Have a Hi-MD question that doesn't need a thread? [part II]

[skyther]

^ How do you know?

[DrZhivago]

^ How do you know?

Had a few Malaysian students while I was teaching (tutoring) here in Adelaide Australia. Besides, my cousin works in Malaysia right now.

From watching program on SBS about Malaysia.

Side Note: I also liked interview that former Malaysian P.M Dr.M.M gave to news channel here few years ago,dissing our PM (little Johnny) by saying that he's acting like a local sheriff. :grin: ,and generaly agreed with lot of what he said.

[skyther]

Oo, you're in SA. I see, I see.

Yeah, Mahathir is one PM who's got the balls. He came to my uni one weekend not so long ago. Doesn't mean the majority of the Malaysian population have good work ethics and are highly motivated. :happy:

[DrZhivago]

Well,hopefully those who work for Sony have some

Anyway it's really pointless to worry where product is made these days, considering that parts that make it up,come from all sorts of places.

It probably should read ,Assembled in Japan or Malaysia.

At least you'd hope that those Malaysians can put few screws in few right spots properly. :laugh:

[Happy Hopping]

hmm.... my best bet is malaysia  because all the units i have were bought in the U.S and they all read at the back made in Malaysia units are MZN707, MZG750 and MZR500 and i'm sure my MZR70 is made in malaysia but it's not near me right now

:smile:

Did anyone bought the gold color NH1? If so, is it made in Japan?

[DrZhivago]

Yeah I did. Ordered mine from Japan from Japan-Direct. Gold model is only available in Japan. Still waiting for item to arrive, because of stupid slow Australian Post. When it arrives,which I hope ll be soon, I will post some pictures and initial comments.

[Happy Hopping]

Please do, I'll look forward to it.

When you order from Japan, have you consider the 3 line display Language issue? Or can that be selected to display English only?

[Ppk3000]

Please do, I'll look forward to it.

When you order from Japan, have you consider the 3 line display Language issue?  Or can that be selected to display English only?

I believe that depends on the version of Sonic Stage you use... as in the Japanese version automatically using Kanji while the English version would hide them.

[DrZhivago]

I believe that depends on the version of Sonic Stage you use... as in the Japanese version automatically using Kanji while the English version would hide them.

Hip Hip Hooray!!!

It's here. Air express courier delivered sweet package to my door half an hour ago. Gotta rush of to work now but I ll post few pics tonight. Have to say I'm impressed with the look of this device. Finish is absolutley amazing. Now to your question. It is defaulted to Kanji of course as its japanese model,but you certainly can switch it to english only. I have also received instructions of how to do that. Few clicks on remote menu and good bye Kanji .

Cheers

[Ppk3000]

Hip Hip Hooray!!!

It's here. Air express courier delivered sweet package to my door half an hour ago. Gotta rush of to work now but I ll post few pics tonight. Have to say I'm impressed with the look of this device. Finish is absolutley amazing. Now to your question. It is defaulted to Kanji of course as its japanese model,but you certainly can switch it to english only. I have also received instructions of how to do that. Few clicks on remote menu and good bye Kanji .

Cheers

[deafplayer]

Hi everyone, i finally registered for this very handy forum

i have a question about something i haven't seen addressed here... in Sony Soundforge 7.0 you can save audio in a format called "Sony Perfect Clarity Audio", which makes files with a .pca extension

Heres a little description from the Save As dialogue box:

"Render Stereo, 44,100 Hz, 16 Bit Sony Perfect Clarity Audio (.pca) file.

The compression ratio of this lossless format depends on the audio source."

(btw you can also choose to render it in Mono)

ive tested it out on a few files and here are the resulting file sizes compared to Soundforge-rendered .wav files:

test song with length of 00:06:52

.wav - 69.3 MB

.pca - 49.7 MB

test album with length of 1:10:54, as one continous piece of audio

.wav - 715 MB

.pca - 357 MB

the audio originated from CDs and never left a lossless format

i haven't really compared the audio closely, but im assuming we can trust that theres no change in sound quality, and it does sound very good, i can say that much

wouldn't it be great if HI-MD players supported this???

yes... yes it would

do you think its possible the new players will gain this capability in the future? and does it show up at all in SonicStage?

[Ppk3000]

I am pretty sure you are stuck with Sony's ATRAC3/ATRAC3plus for compression methods in the Hi-MD line... the Soundforge developers are most likely in another department under Sony. (and we all know how well their cross-department relationships are in the recent history... :laugh:)

The iPod is for you if you need lossless compression. Although for casual on-the-go listening, I think Hi-SP (256-kbps ATRAC3plus) is sufficient... even for the audiophiles: how can you pick out those small frequency/dynamic details with a street-full of cars? . Based on other opinions here, however, you most likely need the iPod if you're camping in quiet places with trained ears seeking for near-perfection :sleep:.

As for your question on the future: I wouldn't bet on it. Sony is not known for meeting most (in some cases, any) user needs. However I will hope for a better future, think they will do better (again...) and give themselves a better reputation.

[skyther]

I smell more placebo BS... Are you insulting audiophiles or your own intelligence? :laugh: j/k.

iPod = far from perfect. But it's better than any other portable offering out there. Unlike some others, and as much as I enjoy hearing revving WRXes and their BOVs, I spend my time actually listening to music and not cars.

http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er4.asp

Shove them up your ears. Simple.

Making claims off the top of your head again, hmm? :grin: :cool:

[Ppk3000]

I am pretty sure "deafplayer" was referring to "portable audio" in the post above so what else counts if iPod doesn't? (Nope, I don't trust those mp3'ers either for maximum quality... I seem to like the idea of lossless comparing to high quality lossy compression, such as 320kbps MP3).

I do stand corrected for the fact that I forgot (but had in mind) to mention about average (not necessarily stock, but typical class) headphones/earbuds... on the contrary, you can't expect everyone to spend big bucks on 'phones that provide sound isolation + ultra high quality :rasp: I've known several stubborn few believing in nothing but cheap 'phones because "they break easily" (*shrug* don't ask me why they are so against getting higher quality 'phones, I'd like to know the clear answer to that myself)

[Ppk3000]

...and while it's in my mind, skyther: what's the overall average compression ratio for iPod's lossless audio format (comparing to raw uncompressed)...?

[skyther]

I'm just screwing with ya. :happy: Next time, don't include 'audiophiles' in your argument. :laugh:

You'd get around 30 to 40% compression with Apple Lossless, sometimes even more. It's not as efficient as FLAC or MA, but it still does the job of saving space, and the encoding times are pretty quick.

[jadeclaw]

Hi everyone, i finally registered for this very handy forum

Welcome.

... i haven't really compared the audio closely, but im assuming we can trust that theres no change in sound quality, and it does sound very good, i can say that much

PCA IS lossless, so there is no difference between PCA and uncompressed WAV.

If there is, your computer has a problem - A serious one...

wouldn't it be great if HI-MD players supported this???

yes... yes it would

Sure, it would, but there is a problem:

The datarate isn't constant, so recalculating the remaining recording time is not possible without being considerably off.

do you think its possible the new players will gain this capability in the future? and does it show up at all in SonicStage?

SonicStage can read only MP3, WAV, and non-DRM WMA.

Personally, I don't see lossless compression on a Sony consumer device any time soon. Expect never...

[koontz8vb]

I've tried to find an answer to this by searching the forums and looking at specs online, but I've been unsuccessful. The specs comparing the 800 to 900 HiMD units show that the 900 has a "line out" function while the 800 doesn't. Looking at the photo of the 900, there isn't a separate jack for the line out, it just shows that the headphone jack is marked "line" as well as the headphones logo. If the jack is shared, what does the line out functionality do that the phones jack doesn't?

Thanks!

[Christopher]

Welcome, koontz. :happy: It turns the volume all the way up without EQ or any other effects.

[DrZhivago]

Hi.

I'd like to post few pictures of MZNH1 (gold) taken last night,if anyone is interested of course. Problem is, i don't have any web server on hand here . Is there any other way to post few pics.

Cheers

[Ppk3000]

Hi.  

I'd like to post few pictures of MZNH1 (gold) taken last night,if anyone is interested of course. Problem is, i don't have any web server on hand here    . Is there any other way to post few pics.  

Cheers

Private message me an e-mail address I can contact you by... I can give you some room.

[iceeedtea]

I'd like to post few pictures of MZNH1 (gold) taken last night,if anyone is interested of course. Problem is, i don't have any web server on hand here    . Is there any other way to post few pics.

Start a new thread to reduce the clutter in this one, please.

Photobucket

ImageShack

Sign up a free account, and you're done. Hot-linkable image hosts.

[Happy Hopping]

For those who owned NH1, silver or gold color, is the unit sensitive to finger print? Like if you touch it, it leaves prints all over.

[DrZhivago]

For those who owned NH1, silver or gold color, is the unit sensitive to finger print?  Like if you touch it, it leaves prints all over.

Not the unit casing as much as single line display and remote.

[Tarcka]

So, sorry if this have been somewhere before, but: Does hi-mds support mp3? I saw one hi-md in an ad (nh-900), and there was 'supports mp3 (and some other formats, I can't remember what)'. So, does it support mp3? Other question: Can you put music to hi-md like to hard drive, ie. will the hi-md show in My Computer as a external drive, and you can put files without any software? If you can, will you be able to listen these songs right from the hi-md?

[Christopher]

Welcome, Tarcka. This has been covered before, but I'll answer it regardless.

You can put music onto a Hi-MD disk without conversion [like *.mp3], but it will not be playable on the unit. A Hi-MD disc has a few parts to it [putting this in basic terms]: the data section and the music that is playable in the unit itself. These two are completely independent from one another.

So, you can transport the *.mp3's to another computer or keep them as storage, but to hear them on the unit they'll have to be converted to ATRAC.

[Tarcka]

Ok, thanks kurisu! Are you able to put atrac files without any software (external drive style) or do you need some soft for that?

[jadeclaw]

You need the enclosed software, named SonicStage for that.

Aside for Up/Download of the music, it also is a musiclibrary and your access to the Sony Connect Musicstore.

[Tarcka]

Ok. Then, what with the copyright protections: Am I able to

1. take songs from cd, and then put them in atrac format to the md?

2. record music from line-in or mic-in and then upload it to my computer? If yes, thru what, line-out, digital out, or usb?

3. move files computer -> md and md -> computer without problems?

[jadeclaw]

1. Yes.

2. Yes, USB, Faster than realtime. And back onto MD as well.

3. Yes.

[Tarcka]

Ok, so what's the noise with the copyrights? Is there some (major) restrictions?

[jadeclaw]

Yes. Burning an Audio CD from your own recordings is only possible on Sony VAIO computers or if you have a Sony CD-Writer in your PC.

SonicStage has no way of exporting your uploaded recordings into a regular Wave-File.

However, Sony has promised to supply a converter program to facilitate the export of analogue recordings (Mic & LineIn).

Reason for this: The American Home Recording Act, which proscribes, that every Digital recording device has a copy prevention of some sort, unless it is professional equipment.

Yes, braindead politicians at work...

[doclloyd]

Yes. Burning an Audio CD from your own recordings is only possible on Sony VAIO computers or if you have a Sony CD-Writer in your PC. 

I guess that could help explain why I've never had problems burning Audio CD's. I have a Sony CD/RW drive, but a home-built PC. I've noticed that they took out the "Beta" version of SonicStage when 2.1 was announced. Is the theory now that anybody is supposed to to be able to burn Audio CD's, at least from tracks that they've purchased off the Connect Music store?

For kicks, here are all the module version numbers I have after upgrading to 2.1 (found in the about SonicStage section under Help):

SonicStage : 2.1.01.06290

SonicStage Add-on for Connect : 2.1.00.06071

OpenMG Secure Module : 4.0.00.05270

MagicGate Memory Stick Device : 4.0.00.06170

NW-E2, NW-E3, NW-E5 and NW-E8P : 4.0.00.06170

OpenMG CD : 4.0.00.06170

CD Walkman : 4.0.00.06170

Hi-MD : 4.0.00.06170

Music Clip, NW-S4, NW-E7 and NW-E10 : 4.0.00.06170

HDWM : 4.0.00.06170

Net MD : 4.0.00.06170

EMD Plug-in: 1.1.0.84

Playback Plug-in : 1.0.0.53

CD-R Writing Module(ATRAC CD/Audio CD/MP3 CD) : 2.1.00.06071

Px Engine: 1.6.14.507

[Tarcka]

Why does sony people be such a pricks? Will there be hi-mds from other brands? Is there that kind of stupid problems with other brands (sharp for example)?

[Bananatree]

Why does sony people be such a pricks? Will there be hi-mds from other brands? Is there that kind of stupid problems with other brands (sharp for example)?

While I have no idea why Sony is staffed by Cacti and male genitalia. I belive there will be announcements of Sharp and other brand Hi-MD once the technology matures abit.

If there is a problem with other brands, it will be that they must license the Hi-MD technology.

[Christopher]

If there is a problem with other brands, it will be that they must license the Hi-MD technology.

..and therefore sucuumb to Sony's standard. Don't expect another company to lift the "restrictions" [which are growing shorter and shorter with each passing version of Sonicstage] in place by Sony. What is it that is troubling you, Tarcka?

[Tarcka]

Mostly (from the problems I'm aware) that unability to create wav -files. I really would need to get my recordings out as wave for further modification. I could get them out from md from line-out, or? What about digital out? But because that's realtime, it's really not very handy for long recordings.

Also, the only atrac format is a bit of a problem. I would need to convert all my files to atrac format. Can the atrac been played in any other players that sony's own (mean in any other computer softs that sonicstage)?

[Latexxx]

Mostly (from the problems I'm aware) that unability to create wav -files. I really would need to get my recordings out as wave for further modification. I could get them out from md from line-out, or? What about digital out? But because that's realtime, it's really not very handy for long recordings.

The easiest way is to upload them to a pc using Sonic Stage and then using Total Recorder to record them. Total Recorder does the recording digitally so you should get bit-by-bit identical copy of your files on MD.

[dex Otaku]

My MZ-NH700 arrived today. As it's currently hectic work time for the folk festival I'm a board member of, my [subjective] review will likely be postponed until tomorrow at the very least, more likely until next week.

[rfs]

Hope this is ok in this section - a mix of questions from a newbie! I'm confused re all this uploading debate. What I want to do is this. I record lots of DAB radio (onto mz-n1) Would like transfer to PC and cut/edit/reorder etcetc. Apart from in real time via soundcard will this be possible( I'm hoping to pick up an nh1 as soon as they hit uk) I wonder if the "Sony Wav converter" program i've seen mentioned is what's needed?? My second question is re Sony Connect. I was sent an email by Sony with some "free" credits. I followed the links in these forums and downloaded Sonic Stage version 2.1 - but this gives the US version of Connect. So I uninstalled and went to the Sony Europe site. I downloaded Sonic Stage - but found that it's only version 2.0!! Is there an easy/obvious way to get version 2.1 but with the uk prices etc?? Final question - if I got a NH900 rather than NH1 is there any problem using the N1 gumsticks (got 3 of those!) in the NH1?? It's a higher 1400maH I think. Would the supplied charger with NH1 be able to work fully with these gumsticks??

Thanks in advance everyone - apologies if obvious/stupid questions - great forum!!