Using my MZ-NH1 ?

[peripatitis]

Hi

I am a new member in this forum and a relatively new md user .( i used to have two md recorders , one portable and one standalone before the 'age of the computer' , so sonicstage is quite a new realm for me)

I have some questions regarding the MZ-NH1 (and generaly all Hi-md's) i bought recently and i would be oblidged if you could help me.

1st If i record to my md using the optical in ,will i be able afterwards to use the usb connection to upload this to the computer and then back to the md ?

Is there any point in this procedure in which i 'll have to downgrade from pcm to some compression format ?

2nd Is there a limitation in the amount of times i can do this ?

3rd Are there any differences if i use the optical or the analog input in the above situation ?

thanks for any help

P

[streaml1ne]

Hi

I am a new member in this forum and a relatively new md user .( i used to have two md recorders , one portable and one standalone before the 'age of the computer' , so sonicstage is quite a new realm for me)

I have some questions regarding the MZ-NH1 (and generaly all Hi-md's) i bought recently and i would be oblidged if you could help me.

1st If i record to my md using the optical in ,will i be able afterwards to use the usb connection to upload this to the computer and then back to the md ?

Yes, however you might need to export the recording to wav and reimport it. I'm not sure if the DRM associated with digitally recorded files will let you download to disc again directly. If you want to export a digital recording to a wav file you'll need to use HiMDRender which can be found at http://www.marcnetsystem.co.uk/

Is there any point in this procedure in which i 'll have to downgrade from pcm to some compression format ?

No, if you record digitally in PCM it will stay PCM throughout the entire process.

2nd Is there a limitation in the amount of times i can do this ?

If you use Sonic Stage 3.2 you can upload recordings an unlimited number of times if they're analog or microphone in. I'm not sure about digital recordings, they may still have the one time upload restriction.

3rd Are there any differences if i use the optical or the analog input in the above situation ?

thanks for any help

P

If you use the analog input you gain the ability to export your upload to wav directly with Sonic Stage. Sonic Stage won't natively convert digital recordings to wav, that's why you'd need HiMDRender like I mentioned above.

[peripatitis]

Thanks for your help streaml1ne .

[The Low Volta]

but why? if you need to get CD's onto your PC in a library or something, just use EAC (exact audio copy)... much easier, and if you mostly keep your CD's at your friend's place ( ) you could always borrow it back ( ) for a couple of days and rip to PC... I personally really do not see any point in doing this, but there could be one of course

[peripatitis]

Hi Volta

You are propably right to ask why

I am a musician and for a certain project i have to move between two different studios

one computer based and one strictly analog

I will be moving back and forth audio material , manipulating them and i'd like to maintain as much as possible in the digital domain ,an archive of the different transformations in the minidisc (a second backup) .

Because of certain peculiarities of the sound created in the computer based studio , i won't be able to use the computer itself to record directly , but i'll have to record to the md .

The computer will be used to create the initial sounds , using feedback manipulation which inevitably will overload the outputs and the only way to record this without anoying digital distortion will be to an external recorder , thus the md .

I don't know if i made this clear enough , English is not my native language .

I was thinking for a long time that besides recording with the md it might be possible to keep an additional audio backup .

The medium (hi-md's) could be ideal because of it's durability , size and cost .So perhaps with sonicstage 3.2 and less restrictions this can be possible.

Unfortunately sony doesn't seem interested to move in professional audio with this .

In my opinion the only way to maintain the minidisk technology alive would be to have a proaudio front that

would make it indespensable for musicians and of course continue with the consumer market as well.

If you consider that a consumer minidisk costs up to 500 $ , it would be quite possible to have a professional product around 1000 $ which would be an amazing deal for musicians .

p

[bobt]

I Think the NH1 will work well for you, make sure you use SS3.2.

Welcome to the forums, what kind of music are you making, posibility of a sample??

Take care,

Bob

[The Low Volta]

thanks peripatitis for clearing things up, I too quickly assumed that using optical in was to record CD's to MD...but as you describe your (intended) use, it actually makes sense and it is always nice to see interest from the pro side, as it gives the medium more 'weight' IMHO...

but one last slight problem... when using line/optical in, the MD insist on automatically placing trackmarks when sound levels drop too low, and while I personally haven't encountered this (recording a rock concert with a battery box-> line in didn't give any marks as it was consitently loud ), there are some issues with this:

- you can't turn this feature off... not in any way

- editing before uploading (including erasing/adding trackmarks) can cause uploading failures

- combining the tracks on PC afterwards would work, but there seems to be an ever so slightly doubling of data around the trackmark

just scan these forums... there are some threads on this (I believe Dex Otaku posted in some of them, so by searching his posts you should find it)

...and BTW, a warm welcome to MDCF!