MZ-RH1 SP Upload Feature semi-disaster

[cornblatt]

I own a ton of old-fashioned standard (i.e. non-MDLP, non-Hi-MD) equipment from the 90s (Sony MDX-400, MJ-L1, DHC-MD1, MDX-61, CMT-MD1, MZ-R900, JVC XM-R70). So I was very excited to purchase an MZ-RH1 due to it's alleged ability to upload standard SP minidisc tracks to the PC. However, it seems that the upload feature doesn't work properly.

If you upload songs one at a time, they are transferred properly. For example, you can select one track in SonicStage, click 'upload', and it transfers in its entirety.

The problem is that if you upload multiple tracks (or a whole disc), track marks are not transferred correctly. Track marks are offset, and once the songs have been transferred to the PC, each track on the PC begins with the last ~0.5 seconds of the previous track. I tried this on 2 separate computers (one USB2.0, one USB1.1) with the same results on both. This isn't that noticeable on tracks that fade out at the end (as the silent faded out end of the last track will be appended to the start of the next track), but it is really noticable on tracks that end more abruptly.

My plan was to upload my SP MDs, reorganize and consolidate the tracks, and download them to new SP MDs (so that I can use them in my other 7 standard-MD players). But I can't do this because all of the tracks will contain parts of whatever track came before them on the original MD they were uploaded from. So they will sound ridiculous when shuffled around because they are all missing their last 0.5 seconds, and they all start with 0.5 seconds of the end of some totally different song.

Another issue (which came as a surprise to me as a new net-MD/Hi-MD user) is that standard-MD downloading is super-ultra-mega-slow. I tried to copy a CD to a standard MD using SonicStage. First, you have to import the CD to SonicStage. That takes 15 minutes. Then you have to 'convert' it and download to MD, which takes 30 minutes. So, in total, the process took 45-50 minutes. I could have taken the same CD & blank MD to my 12-year-old CD/MD minisystem, put both discs in, hit the 'synchro-record' button, and been done in about the same time, but with much less work. Progress? Hmm...

I guess what I'm saying is that people out there who are buying the RH1 for it's old-SP-minidisc support should save their money... my experience with the RH1 was disappointing (especially considering the $399 price) and I am returning mine to the store later this morning. I'm sure it's a fantastic product if you only use Hi-MD mode, but for owners of standard-MD equipment hoping to use it as a way to migrate their old MDs to PC or Hi-MD, it is not a good value and doesn't deliver the features that it promises.

Edited July 7, 2006 by cornblatt

[raintheory]

Do you have SonicStage set to transfer SP as Hi-SP or PCM?

Also, what version of SonicStage are you using?

I have at this point uploaded 40+ legacy MiniDiscs with my RH1 and haven't encountered this problem (I have SonicStage set up to transfer SP/MONO as PCM and not transcoding to Hi-SP). I wouldn't rush with returning it until we sort this out, it might be a software issue that is fixable.

EDIT: SimpleBurner (available in downloads section here in the forums) is alot more efficient when transferring from CD to MD/Hi-MD.

Edited July 6, 2006 by raintheory

[cornblatt]

Do you have SonicStage set to transfer SP as Hi-SP or PCM?

Also, what version of SonicStage are you using?

It's set to transfer as Hi-SP (256kbps), using SonicStage 3.4.03.15140

EDIT: I tried SimpleBurner first, but if I remember correctly, it would only transfer as net-MD (LP2 or LP4), not as standard MD.

Edited July 6, 2006 by cornblatt

[Richard]

Not sure about the trackmarks question but the import of a cd should take around 10 mins on a fairly modern PC. If you rip to a bit rate that is compatible with the player you are transferring to you won't need to do any conversion - make sure the transfer settings are set to the "as-is" option so you can skip that. Finally transfer speeds using USB 2.0 on the RH1 should be much faster.

NB: If you are trying to download standard old-school SP it will take longer as this is not fully compatible for downloads, merely LP2 dressed up as SP for backwards compatibility.

[raintheory]

It's set to transfer as Hi-SP (256kbps), using SonicStage 3.4.03.15140

I would try first setting it to upload as PCM. I haven't experienced any problems using this setting. Failing that you may wish to update your SonicStage to version 4 and see if it solves the problem.

Here are the download links for SonicStage CP (v4): http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=9586

[Avrin]

Upload as PCM. Transcoding to Hi-SP does shift trackmarks by up to 400 ms. This is a SS ATRAC3plus encoder problem. See details here: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showt...=15773&st=0

Edited July 6, 2006 by Avrin

[KJ_Palmer]

So is this not a problem when uploading to PCM format? If it isn't, ie tracks are made correctly then the value of the RH1 uploading isn't really lost. It would be good if someone could confirm it...

Edited July 6, 2006 by Borat

[cornblatt]

Thanks for all of your replies and suggestions! I will hold of on returning my RH1 to the store for now (still have a few days left on the return policy), and I will try out SonicStage 4 and PCM mode uploads this afternoon.

I'll let you know if it works! I hope it does... I would really like to be able to easily do SP uploads and downloads.

Thanks again...

[raintheory]

So is this not a problem when uploading to PCM format? If it isn't, ie tracks are made correctly then the value of the RH1 uploading isn't really lost. It would be good if someone could confirm it...

I have had no problems with PCM after uploading over 40 legacy discs myself.

[cornblatt]

I tried SonicStage 4.0 instead of 3.4 (3.4 is what comes in the box with the MZ-RH1).

When uploading non-MDLP tracks as Hi-SP(256kbps), the track marks are still transferred wrong.

When uploading non-MDLP tracks as PCM(1411kbps), the track marks are transferred properly.

So, uploading with correct track marks is possible, but you have to use PCM mode(which makes one MD worth of music take up 725MB of disk space on the PC, instead of 132MB in Hi-SP format).

It's great that the people on this forum were able to help find a workaround to this problem, but at the same time, it's unfortunate that this forum is needed in order to get the product to work properly (are you listening, people at Sony?).

Thanks again for all of your help...

[e1ghtyf1ve]

I tried SonicStage 4.0 instead of 3.4 (3.4 is what comes in the box with the MZ-RH1).

When uploading non-MDLP tracks as Hi-SP(256kbps), the track marks are still transferred wrong.

When uploading non-MDLP tracks as PCM(1411kbps), the track marks are transferred properly.

So, uploading with correct track marks is possible, but you have to use PCM mode(which makes one MD worth of music take up 725MB of disk space on the PC, instead of 132MB in Hi-SP format).

It's great that the people on this forum were able to help find a workaround to this problem, but at the same time, it's unfortunate that this forum is needed in order to get the product to work properly (are you listening, people at Sony?).

Thanks again for all of your help...

Whoa partner! Keep in mind that legacy modes were never engineered for uploading - and Sony has never promised to provide this functionality. Back when the format and these modes were conceived, personal computers had nowhere near the specs for uploading lots of music - the Minidiscs themselves had often higher capacities than most people's hard drives! The RH1 includes this capability as an unexpected gift...

cheers

[NIGHTS]

Whoa partner! Keep in mind that legacy modes were never engineered for uploading - and Sony has never promised to provide this functionality. Back when the format and these modes were conceived, personal computers had nowhere near the specs for uploading lots of music - the Minidiscs themselves had often higher capacities than most people's hard drives! The RH1 includes this capability as an unexpected gift...

cheers

This is true and uploading is a godsend for the MD format, but if you're going to implement a new feature it'd be nice to implement it without any problems. Im sure a company like Sony who INVENTED minidisc could code a compression algorithm that does not infact add gaps or offset track marks. Then again there can never be a perfect system, otherwise the company would go out of business.

[e1ghtyf1ve]

This is true and uploading is a godsend for the MD format, but if you're going to implement a new feature it'd be nice to implement it without any problems. Im sure a company like Sony who INVENTED minidisc could code a compression algorithm that does not infact add gaps or offset track marks. Then again there can never be a perfect system, otherwise the company would go out of business.

It seems to me to be purely a software issue, not a hardware one. Sony will provide updates to SS (they always have)...

[NIGHTS]

I certainly hope so. Me watching Hi-MD being scraped in Australia was sort of giving me the impression the MD was now definately on its way out, and then Sony releases the RH1 (of which Im in the queue to receive from minidisc australia , ahh the waiting game *twiddles thumbs*)

[raintheory]

Personally, after uploading my own SP/MONO tracks as PCM, I then convert them to WAV via SonicStage, and then archive them as FLAC. The PCM and WAV versions can then be deleted, and FLAC is a good lossless compression with bearable compression ratios.

It would be nice however, for those that wish to transfer these as Hi-SP for Sony to release an update to the ATRAC3+ encoder to fix this bug.

Bear in mind however, that transferring SP as Hi-SP is transcoding, so there will be some quality loss... Whether or not this loss is noticeable is completely subjective, but regardless...

Edited July 7, 2006 by raintheory

[dispher]

this bug is in the software encoder as Avrin said (in SonicStage or OpenMG) & as i can see...it's affecting anyone who uses the ATRAC3plus encoder to upload or download (and ENCODE or TRANSCODE on-the-fly) ATRAC3plus files. it will happen also if you try to encode source material to ATRAC3plus in SonicStage.

shame on you Sony....i lost functionality for my NH1 because of this (was planning for a nice RH1 but i don't know about that now)

stupid bug (since version 2.0 or earlier...up until 4.0!)

[1kyle]

I find ripping CD's into ATRAC Lossless (352) is about the best compromise since it preserves space on the computer, can be converted (Losslessly) to PCM, and is the fastest way from lossless to 352 which is what I use when transferring to HI-MD.

It's a pity the recorder won't record directly in 352 Atrac Lossless (maybe 4th gen) .

Uploading SP stuff doesn't yield any probs for me so far -- remember however not to mix USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 devices on a "shared string" of usb ports --the WHOLE LOT take the characteristics of the slowest device.

I found that out when I had my RH1 and a Scanner on adjacent usb ports.

RH1 seems to perform adequately in this regard with SS 4.0

I'm still making some SP mode discs as I have a fantastic MDS -JB980 deck and a couple of earlier decks that can "high speed" dub a CD ==> MD digitally. It's nice to be able to transfer compilations to computer as well.

I haven't heard of many people having upload problems with the RH1. Ensure you are using USB2 (with no USB 1.1 devices attached on the same string) and you have SS 4.0 installed.

Cheers

-K

[vishcompany]

Another issue (which came as a surprise to me as a new net-MD/Hi-MD user) is that standard-MD downloading is super-ultra-mega-slow. I tried to copy a CD to a standard MD using SonicStage. First, you have to import the CD to SonicStage. That takes 15 minutes. Then you have to 'convert' it and download to MD, which takes 30 minutes. So, in total, the process took 45-50 minutes. I could have taken the same CD & blank MD to my 12-year-old CD/MD minisystem, put both discs in, hit the 'synchro-record' button, and been done in about the same time, but with much less work. Progress? Hmm...

I guess what I'm saying is that people out there who are buying the RH1 for it's old-SP-minidisc support should save their money... my experience with the RH1 was disappointing (especially considering the $399 price) and I am returning mine to the store later this morning. I'm sure it's a fantastic product if you only use Hi-MD mode, but for owners of standard-MD equipment hoping to use it as a way to migrate their old MDs to PC or Hi-MD, it is not a good value and doesn't deliver the features that it promises.

I got curious and performed a few "tests", which in the beginning were not systematic, but still, here are some numbers for those, who are interested:

I was using SonicStage 4.0 on a 2.0 GHz AMD Athlon 64 with USB 2.0 through a Hub.

MZ-RH1 and MZ-RH901

several 74 minutes MDs.

The first CD consisted of 37 tracks with a complete duration of 58:10

Importing into SS 4: 2:40

Conversion within SS (Sorry, don't remeber exact details here): 1:21

Downloading into RH1: 2:40

Next I took a CD of 65:15 / 19 tracks

Importing to SS: 2:45

Downloading this onto the RH1 to MD-SP, SS warned me, that this would take longer than other formats. It indeed does: 32:42

Downloading the same material in Hi-SP took 53 seconds... (being 64 Kbit)

Next I hooked up the RZ-901:

I started a download to MD-SP, but when the estimated time was some 30 or so minutes I aborted.

Downloading "Standard" (64 Kbit again) took 1:26

Downloading to MD-LP2: 4:18

Downloading to 48 Kbit: 2:45, of which most of the time was taken by converting the files on the fly, transforming them was done in a second (file by file).

Trying to be a bit more systematic, I took yet another CD and imported it to 352 kBit. It's quite an old one with scratches, so the CD drive was spinning half of the CD slowly, correcting errors I suppose. When there were no problems on the surface it spun at the same speed as it had been doing with the other two CDs.

However, importing this one took 7:16, being a CD of 60:45 / 18 tracks

Downloading this onto the RH-901 in 352 Kbit took 5:30

Downloading onto the RH-1 in 352 Kbit: 3:20

(- Doing the same with my webcam unplugged from the USB-hub was just the same speed)

Downloading onto the RH-901 & converting on the fly to 48 Kbit: 3:00

Same procedure on the RH1: 2:55

(again, most of the time was taken converting, on both machines)

Seems, the SP-issue has to do less with the RH1 but maybe is a problem of recording in this format in general?

For the rest the RH1 is faster than the RH-901 and therefore I suppose than other 2nd gen. recorders, too.

Being hooked up and operating, the RH1 is somewhat noisy; after the download is done it keeps spinning (and whining) for a while, pushing the stop-button helps on this one.

Importing into SonicStage appearently depends a lot on the state of the CD and the reading-speed of the CD-drive and I can imagine, also on the CPU-power of the computer being used. Watching the CPU load in the task manager while importing a CD, transcoding the material being read in took some +/- 50%.

Hope this makes some sense to you.

cheers, r.

(edit of some typo)

Edited July 9, 2006 by vishcompany

[1kyle]

I'm very curious as to why it took 15 - 30 mins to import a CD into SS.

Even running a slowish laptop operating a Windows Virtual Machine using VMWARE under SUSE 10.0 a typical CD (approx 50 - 65 mins CD) only took 3 mins.

If it takes 30 mins to import a CD something is seriously wrong - especially if you are running in Native Mode (which most people are).

Until that is fixed I doubt whether the other figures are maningful.

Cheers

-K

[dogville]

I'm very curious as to why it took 15 - 30 mins to import a CD into SS.

Even running a slowish laptop operating a Windows Virtual Machine using VMWARE under SUSE 10.0 a typical CD (approx 50 - 65 mins CD) only took 3 mins.

If it takes 30 mins to import a CD something is seriously wrong - especially if you are running in Native Mode (which most people are).

Until that is fixed I doubt whether the other figures are maningful.

Cheers

-K

I agree and don't understand why it takes so long

cheers

[tommypeters]

I find ripping CD's into ATRAC Lossless (352) is about the best compromise since it preserves space on the computer, can be converted (Losslessly) to PCM, and is the fastest way from lossless to 352 which is what I use when transferring to HI-MD.

It's not so much "Space Preserving" since it includes both a (compressed) lossless as well as a 352 kbps lossy part in the Atrac Lossless file...

[vishcompany]

I'm very curious as to why it took 15 - 30 mins to import a CD into SS.

Even running a slowish laptop operating a Windows Virtual Machine using VMWARE under SUSE 10.0 a typical CD (approx 50 - 65 mins CD) only took 3 mins.

If it takes 30 mins to import a CD something is seriously wrong - especially if you are running in Native Mode (which most people are).

Until that is fixed I doubt whether the other figures are maningful.

Cheers

-K

I agree and don't understand why it takes so long

cheers

Sorry for asking stupidly: Where did you read, that it took 15-30 minutes to import into SS? If I'm not mistaken cornblatt wrote of 15 minutes importing and 30 minutes downloading. Please correct me, if I'm wrong.

Otherwise I agree, importing should be faster. Downloading in SP appearently is just a very slow process.

cheers

[Avrin]

As has been said many times elsewhere, there is no such thing as an SP download. SS converts the file into LP2, and feeds this file into the unit. The unit itself recodes it into SP. It is this process that takes so much time. Downloading in SP is USELESS, since you will get lower than LP2 quality.

[raintheory]

As has been said many times elsewhere, there is no such thing as an SP download. SS converts the file into LP2, and feeds this file into the unit. The unit itself recodes it into SP. It is this process that takes so much time. Downloading in SP is USELESS, since you will get lower than LP2 quality.

I think we're talking uploading here... from the RH1.

Not downloading from PC > MD.

At least this was the original subject.

[Avrin]

The original subject has changed its direction (see post #18 on this page).

Edited July 10, 2006 by Avrin

[vishcompany]

hmmm... reading the original post by cornblatt, he wrote about both issues, up- and downloading.

[cornblatt]

Well, from the testing that was mentioned earlier in this thread, it sounds like the RH1 is fantastic if you use it in Hi-MD mode - the uploads and downloads are lightning-fast, plus you can fit tons of stuff on a disc, it's lightweight and stylish, etc. But, for SP mode, there are a lot of limitations that aren't clearly stated by Sony.

I find it puzzling that Sony won't fully support SP users with any of the new MD equipment or SonicStage, yet they also won't sell enough new Hi-MD equipment for me ditch my SP equipment and switch over to Hi-MD (there's no Hi-MD for the car, and there are no home decks). What's an SP MD user supposed to do?

P.S. I tried importing a CD into SonicStage on another, newer, faster PC, and it took around 7-8 minutes.

[raintheory]

hmmm... reading the original post by cornblatt, he wrote about both issues, up- and downloading.

Good call...

Sorry for jumping on that without re-reading what I was referring to.

[vishcompany]

Well, from the testing that was mentioned earlier in this thread, it sounds like the RH1 is fantastic if you use it in Hi-MD mode - the uploads and downloads are lightning-fast, plus you can fit tons of stuff on a disc, it's lightweight and stylish, etc. But, for SP mode, there are a lot of limitations that aren't clearly stated by Sony.

I find it puzzling that Sony won't fully support SP users with any of the new MD equipment or SonicStage, yet they also won't sell enough new Hi-MD equipment for me ditch my SP equipment and switch over to Hi-MD (there's no Hi-MD for the car, and there are no home decks). What's an SP MD user supposed to do?

P.S. I tried importing a CD into SonicStage on another, newer, faster PC, and it took around 7-8 minutes.

I have to admit, I did not look at it from this angle yet; also I was not aware, that there are no car- and home decks in HiMD. My own situation is, that I have some 50 MDs which are mostly in LP2, so I now use the RH1 to upload the stuff and download it back in HiMD-mode at the same compression, which wins me half of the discs to use otherwise. But that's anyway a side-effect, as I was mainly looking for a decent recorder for myself, which allows also uploading of tracks done by colleagues in SP.

Anyway watching the RH1 while it was recording (downloading) in SP I had the feeling, that this procedure is mechanically wearing out the device much more than any other activity. Plus the fact, that it takes really long, it maybe really makes sense to stick to your CD/MD minisystem and have less work, even if it takes a little longer.

The RH1 offers this feature as an extra, I wonder if it is really made for it. It works so much nicer, smoother and faster in any other mode.

cheers

[Justin42]

Can you push SP files down to the RH1? In TRUE SP? I thought all HiMD units still used the "fake" SP mode that transcodes it into the weird double size LP2. (which takes much longer than any other mode)

Actually, I don't think you can even have a true SP file on your PC-- since it only imports in PCM or HiSP. So I think the delay you're seeing is in the transcoding, NOT any glitches of the RH1 or its design. (unless I am misunderstanding what you're saying)

[vishcompany]

Can you push SP files down to the RH1? In TRUE SP? I thought all HiMD units still used the "fake" SP mode that transcodes it into the weird double size LP2. (which takes much longer than any other mode)

Actually, I don't think you can even have a true SP file on your PC-- since it only imports in PCM or HiSP. So I think the delay you're seeing is in the transcoding, NOT any glitches of the RH1 or its design. (unless I am misunderstanding what you're saying)

==>

As has been said many times elsewhere, there is no such thing as an SP download. SS converts the file into LP2, and feeds this file into the unit. The unit itself recodes it into SP. It is this process that takes so much time. Downloading in SP is USELESS, since you will get lower than LP2 quality.

As I have no true SP player: Did anybody try already, whether it is possible to play such fake SP tracks in real SP player?

[Avrin]

The only way to get a TRUE SP on an MZ-RH1 is to record in reatime via optical in (or whatever input it has). Enjoy!

Edited July 12, 2006 by Avrin

[exe]

Did just cancel my order for a Sony MZ-RH1 because of this facts...

My MD collection would take 45GB in WAV and I don't have that much space!!

Okay, I did then find out a possible way around this... I can first copy some old MD to WAV before I hopefully could convert them to HiMD 352 if they then are possible to convert back to WAV or a better format for a future recording medium (when my last MD die) or at least to Atrac lossless that should be possible to convert later... But even that will take a lot of space from my portable hard drive and maybe even force me to buy a second hard drive...

And that would be too expensive (totally) for "just" the backup** functionality... Then did I realize that I can actually make ONE digital backup copy of my MD collection (cost only 133 usd) and simply hide the original discs (that was made analogue because I always optimize the equalization) so if I get my collection stolen (the digital copy) is it only to make a new digital copy... Hmm, if it's possible to buy MD's then (used is ok) and my machines survive me, including the future supply of used machines...

** I did also figure out that I almost only needed a Sony MZ-RH1 for the backup possibility and wrote following to another member in this excellent forum...

"This experience, before I even get my RH1 is very confusing...

I recently realize that I will miss my old deck, if I move over everything to HiMD because it will be mush more clumsy to record stuff and even play the music, without my decks big display and jog wheel... And if Sony drop HiMD, will my RH1 die mush faster, than if I have four machines to play on and long in the future, will it naturally be harder to find a fresh HiMD replacement than any good MD player!

And even if I still can listen to both my old legacy recordings and HiMD SP or 352kbps copies (for portable use) so will that also be clumsy - because the 10/11 extra discs will take even more place and when I record something, must I also record the same in the other format... But that will of course be a great idea, if I can move south over the winter, later on!!

The solution is to simply forget about the HiMD aspect of my RH1 and mainly use it as a portable player... And naturally to do backup to my computer (or cheap quality MD discs) and use the new possibility (if it don't block it with DRM protection) to move tracks between discs, by playing them on RH1 and record digitally on my old deck!

Yes I can then "only" have 80 delicious minutes on each disc (to be able to use my deck) but that problem is less than the troubles above... Then can I naturally use RH1 to record live with PCM quality, before I edit and copy (after equalizing) to legacy MD and I will anyhow make one 352kbsp disc, with the absolute best from my collection and my test disc"

Edited December 25, 2006 by vantechmag

[Sparda]

Can you push SP files down to the RH1? In TRUE SP? I thought all HiMD units still used the "fake" SP mode that transcodes it into the weird double size LP2. (which takes much longer than any other mode)

Actually, I don't think you can even have a true SP file on your PC-- since it only imports in PCM or HiSP. So I think the delay you're seeing is in the transcoding, NOT any glitches of the RH1 or its design. (unless I am misunderstanding what you're saying)

I don't see why some people are so stuck on the idea "true SP", whats so good about it? Lots of users have stated that Hi-SP just as good or even better. If you want the absolute best sq there is always PCM. Bit tired of people saying "does it allow 'true SP'?". Unless I am missing some thing here (which if I am please do point out) I don't see whats so stunning about "true SP". Of course I'm not directing this at you Justin42, but rather the general group of people touting "true SP".

[A440]

I don't see why some people are so stuck on the idea "true SP",

What you're missing is that many people (though not me) have old decks and car units that only play SP, and they want to get the best sound quality out of them.

Sony does seem weirdly stubborn about SP. Now that it can be uploaded, why not make it downloadable too--or at least a better quality version than the LP2 "fake SP"?

[mdmania]

Ok I don't know if this will make any sense but here is what I did.

I started recording on my MX-D40 high speed again (CD to MD 4x speed) and made some compilation. Take a note that this is in SP mode. So I transferred this to SS 4.2 using RH1 recorder, and after transfer files are now in OMA files. Then I hook up my N505 to PC and in SS 4.2 advance setting under NetMD there is an option Transfer Setting and then SP transfer mode which is slower than a Standard mode. Now the question that came to me is this, am I transferring true SP onto N505 without any further conversion within the recorder, after all this is through USB not optical input.

[Avrin]

THERE IS NO WAY TO HAVE TRUE SP ON THE COMPUTER. When you upload SP into SS, it is converted either into Hi-SP (lossy) or into PCM (lossless, but with quality obviously not exceeding true SP). When you download as SP, the file is first converted to LP2 (lossy) before download, then converted back SP in the unit (possibly adding more distortion during the process). That's why it takes so long. The reason behind this is that there is no ATRAC codec for a computer, only ATRAC3 and ATRAC3plus.

So, the only option for a non-MDLP deck with a computer is to have SP format files with the quality never exceeding LP2. Alternatively, you may record in SP on the RH1 (or on the deck itself) via optical in - this is the only way to get top quality.

Edited December 26, 2006 by Avrin