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To Hi-MD or not
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I have had Minidisc for eight years and currently have LP2 and LP4 record modes.
Recently my MDS JB 470 home recorder packed up recording and I have to use a sharp portable to record discs.
Would it be worth it buying a Sony Hi-MD portable with USB link to my Win 98SE computer to replace the home recorder?
I have R.S.I and find titling on the sharp almost impossible.
If anybody can offer advice on this subject it would be really appreciated.
Recently my MDS JB 470 home recorder packed up recording and I have to use a sharp portable to record discs.
Would it be worth it buying a Sony Hi-MD portable with USB link to my Win 98SE computer to replace the home recorder?
I have R.S.I and find titling on the sharp almost impossible.
If anybody can offer advice on this subject it would be really appreciated.
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The machines themselves come in a range of flavours. I've used the MZ-NH700 Hi MD Walkman which is a very nice little unit. One thing though, although most in the Walkman range have Line in, Mic in and Digital in for recording they only have headphone outs. Not entirely ideal if you want to hook them up to a hifi system.
If you want a hifi only unit something like a MDS-JE780 would do the job (and it has a USB port to hook up to the PC)
The SonicStage software can be a bit picky at times but for basic tasks like track titling it's a whole world better than doing it on the MD!
If you use USB to download tracks from the MD there is a utility on the Sony website to convert ATRAC format files to WAV which is very handy should you want to load the files into a audio editor program.
There is a load of useful info on this website including FAQs and manual downloads that should help you make your mind up.
I have now taken the view that Hi-MD is a portable format and that it should be regarded as an additional method of storing music for portable use. Sony dont seem to be too keen on full compatability between all of their MD formats.
Ideally I would like to get this all into MP3 format on my PC hard drive or onto MP3/CD.
I haven't bought a Net MD as I understood that you couldn't transfer from MD to PC but I have read that it is possible with Hi-MD.
So, if I bought a Hi-MD and put my LP4 recordings into it would it read them and upload them to my PC using the USB connection?
The reviewa that I've seen are a little too vague - I'm sure there's something that will stop it.
It's not entirely obvious from the Sony FAQs but it does look like you can transfer files OK but it does confuse the issue somewhat by saying you can't playback a LP disk on a non LP equiped PC. But when was the last time you saw a PC with a MD drive in it?
But looking at the other FAQs it does look like SonicStage can download and burn LP tracks to CD. By the way you can play the raw ATRAC format files on the PC using SonicStage so you don't necessarily need to convert to mp3.
If anyone does get a Hi-MD and the WAV conversion tool beware of this little bug in the tool.
If you upgrade to SonicStage ver 3 using the download on the website you will have screwed WAV Convertor. It throws up an error saying it only works with SonicStage 2.1 or later.
Now it may be 30+ years since I was at school but even so I still think it's the case that 3 is a bigger number than 2 is it not ???
I am right in thinking the home recorder MDS JE 780 has a six pin socket that takes a PC/2 keyboard.
Although extra capacity is desirable the text entry is a bigger issue.
I've not used this particular model but have used other machines with keyboard connectors and they have all allowed entry of titles. It would be a very strange machine indeed that let you plug a keyboard in but NOT let you edit/enter track data!
You can download the manual for the 780 machine here.
I have downloaded the manual as a pdf and if by some strange reason the machine doesn't allow text/editing by keyboard I'll post a reply on this thread.
Thanks again.
I think I found the answer to my own question on www.minidisc.org
Q: Will I be able to use Hi-MD to upload analog-source recordings made on existing ("std-MD") equipment?
A: No. Sony has stated that only analog-source recordings created on Hi-MD equipment will be eligible for upload.
Maybe its a compatability problem, maybe its perversity but it isn't what I wanted to hear.
Have looked on minidic.org and there appear to be some hacks to change this setting using the service menu but none speciafically for the MZ-600 yet. If anyone knows of a simple solution to change this please advise... ta!
I bought the NH 700 portable recorder as it could be linked to the computer and also it had a microphone input which means it can be used for dictation.
That if like me you have R.S.I and are dyslexic too is really useful.
Plus Argos had it on special offer!
To date I'm impressed by the quality of Hi-SP mode recording and the general ease of use.