MD: about NetMD, can it do SP????
Seeing the announcement of NetMD really makes me wonder... Having owned the new Sony Clie, I can say with all certainty that the current versions of OpenMG Jukebox don't allow for anything above the 132 kbps ATRAC3 format, and that was with version 2.1... so is version 2.2 (which is what was announced with the MZ-N1) going to add the codec/encoder for the standard 292 kbps ATRAC? I really doubt that personally... So unless I'm missing something, it looks like NetMD transfers may be limited to LP2 and LP4... although I wonder if NetMD will allow transfers at the 105 kbps bitrate (since the OpenMG Jukebox did have that)? LP3 anybody? Not that we'll know for sure in December anyway. --Brian Youn The University of Texas at Austin alum [EMAIL PROTECTED] _ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word unsubscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
MD: MZ-R909 First Impressions
Just got my R909! I'm actually very impressed with this little sucker. I wasn't expecting much, but Sony put in a number of little improvements... let me just brief you guys on a few... --DUAL VU METERS FOR LEFT AND RIGHT CHANNELS for both playback and recording! This is very impressive! During recording, the third line of the display is split into two, with the top half for LEFT and the bottom half for RIGHT. During playback, the dotted bar at the bottom is used to indicate the level... from what I can tell, the meters are split into left and right from the middle, and both bars move outward to indicate the level. If this doesn't make sense, I apologize, I'll explain more fully in my review next week... --Contrast adjustments on the main display... adjustable in 8 steps. This is like the contrast control you would have on your graphing calculator... there is NO backlight still, and it should be noted that the color of everything in the display is now a dark blue (like on the Sharp MT77), and no longer black as on previous Sony units. --The charging stand works with the R900 (and should work with the R90/91). I have no idea if Sony plans to make it available separately, but they certainly could. --The jog dial feels nice, and all three lines of the display are used to display track titles while searching through the songs with the jog dial. The track number AND name are displayed now, which is very nice. --SOUND settings can now be adjusted from the main unit, WITHOUT THE REMOTE. When changing the bass and treble settings, all 3 lines of the display are used, and (like with most of the menu options), you can use the control pad to make changes. --I really like the new playstation-style control pad... unfortunately it is not that firm, and gives a bit (feels a little mushy). Pushing it straight in hits PLAY, and the rest of the controls are clearly labeled. --The menu layout is even more vast than on the R900... the manual devotes 6 pages just to map out the various menus during different modes! I'll have full scans of these within the week... --I haven't gotten to play with the GROUP function at all yet, but it seems that the GROUP name acts sort of like the DISC name... the manual states that the GROUP name is stored in the discname area (the explanation in the English section of the manual is really minimal, so I need to explore this myself)... It seems that before recording, you can select a group, and then the recording will be placed into that group. And if you don't designate a group before a recording, it goes into a new group. Not sure how you create/name groups, but I'll let you guys know in more detail as I find out. Anyway... the color I have is blue, and it's a very warm blue (almost between blue and purple). If you guys are wondering anything specific, let me know, I'll try my best to address any questions. --Brian Youn The University of Texas at Austin alum [EMAIL PROTECTED] _ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word unsubscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
MD: MZ-R900 SCMS defeat
Eric and the folks on the MD-L, I while ago I figured out a way to bypass the SCMS on the R900 by means of a glitch... I just put up the procedure at the following URL: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~youn/R900_SCMS.html This is also linked from my R900 review page which is at: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~youn/mzr900.html Thought that this might be worth a mention in the news column on the MDCP. Cheers- --Brian Youn-- The University of Texas at Austin Electrical and Computer Engineering, 5th Year - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
MD: If you own a Sony MZ-R900 **and** a home deck with OPT. OUTPUT, please read...
Okay... I've discovered a fairly significant "bug" on the R900, but it is a beneficial "bug" I need other owners to verify this with me. If you own an R900 **and** an MD deck WITH AN OPTICAL OUTPUT (ie, can attempt to make MD to MD digital copies), I need you to send me an email. I think some of you might realize what I'm getting at (something to do with SCMS), but I don't want to post the details here yet. I just want to find out if all R900's work like mine, or if Please email me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] and I'll give you the details (it is fairly complicated but doesn't involve test mode or anything dangerous). PLEASE--DON'T EMAIL ME UNLESS you have an R900 **AND** an MD unit with an OPTICAL OUTPUT, such as a home deck. OPTICAL INPUT DOES NOT COUNT! Thanks, --Brian Youn-- The University of Texas at Austin Electrical and Computer Engineering, 5th Year - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
MD: US model MXD-D5C... Keyboard in and ATRAC Type-R?
Hello, Just got my MXD-D5C from Crutchfield yesterday afternoon, and was pleased to see that Sony apparantly added a keyboard input for the US model (it is on the back of the unit). I don't believe this was on the Japanese model, or at least the Japanese press release made no mention of it. If there's someone in Japan on this list that can verify this, I'd appreciate it. But what I'm really wondering is if the US model still has the ATRAC Type-R. The manual makes NO mention of it, and I can't find any definite info online anywhere. I can't see why they would take it out... I do know that the Type-R isn't supposed to work when you're going at high speed or when recording in LP mode. Anyway... the unit is pretty decent. You can't eject an MD when the power is off, which is lame. The keyboard doesn't let you control some editing functions as you can on the 940 (only track titling and basic controls for the CD and MD players). You can't get into the edit menu by pressing ESC, and you can't select a track by pushing the number keys (this I'm not sure if you could on the 940...) But with high speed dubbing, MDLP modes, Scale Factor Edit, and a keyboard input, that tackles the four major points for me. Now if I could just be sure if the Type-R is in there... --Brian Youn-- The University of Texas at Austin Electrical and Computer Engineering, 5th Year - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
MD: MZ-R900 Review up
Hey guys, Just want to let you guys that I finished up my R900 review, and have it up at: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~youn/mzr900.html Pretty much follows the style of my R90/831 page, spent most of the weekend writing it up, if anyone spots any boo-boos, please do let me know ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). Cheers everyone, --Brian Youn-- The University of Texas at Austin Electrical and Computer Engineering, 5th Year - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
MD: static in recordings from D-EJ715
I was reading about one of the list members having static in their recordings, going from a DEJ715 to an MZR70, and had something to add... I have a DEJ815, which is almost the same as the 715, but with a few extras (backlit display and remote), and I get an occasional "static" pop here and there, which is very annoying when recording to MD. I am pretty sure it's the CD walkman, and not the MD recorder, as I was using an MZR90. Just another kink in Sony's CD walkman line. Sony just can't seem to get anything right with their CD walkmans, their previous 2 generation (DE700/800, 707/808, etc) was plagued by random "dropouts", and now their newer machines (770/880, aka 715/815) seems to suffer from "static" in the sound... --Brian Youn-- The University of Texas at Austin Electrical and Computer Engineering, 4th Year Go Lakers! - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
MD: Bad Ebay seller alert: BECKHAMDEE
Hello people, Some of you may know me as the guy who wrote the Sharp 831/Sony MZR90 review page (URL: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~youn/r908331.html). Well, I've recently had a bad eBay experience with a dishonest seller, and naturally, I feel obliged to alert others. EBAY user ID: "BECKHAMDEE" ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) "Real" name: Wing-Yip Yim --Works out of Brooklyn, New York-- The subject was selling a BLUE Sony MZ-R50 (vintage and pretty rare) on eBay, which was listed as being in "used, very good condition, very infrequently used." Well, having spent the better part of a year searching for a blue R50, I bid on the item and ended up winning, paying over $250 for the item (in retrospect, that was probably a bit much). Of course I took the time to email him to verify that the unit was in good condition, and that there was nothing wrong with it, to which he replied that it was in "used but very good condition", as listed. When I received the unit, it had: --a large dent on the top face; --there were 3 screws missing and the clamshell lid was VERY loose on the top-left corner; --the laser was misaligned, as it has trouble reading discs correctly (the laser tries to read the same part of the disc over and over, getting "lost" and stalling during playback). While the unit did playback fine if I turned it UPSIDE-DOWN, I tried editing a few discs, and it ended up corrupting two of my discs (gave a DISC ERR message), thus I ended up having to delete the discs and rerecord them from scratch. To make the rest of this long story short, the seller initially offered a full refund. However AFTER I sent the unit back to him, he changed his mind and refused to return my money, claiming that I must have damaged the unit MYSELF, claiming it was working perfectly and didn't have any loose screws when he sent it to me. The seller has since sent back the item to me, keeping the money, and refuses to reply to emails. Of course I have left him the appropriate negative feedback mark, as that is all I can realistically do, but as he has about 6 or 7 other positive feedbacks (apallingly!) which "dilute" the negative mark, it doesn't really do that much. Plus he still has the money, and no negative feedback will help get that back. If this isn't your classic example of dumping off a busted item to a sucker and running with the money, I don't know what is. The subject continues to do business on eBay (selling things other than just MD equipment), and I would advise anyone to deal with him with caution. While he seemed very polite initially thru emails, it seems obvious to me that he pulled a quick one--and unfortunately, got away with it. Anyway, this sort of stuff happens, so please be careful. I am posting this to the forums that I feel appropriate; if you feel this is an inappropriate posting, my apologies. Cheers to everyone, happy Cinco de Mayo. --Brian Youn The University of Texas at Austin Electrical and Computer Engineering, 4th year - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
MD: Sony R90/R91: I found one major difference
Well, all reports were that the MZ-R91 and R90 were functionally "identical", but I've found one thing that suggests otherwise: The VU (level) meter is calibrated differently on the two units. Read on: The R90's (at least MY R90, this might not be the case with newer units) level meter will hit the ninth (and final) bar regularly, while "OVER" is somewhere to the right of the final bar, making it difficult to measure whether a recording is going OVER or not. This is unlike the R55, where 0dB was between the 8th and 9th bars, and OVER was indicated by the ninth bar (this was much easier to read). The 91 (at least my roommate's R91) is calibrated like the R55, where the 8th is about as high as it goes normally, and OVER is indicated by the 9th bar. I have compared a number of discs between the two units, and on all of them, the 9th bar on the R90's meter corresponds to the 8th bar of the R91. Well, this is a major difference to me, as I have found the R90's VU meter almost useless in some cases because I can't tell if I'm going OVER or not. In this sense I would say the R91 is better, but some might not care. Anyway, just reporting my findings... If anyone with a newer (US model?) R90 can tell me if perhaps this has been changed with the newer releases, I would like to know. (as in, does the 9th bar on the meter get hit regularly, or does it almost never get hit? Even at the highest recording level?) Oh yeah, the R91 I tested is faster to detect NO DISC than my R90 by 2 seconds, but that's really not worth knowing... --Brian Youn-- The University of Texas at Austin Electrical and Computer Engineering, 4th Year Go Lakers! - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
MD: I took apart my R90... here's the ATRAC chip #
Hey fellas, Decided to get adventurous today and took apart my MZ-R90 (Japanese model). Quite a hassle as you have to remove the battery hatch (which is possible without doing any permanent damage, just need to slide it off with a little force). But here is (what I presume to be) the IC chip# which may shed some light on the ATRAC version... CXD2660GA I recall the R55 used the CXD2652, so I reckon this means the ATRAC was upgraded? I remember once seeing a chart on minidisc.org which related chip numbers with ATRAC version, but I can't seem to find it. If anyone could help... --Brian Youn-- The University of Texas at Austin Electrical and Computer Engineering, 4th Year Go Lakers! - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
MD: DHC-MD555 at Crutchfield, $399!!!
In case you guys don't know, Crutchfield is carrying the Sony shelf system DHC-MD555 (5 CD and 5MD changer with MD walkman link and optional PC link) for $399! This is much off of the normal price, which I've seen for $500-649 at some sites. I went ahead and snatched one, if you guys are interested you'd better hurry. --Brian Youn The University of Austin at Texas Electrical and Computer Engineering, 4th Year (Go Lakers!) - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
