Tranferring MP3 files to MZ-RH910

[mercurius]

I am trying to transfer some talks (recorded in MP3) format downloaded from the Internet via Sonic Stage 3.4.

On my first attempt I did not convert the files, so nothing recorded. On my second attempt after consulting the manual (not the most illuminating of reads), I converted to ATRAC 132 kpbs. The sound is OK, but not brilliant (requires volume set at highest level setting to hear), though accept that the original recording may not be of the best quality either...

Can anyone advise if there is better way of transferring these files to HI-MD to get better sound quality? Of course I am trying to find the right balance between sound quality and disc space. There are about six and a half hours of recordings.

Thank you in advance for your advice.

mercurius

[sebastianbf]

First of all you should try HISP transfering if you want better quality (IMO 132kbps it's ok for voice recordings). About the volume thing you should increase the volume of the original mp3s in some software like Goldwave (maybe audacity would work too) and then save it again.-

[mercurius]

First of all you should try HISP transfering if you want better quality (IMO 132kbps it's ok for voice recordings). About the volume thing you should increase the volume of the original mp3s in some software like Goldwave (maybe audacity would work too) and then save it again.-

Sebastian B,

Thanks for your reply. Forgive my ignorance, but what is HISP? I can't seem to find this an an option in SonicStage. From what you are saying this would be better for music, is that right?

Are Goldwave and Audacity free or do you have to pay for them? What else can you use them for?

Thanks,

mercurius

[dex Otaku]

The RH910 is capable of taking MP3s and playing them as-is, though Sony's implementation of an MP3 decoder on 2nd gen HiMD models is flawed. [This has already been shown to be fixed on the soon to be released RH1.]

See here: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=10621

[scroll down to "mp3 playback test"]

and here: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=14492

The main recording modes for HiMD are HiLP [48 and 64kbps], HiSP [256kbps], and LPCM [full CD quality].

Available atrac3 and atrac3plus modes for HiMD use are:

HiLP 48kbps [atrac3plus]

HiLP 64kbps [atrac3plus]

LP2 132kbps [atrac3]

192kbps [atrac3plus]

HiSP 256kbps [atrac3plus]

352kbps [atrac3plus]

LPCM [linear PCM, completely uncompressed audio]

132kbps is LP2 - an older [atrac3] codec from the days of NetMD, which you may or may not find to be of noticeably lesser quality, especially when transcoding MP3s.

If you find the difference in quality after transcoding [converting formats] to be too noticeable, you could try experimenting a bit to see what suits your ears the best. Modes above and including 192kbps are of noticeably better quality than the lower bitrates. If you have a couple of minutes, try transcoding an MP3 you're familiar with to several different bitrates and see which you prefer.

I generally don't use less than HiSP when transcoding MP3s. With well-encoded MP3s, 192kbps isn't too noticeably degraded - definitely good enough for portable listening. It's also a good compromise rate in terms of quality vs. space used.

Cheers.