MZ-M200

[Sequoia]

Hello all. Brand new to this board...

For years Ive been using a Sony MZ-R55 high end MD recorder to record live shows.

I just got a new MZ-M200 and have a few questions and I need them answered in the next 2 days. I Dont mean to sound demanding but I mainly bought it for an event.

Im trying to figure out some things though.

Please answer any questions you may be able to. I numbered to make it easier:

1. The gum-stick battery. It says in the instructions that it gets 80% charged in an hour and then it takes 2 more hours for the remaining 20%. But the few times Ive charged it, it just seems to shut off in an hour and when I try it again, it comes on to charge but then says its charged and shuts off. So how do I get to charge the extra 20%. I bought an extra battery and they both do this.

2. I thought this unit would allow me to transfer my live recordings DIGITALLY off of the unit into a computer.

Im a little confused though by the instructions and the software.

It seems I can ONLY get digital transfer (as opposed to playing it out analog out) if I use the software? Is that correct? And the software gave an error during the transfer that wasnt explained. It started to Xfer it and then gave an error. I went online and got version 4 from the sony website along with some fix update and when I opened that software, it doesnt even seem to see my MD nor does it give an option to transfer from it.

Is this the ONLY way I can get a digital transfer off of the MD.

3. Is it correct that all the other discs Ive recorded with the older recorder, I still CANNOT transfer them off of this newer recorder in a digital way? I was hoping I could.

4. The jog wheel type thing on this MZ-M200 seems flaky when I push it up. Do others have a problem with this jog thing. My older one didnt have this - just buttons. Ive had it days and it seems to be flaky already. down works great - but up works sometimes and sometimes not, which makes it impossible to FF through a track cause it just jumps to the next track.

5. What the heck is group record and do I want it on or off. I can find no explanation in the instructions of what it really is???

6. FW version on this is 1.0....Is there an update I should get. I just bought this.....

7. Should I be getting a flash recorder in this day and age? Not too impressed with this unit and the 1G disks are EXPENSIVE.

8. I read on here a tip for recording faster by recording on the discs one big track before the event to record. So the disk gets formatted.

So do I have to then do "erase all tracks"? after that? On my old player when I did that, it showed up as a blank disc again so how does that make it faster when I start on it again??

Thank you all in advance for any answers you may be able to give me!

Edited June 4, 2009 by Sequoia

[Avrin]

Welcome to the Forums!

I'll try to answer at least some of your questions.

1. The battery charge counter only shows time required to charge to 80%. The remaining 20% charging is done with the indicator off. So, the easy rule is to always charge an empty battery for 3 hours. And NEVER store an empty battery for a long time (overnight may be too long in some cases), since it may discharge to the point the unit no longer "sees" it.

2. Yes, you can only transfer music to/from the unit using the software. The version supplied with the unit is acceptable, but not the best one. Version 4.3 available for official download from the SONY site is known to be glitchy in some situations. Version 4.2 was good, but it is no longer officially available, and even if it were, you can run into trouble installing it after the newer one. So, try the unofficial "ultimate" 4.3 version I put together some time ago: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?s=&am...st&p=141995 - it seems quite more stable. If the computer/program doesn't see the unit, restarting may help.

3. With the M200, you can transfer any of your R55 recordings digitally to the PC. By default, they are converted to ATRAC3plus 256 kbit/s after transfer, but you may wish to avoid the unneccessary conversion to another lossy format, and keep them in PCM. To do this, in SonicStage go to Tools->Options->Transfer->select NetMD (this option only appears after a unit in NetMD mode has been connected at least once)->Transfer Settings->Advanced->Import settings, and select PCM there. You may also want to check the "Save in WAV format when importing" box, so your files are automatically converted to WAVs.

4. The jog wheel is not very convenient or reliable. The other unpleasant surprise on this unit is the EJECT button.

5. Group record is a function that puts tracks recorded in one session (one press of the REC button) into a single group. The next time you record, tracks will be placed into a new group, etc.

6. The FW version is always shown as 1.0, but the actual firmware seen in the units varies from 1.000 to 1.0A0 (you need to enter the service mode to see the actual version). But there is no way for the end user to update firmware on a [Hi]-MD unit. And no one knows any actual differences between firmware versions.

7. Probably yes. But this depends on your taste.

8. This trick seems useless, since the disc doesn't actually need to be "formatted". All physical formatting is done during manufacturing (pressing), and cannot be changed. So, the "pre-formatting" trick will only double the wear of the magnetic head.

Edited June 4, 2009 by Avrin