Will Sony Hi-MD support direct recording of radio?

[kickingVegas]

Not clear if Sony will do this but as a NF610 user, I find myself wishing

I could record a radio program using the tuner that comes with it - you can't, and it was likely that this

was a deliberate design decision.

Adding a clock and letting one program a

record time seems so obvious with MiniDiscs, in spite of the anxiety of

music execs. Are there other MiniDisc players with radio tuners that

support direct radio recording?

[Christopher]

Hiya, and welcome to the forums.

Unfortunately, the answer is no.

[jay_zhead]

I don't think it was a "deliberate design decision", but rather just a cost-related decision. From the first RF's and NF's, the MD unit itself was not changed from the same model without a radio. The radio was instead added to the remote, and as the unit cannot accept feedback audio from the remote, you cannot record radio programs. If they were to make radio recording functionality, they'd have to design a new unit altogether that has radio embedded in the unit itself; or change the design of the remote control plug (and keep in mind that that same plug is used in dozens of different products besides the MD). I guess there is just not enough demand for that kind of thing for them to take such drastic measures.

[MDX-400]

I agree with jay_zhead's analysis--it is pretty much spot on, IMO

I'd just add that the radio was taking up more power than playing of an MD on the previous units and just about the same power as recording at LP2.

So if you think about it, even on the older (non-Hi-MD) units recording from the radio might give you such a short record time it mightn't be funny! On those units, I'd imagine (if the feature were actually available) that you'd get maybe a disc or two's worth of recording time if you were lucky.

On the new Hi-MD units, the power consumption of the unit during recording is very high. Add that and the radio together at once and you're in some real trouble in terms of battery life!

So though it might sound cool to be able to record from the radio, the battery would really get taxed during such an operation...