> From: "oryoki2000" <>
> Subject: Re: From Philippe Henry
>
> I wrote:
>=20
>
>>> Sony is introducing its new Hi-MD
>>> minidisc recorders in April. The Hi-
>>> MD recorder connects to the Mac via
>>> USB, and transfers files in their
>>> digital form.=20
>
>
> Re-reading Sony's information and posts by enthusiasts on minidisc
> newsgroups leads me to post this update. Two points:
>
> First, Sony never specifically mentions the Mac in the info about
> Hi-MD. The Hi-MD disc is formatted using Microsoft FAT, and it
> attaches using standard USB conventions without additional drivers.
> So a Hi-MD device *should* be plug-and-play with Mac System X,
> appearing on the computer desktop as an external hard disc. But we
> won't know until somebody buys a production Hi-MD and plugs it into a Mac=
.
>
> Second, Sony says audio transfers from Hi-MD to computer work
> exclusively with its SonicStage software. This permits enforcement of
> digital-rights management (i.e., no file sharing). If there is no way
> to access recordings via the FAT file system of the Hi-MD, then Macs
> won't be able to upload a digital copy of Hi-MD recordings.=20
>
> There's a workaround solution. Hi-MD machines will play back their
> recordings through the headphones/line out port. So it's possible to
> transfer Hi-MD recordings to any Mac or PC in the same way you have
> always uploaded files from the original minidisc machines. But it
> will be frustrating for Mac owners to do without USB services.
>
> Mac users will get the details on this issue when the Hi-MD recorders
> go on sale in a few weeks. Even if Mac users have to use the old
> "analog, in real time" data transfer method, I think the opportunity
> to record in uncompressed WAV format, and to record for an extended
> time period, make Hi-MD recorders the right choice when you're
> spending less than $500 for a field-worthy recorder.=20
Actually I think there will be some folks surprised at how little
difference there will be between Hi-MD's uncompressd and it's high
quality standard ATRAC compression. This will be a opportunity to test
that easily within one machine where all the rest is the same. I expect
many who do a open minded evaluation will opt for the longer record time
of ATRAC.
As far as the software being windows, that's not as big a problem as
made out. Virtually all windows software can be run on macs using
VirtualPC and the PC OS you like. Once transferred in, drag and drop
copying will get it into the mac OS proper.
However, the issues that the copy protection might raise could be major
for both macs and pc's. Thus it's probably wise not to get hopes too
high. Sony put out a previous version that was hyped a lot before it was
out and turned out to be a big disappointment. Let's hope this is better.
My hopes for the format hinge on it being taken up by people like HHb
and brought out in a less paranoid form for pro use. It is a higher
capacity disk.
Walt
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>From Tue Mar 8 18:27:05 2005
Message: 9
Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 15:20:11 -0500
From: Walter Knapp <>
Subject: Re: the nature of parabolic reflectors
From: Bret <>
>
> I too am digesting one of the most delicous, filling meals that I can
> recall. This is heady stuff.
>
> Many thanks to Walt for putting Sten's paper up for our view, for Klas
> for offering to snail mail it, and for all the comments that have
> helped enighten this subject, and correct my simplistic understanding.
>
> Sten's paper is clearly a cornerstone to understanding the behavior of
> the parabolic reflector acoustically.
Just to be a little mean, Sten's paper has been referred to off and on
in naturerecordists posts since the beginning of the group. And it was
such a post that provided me a link that I downloaded it from. I've
searched the old messages trying to see who to blame for that, but can't
find the post and did not keep the link. And a search of the internet
via google has not turned it up either. Though I did find that the
brazilian yahoo group audio_list has it in their files. It looks like
you would have to join the list to get it from there, so I don't know if
it's the same pdf. They also have a faq that looks juicy, but I don't
read the language.
I've had the pdf for a while. Keep coming back and going through it from
time to time, and then seeing what I find out recording that confirms
it. As I noted the Telinga seems to fit his theory fairly well in my
field recording experience.
My math skills are so rusty I've been mostly relying on the text and
graphs. I can read the appendix with some understanding, just not
something I enjoy. I expect that's true for most.
I might suggest to Doug that you give the pdf a permanent home in the
naturerecordists binary stuff. As of last night 143 copies had been
grabbed from my site. In case anyone missed the link:
http://naturerecordist.home.mindspring.com/Parabolic.pdf
My mic sample page has a with and without reflector set of recordings of
bullfrogs for the Telinga made nearly a year ago. Text is from before I
got the pdf, I should revise it, it reflects the groups conclusions last
year:
http://frogrecordist.home.mindspring.com/docs/mic_samples.html
Another Telinga recording some might enjoy, recorded last Friday. The
subject is Gopher Frogs, a rare frog in Georgia. Recorded after wading
as far out into the shallow pond they use as I could without going over
my hip boots much. To avoid as much of the Spring Peepers as possible,
who are mostly about 20' behind me in the flooded brush or 200' in front
of me across the pond. The Gopher Frogs are 30-50' in front of me,
calling fully submerged, i.e. underwater, and only a few. The Telinga is
aimed at a point about 25' in front of me. That to subdue the pickup of
the peepers while still getting the Gopher Frogs. The Telinga is quite
directional at the Gopher Frog's frequency. Spent over 6 hours in this
pond, very hard going as it's filled with near waist high grass and
surrounded by thick brush, which was flooded due to fairly high water
levels. The highway traffic is off my right shoulder and about a mile
away. (and very annoying) This is unfiltered, as recorded.
http://naturerecordist.home.mindspring.com/gopher.mp3
In case anyone is wondering, I also tried my MKH-60/30 M/S shotgun setup
on these. Very poor pickup and much less rejection of the traffic noise
and impossible to tune out the peepers. Even from just the mono MKH-60.
I've also tried my hydrophone here with little success, I think the
shallow depth and thick grass is the problem as I've never been that
close. I need to get the hydrophone right at the frogs sometime and try
that. The ID calls on the CD are hydrophone. Track 69 on the frog CD
contains the Gopher Frogs in full chorus at this pond, also a Telinga
recording. This is the only accessible pond I know of in Georgia for
these frogs, the rest are locked up.
Walt
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