Rehearsal recording.

[cosmicmonster]

Hi, I got a question. I don't know mucho about the bit rates and transfer compression, but the thing is I want to record some of my rehearsals with my HiMD. If I get my recordings on ATRAC can I edit those tracks on my PC like a normal MP3 or WAV files without losing much quality?

Thanks!

[sfbp]

If you upload to PC you will need to run the File Conversion Tool (from within Sonicstage!!!!) to remove encryption (DRM). Once you've done that, the Sound Forge 9 or 10 editor will allow you to do full editing of ATRAC files.

Hope this helps. If you have more questions (or clarification of what I just wrote), go ahead and ask.

[cosmicmonster]

Righ on! That's clear the path. But now a new question keeps me from sleep. In wich quality of ATRAC I should do the recordings?

[sfbp]

Depends on the source.

If you are using a deck to record broadcasts, you can get away with LP4 (and of course LP2) provided the deck is type-R (or Type-S). However I have no experience with the Hi-MD record rates of less than 256kbps, which is what I would recommend (Hi-SP 256kbps).

If you're using a microphone, I would record (if possible) in LPCM (I use 24-bit 44.1 on my PCM-M10) and convert to Hi-SP later (using Sound Forge). Uncompressed (LPCM) Hi-MD is a real pain because you have to strip out the header information and convert to 16-bit WAV. SF doesn't understand the LPCM format when it's in an OMA container, don't ask me why.

For live broadcasts (where they haven't levelled the sound previously) you should use at least LP2.

The one useful bit rate that never turns up on MD is 128kbps Hi-MD, however it is possible to record in that using some of the Japanese NW- walkmans.