[fredman22]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dazzer1975 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Recording will be nice for lectures, though not essential, but what I do like is the ability to hook it up to my hifi minidisc deck optically and record direct from my cd player onto mini disc. That is how these mini discs I am rediscovering were recorded onto and they do honestly sound better than the wav files I have on my hdd players.

Recording directly from optical will give you the choice of WAV (1411kbps) or HiSP (256kbps). Using SonicStage4x on a PC will allow you to transfer at Atrac3+'s best 'speed' - 352kbps (as well as the complete gamut of MD/HiMD 'speeds'). This will yield a little over 5hrs of music (it varies - A352 is a VBR)per Gig disc, and SS4x is not as cumbersome as it used to be. HiSp is very good also, and if that's good enough for you, you can employ SimpleBurner, which effectively allows you to drag/drop CDs/cuts onto a HiMD at either HiMD or standard MD speeds (HiSP yields about 7 1/2 hrs per Gig disc). If your primary source for music is CDs, HiMD is fabulous as a portable solution. The advent of the iPod and HD music databases of compressed files works against HiMD principle of source WAV files > Atrac, and is/was the cause of a lot of frustration for these types of users. I've only ever wished to carry my CD collection portably, and MD/HiMD has worked almost flawlessly for that purpose for the last several years. I think MP3 players are now finally approaching the SQ... Good luck.

 

[DrBenway]

Add my voice to the chorus of RH1 fanatics. I've used mine as both a field recorder and as my day-to-day portable. It excels in both situations. The sound is great, and the flexibility in use is amazing.

I've had five Sony MD portables over the years, in addition to a Sharp portable (my very first MD). I've currently got an MDS-E10 component deck in my main rig. My only long-term worry is compatibility of SonicStage with future OSs (though obviously that doesn't apply to the E10).

I love the format, and I am nowhere near ready to give it up. To paraphrase Heston, you can have my minidisc when...well, you know.

 

[synaesthetic]

As a card-carrying girl, often wearing jeans whose designers clearly intended pockets to be decorative only, I am thankful for the small form factor of my A728.

If you guys want to make it hard on yourselves go right ahead. =p

 

[Mr_Junesequa]

ill match my rh1 against my a818 any day of the week and watch my minidisc blow my walkman away. Just a more powerful source.

 

[synaesthetic]

I don't like putting my portable in the purse, mostly due to the way my ER-4P's stupid cord has to be WORN to keep it from being microphonic.

Once I recable them though...

 

[dazzer1975]

wow, nice one guys, so glad this has been a good thread by and large.

Thanks all for your advice and suggestions regarding versions of software sonic stage to use (I am using vista) and what all of my recording options are.

Synaesthetic, lol ah well thats what us blokes do, make things hard for ourselves, butin my defence I did check out the sony 7 and 8 series (thanks for info on 8 series, didnt realise that was the only difference) but the rh1 for its quirky nature being a sort of niche format etc along with the optical recording etc is what threw me to that player.

gd luck on the recable tho, gotta say, my ety's are my fave ear phones (portable)

well just a big thanks guys for all the information and your thoughts and stuff about the minidisc players and indeed the format itself, ive enjoyed immensely reading through your posts, thanks!!!

I'm at my girlfriends at the moment, when I got home I may just bust out the camera and take some shots of the mighty rh1 and add to this thread for posterity lol

 

[synaesthetic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_Junesequa /img/forum/go_quote.gif ill match my rh1 against my a818 any day of the week and watch my minidisc blow my walkman away. Just a more powerful source.

Sony uses 5mW+5mW @ 32 ohms internal headphone amps for pretty much everything they have made after 1990.

I don't disagree that the RH1 sounds good; I know it does. But I don't think it sounds much better than my A728 to warrant toting around 8 Hi-MD media just to equal the storage of my A728.

If I had money to throw around, would I buy one? Certainly. I'd love to have the recording functions and removable media in a recorder is a huge, huge advantage. They're also much smaller and cheaper than solid-state recorders with comparable feature sets.

I will totally recommend MD products to anyone who predominately uses it to record with a little casual listening on the side if they want to be thrifty.

I used to record quite often using MD, and for a while I used them for listening as well; but later I picked up an iPod for listening, and was much happier with it. This was at a time when Sony's sound quality was questionable at best, before their more recent offerings. The MZ-N10 was a great little recorder, but as a playback source it sounded like mud. The iPod was a huge improvement in both SQ, usability, capacity and ease of getting my music on the player.

Hi-MD's newest iteration solves many of these problems but still, as a listening-only format you're consigning yourself to carry a lot of extra stuff around.

I suppose I should remember that this is Head-Fi and there are plenty of people perfectly willing to slap an iMod, a vCap dock and an amp together with a pair of full-size headphones and call it "portable."

 

[Mr_Junesequa]

I would recommend people listen to the players and let their ears do the buying. I already know the result.

 

[synaesthetic]

I have listened to the RH1, and I agree that it has excellent sound quality. But portable listening is a matter of practicality for me. If it's big, heavy, cannot be easily operated with one hand, has a clunky interface or is otherwise unintuitive, I'm not likely to enjoy it regardless of how good it sounds--one reason I've avoided Cowon products in the past.

I thought the iAudio x5 sounded great, but the interface was doodoo and the little joystick was even more doodoo.

I suppose it's all dependent upon the user. For me, sonic nirvana is at my desk, with my USB DAC, my mains-powered amp and my full-size, open-air headphones.

Portable listening is practicality first, sound quality second. Of course I'm going to want the best SQ I can possibly get, but that's going to come in second to ease of operation, size, weight, durability, etc.

The main reason I own the A728 is because after much research, it was the one player that fit my criteria best. Had I been concerned about SQ over all, I would have stayed with my 3g Nano > LOD > amp setup.

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by synaesthetic /img/forum/go_quote.gif The MZ-N10 was a great little recorder, but as a playback source it sounded like mud.

I couldn't have put it better. Of all the Sony MDs I've owned, easily the worst sounding. I was never happy with it. I bought it after a fairly prolonged absence from MD. My previous MD had been an MZ-N707, which was a great recorder for live shows and a great sounding portable player. The N10 was little and shiny and sexy, but it just couldn't bring the noise.


Quote:

Originally Posted by synaesthetic /img/forum/go_quote.gif Portable listening is practicality first, sound quality second. Of course I'm going to want the best SQ I can possibly get, but that's going to come in second to ease of operation, size, weight, durability, etc.

Speaking as someone who still carries around a PCDP at times, I couldn't disagree more. Convenience is for the cool people. I'm uncool and proud. Sound quality is everything to me; everything else is secondary.

P.S. I'd be interested to know the details of your planned ETY recable...

 

[synaesthetic]

I will post full pictures, step-by-step of the construction of my DIY ER4 recable when I start that project, but before I do I need to find a suitable wire. It needs to be thin, light, very flexible and strong, while not being crappy wire. I have not found that yet!

And practicality isn't for "the cool people;" fashionability is. Lots of mainstream junk out there is focused on making the iPod a fashion accessory, and you're just "not cool" if you don't have an iPod.

Interesting to note: people could always identify my old 3g iPod Nano as a music player, but over half of the people that see my A728 assume it is a cell phone.

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by synaesthetic /img/forum/go_quote.gif I will post full pictures, step-by-step of the construction of my DIY ER4 recable when I start that project, but before I do I need to find a suitable wire. It needs to be thin, light, very flexible and strong, while not being crappy wire. I have not found that yet!

Actually, that was my main question: what kind of cable, and what kind of connector. Looking forward to your findings, Syn!


Quote:

Originally Posted by synaesthetic /img/forum/go_quote.gif And practicality isn't for "the cool people;" fashionability is.

Absolutely! But I didn't say "practicality." Practicality is good, to a point. I said "convenience." Convencience is the illusory value that morphed the coffee shop hamburger into the McD's, umm...whatever it is. See also Tang, Newsweek, instant "coffee," and audio file compression.

As for the coolness factor of the iPod...hmm. I've posted hatred for the device all over this forum, but I don't really hate it (shock!! horror!!). Play ALACs through a good LOD, into a good amp, into good cans, and yes, the iPod is a great thing (notwithstanding the built-in disposablity, courtesy of the non-user-replaceable battery).

What I do hate is herd behavior, which, unfortunately, the iPod has inspired in droves.

 

[synaesthetic]

Wire I haven't figured out yet, but connectors... I'll have to fashion my own, I'm sure. It'd be difficult to reuse the ones on the stock cable, and I want to keep the stock cable as a backup anyway. For the miniplug I'll likely use a straight Switchcraft plug, since the body of the plug has plenty of room to stick a pair of 25ohm 1/8W precision metal-film resistors.

I will keep you all updated on the ER4 recable project. Once I get the materials sourced and in hand, I'll start a thread in the DIY forum.

 

[goober-george]

I've found that my Sony Mini-Disc player not even Hi-MD gave a much more full bodied sound to my Grados compared to the 2nd gen nano and 1st gen Zune. However, I'll admit that it was with my Dad's songs so it wasn't a direct comparison.

 

[Mr_Junesequa]

I work in TV, and the industry only uses Betamax. All our recorded stuff pre- computer editing and broadcast is Betamax. DVD is still inferior

so beta max is not only for 'the geeks' but the proffesionals.


my a818 is a small form factor player...micro engineered and designed for 'mobility' anyway i love my a818 and use it 97% of the time. but in my humble opinion the rh1 is better for sq and the difference is quite noticable...esp through lineout and amp ..but my a818 provides me great sound all day and night in the gym etc