A Petition Asking Sony to Enable Netmd-Based Audio Uploading from Minidisc to Computer
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A Petition Asking Sony to Enable NetMD-Based Audio Uploading from MiniDisc to Computer To: Sony Corporation Sony Corporation Tokyo, Japan New York, USA From: The Community of MiniDisc Users on the Web Dear Sony MiniDisc Designers: Sony's NetMD extension is a wonderful boon to the Minidisc format and has helped bring Minidisc into the networked world of online music distribution. Our petition seeks an enhancement to the Minidisc's NetMD facility to enable Minidisc users to move their audio recordings directly from Minidisc to PC. It is not our intention to cause general trouble or engage in ad hominem harassment of Sony. On behalf of all MiniDisc users, we kindly ask that you heed our petition, as follows: WHEREAS, Minidisc recorders are ideally suited to making digital field recordings, and WHEREAS, Users frequently need to move recordings they make onto a computer (PC, Mac, Unix/Linux or otherwise) for processing or further distribution, and WHEREAS, A Minidisc recording is intrinsically a digital format, and WHEREAS, The only existing method of moving Minidisc recordings onto a computer involves "recording" the signal through the computer's sound card, a lengthly and cumbersome process that generally degrades the signal by converting it to analog format and back to digital form, and WHEREAS, All Minidisc recorders already flag their recordings to indicate those tracks that have been recorded through the digital inputs (and are copy-protected) and those that have been recorded through the analog inputs (and are not copy- protected), thereby allowing the upload function to prevent unwanted copying, and WHEREAS, Sony's existing NetMD function already provides for direct transfers of compressed audio from computer to Minidisc, WE THE UNDERSIGNED, kindly request that Sony extend NetMD so that it can be used for uploading compressed audio directly from Minidisc to PC, thereby providing users with a quick, convenient, and lossless method of moving their Minidisc recordings to PC. SIGNATURES: 0. Add audio upload to the Minidisc Walkman. However, music files can only be recorded in Posted by Eric Woudenberg on 4/28/2002, 7:21 pm LP2 and LP4. Please add the support for SP and Mono. If you can make all these possible, then Minidisc will be on one hell of a format. Thanks!! Dear Sony: Minidisc is a great format, but it really needs compressed audio upload to make it complete. Please do what's right for Minidisc and its 9. Rehearsal recordings users! Posted by Ashot Ovanessian on 4/30/2002, 10:30:15 1. News Gathering for Radio I have been using Minidisc gear for quite some time now, recording my Posted by Simon Pontin on 4/30/2002, 7:38:27 band's rehearsals and concerts; and now making of a simple demo involves copying all that music to my computer in real-time. If you were to add an Those of us in the media who use Minidisc for reporting would find direct 'upload' feature to NetMD gear, it would be of great help to me, speeding input a real timesaver. up the copying process quite a bit while improving the end quality enormously. 2. Live recording Posted by Alex Balch on 4/30/2002, 8:42:01 10. The final touch to make NetMD Perfect Posted by Brian Davis on 4/30/2002, 10:35:56 I bought my Minidisc because of its capacity to record digitally (and with NetMD the added USB connectivity) and now have a stock of my band's I have a band that I'm in and we have been searching for a cheap and small music, practice sessions etc. on Minidisc. way to record our own shows. Most systems that offer reasonable recording An audio upload facility would be a great addition and make the NetMD a are either quite large or prohibitively expensive (especially when we have powerful musician's tool. to purchase all our other gear...the recorder is a low priority purchase). Then we found Minidisc. It offers a very inexpensive solution to a big 3. Live recording problem. We're able to easily record our live shows with digital quality, Posted by Claude Jean on 4/30/2002, 9:03:53 and the setup is so tiny, it can be placed anywhere in the room. Minidisc upload is possible without hurting the record industry While we currently upload the audio from each show onto a PC so it can later be burned to a CD for our own personal use, that takes time: a 2 1/2 4. add audio upload hour show takes 2 1/2 hours to record back to the PC (in an analog format, Posted by eric vanderbiest on 4/30/2002, 9:18:07 no less). and make the format real life please mister Sony Adding the simple capability of USB upload would make, in my opinion, the best music device ever. I frequently advise people to purchase MD 5. Simplify Music Transfer via USB players, rather than MP3 players, because of the versatility and flexibility Posted by Claudio Konig on 4/30/2002, 9:24:12 the format offers. The mp3/ATRAC conversion is far too slow, to say the least. Please work I understand the copyright issues at hand - I try to stay up to date on on a more flexible way of transfer everything that's been going on in that area; but it seems to me that you already have certain safeguards in place that could limit the transfer of 6. More flexibility copyrighted material. Posted by Marc Cheng on 4/30/2002, 9:27:33 Either way, consider this a vote of support for adding Upload capability to NetMD requires more flexibility to realise its full potential. Audio Upload the new NetMD format. is as important as Audio Download. Keep up the good work! 7. Keep Minidisc on top Posted by Patrick Turcotte on 4/30/2002, 10:09:03 Brian Davis Denver, Colorado USA I believe that Minidisc is currently the medium of choice for recording live sound - I use it for business meetings and to store each and every one of 11. MD potential has never been reached our band rehearsals. Its flexibility and sound quality are unmatched, but Posted by Brian Wilson on 4/30/2002, 10:50:49 probably not for long; on-the-fly mp3 recording is appearing and will offer an interesting alternative if Minidisc doesn't stay on top of things feature- I both listen to and create music, and there is no format that handles my wise. I believe the digital transfer of material through NetMD from the needs better than Minidisc. I feel that the only limitation to this format are device to the PC is a natural and essential step in that direction. the ones Sony places on it. I understand the pressure you are under from your music division, but this I know several radio journalists interested in the format. They all agree that feature is certainly not what will encourage commercial music propagation. the decision to adopt MD, for themselves and their organizations, would be Let's face it, mp3, wma and (eventually) Ogg Vorbis are formats of choice made easier by high speed uploading. That capability can only help cement for this problem, not ATRAC. the format among professionals and hobbyists. Thanks for taking this under consideration, 12. Backing up speech to Audio CD or MP3 CD Patrick Turcotte ing. Posted by Wiwi Sachli on 4/30/2002, 11:05:56 8. add audio upload and replace Open MG Jukebox with a better I'm usually record speeches to my MD Walkman on LP2 or LP4 mode, and software it take so many time to backing up it to my computer and convert it to MP3 Posted by Kelvin Hew on 4/30/2002, 10:24:30 for my backup so I can use it in future. It really time consuming without upload feature of NetMD. For me there is no differences between NetMD Dearest Sony: To realise the NetMD's true potential, audio upload need to or not for that use without upload feature. be added. It is as important as audio download and it will be a complete format. In fact, Minidisc is the best format compared to CD and cassette 13. pre recorded Minidiscs because of its size, portability, and the ability to edit as far as I know. Posted by Daniel Schwier on 4/30/2002, 11:07:25 Another thing is please come up with a new software to replace Open MG Jukebox because its not a good software. Wanna know why? Log on to I buy some of my music on prerecorded Minidiscs and cant make personal http://www.Minidisc.org/sony_mzn1_review_riley.htmand also go to compilations from those Minidiscs at high quality, I’ve already brought an musiclub.sonystyle.com.community and see for yourself. People don't MZ-N1 and love it but I would definitely buy an NetMD with upload complain for nothing. What I can tell you is the NetMD Walkman is one ability hell of a MD recorder but the supplied software spoil everything. Besides, the other software which is NetMD simple Burner is a good software 14. Live Recording because it doesn't need to rip CD files to the hard drive and directly record Posted by Alex Harden on 4/30/2002, 11:18:41 My whole family are avid piano players, and recently my younger brother Occasionally I will use my MDS-JE510 to record "jam sessions" at my took up this hobby. Before, I had to use the old analogue technique in order house where my friends and I play guitars and sing.