Review and free Download of Mac Hi-MD Wav Importer

[Christopher]

Minidisc Community Forums is proud to present the Hi-MD *.wav importing software for Apple computers, for use with the MZ-M100 and MZ-M10 Hi-MD units ONLY. Remember, this software can ONLY facilitate PCM recorded uploads; no Hi-SP/Hi-LP uploads are permitted.

http://forums.minidisc.org/downloads/details.php?file=46

(you must be registered with the forum to download this file)

Dale Greer has generously submitted a review of a Mac to Minidisc. Further information about Apple computers and Minidisc can be found here, along with Minidisc Community Portal.

SONY MZ-M100 AND HI-MD WAV IMPORTER SOFTWARE

Field recording is a pretty straight-forward affair with the MZ-M100 (pictured below at right) or its little brother, the MZ-M10 (pictured below at left). Simply insert a disc, select the recording mode, attach a mic or line input, adjust recording levels and go.

Recording mode options are Hi-LP, Hi-SP and Linear PCM, which give you 2,040 minutes, 475 minutes or 94 minutes of recording time, respectively, when using a 1 GB Hi-MD blank disc. You also can use an "80-minute" standard MiniDisc in any of these modes, for 660 minutes, 140 minutes or 28 minutes of recording time, respectively.

Of course, sound quality decreases with each increase in capacity, but you'll never have to fret over which mode to use. The only recordings that can be transferred to a Mac using Hi-MD WAV Importer are those made through the mic or line input in Linear PCM mode.

It's just as well, since Linear PCM provides pure, uncompressed audio quality -- and that's usually the best choice for gathering source material.

Once recording is complete, simply connect the Hi-MD unit to your Mac's USB 2.0 input and launch the Hi-MD WAV Importer software. The program couldn't be simpler. Tracks show up in the order they were recorded, and you can rename them using your Mac's keyboard before speedily transferring them to your computer. To upload tracks, simply select the desired recordings in the Hi-MD WAV Importer window and drag them to your desktop. They will be saved as DRM-free WAV files, which can then be converted to any format supported by QuickTime.

The MZ-M10 is a less expensive version of the MZ-M100, with a plastic lid and LCD display rather than the MZ-M100's aluminum lid and OLED display, but it offers identical functionality.

STRENGTHS OF THE SONY MZ-M100 AND HI-MD WAV IMPORTER SOFTWARE COMBO

* Outstanding audio quality

* Intuitive computer software with track titling and Mac upload capability (Linear PCM mode only)

* Excellent battery life when combining internal NiMH gum-pack battery with external AA cell

* Inexpensive media ($6 for 1 GB disc; $2 for "80-minute" disc)

* Includes Sony ECM-DS70P stereo mic, AC adapter, wired remote and USB cable

* Can be used as a data drive (Hi-MD disks mount to the desktop in OS X)

WEAKNESSES

* Software won't upload compressed formats (Hi-SP and Hi-LP)

* Weak support for older MD formats (you can play, but not record, MDLP and SP-mode discs, which means that recordings made on the MZ-M100 or MZ-M10 won't be playable on non-Hi-MD gear)

* Recording levels can not by manually adjusted on the fly; this is a step backward for MD, which had outgrown this serious limitation several years ago

* Although its lid is cast aluminum, most of the MZ-M100 is made of plastic -- another step backward for MD recorders, many of which once featured all-metal construction

* Sony seems to have gone out of its way to use materials that showcase fingerprints; the lid is adorned with a high-gloss (and easily scratched) plastic plate, and the sides are made from a polished faux-black-nickel polycarbonate

* The control buttons are impossibly small, with equally tiny, dark gray labels

Various screenshots:

[attachmentid=720][attachmentid=721]

[t0fler]

i tried out the program today with my nhf 800. it told me there were tracks and even gave me the names but it wouldnt let me upload the tracks. so its really up to sony to allow me too

stephen

[Christopher]

Thank you for testing this out! Are you absolutely sure the track was a PCM/wave track that you were trying to upload, and not something recorded in Hi-SP/Hi-LP, etc?

[batfastad]

Hi guys

Just tried this on my old G3, running OSX Panther 10.3

MZ-RH10

Just made a PCM recording and connected it to my Mac, all the MP3s on the disk were listed with titles, and my test recording was listed at the bottom, I didn't bother titling it.

Unfortunately it's greyed out and won't let me download it - the same as the MP3s listed in the window

Won't let me delete it from the disk either

So it seems there's just a Sony DRM restriction in the import software

The device was recognised straight away, even as a removable drive for file storage.

I've never even bothered trying my MD units on my Mac before

Just thought I'd let you know

HTH

Ben

EDIT

Just to let you know, the recording uploaded fine in SonicStage on my PC and it is Linear PCM

Edited August 22, 2005 by batfastad

[bobt]

Hi guys

Just tried this on my old G3, running OSX Panther 10.3

MZ-RH10

Just made a PCM recording and connected it to my Mac, all the MP3s on the disk were listed with titles, and my test recording was listed at the bottom, I didn't bother titling it.

Unfortunately it's greyed out and won't let me download it - the same as the MP3s listed in the window

Won't let me delete it from the disk either

So it seems there's just a Sony DRM restriction in the import software

The device was recognised straight away, even as a removable drive for file storage.

I've never even bothered trying my MD units on my Mac before

Just thought I'd let you know

HTH

Ben

EDIT

Just to let you know, the recording uploaded fine in SonicStage on my PC and it is Linear PCM

←

Was your PCM recording done through the line input, or downloaded through Sonic Stage.

My understanding is only live or line in recordings can be uploaded.

Bob

[batfastad]

My recording was done on the unit using the mic jack

[Christopher]

Damn. Well, thanks anyways. Time to get hacking!

[emeb]

Thanks for posting this. I tried it out on my system with following components:

Mac G4 iBook w/ OS X 10.3.9

MZ-NHF800

Memorex clear 80M disc formatted as HiMD 300K

Recordings done in PCM from microphone input

Result:

Installation went just fine. Application runs and sees MD when attached via USB. Track titles/lengths appear in application window but are greyed-out and cannot be selected or uploaded.

There's a second application which was installed called HiMD Monitor. It won't run when double-clicked in the finder. Anyone know what this does?

Oh well. It would be nice if they would have let us use this with older HiMD devices.

[indeego]

Can digital PCM recordings (with MZ-M10/100) be uploaded ?

[Syrius]

I wonder if you can upload PCM recordings made on another Hi-MD unit, but using the Mac-compatible recorders.

[Snuffy]

last month, I just got my NH1 from sony and I own Powerbook. I guess sony want us(mac user) to buy MZM10? Anyway, I'll try HMWI with my NH1 when I get back home. Thanks.

[Snuffy]

I'm home and I just tried it and strange thing happned. Track titles appeared in application window and there were 24 tracks. It seemed like unable to select the songs except one! I was able to UL one song(track 16) however the file was unlistenable.

Powerbook G4 with Tiger 10.2

MZ-NH1

I taped the white stripes show last week on PCM mode 1G disc.

Edited August 23, 2005 by Snuffy

[sallymae_hogsby]

After reading this thread, I'm a little confused.

Has anyone who actually has a MZ-M10 or MZ-M100 gotten the software to work as it's supposed to on a Mac? Does the software not work correctly, or are people just playing around with the software, with other MD models?

[Christopher]

People are playing around with the software trying to get it to work with other models.

[A440]

Dale Greer's review says that with the MZ100, it is impossible to adjust recording levels on the fly.

Is this also true on the RH10? Or is it possible he got stuck in AGC? Just curious.

[MDX-400]

So the software *only* works on the "M" units? Isn't that a bit stupid? Do the "M" units work with the PC and SonicStage or are both units "slaved" only to their own platform/software?

Seems mighty ridiculous that Sony would do something like this; though I would not put it beyond them, not at all

[otter]

People are playing around with the software trying to get it to work with other models.

←

Yeah, this is exactly what they (and I) are trying to do. I have the RH10 and have both PCs and Macs and was hoping I could use the "M" software with the RH10, but my mic PCM recordings only appear as greyed-out titles. @#$%!!!

On the plus side, I can use the RH10 as a data drive on both the Mac and PC and the Mac played/opened data, music and video files it recognized with no problems. Transfer is v e r y s l o w, but at least it works.

Edited August 25, 2005 by otter

[dalegreer]

In response to an earlier question: Only recordings made through the mic / line input can be uploaded with the Hi-MD Wav Importer software. Digital dubs via the optical input will not upload.

Edited August 25, 2005 by dalegreer

[dalegreer]

Dale Greer's review says that with the MZ100, it is impossible to adjust recording levels on the fly.

Is this also true on the RH10? Or is it possible he got stuck in AGC? Just curious.

←

I've added links to PDFs of the MZ-M100 and Hi-MD WAV Importer operating instructions:

http://home.earthlink.net/~mac-minidisc/Mac-MD/MZ-M100.html

The MZ-M100 owner's manual clearly states that the unit must be placed in record-pause mode to adjust manual recording levels.

Best,

Dale

[A440]

Dale--

Thanks for responding so fast. I looked at the PDF, and the instructions on p. 35 are about the longtime annoyance of having to go through the menus to set recording on Manual Volume, and then un-Pause to start recording. It seems Sony is trying to encourage people to set one level and leave it.

But have you actually tried setting levels on the fly? Once it is in Manual, you may be able to set them as it records.

[silence]

Is there a place where this sofware can be downloaded?

Are there any Mac hackers intersted in allowing to download digitally recorded files?

Thanks

[Christopher]

silence, please read the first post in this thread for download information.

[dalegreer]

Dale--

Thanks for responding so fast. I looked at the PDF, and the instructions on p. 35 are about the longtime annoyance of having to go through the menus to set recording on Manual Volume, and then un-Pause to start recording.  It seems Sony is trying to encourage people to set one level and leave it.

But have you actually tried setting levels on the fly? Once it is in Manual, you may be able to set them as it records.

←

I'll try it tonight, using the process that works with my MZ-R909, and let you know what happens. My 909 manual says that unit can't be adjusted during recording, when in fact it can, so maybe there is hope for the MZ-M100.

Dale

[emeb]

Dale,

If I infer correctly, you have an MZ-M10[0]. If this is true, could you help me with some research please? I like to dig around in the binary data files for details of how the track data and formatting is encoded and it would be very interesting to look at how the M-series recorders flag their data. What I need is to get a copy of all the files in the hmdhifi directory for a disc with a few short tracks (< 1second - no particular sounds necessary, just silence is fine).

If you could create a disc with a few short PCM tracks, zip up a copy of the hmdhifi directory & contents and put the zipfile somewhere on the web that I could get to (or email it to me @ ebrombaugh at earthlink dot net) that would be really helpful in figuring out how these new players work. I'll document what I find and post the details on this forum. If we're lucky we may learn something useful.

TIA

Eric

[silence]

silence, please read the first post in this thread for download information.

←

Domo arigato Kirususan

[dalegreer]

Dale Greer's review says that with the MZ100, it is impossible to adjust recording levels on the fly.

Is this also true on the RH10? Or is it possible he got stuck in AGC? Just curious.

←

I tested this feature last night, and even though the manual doesn't say so, you CAN manually adjust recording levels on the MZ-M100 while recording is in progess. (1) Place the unit in record-pause mode; (2) Change the recording-level setting to "Manual" using the MZ-M100's menu system; (3) start recording; (4) move the scroll wheel up and down to change levels (an on-screen bar graph provides relative feedback without obscuring the MZ-100's stereo input-level meters).

Thanks for the tip, A440!

Dale

[dalegreer]

Dale,

If I infer correctly, you have an MZ-M10[0]. If this is true, could you help me with some research please? I like to dig around in the binary data files for details of how the track data and formatting is encoded and it would be very interesting to look at how the M-series recorders flag their data. What I need is to get a copy of all the files in the hmdhifi directory for a disc with a few short tracks (< 1second - no particular sounds necessary, just silence is fine).

If you could create a disc with a few short PCM tracks, zip up a copy of the hmdhifi directory & contents and put the zipfile somewhere on the web that I could get to (or email it to me @ ebrombaugh at earthlink dot net) that would be really helpful in figuring out how these new players work. I'll document what I find and post the details on this forum. If we're lucky we may learn something useful.

TIA

Eric

←

How do I get my hands on this directory?

Dale

[e1ghtyf1ve]

How do I get my hands on this directory?

Dale

←

Plug in your M100 to your Mac via USB port. OS X should automagically mount the recorder as an external drive. You should see a toplevel folder called HIMDHIFI when you open the icon on your desktop. It would be great if you could record several *short* tracks in PCM mode and zip up the resulting HIMDHIFI to send to your friendly neighborhood hacker

Cheers

EDIT: I strongly suspect that the new M series differ from the RH machines only in the color of the cabinet and the USB Device ID, and it is precisely here where the Mac software can tell the attached devices apart from each other

Edited August 26, 2005 by e1ghtyf1ve

[Quasi3]

I just downloaded the new Hi-MD Wav importer from the forum onto my G5 with Mac OS 10.3. I made a short microphone recording in PCM mode on my Japanese Sony RH10.

When I hooked the recorder to my Mac and launched the software, the track I created showed up in the software's window, but it was grayed out and there was nothing I could do with it.

I see others have had this same experience. Is the software on the site flawed in some way? Is there something I'm not getting here?

Thanks for any help,

Gary

[atrain]

you have an RH10 at present the softaware only works on m10 & m100 models

[emeb]

Plug in your M100 to your Mac via USB port.  OS X should automagically mount the recorder as an external drive.  You should see a toplevel folder called HIMDHIFI when you open the icon on your desktop.  It would be great if you could record several *short* tracks in PCM mode and zip up the resulting HIMDHIFI to send to your friendly neighborhood hacker 

Precisely! When you plug your MD recorder into the Mac, you'll see a new folder appear on your Mac desktop. On my Mac with an MZ-NHF800 it's called 'NO NAME'. Open the folder up and you'll see another folder called 'HMDHIFI'. That's the one I want a copy of.

If you haven't installed a zip application, you can still do it from the MacOS X Terminal. First, copy the HMDHIFI directory onto your Desktop. Then, open the Terminal app (in the Applications/Utilities folder), and simply type the following commands:

cd ~/Desktop

zip -r files.zip HMDHIFI

That should create a zipfile called 'files.zip' on your desktop. Then just stash it on a website and post or mail the location, or just mail it to me at the address above.

EDIT:  I strongly suspect that the new M series differ from the RH machines only in the color of the cabinet and the USB Device ID, and it is precisely here where the Mac software can tell the attached devices apart from each other 

←

Possibly, but it may also be that the M series mark their PCM recordings with different values of ID flags in the track index file, and/or different types of encryption. That's why I'm interested in digging around in the data files.

Let me know if you have any questions about the process

Eric

Edited August 27, 2005 by emeb

[dalegreer]

Dale,

If I infer correctly, you have an MZ-M10[0]. If this is true, could you help me with some research please? I like to dig around in the binary data files for details of how the track data and formatting is encoded and it would be very interesting to look at how the M-series recorders flag their data. What I need is to get a copy of all the files in the hmdhifi directory for a disc with a few short tracks (< 1second - no particular sounds necessary, just silence is fine).

If you could create a disc with a few short PCM tracks, zip up a copy of the hmdhifi directory & contents and put the zipfile somewhere on the web that I could get to (or email it to me @ ebrombaugh at earthlink dot net) that would be really helpful in figuring out how these new players work. I'll document what I find and post the details on this forum. If we're lucky we may learn something useful.

TIA

Eric

←

I've posted the directory here:

<http://home.earthlink.net/~mac-md1>

Just click on the link to the zipped file, and it will ftp.

This directory is for five tracks recorded in Linear PCM mode to a Hi-MD blank. The tracks are :04, :04, :05, :07, and :05 seconds.

Best,

Dale

[emeb]

Thanks Dale,

I've grabbed the zipfile and run a quick analysis on it. Sony has indeed defined a new codec for the M series recorders (0x80062807), although the audio data in the ATDATAXX.HMA file is still encrypted and flagged as LPCM.

It might be worthwhile to try hacking on a 1st/2nd gen HiMD disc to see if changing the codec id will allow the Mac application to download it. I'll try this later and report back.

[silence]

It might be worthwhile to try hacking on a 1st/2nd gen HiMD disc to see if changing the codec id will allow the Mac application to download it. I'll try this later and report back.

←

[Guest bmn38]

Just tried this on my MZ NH1. The disc had 17 tracks recorded in LP mode. I added another in PCM mode. When I plug it into my g4 Imac (10.3.9) and open the importer all the tracks show up, both LP and PCM, but yeah, they're all grayed out. So is the consensus that this is not going to work for any device other than the MZ M100?

[Christopher]

Yes, bmn38. There is a chance this software could be hacked, however.

[Steve_W]

Just tried this on my MZ NH1. The disc had 17 tracks recorded in LP mode. I added another in PCM mode. When I plug it into my g4 Imac (10.3.9) and open the importer all the tracks show up, both LP and PCM, but yeah, they're all grayed out. So is the consensus that this is not going to work for any device other than the MZ M100?

←

Yes; I believe we've established that as received, this software only works with the M10 and M100. I have an RH10 with the Mac software but haven't had time yet to investigate if it's possible to change the codec ID to make the software think I'm uploading from an M series. Has anyone tried this yet? -Steve

[emeb]

I've got to apologize to the group - I tried to do some hacking on the TRKIDX??.HMA file this evening and found that the codec is not new. My analysis program had a bug that only showed up on my new 64-bit machine which caused the codec ID to be mis-labeled as unknown when in fact it is the same ID that my 1st-gen HiMD creates for an LPCM track. So, 0x80062807 is not new - I hope no one wasted any time because of this.

I did a bit more digging and found some additional differences however:

* Track 'Source' ID is 0 on the M-series, but was4DC28CCD on my 1st-gen. I tried hacking it to 0 on a test disc but the Mac WAV importer still didn't see it as valid.

* Unknown data field at offset 0x10 is 0 on the M-series but was different for every track on my 1st-gen. I haven't tried hacking this yet.

* Unkown data field at offset 0x36-0x39 was 0110B1B6 for the M-series but was 01055144 on my 1st-gen. I haven't confirmed that this field is constant for all discs however - it may be a media ID.

So, there are still some avenues open for exploration, but the first report was in error.

Happy Hacking!

[emeb]

* Unknown data field at offset 0x10 is 0 on the M-series but was different for every track on my 1st-gen. I haven't tried hacking this yet.

←

OK - I tried setting that value to 0 on a track and the Mac Hi-MD Wav Importer allowed me to drag that track onto the desktop. _But_ when I opened the track up in an editor it was full of random garbage.

Conclusion: 1st-gen MD recorders are applying some additional encryption that the M-series recorders don't do. The key for this process is in the TRKIDX??.HMA at offset 0x10 in the track info structure. If the key is 0, the Mac importer will see the track but will only properly import a track that was recorded on an M-series MD recorder.

Oh well.

[pata2001]

Wow, Sony does go an extra mile, and more, just to make things more difficult for end users. I guess there's a reason why Sony priced the M-series an extra $100 (aside from the mic and E931). Now, does the M-series works fine with windows though? (downloads and uploads)