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Recording in true SP mode on an RH10 is possible

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Avrin

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Now that I have an RH1, the RH10 is turned into a testbed.

1. Set address 0114 to anything below 80 (7F will do).

2. Disable Quick Mode.

3. Set the Disc Mode to MD.

4. Insert an MD-formatted MD disc with enough free space.

5. Connect a source (analog or optical).

6. Wait for the unit to turn itself off (or remove and reinsert the battery, if you don't wish to wait).

7. With the unit off, press REC and then PLAY (the usual way to start recording).

8. Watch the unit record happily in legacy SP mode.

The result is perfectly playable by anything, and uploadable by the RH1. You can't change the recording mode (only SP works). You can't start recording with the unit already on. May be this can also be unlocked. Time will tell.

The unit will no longer play MP3s, and SonicStage won't even transfer any MP3s to it anymore. This can be easily reversed by setting the value at address 0114 back to 80.

Edited by Avrin
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  • 1 year later...

Well, after almost two years it turned out that this hack is actually useful. If you press REC and PAUSE in step 7, you may go to the Rec Settings menu, disable SYNC REC, then switch the level to Manual, adjust it (yes, it took me almost two years to find out that this works!), enable SYNC REC back again (if needed), and start recording. What you actually get is perfect ATRAC Type-R SP from a unit officially unable to do it.

And yes, the RH910 may also be hacked this way. Can anybody try this on the RH710?

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Disclaimer: I have not messed with this or any other "hack" except to go into service mode on an NH700 and un-rig the Eurovolume cap. I don't even know what is normally at 0114. I'm sure you (and others) do.

As someone with a limited experience in software design, it occurs to me that the field in question is in some way bit encoded. Could it be that turning on the 80H bit corresponds to HiMD?

I doubt this observation is useful because it sounds like, unlike the RH1, there is probably no menu structure in the earlier units, like the one you describe, to support the changing routinely.

However the converse just occurred to me. I noticed that the R910 I recently acquired has the "same" head (well, it looks the same) as all the HiMD units, despite being MDLP/SP. Could it be that HiMD functionality is lurking in some late model NetMD's?

Stephen

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As someone with a limited experience in software design, it occurs to me that the field in question is in some way bit encoded. Could it be that turning on the 80H bit corresponds to HiMD?

I don't think so. On first-generation Hi-MD models address 0114 has a totally different function - ClearVNV, instead of DistFH, and is set to 00. On the RH1 it has the DistFH function, but is also set to 00. Changing it to 80 on the RH1 doesn't lead to anything. And DON'T TRY TO CHANGE IT on a first generation unit - you'll clear the non-volatile memory.

However the converse just occurred to me. I noticed that the R910 I recently acquired has the "same" head (well, it looks the same) as all the HiMD units, despite being MDLP/SP. Could it be that HiMD functionality is lurking in some late model NetMD's?

Heads look really similar, but you need PRML to write to/read from Hi-MD.

Edited by Avrin
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All legacy recording modes (SP/LP2/LP4) are disabled on all second-generation Hi-MD units, despite them having the required circuitry/codecs. SP recording can be enabled as described above. Ways to enable LP2/LP4 recording are yet to be discovered, but those are not that critical, since you may transfer perfect LP2/LP4 from the computer.

Also, no second/third generation unit is able to record in legacy MONO, although the prototype RH1 (with firmware version 0.960) had this mode.

Edited by Avrin
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Now that I have an RH1, the RH10 is turned into a testbed.

1. Set address 0114 to anything below 80 (7F will do).

2. Disable Quick Mode.

3. Set the Disc Mode to MD.

4. Insert an MD-formatted MD disc with enough free space.

5. Connect a source (analog or optical).

6. Wait for the unit to turn itself off (or remove and reinsert the battery, if you don't wish to wait).

7. With the unit off, press REC and then PLAY (the usual way to start recording).

8. Watch the unit record happily in legacy SP mode.

The result is perfectly playable by anything, and uploadable by the RH1. You can't change the recording mode (only SP works). You can't start recording with the unit already on. May be this can also be unlocked. Time will tell.

The unit will no longer play MP3s, and SonicStage won't even transfer any MP3s to it anymore. This can be easily reversed by setting the value at address 0114 back to 80.

This sounds like a lot of gibberish. Could you explain exactly what you did? What is 0114? Below 80? 7F? You can't assume everyone on this forum knows what you're talking about.

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All legacy recording modes (SP/LP2/LP4) are disabled on all second-generation Hi-MD units, despite them having the required circuitry/codecs. SP recording can be enabled as described above. Ways to enable LP2/LP4 recording are yet to be discovered, but those are not that critical, since you may transfer perfect LP2/LP4 from the computer.

Also, no second/third generation unit is able to record in legacy MONO, although the prototype RH1 (with firmware version 0.960) had this mode.

Interesting. I didn't actually catch on to the fact the that NH600 and NH700 are both considered "first-generation" especially since I bought a brand new NH600 only this summer. Both of these units support mono.

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