Hi-MD Deck - Which one?

[sunnyandbow]

Hi, I am new to this minidisc forum and hope someone can help. I want to transfer LP's to my PC. I have got a MZ-NH600 which with formatted discs in Hi-MD format will transfer via the USB to WAV files but its a slow manual process.

I have also got a MDS-JE530 but it won't read the HI-Md discs and will only record in MD format which I then can't transfer to my PC.

Is there a full size deck that I can use to do what I want? I don't mind copying in real time in analogue as I beleive in digital it won't work. Or does Sony's copy protection get in the way all the time.

As a last resort, can I copy the LP's with the MDS-530 and then play them back in real time with the MZ-NH600 conected to the tape out of the amp onto a Hi-MD disk which I can then transfer via the USB port. At least this way the auto spacing and track marking will work so I won't have to sit over the record deck marking the track ends.

Thanks very much. Andrew

[A440]

Onkyo makes a Hi-MD deck but this is still going to be a time-consuming process.

http://www.minidisc.org/part_Onkyo_MD-133.html

You could just record directly into your computer with Audacity.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

It's best with a line-in connnection, so if your computer only has mic-in then get a Griffin iMic (which despite its name is a USB line-in audio connector).

http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-Technology-i...d/dp/B00006BALQ

To help with the track marking, there's a free program called CDWave that suggests track marks at silences. It's pretty good unless you have gapless albums.

http://www.milosoftware.com/cdwave/