Newbie...sort of...

[Xircuits]

Hi all,

I recently found some really old 74 min. minidiscs. Actually 2 of them. I had a MD player when I was in high school --my dad bought 1 for me refurbished. It worked great and it was compact although when I think about it now, it was more like a brick. It was rectangular shaped and with the double A battery pack screwed on to the side looked even more strange. I really liked the MD player because I felt like I was a music producer of some sorts. I would record via the Line In via either CD player or whatever I had on my computer. I really enjoyed it and I enjoyed swapping out the discs. It made me look cool. It was even cooler when I saw minidiscs in The Matrix. I decided to check out Ebay to see if I could buy another one since I seem to have lost the original MD player. I got a Net MD for a really great price and have been playing with it since.

I wish the software was still being updated. I have installed the driver and Sonic Stage 4.3 but I'm having huge issues with it. I was able to transfer music onto the discs, but for some reason I cannot erase the disc without Sonic Stage crashing and the display on my Net MD read "ERROR". Even when I delete tracks individually, it crashes. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I wish there was better software. I even downloaded RealPlayer, but it doesn't seem like it's supporting minidiscs anymore. I wonder if I should bring out my Dell Laptop as it is still running off WinXP. I even tried the compatability option for Sonic Stage hoping that if it were to run in WinXP/2000 mode, it would work better, but alas, it wouldn't even start and I had to reinstall the software.

Anyway, I am still fiddling with it and listening to some of the music I was into when I was in high school. It's like a time machine. :-) I love reading the topics in this forum and hope to hear from everyone soon.

[jim.hoggarth]

Hi Xircuits

I am really digging deep into my fading memories here, but I am sure I have had this on either the MZ-N1 or the MZ-N707. Turned out it was a fault on the USB connection of the MD recorder's main board, requiring a main board swap. Further to this, I am certain I had another MZ-N1 in for repair showing that sort of fault, here the owner had cleared down the EEPROM memory. Now reinitializing the motor and optical control settings is not a too difficult task, but I had no way of resetting the USB stuff. I assume the EEPROM holds an encryption key unique to that machine, but I do not have the Windows software needed to work with the firmware this way. The solution again - swap in a known good working board.

I realize all I am doing here is giving you a glimpse into the problem, but no solution. Ultimately you may need to try the NetMD recorder on another PC as you suggest, preferably with a good copy of Windows XP. Also if you could let us know what make/model of NetMD recorder you have it may help.

Jim

[sfbp]

Dont forget the multiple untitled tracks delete bug in SS. Once that happens disconnect usb and hold breath.

[Xircuits]

Thanks for responding. I bought a Net MD Walkman MZ-N505 Type-R. It was really cheap and now I'm starting to get why. This thing doesn't even have a mic jack. Just a line in, headphone, and USB port. I decided to try somethings like running Sonic Stage in compatibility mode, but the program would just crap out even before it starts. I uninstalled SS and re-installed it and now it works great! It's not slow anymore, but with the occasional hiccup, it's working like a charm. I don't know why it works better now than it did before, but I'm happy with it. I can't believe I can fit 76 tracks using LP4 on an 80 mind disc! Unbelievable! Definitely going back to MD player's and yeah, I can hear the difference alright. I was playing a song via my cell phone's audio jack and then I switched over the MD playing the same file and the cell phone sounded very flat, almost like a faint ghost of the original song. Plus, I like popping out the discs --they looks soo cool when you press the eject button.