Hi-MD from Nippon, I'm tempted

http://www.minidisco.com/mdsje780.html

I need another MD deck anyway... I'm wonderin' if anything better than this will ever hit U.S. shores, offically, anyway, at this point.

 

Very nice! I'd definitely be on this if it were a US release and if it were cheaper. I can't see dropping $400 on a non-ES deck, even if it is Hi-MD. My other concern is that if something goes wrong with it, I'm probably not going to be able to get it serviced in the US. Finally, in perusing the link below, I don't feel 100% safe plugging a 100-volt unit into my US outlet.

http://www.minidisco.com/japanese-product-info.html

All of this said, it looks like a great deck. If only Sony would release it in the US.

 

Keith, I'm proably gonna buy one. The only comp is getting a paltry 480. I have 100 volt outlets already. I've gone Nipponese before. I had hoped somebody else 'round here had played with one of these puppies or knew more about the Hi-MD functions...

 

That deck supports NetMD, but not Hi-MD. There aren't any Hi-MD decks as far as I know, only portable recorders. Hopefully this will change in the future, but Sony seems to be targeting MDs for the portable market only nowadays...

All Hi-MD devices are also NetMD devices, but all NetMDs are not Hi-MDs. With basic NetMD (like that deck) you can use high speed downloading from PC. What Hi-MD adds to this is new high-density discs and and a new ATRAC3+ codec (plus possibility to use uncompressed 44.1 PCM audio)

 

Arto, thanks for pointing that out. Frankly, I only looked at the picture and the price.

To Sony, if you are reading this: Please make a Hi-MD deck! I will buy one!

 

Thanks for catching my oversight (brain-fart), Arto! Minidisco does have some of those Hi-MD portables. I'm still pondering actually buying one. I really don't care about Net-MD. Hi-MD might be intresting to dabble with... My choices for a new MD deck are so few. So far it's the 480 or 780.

 

I'd be half-tempted to connect a portable Hi-MD player to my home systems. However, I'm afraid that the sound would be really poor. I'm highly skeptical about these portables' ability to produce quality sound in the home.