Have a Hi-MD question that doesn't need a thread?

[The_Stamp]

Will I be able to do a fast digital upload of a mic-recorded WAV file to my computer and then have access to that same WAV file outside of Sonicstage so I can manipulate it in Cubase or Soundforge? Same question for line-input recorded WAV files.

nobody knows that yet. yes, you will be able to upload hi-MD recorded content, but it is not known if you can export the file as a wav or anything. my guess is that your wont be able to, because that would leave a (super small) leak for copyrighted content to be (very slowly) be distributed.

edit: added the quote in so people wont flip between pages :cool:

[Christopher]

This is what we do know so far:

While playing back MD tracks over the PC it is possible to simultaniously record them with e.g. Cooledit 2000 (effectively a realtime upload).

Like Stamp said, we will know more once the unit(s) debut. High-speed uploading is indeed possible, but the ability to edit those files is still a mystery. If nothing more, at least we'll be able to do it in real-time.

[arias]

I read that the current MD will be reformatted to 305MB or so; what does this exactly mean? Does it mean that current users of MDLP will be able to enjoy this expansion in space? Or will only the Hi-MD players be able to use this increase in MD space?

My second question is I bought an MZ N10 yesterday for 500 dollars Canadian (My GOD) before I found out this site today.. and that Hi-MD technology exists.. T_T. This is really sad. But I want to know whether Hi-MD is really significantly better than current MD players, or my N10, because I still have the chance to return it to get a refund, and save up that money for a Hi-MD. Any suggestions? I really need advice on this.

[Christopher]

I read that the current MD will be reformatted to 305MB or so; what does this exactly mean? Does it mean that current users of MDLP will be able to enjoy this expansion in space? Or will only the Hi-MD players be able to use this increase in MD space?

My second question is I bought an MZ N10 yesterday for 500 dollars Canadian (My GOD) before I found out this site today.. and that Hi-MD technology exists.. T_T. This is really sad. But I want to know whether Hi-MD is really significantly better than current MD players, or my N10, because I still have the chance to return it to get a refund, and save up that money for a Hi-MD. Any suggestions? I really need advice on this.

Hello, and welcome to the forums. :happy:

The formatted MD discs will not be able to be played in non Hi-MD equipment.

I am going to comment about your N10 situation in the thread you created.

[crazeybt1]

No no no i think yall probably got this dude's Q wrong...i really believe he means if the MD can multitask 4 instance when we're ripping songs to our pc from cd say we using windows Media player...we all know that it can b ripping a track at the begining of the disc n play another near the end almost flawlessly...so my good guess is that he's wondering if the MD can do something to that sort am i right? ...ne who that wouldn't be such a bad idea..seeing that these things gonna be dubed portable HDD..so to speak. cuz it's not like flash mem cards where it seems u can only read n it put's out streams of data at a time...i'm hoping with the HI MD we can actually run applications offa the thing u know....but that would have to b one hell of a RPM that motor gotta b doing :smile: ...

[crazeybt1]

I was struck with these questions ...i don't yet have a HI MD unit but i've read about peeps on the forum who have..ne who..if u can help me....since HI MD can hold both Data n audio....have u put both media on the discs yet? if so how can u tell what's on the discs can u view data titles on the disc? how can u tell how much recording time u have left..does it tell u in Size MB or in mins n sec..all from the unit....do u have an idea how the data is stored on the disc...like probably audio is written from the start of the disc n data from the back if that's logical...when u plug it into Sonic Stage...n the data on the disc is displayed..does it appear to be like data music data music..or data one place n music another...????..... i'm thinking then..if stuff is cumbersum on the disc then that's a lot of work for the lens constantly back n forth..jumping to the TOC probably n then runing back.to the location..if u get what i'm saying..i'd be thankful for ur input

:grin: or they have some kinna disc defragmenter

[zeromd]

i take it, u can only use a disc for 1 thing at a time, if its formatted for audio, or its formatted for data.

[Christopher]

Not true, zero. In fact, we've been over this multiple times in this thread, but I digress..

Hi-MD discs have two sections; data and what is readable on the unit for playback. These sections are completely seperate from one another and the data portion cannot be read on the unit, only through a computer. You can have stuff on both, too. :happy:

[boydmain]

Hi kurisu,

Sorry if this issue has already been addressed in this thread (9 pages is a lot to read through). What I want to know is what are the HD requirements for transferring audio from CDs to Hi-MD using Sonicstage? Will each song that I transfer need to be stored as an ATRAC3 file on my HD before it is exported to the hi-MD unit?

I'm worried about this as I would like to transfer a LOT of music from CD to the hi-MD, but I have only a puny little harddrive that is almost full to begin with.

Thanks heaps!

[arias]

I asked a question similar to this, but I was reading the specifications of Hi-MD models.. I noticed that Hi-MD playerss only write to MDs which are reformatted to 350mb.

Does this mean that if I record an MD using the Hi-MD recorder, a non Hi-MD player cannot read it?

[crazeybt1]

Thanks..but do u yet know if the formating is done by the unit alone or u need to sync it with the pc? "Kurisu"

[bunge]

Boydmain, the software hi-md comes with has sonic stage 2.0 and simple burner. Simple burner will transfer the music straight to the hi-md recorder/downloader. It won't put anything on your hd.

Arias, yes, unfortunately you can't use md's formatted for hi-md on old md.

Crazeybt1, both the unit and sonicstage format to atrac. So you won't have to sync, unless you are downloading from your computer.

[Christopher]

Sorry I've been slack on this thread, but I've been working on making the forums faster lately..

Hi kurisu,

What I want to know is what are the HD requirements for transferring audio from CDs to Hi-MD using Sonicstage?

Welcome Boyd. :happy: Looks like bunge answered most of your your question, but here's the minimum system requirements just in case:

System requirements

Computer:

CPU: Pentium II 400MHz or higher (Pentium III 450MHz or higher is recommended.)

RAM: 64MB or more (128MB or more is recommended)

Hard disk drive space: 200MB or more (1.5GB or more is recommended.)

(The amount of necessary space depends on the Windows OS or the size of your audio files.)

USB port: (supports USB 1.1)

OS:

Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004

Windows XP Professional

Windows XP Home Edition

Windows 2000 Professional

Windows Millennium Edition

Windows 98 Second Edition

And just to confirm, bunge was correct about crazeybt1 + arias' question.

[konrad]

ok, so im transferring my music collection into atrac3plus so i can use it with my hi-md (if they ever come). will i have to change it into the older atrac3 to record 'net-mds' for use on my old mzr-500 (which ive managed to flog to my mother)

thanks.

[crazeybt1]

cool.. another Q bout formating..what's the process like...is it like when ur formatting a HDD it goes through the entire disck n wipes it clean or like when ur deleting an MD it goes straight to the TOC (i mean deleting the entire disc while the MD's idle)

[The_Stamp]

konrad: yes, you will have to convert the files in old school atrac3, so the 500 can recognize it. (you will have to record the md in std MD mode when recording from the Hi-MD)

crazybt1: windows actually has two kind of formats when formatting.... quick and full. quick just zips right to the TOC and wipes it clean. Full format actually goes through the HD (or MD in this case) and sets it all to 0. (i think) all i REALLY know is that quick format is much quicker. and since it is recognized as a USB mass storage device, it can be subject to any formatting /defragmentation technique that any desktop program does (such as norton utilities and such)

edit: wow! im at the top of the page AGAIN! ( i was at the top last time. its not as if its any accomplishment. just a coincidence )

[doclloyd]

ok, so im transferring my music collection into atrac3plus so i can use it with my hi-md (if they ever come). will i have to change it into the older atrac3 to record 'net-mds' for use on my old mzr-500 (which ive managed to flog to my mother)

thanks.

One other option is to specify the bit rate when transferring to your MD, so it can be compatible. But I don't think your MZR-500 is even NetMD capable, so converting your music to Atrac3plus now should be OK for prepping for your Hi-MD days.

[crazeybt1]

cool ......man i'm soo excited bout this HI MD thing can't wait to get my NH900.. got a whole set of Hi MD features to show off on my still new n current NET MD users..n some friends who i know r just getting into the MDLP thing :grin:... it's cool when you know more than the average man :laugh: (aww..how selfish of me )

[The_Stamp]

you should talk

note: this post has been classified as spam. so, to prevent this post from not being deleted, i shall release some info.

use norton utilities for the defrag. must nicer than the basic windows defrag.

thank you.

[jadeclaw]

crazybt1: windows actually has two kind of formats when formatting.... quick and full.  quick just zips right to the TOC and wipes it clean.  Full format actually goes through the HD (or MD in this case) and sets it all to 0. (i think)

You're right about the quick format, the long format overwrites everything only on Floppydisk.

On harddisk and other high capacity media, the long format is actually a quick format with a read test added.

[konrad]

thanks.

so im transferring my cds to 256kbs atrac3plus into sonicstage. will i later be able to record them onto hi-md at a lower bitrate, or will i have to rerip them to my computer at the lower bitrate.

and how many minutes will i get on a 1gig disk at 256kbs atrac3plus.

Thanks again.

[Spare Tire]

On old MDs, when you edited your disc too much sometimes the music skips because the music is physically fragmented and far apart. Now since HiMD can also store data and since i suppose you can defragment the disc from windows, can the same be done to audio-mds? And could the same be done to old school minidiscs (not reformatted)?

[DoubleDown]

Hi...just a quick question here.

I'm looking into getting a Hi-MD player/recorder...I've never bought a minidisc player before, and was debating an MP3 player, but the amount of storage Hi-MD players are reported to have is excellent. I am also enticed by the data storage capabilities.

My question is in regards to the line out jack included on some units. What I would want to do is connect the player to my stereo. Do I need to pony up for a more expensive model with the line out feature, or can I achieve the same thing by connecting the headphone jack to my stereo?

Ok, so maybe that wasn't as quick as I'd intended. And I apologize if this issue has been addressed elsewhere...I've been reading the boards for a couple of days now and haven't managed to find an answer. Thanks!

[Christopher]

so im transferring my cds to 256kbs atrac3plus into sonicstage. will i later be able to record them onto hi-md at a lower bitrate, or will i have to rerip them to my computer at the lower bitrate. 

and how many minutes will i get on a 1gig disk at 256kbs atrac3plus.

Thanks again.

You'll need to re-rip them. Re-encoding them is a moot point because it'd make it even more lossy.

256kbps ATRAC3plus [aka Hi-SP] on a Hi-MD disc? 7h 55m. This information [and more] is available here.

On old MDs, when you edited your disc too much sometimes the music skips because the music is physically fragmented and far apart. Now since HiMD can also store data and since i suppose you can defragment the disc from windows, can the same be done to audio-mds? And could the same be done to old school minidiscs (not reformatted)?

Hypothetically yes. I'm not so sure about the "old school" Minidiscs, as you'd probably have to convert it to Hi-MD mode. If you converted it to Hi-MD mode and converted it back to NetMD mode that would seemingly be effective as a defragment/format.

Hi...just a quick question here.

My question is in regards to the line out jack included on some units.  What I would want to do is connect the player to my stereo.  Do I need to pony up for a more expensive model with the line out feature, or can I achieve the same thing by connecting the headphone jack to my stereo?

Good question, and welcome to the forums. :happy:

Unless I'm mistaken, no Hi-MD unit has a dedicated line out. You would have to utilize the "fake" line out mode in the unit, which essentially turns the volume up all the way without aid from the additional sound features. This is somewhat effective, but most audiophiles don't prefer it. I don't mind it, really.

You could just connect the unit to the computer and connect the computer to your stereo, and utilize the line out on your soundcard [if applicable].

[wuduhel]

all my music is in mp3 format. i've read thru what to me seems like a cumbersome process of copying mp3 to netMD thru burning CD images, mounting, etc. now with hi-md what would be the process for copying mp3 to md? would it simply me a drag-n-drop interface similiar to explorer, but converting to atrac on the fly? if so, how long would it take to fill up an entire hi-md? would the TOC need to be updated after recording each song? would atrac files be saved to my HDD? i have 45gigs of mp3 and don't want another 45gigs of atrac files.

i bought an mz-r90 back in australia when it first came out and the thing that drove me nuts was 1:1 recording of mp3. i loved the battery life and the size tho.

i guess what i'm asking is if it will be similiar to an mp3 player in the speed with which it copies mp3, or will it be significantly slower and more cumbersome?

thanks

[The_Stamp]

you will have to convert each song into atrac3/plus, unfortunately. Realplayer deletes the files after use tho (its an option) for std md. but it may not be so for hi-md, as you would need an updated driver for it.

edit: Welcome to minidisc.org!

[lenz79]

Hello everybody

Im new to the forums, and new to the MD in general. Now that Hi-MD is comming out i tought about buying NH600. I only got couple of questions that still confuse me.

The first question is about the battery, since the player doesn't come with a rechargeable battery, i tought about buying Uniross Rechargeable batteries Ni-MH 1.2V 2300mAh, for it. Doing so i would also be able to use those batteries in my digital camera. My question is, will i have anykind of problems with those batteries?

The second question is about the new ability to carry pc files. As someone mentioned earlier there isn't any restrictions for file formats. What im concerned is, do i need special software to copy the files onto the disk and to extract the files from the disc to another computer? Or does it work like a USB stickmemory?

Third question is about the Hi-MD media life. How many times can you rewrite on to the new Hi-MD disk. Infinite times? I didn't found a word about it in the official documentation, but i could miss it.

Thnx

lenz

[Christopher]

Welcome, lenz. :happy:

The first question is about the battery, since the player doesn't come with a rechargeable battery, i tought about buying Uniross Rechargeable batteries Ni-MH 1.2V 2300mAh, for it. Doing so i would also be able to use those batteries in my digital camera. My question is, will i have anykind of problems with those batteries?

Yes, in theory that battery should work fine. I've never seen larger than a 2000mAh AA battery..very interesting.

The second question is about the new ability to carry pc files. As someone mentioned earlier there isn't any restrictions for file formats. What im concerned is, do i need special software to copy the files onto the disk and to extract the files from the disc to another computer? Or does it work like a USB stickmemory?

It's drag and drop like your hard-drive in "My Computer". Like "USB stickmemory" [i have one of those - pretty neat], except you must remember that Hi-MD operates on USB 1.1.

Third question is about the Hi-MD media life. How many times can you rewrite on to the new Hi-MD disk. Infinite times? I didn't found a word about it in the official documentation, but i could miss it.

Infinite. If rewriting makes the disc lossy somehow, you can always defrag and/or format, but that would take quite a bit of editing to accomplish.

[The_Stamp]

checks my duracell Nmh... cool, 2050 mah... i bought that battery like 4 months ago, and its still lasting 8 hours per charge (btw, i lisen to it like 4 hours a day )

[crazeybt1]

checks my duracell Nmh... cool, 2050 mah.

what's the actual model n type of the battery sounds like something i'd like to have ..can it b used in MD units

[The_Stamp]

checks duracell AGAIN....

says: aa/hr6/dc1500

nimh/1.2V,2050mAh

yup, i play it until its dead (in my MD) then i just plug it in at night. its a great .. structured sequence (i forgot what that word is! OMG)

they run at 5 bucks a bettery (in a pack of 4). ya, 20 bucks lasts about a year. now IS THAT SAVINGS OR WHAT!

edit: thats canadian dollars

edit: HOLY CRAP! that's 3 times in a row now! i feel lucky today or something! (looks down the street for some hot girls... theres none, then recedes back to the computer and finishes the sentence. )

[crazeybt1]

wow that's a lot of mah for a nihm cell

[crazeybt1]

i got bout 5 minidiscs that were destroyed by my N707..due to the magnetic head not being connected due to busted ribon cable.. ne who the unit seemed to b writing to the disc but after which i got "no disc" or"disc err" ..ne who the discs won't play in my other players or ne player for that matter..i'm assuming the TOC is messed up badly or something... does ne one think by reformatting the discs with a HI MD unit the discs will be usuable again ?

[Sbetsho]

What are the exact recording times of each bitrates? I'm mostly interested of Hi-SP, Hi-LP and 48kbps

[Christopher]

i got bout 5 minidiscs  that were destroyed by my N707..due to the magnetic head not being connected due to busted ribon cable.. ne who the unit seemed to b writing to the disc but after which i got "no disc"  or"disc err" ..ne who the discs won't play in my other players or ne player for that matter..i'm assuming the TOC is messed up badly or something... does  ne one think by reformatting the discs with a HI MD unit the discs will be usuable again ?

There is a possibility. Who makes the discs?

What are the exact recording times of each bitrates? I'm mostly interested of Hi-SP, Hi-LP and 48kbps

http://minidisc.org/hi-md_faq.html

[alieninhead]

Anyone know when the car units will be coming out?

~a.i.h.

[The_Stamp]

WHat does the download button on the 600 do? like, theres a record button on the others (i have a 510, i sometimes do recording), but how dodes the "download button work" i haven't found a clear answer here.

[grant420]

Forgive my rant, but after drudging through 11 pages of b.s. I had to comment:

You CANNOT yet purchase a hi-md player/recorder!!! Try in July.

No one, except a few select Dutch and Japanese electronics reviewers/testers, etc. actually possesses one of these hi-md units, yet!

With that in mind, don't you realize how assinine/too lazy or stupid to read/ many of you seem when you ask if the following are possible?

1. Can you download PCM quality recordings (or, for that matter, any ATRAC music) from hi-md units directly to your PC via USB cable, and perform editing in apps like Cooledit, Cakewalk, etc and listen to the recordings?

my $0.02: I've read a lot about hi-md player/recorders, and I'll bet any one of you dorks $100 that Sony does NOT allow this, but NO ONE KNOWS YET so QUIT ASKING and wasting forum users' time! This feature would allow people to steal others' CD collections, so of course will be prohibited!

2. Can I transfer .wav / .hma, etc files directly from PC to hi-md using the data storage capibility and then playback either on the hi-md or by transferring the data to another PC?

- again, this is unknown until we got our greedy little hands on these badboys.

3. When can I buy myself a hi-md player?

- haven't you learned from the release date change from April to July that perhaps demand has exceeded Sony's initial supply of hi-md units? Amazon told me to expect mine around the middle of July, but I'll believe that when I open my mailbox. BTW - Amazon just dropped prices on hi-md players. (You'd have to add it to your Cart to view the price)

[crazeybt1]

hmm... dude...u gotta learn to b calm..i do understand what ur saying bout the continous questions to which we only have opiniated answers 2 ..it's freeom of speech...ne wayz..

for those who've bought their Nh600 tell me does the package include a blank HI MD or if not have ne one heard of the other units coming with one?

[Gattuso]

Trying to decide between a Creative Muvo 2 and a hi-md player.

Recently read on another forum how a Muvo 2 user was unable to rip his CDs using the provided MediaSource software because the CDs he was using 'do not support digital ripping'. Does anyone know why this is, how I can tell if I am in the same situation and if he would have the same problems if he had bought a Hi-md player with it's associated software?