imzu Posted August 19, 2005 Report Share Posted August 19, 2005 Hi new to the forums but old to minidisc. Have owned a MZR900 (MDLP), MZN910 (NetMD), a lovely silver JB940 MD deck and now a very cool MZRH10 (Hi-MD).I don't like the default font used to display the track/artist/group name. Can the font used to display the normal menu items be used instead? You could fit more characters horizontally that way, which is only a good thing.I could not see a way to set the datetime or view a clock. I guess timestamping is not supported?I normally like the track properties to be displayed on the OLED, the trouble is that this option is not 'sticky'. eg. the MD forgets this after it turned off. Is there a way to make this persistent.general observations:- nice quiet operation, my MZRN910 was starting to making grinding noises (just like the mp3 someone posted in another thread of this sound)- can fit 3 albums of lovely Hi-SP goodness on a formatted MD- looks delicious in black, would have preferred magnesium alloy case- i like the remote control, simple and elegant although the legends on the buttons should be low-light luminous or at least coloured. I like it better than the more complicated button-heavy models- included earbuds are predictably bad, got a sennheiser px200 on da way :-)- not free bundled hi-md disc? tut tut Sony- native mp3 playback, fantastic, just what hi-md needs. we're seeing a major shift in sony in being open to new standards. the new playstation 3 will have multiple slots of other formats if the rumours are to be lieved. Sony's President was replcaed last year with a younger more progressive chap, and his thing was to be more open with the other formats. We're at last seeing that trickle into consumer products.- forum member 'the low volta', been reading his posts over the past week, what a great chap :-)ciao, more later! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faelnor Posted August 19, 2005 Report Share Posted August 19, 2005 I don't like the default font used to display the track/artist/group name. Can the font used to display the normal menu items be used instead?Is this a Japanese model ? Because I don't see the font difference on my European -> Tourist'd model.I guess timestamping is not supported?Indeed. A major gripe.I normally like the track properties to be displayed on the OLED, the trouble is that this option is not 'sticky'. eg. the MD forgets this after it turned off. Is there a way to make this persistent.Not that I know of.- i like the remote control, simple and elegant although the legends on the buttons should be low-light luminous or at least coloured. I like it better than the more complicated button-heavy modelsOh, that answers my first question. I can be of no help then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROMBUSTERS Posted August 19, 2005 Report Share Posted August 19, 2005 i'm pretty sure you cannot change the font and this is probably due to the space limitations in the OLED 'lines/rows' themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imzu Posted August 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2005 i'm pretty sure you cannot change the font and this is probably due to the space limitations in the OLED 'lines/rows' themselves.←Nope, the font I'm talking about is used to display the track format info on the bottom line. Aesthetically I would prefer it to the current font which looks like the default browser font that every web page used to have circa 1995! Pragmatically, it would allow more of the track/group/disc title to appear in the same space.Anyhow, I've done an informal test between the various recording formats on offer.I took a CD Audio PCM track (from the Rock genre) and recorded it on a Hi-MD disc in the following formats:1. Hi-SP (6.57Mb)2. MP3 320kbs (8.2Mb)3. ATRAC3 132kbs (3.39Mb)4. Hi-LP (1.66Mb)5. PCM 1.4Mbs (36Mb, in other words the original)I listened to the first 20 secs of each and did quick A-B's listening tests between the formats.Here's my ranking for quality of sound:1. PCM not suprisingly2. Hi-SP, I'm suprised at just how superb this is, very close to the original. Guitar and drums sound just as 'meaty' as PCM.3. ATRAC3 132kbs, now this suprised me as I expected MP3 320kbs to be here. I'm really pleased that LP2 has held it's own here. Not that far off Hi-SP but you can hear the difference. Hi-SP has more "sparkle" and better stereo imaging.4. MP3 320kbs, all of the faults above plus: looses some some treble and loudness.5. Hi-LP, all of the faults above plus: loss of treble and a bit dull sounding.Now this is just a fun, little test. With electronic music or classical, no doubt the order of percieved quality would be different. But I was suprised at how good LP2 stands up against the rest. Secretly I am very pleased because my car audio deck supports LP2 :-)The interesting this here is the MP3 performance. Is this down to the MP3 decoder in the MD player being a bit inferior or the MP3 encoding of SonicStage? Have Sony slightly biased the MP3 encoding to be on the "dull" side compared to ATRAC3plus?What conclusions have you guys reached? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Low Volta Posted August 21, 2005 Report Share Posted August 21, 2005 - forum member 'the low volta', been reading his posts over the past week, what a great chap :-)thanks I try my best...btw, be sure to check out this thread and this one as they are about the lower playback quality of MP3's on the 2nd gen HiMD's...see you around... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imzu Posted August 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2005 thanks I try my best...btw, be sure to check out this thread and this one as they are about the lower playback quality of MP3's on the 2nd gen HiMD's...see you around...←Thanks for the links TLV, very interesting indeed. There are some very bright audio guys on this forum. Those graphs were fascinating. I must learn audio processing theory one of these days.Anyway, I won't on and on about mp3 playback but as a last thing I decided to experimentally mp3 encode the PCM track using LAME 3.92 in 320kbs and all the best quality options, and transferring that to my Hi-MD... it sounds the same as the SonicStage encoding :-( The theories confirmed in the threads you posted are probably true about the unit's playback being stunted in the high-frequency range.I tried to set a custom EQ to help counter this but... whats this? My Euro model is missing the Custom 1 and 2 programs! What the hell? Why is this? I use Unique sound mode now which improves things a bit.Anyhow, I won't be deterred too much, the MZRH10 is a great little unit overall and I've found PCM recording and playback a great feature. I don't want the moon on a stick but I think I'll go and add to the 'wish list for 3rd gen' :-)take care Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Low Volta Posted August 22, 2005 Report Share Posted August 22, 2005 whats this? My Euro model is missing the Custom 1 and 2 programs! What the hell? Why is this? I use Unique sound mode now which improves things a bit.this can also be taken care of... just apply the hack explained here and you will gain some volume and custom eq's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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