What are the best settings to use when Transferring NetMD? Any online guides?

[infobleep]

I've not this has been asked countless times before but on reading different previous posts I'm getting confused.

If I have some NetMD LP2 and LP4 recordings, what is the best settings to use when transferring them from my RH1 to and laptop?

What about SP recordings? I'm sure I read that true SP cannot be transferred due to licencing issues.

Once I have them on my laptop, what is the best way to archive them without DRM, without any further loss of quality? I'm sure someone suggest OMA files but do they have DRM? or can the FLC software remove the DRM?

If my laptop crashed whilst doing the transfer, would it cause issues at all with the minidisc that's being transferred?

Finally I've read people have had issues with bits of previous tracks appearing at the start of next ones. Am I likely to encounter this when transfering live recordings. Should I simply remove all my track marks to resolve this?

If I remove track marks, is it fairly stable or could I encounter corruption?

It's a long time since I last did any HiMD transfers.

Some of the recordings I'm doing are mic live recordings. Others will be via digital out of a radio.

If there is a guide anyway, please could someone share it.

Many thanks

[sfbp]

NetMD recordings (LP2/3/4) cannot be transferred.

However MDLP recordings (from any unit, not restricted) that were NOT made via USB are bit-for-bit and there are no settings to make. Note that you will wish to decrypt everything after the upload using the File Conversion Tool. That it worked will be indicated by file extension changed from .oma to .OMA. If you don't do this, files are locked to that installation of SonicStage on that PC.

SP pretty much same but in my experience there is no advantage in generating WAV files... better to go with 256k Atrac3+ (only 2 options for upload). You lose the metadata when you make wav files and it all gets v confusing trying to deal with the generated files. Ignore the stuff about "fake SP" that's in the other direction ie PC->MD.

If you DO get locked out of the files, VLC (  and also ffmpeg) will work on them even with encryption.

The hiMD transfer stuff was a bug in the freeware Qhimdtransfer program that they never solved, about music tracks starting somewhere other than on a FAT boundary. The VLC/ffmpeg and Sonic Stage handle it perfectly, no need to worry about getting rid of track marks. Good question, i can tell you've already read around a bit.

I would NOT alter discs to be uploaded at this stage. Rather, get yourself a copy of Sound Forge and edit the uploaded files (you will have to decrypt them first).

IF you have a lot of tracks it becomes wise to edit the titles before upload.. or you'll get buried in files with weird titles.

One more thing. You cannot write protect a HiMD recording before upload. Legacy MD you can and should. Since a one bit error in HiMD invalidates the whole disk, be careful and don't interrupt or crash!!!!

[infobleep]

Thanks for your helpful reply. I generally try to read up stuff first before asking. 

I thought the RH1 could transfer everything you recorded using a mic, with SonicStage 4.3, regardless of format. 

I have a lot of LP2 and some LP4 recordings. 

Given what you have said Bout crashing, I think I will need to invest in a new laptop but only for HiMD recordings and not legacy ones as I can write protect those.

 

[sfbp]

MDLP recordings (as opposed to USB transfers/rips) are cool. it's a better codec than SP.  The only licensing issue (and this is not 100% clear whether it was technically deprecated or because of serious legal language with Dolby) was not storing the "raw" ATRAC data from SP on disk.

Make sure you follow the steps of removing other drivers when uploading from RH1. If upload goes at full speed (about 10 minutes for a disk regardless of recording speed) then you don't have the problem, which is known to occur when heterogeneous MD unIts have been hooked to a W32 system, triggering installation of the "vampire" drivers which interfere with legacy upload on RH1.