the uploading FAQ?

[ozpeter]

I see that Total recorder goes before the soundcard when recording, but as you can adjust the volume setting I am not certain if it will keep the original quality. If you get the record settings perfect then there may be no loss, but I am not convinced I'll get it right.

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I've just been testing Total Recorder transfers using the USB connection from an NH900, simply playing back an MD in SonicStage 2.3 - if you set Total Recorder to be your default "soundcard" in the relevant windows control panel, then in Total Recorder set the recording source to be "Software" with "convert using Recording parameters specified below" ticked, and choose the format as PCM/44.1/16 bit, and recording level set to 100%, you will get a bit-for-bit identical transfer compared with using SonicStage to copy the file to your PC, then using WaveConverter to convert it. I've tested that by phase inverting the result of one transfer method against the other, resulting in silence.

When SonicStage plays back, you get a short section of silence between each MD track. If in Total Recorder you also tick "Remove Silence", those gaps will be removed. Also, when the playback finishes, Total Recorder will stop (well, pause indefinitely) so you don't have to mess around with its timer facility. However, you will lose a tiny bit of audio at the track breaks - in my short test, .043 of a second at the first break and .013 at the second (I experimented with three tracks). Under many circumstances this will not be significant.

If you are dealing with PCM files from the MD, in my experience transfer seems to take place at about double speed overall. If the material is crucial and you are worried about SonicStage eating your file, and time is not important, Total Recorder does offer a 100% accurate transfer, and you can leave your disc in record-disabled mode for peace of mind. I'd just suggest doing your own tests of whether using Total Recorder also to remove gaps between tracks causes you no problems with your own material - otherwise you'll have to use an audio editor to remove the gaps after transfer, and you'll have to use the Total Recorder timer to terminate the recording if you don't want to sit and watch it.

[infoman]

hmm i actually do not know, i dont have an optical cable to test this out, anyone else know?

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Hi

I sent an e-mail to sony and below is their reply along with my e-mail below it. I have removed names for privacy reasons. I wanted to sound as if I didn't know anything much and I have even replied again saying that if the source is analogue then why the problem? Surely the machine must know this or could be told this? With all this great technology that exists these days. I also pointed that I didn't wish to downgrade the recording further with no analouge cables.

Still here is their reply.

Dear Mr xxxxx

If you have an old Mini-Disc recording that you wish to copy onto Hi-MD so

that you can then use the 'Wav conversion tool' to convert it and burn it

onto a CD, this needs to be recorded in an analogue manner and not via an

optical cable.

I would therefore recommend that you attempt the recording again, although

this time by using analogue audio cables instead of an optical cable. The

WAV Conversion Tool converts OpenMG Audio format files to WAV (PCM) files.

This software is only for use with OpenMG Audio format files that have been

recorded through the MIC or analog (LINE IN) input of a Hi-MD device and

uploaded to SonicStage software. These convertible tracks recorded through

Hi-MD can be converted to WAV format files using the WAV Conversion Tool.

I hope this information is of assistance.

With Regards

Sender xxxx

-----Original Message-----

From: xxxxx

To: xxxx

Subject: Converting an analogue source recording to wav

Dear Sir/Madam

Firstly could you please make sure that no marketing or contact is made from

Sony or other companies, other than replying to this e-mail, via my e-mail

address.

My computer runs XP and I have my own HiMD recorder and access to another

HiMD recorder.

I have an analogue recording (via a microphone recording a church service)

on an old minidisc, recorded at LP 2. As I cannot upload the track directly

to my computer I decided to copy it to another HiMD recorder via an optical

cable.

When I uploaded the HiMD recorded track, wav convert wouldn't list it. It

did however list other analogue recordings I had made directly to my HiMD

recorder.

Do you know why this occurred? I thought wav converter was suppose to

convert all analogue source recordings? The original recording is from an

analogue source so I found it rather strange that it was not listed. Can you

suggest a way around this problem or I am doing something totally wrong?

I also have some legally made analogue recordings on HiMD which I wish to

transfer to another HiMD before I upload them to my computer. This avoids

having to checek the tracks in and out, and the chance that if I forget what

I've done, and do it to many times, all my tracks will be lost. Will I

encounter the same problem?

Thank you for your help in advance

xxxxx

[infoman]

Hi

Thanks for all the replies.

May be I'm asking for to much. I would like to edit on MD and upload the tracks and then convert them without having to do time consuming editing on my computer. It takes a while to cut and paste sound files. I've now taken to recording as one long event and not bothering to split into tracks on my computer it took so much time. On one recording I deleted part of a sound file during the copying and pasting. I thought it had been pasted when it hadn't. It's very small but still noticeable.

Therefore I prefer just to upload to it when I can.

Uploading is faster and it leaves me more time to use the computer for other tasks.

I have tried HiMDrender but I found it was repeating bits of audio at times. I would not be able to sort that out so easily or quickly.

I know the program is free and that I could never do anything as good. I can't even write programs like this but as a user I couldn't have the repeating bits of audio. May be newer versions (since 0.22) have improved and I am sure they are trying their best to improve but until it happens, it's no use to me.

I just want a hassle free quick recording/uploading system with minimal errors to the final files. Surly Sony could provide that? Yes I knew what I was taken on when I got the device but I still hope that there will be a simple solution around the corner.

As I said may be I'm asking for to much.