Recording with the Sony MZ-NH-900

Recording with the Sony MZ-NH-900
Set-Up Steps for MD Mode Only
The HiMD recorders can record in two formats: the higher quality HiMD
format or the Standard MD SP format. They can also record on both the
old, “MD” discs and the new HiMD discs. The separate set-up steps for
the Hi-MD mode follow these below.
These steps are for MD Disc mode, NOT Hi-MD !!
Files created in the MD format cannot be transferred digitally via
SoundStage and a USB cable on a PC. MD format recordings have to be
transferred in real time on the Transfer platform in B-18 or via a analog
cable. Format Your Discs should be formatted in HiMD mode unless you
have a special reason to use MD mode.
Recording Kit: Sony MZ-NH900 recorder; 110 A.C. power Supply;
Charging cradle; USB cable; AA battery holder (detachable); Sony MDRV600 Headphones or similar. 1- Rode NT4 stereo mic or 1- stereo pair
of Sound Professional Binaural mics.
With a Sound Devices Preamp Some Sony MZ-NH900 recorders will
become available alone and some will be in backpack kits using the
MP-2 or Mix Pre mic preamps and condenser mics-- probably the Rode
NT1A’s and the CAD 179’s. The later kits can only be checked-out to
students who have taken Field Audio 420 or are enrolled in 460 and
receive a demo.
Set-Up Steps for the Sony MZ-NH900 MD Recorder
It is very important to go through theses steps every time before you
start recording and, preferably, before you even set off to record. Take
some time to practice placing the recorder into manual record gain
mode because you’ll need to be able to do this quickly and confidently
in the field. If you fail to do some of the below steps, your recording
can suffer in terms of quality and in some cases, it won’t be able to be
imported into a computer without a lot of extra work or maybe, not at
all.
32
33
Perform these steps with No Disc in the Recorder:
+
3.
..
4. Set to Advanced Menu Mode Press and hold the Navi/Menu button
for 2 seconds until the menu window activates. Rotate the circular jog
wheel until the word, "Option," is blinking. Press down on the small
ENTER button (the button in the middle of the Jog wheel) to select
“Option.” Rotate the jog wheel until the word "Advanced" is blinking
and select it by pressing ENTER. You cannot access manual record
gain unless it is in this mode.
“EOR” (EDIT; OPTION; RECORD SET)
34
5. Format Disc in MD format (this erases everything that is already
recorded on the disk) Press and hold the Navi/Menu button for 2
seconds until the menu window activates. Rotate jog wheel to EDIT,
select it by pressing the ENTER button in the center of the Jog
Wheel. Under Edit-> select Format-> and blinking “Yes.” If there is
no “Format” option provided, select “Erase All.” "Disc Mode" is
blinking. Select “Disc Mode” by pressing ENTER. Jog until the word,
“MD” is blinking. Select it with ENTER.
6. Set Disc Mode in MD format Press and hold the Navi/Menu button for
2 seconds until the menu window activates. Rotate jog wheel to
Option, select it by pressing the ENTER button in the center of the
Jog Wheel. Under Option-> select Disc Mode-> and blinking “MD.”
7. Set Record Mode to SP Press and hold the Navi/Menu button for 2
seconds until the menu window activates. Rotate Jog Wheel until
"REC Set" is blinking and press Enter. Select “Rec Mode” and then
“SP.”
8.
8.
Look at the Menu window. The Record Mode should show “MD”
and “SP. If the window shows HiMD or LP2, re-do the above steps 5
and 6.
9. Install a fresh, alkaline, 9 volt battery into the Rode NT-4 mic by unscrewing the lower section of the body and sliding the battery into the
cavity (terminals first). Check for correct polarity (+ to + and – to –).
35
Secure the battery in place with the flexible spring clip and screw the
sections back together.
10. Slip the mic back into the shock mount and attach the fake fur
jacket. The Rode NT-4 mic is very sensitive to hand-holding and the
slightest amount of wind. Unless you are mounting it on a mic stand
indoors, the results are likely to be disappointing without a shock
mount/zepplin. If your mic doesn’t not have a shockmount/zepplin,
consider making one yourself. You can find some excellent plans on
the web including here:
http://www.murdermedia.com/?p=goodies_shock_mount.
11. Its best to turn ON the mic before plugging it in to the Recorder.The
switch is on the Mic body ON. When the NT4 is switched ON, the red
battery status light should illuminate for about 1 second and turn off. If
the L.E.D. remains illuminated significantly longer, the battery should be
replaced. Life expectancy for a high quality alkaline battery is in excess
of 400 hours. If left ON, the battery power will be unnecessarily
depleted.
12.
Attach the XLR-> 1/8” stereo mini-plug cable to the end of the
NT4 mic. Plug the mini-plug connector into the RED mic in jack on
the Sony Recorder and the headphones into the black headphone
jack.
MIC IN
Headphone OUT
13. Set/Check Mic Sensitivity (Low or HI) Press and hold the
Navi/Menu button for 2 seconds until the menu window activates. Use
Jog Wheel to navigate to "Rec Set" and then "Mic Sens." Select
36
"High" if you are recording ambience or "Low" if you are recording
close voice or loud sound effects.
14. Set in Manual Record Level Mode Unfortunately, one cannot go
directly into Manual Record Mode; you must go into Auto Gain mode,
place it in pause and then use the menu to change to Manual
Record level. Push the RED REC button down and slide the button to
the right to put the recorder in instant record mode (auto gain).
Press on the PAUSE BUTTON. Press and hold the Navi/Menu button
for 2 seconds until the menu window activates. Rotate jog wheel until
"REC Set" is blinking. Select “REC Volume,” and then “Manual.” You
can now adjust Record Level manually with the Jog Wheel. Set the
record level gain so the normal volume "peaks" cause about 1/2 of
the segments to come on (turn black). Notice that the overmodulation segment occurs right under the “0” of “30.”
You can change the record level as the deck while recording if
necessary.
15. To start recording, press again on the Pause button. When you are
ready to stop recording, press on the PAUSE button again. Try to
not stop the recorder with the STOP button unless you are taking a
break because this will take the deck out of Manual Record Level
mode. Note that the recorder jumps to unused disc space when a
new recording is started. Recordings are organized into “groups.” A
‘Group” includes all the tracks made with the pause button. Pressing
STOP will cause a new “group” to be created the next time the a
recording is made on the disc.
16. To raise the headphone volume, press on the top edge of the
ENTER button and on the lower edge to lower the headphone
volume. This may take some practice.
17. You can create a marker for a new track as the Recorder is running
by pressing the "T mark" button above the mic input jack. This will
create a new track at this point making it much easier to locate later.
37
18. Allow the Record to Save the Files. After pressing STOP, the
recorder needs to write the file to the disk in order to save it. DO
NOT remove the disk or turn off the power to the unit by removing
the battery or power cord during this phase or you will lose the
recordings on the disc.
19. Playing Recordings. Insert the disc, press the left or right edge of
the ENTER button to shuffle through your tracks.
20. Prevent accidental erasure of recorded discs by sliding the white tab
on the rear edge of the disc until the slot is open.
21. Disc Capacities: A standard MD disk has a capacity of 74-80
minutes recorded in SP mode. (Don't record in the LP mode, the
quality is compromised!) A
38
Sony MZ-NH-900
Hi-MD and MD format Recorder
Set-Up Steps for HiMD Record Mode Only
The HiMD recorders can record in two formats: the HiMD format which
can create a 16bit PCM file on HiMD disks and the older MD SP format
which uses compression.
Most users will want to record on HiMD formatted disks because, in
addition to better quality, one can transfer the files digitally to a PC very
quickly using a USB transfer cable and Sony’s Soundstage/Wave Converter
software (or MarcNet’s Hi-MD Renderer). MD recordings must be
transferred in real time from a MD deck with digital output capability
(which the NH900 does not have) or using lesser quality analog
connections.
You can obtain higher resolution files and digital transfer capability
using the old MD discs or the new 1GB HiMD discs—but both discs must
be formatted to HiMD before recorded upon.
There is no way to make a digital transfer using SoundStage and a USB
cable if an old MD disc is used in MD mode (that’s what it is right out of
the box). There is a PC computer in B-56 or B-18 for making the digital
transfers from the Sony NH-900 itself. The Sony software is not
compatible with Macintosh computers. The MD Community Discussion
list is a good resource for discussion and HiMD developments at
http://www.minidisco.com/
Set-Up Steps for the Sony MZ-NH900 MD Recorder
It is very important to go through these steps every time before you
start recording and, preferably, before you set off to your location. Take
some time to practice placing the recorder into manual record gain
mode because you’ll need to be able to do this quickly and confidently
in the field. If you fail to do some of the below steps, your recording
39
can suffer in terms of quality and in some cases, it may not be able to
be digitally imported into a computer.
40
Perform these steps with No Disc in the Recorder:
+
3.
..
4. Set to Advanced Menu Mode Press and hold the Navi/Menu
button for 2 seconds until the menu window activates. Rotate the
circular jog wheel until the word, "Option," is blinking. Press down
on the small ENTER button (the button in the middle of the Jog
wheel) to select “Option.” Rotate the jog wheel until the word
"Advanced" is blinking and select it by pressing ENTER. You
cannot access manual record gain unless it is in this mode.
41
The “EOR” Steps
EDIT, OPTION and RECORD SET
5. Format Disc in HiMD format (this erases everything that is already
recorded on the disk) Press and hold the Navi/Menu button for 2
seconds until the menu window activates. Rotate jog wheel to EDIT,
select it by pressing the ENTER button in the center of the Jog
Wheel. Under Edit-> select Format-> and blinking “Yes.” If there is
no “Format” option provided, select “Erase All.”
6. Set Disc Mode in HiMD format Press and hold the Navi/Menu button
for 2 seconds until the menu window activates. Rotate jog wheel to
Option, select it by pressing the ENTER button in the center of the
Jog Wheel. Under Option-> select Disc Mode-> and blinking “HiMD.”
7. Set Record Mode to PCM Press and hold the Navi/Menu button for 2
seconds until the menu window activates. Rotate Jog Wheel until
"REC Set" is blinking and press Enter. Select “Rec Mode” and then
“PCM.” You can also use HiSP mode if you must record, non-stop
for a long time. The old MD discs will hold 28 minutes of PCM quality
and ~70 minutes of Hi-SP. The HiMD 1GB discs will hold 90 minutes
of PCM quality and ~7 hours of HiSP recordings.
8.
8. Look at the Menu window. The Record Mode should show “Hi-MD”
and “PCM”. If the window shows “MD” or SP, re-do the above
steps, 5 and 6.
42
Hi-MD
PCM
10. Install a fresh, alkaline, 9 volt battery into the Rode NT-4 mic by unscrewing the lower section of the body and sliding the battery into the
cavity (terminals first). Check for correct polarity (+ to + and – to –).
Secure the battery in place with the flexible spring clip and screw the
sections back together.
11. Slip the mic back into the shock mount and attach the fake fur
jacket. The Rode NT-4 mic is very sensitive to hand-holding and the
slightest amount of wind. Unless you are mounting it on a mic stand
indoors, the results are likely to be disappointing without a shock
mount/zepplin. If your mic doesn’t not have a shockmount/zepplin,
consider making one yourself. You can find some excellent plans on
the web including these
http://www.murdermedia.com/?p=goodies_shock_mount.
Or the below design developed here in the dept:
43
12. Its best to turn ON the mic before plugging it in to the Recorder. The
switch is on the Mic body ON. When the NT4 is switched ON, the red
battery status light should illuminate for about 1 second and turn off. If
the L.E.D. remains illuminated significantly longer, the battery should be
replaced. Life expectancy for a high quality alkaline battery is in excess
of 400 hours. If left ON, the battery power will be unnecessarily
depleted.
12. Attach the XLR-> 1/8” stereo mini-plug cable to the end of the NT4
mic. Plug the mini-plug connector into the RED mic in jack on the
Sony Recorder and the headphones into the black headphone jack.
MIC IN
Headphone OUT
14. Set/Check Mic Sensitivity (Low or HI) Press and hold the
Navi/Menu button for 2 seconds until the menu window activates. Use
Jog Wheel to navigate to "Rec Set" and then "Mic Sens." Select
"High" if you are recording ambience or "Low" if you are recording
close voice or loud sound effects.
15. Set in Manual Record Level Mode Unfortunately, one cannot go
directly into Manual Record Mode; you must go into Auto Gain mode,
place it in pause and then use the menu to change to Manual
Record level. Push the RED REC button down and slide the button to
the right to put the recorder in instant record mode (auto gain).
Press on the PAUSE BUTTON. Press and hold the Navi/Menu button
for 2 seconds until the menu window activates. Rotate jog wheel until
"REC Set" is blinking. Select “REC Volume,” and then “Manual.” You
can now adjust Record Level manually with the Jog Wheel. Set the
record level gain so the normal volume "peaks" cause about 1/2 of
the segments to come on (turn black). Notice that the overmodulation segment occurs right under the “0” of “30.”
44
You can change the record level as the deck while recording if
necessary.
16. To start recording, press again on the Pause button. When you are
ready to stop recording, press on the PAUSE button again. Try to not
stop the recorder with the STOP button unless you are taking a
break because this will take the deck out of Manual Record Level
mode. Note that the recorder jumps to unused disc space when a
new recording is started. Recordings are organized into “groups.” A
‘Group” includes all the tracks made with the pause button. Pressing
STOP will cause a new “group” to be created the next time the a
recording is made on the disc.
17. To raise the headphone volume, lift up on the top edge of the
ENTER button or on the lower edge to lower the headphone volume.
18. You can create a marker for a new track as the Recorder is running
by pressing the "T mark" button above the mic input jack. This will
create a new track at this point making it much easier to locate later.
19. Allow the Recorder to Save the Files. After pressing STOP, the
recorder needs to write the file to the disk in order to save it. DO
NOT remove the disk or turn off the power to the unit by removing
the battery or power cord during this phase or you will lose the
recordings on the disc.
20. Playing Recordings. Insert the disc, press the left or right edge of
the ENTER button to shuffle through your tracks.
21. Prevent accidental erasure of recorded discs by sliding the white tab
on the rear edge of the disc until the slot is open.
22. Disc Capacities: Old MD disks have a capacity of 74-80 minutes
recorded in the SP mode. The HiMD 1GB disks have a capacity of 94
minutes recorded in the Linear PCM mode and over 7 hours in the HiSP mode.
45
USB Cable Transfer of MZ-NH-900 Sound files
using Sonic Stage and Wav Converter Tool
The below steps are for PC only (there is no support of direct USB transfer for Mac).
There is a PC computer in MIT B-56 with the necessary software installed.
The MIT B-56 PC will accept Mac Formatted external FireWire drives using the
application MacDrive6. Your personal drive must be (OSX 10.3.4 or +) Mac- formatted
for use in B-18 and it must be formatted before you start transferring sound files. The
formatting steps for this can be accessed through the Film Department Student index
page:
http://www.uwm.edu/~type/FilmDept/TechWkshpManuals/FW_Drive_Partitioning_
Insts.pdf
A PC computer must have a program called, MacDrive6 to correctly access a MacFormatted drive. You can use your own PC to transfer your HiMD formatted disc
recordings via USB. When doing it at home on your own PC, it is recommended that
you copy the resulting .wav sound files to a CD-R for transfer to the dept (not to a PC
formatted FireWire external drive). A PC formatted external FW drive will not
perform without risks on a Mac. For info on FireWire drives and MacDrive6, see the
Film Department Student index page:
http://www.uwm.edu/~type/FilmDept/TechWkshpManuals/FirewireDriveUpdate.ht
m
Note: You can only perform the OpenMG to Wav conversion Twice from your HiMD
disk!!! Be sure you retrieve your files before leaving the PC and copy them to CD-R or
another medium quickly. You can also make a Data CD-R of your
transferred/converted .wav files with the B-56 PC using the built-in Burner and Nero.
After you have confirmed that your recordings work and are safely stored on CD-R or
another medium, please trash your transfer files from the MIT B-56 PC. Do not depend
on the being there as a back-up.
Sony’s Steps (with annotations)
WAV Conversion Tool
The WAV Conversion Tool is software designed to convert OpenMG™ Audio format
files to PCM WAV files. Specifically, this tool is only for OpenMG Audio format files
that have been recorded through the MIC or LINE-IN (analog) input from a Hi-MD™
Walkman® device and uploaded to SonicStage® software. Convertible tracks recorded
through a Hi-MD device can be converted to WAV format files using the WAV
Conversion Tool.
Target products
Hi-MD Walkman models with line-in feature: MZ-NH1 / MZ-NHF800 / MZ-NH900
Operating Systems
Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2004 / Windows XP Media Center
Edition / Windows XP Professional / Windows XP Home Edition / Windows 2000
Professional / Windows Millennium Edition / Windows 98 Second Edition
46
[If you need to download Sonic Stage and/or WAV Conversion for use on your home
PC, visit:
http://sonyelectronics.sonystyle.com/walkmanmc/wav.html
How do I transfer recordings made on my Hi-MD™ device to SonicStage software?
• Connect your Sony HiMD to the AC power supply that’s in your Recorder Kit. Do not
perform the below steps running on battery power. Connect your Sony Hi-MD
recorder to the PC using the USB cable that is in your Recorder Kit. The USB port is
next to the mouse port on the rear of the PC.
• Start the PC with the button on the Desktop unit. When the log-on window open, type
“student” in the top window and OK. You don’t need a password.
• Launch the SonicStage software using the Icon on the desktop. (If it says another
application is already running, turn off the virus protection software on UWM PC’s.
To do so, click on the shield icon in the lower right corner of the desktop and in the
window that open, click on “defeat.”) If the Transfer does not automatically open,
select “Transfer” under SS’s View menu.
•
Click on the “TRANSFER” button towards the top right of the SS window. If your
HiMD 900 recorder has mounted correctly, your recordings should show as Hi-MD
media and as ‘Untitled” folders on the right side (the HiMD disc side). Each of these
folders holds the sound files you created with the pause button until you pressed
STOP.
• If you don’t have many sound files, it’s a good idea to name them before you transfer
them to the PC via SoundStage. You can click on a soundfile and press play to
listen to it (the headphones have to be plugged into the headphone jack in the rear
of the PC). Stop playing the file. To rename it, click on a sound file, Press F2, and
type the new name in the title bar. EG: “20050203MT_UrbanNitePres” You can
rename as many files as you want to.
• Its likely you will encounter the last students files in the “Transferred HiMD” album
on the left side (the PC side, the My Library panel) of the SS transfer window. They
will probably be named “untitled.” Its confusing to add your files to this list,
especially if you are not renaming all of your files first. To remove the former
student’s files from the album, select them and click on the check-looking icon at
the bottom of the window on the PC side. The sound files should disappear from the
left window.
• If the window is empty, make sure “Transferred HiMD” is selected as the
destination album on the My Library panel.
• Select the files you wish to transfer from your HiMD disc in the right panel and click
the Transfer button (left facing arrow). The transfer process will begin which takes
about 15 to 1/10 real time or about 5 minutes for a old MD disc or about 15
minutes for a HiMD 1GB disc.
• Do not disconnect the HiMD recorder or its power or the PC’s power during this
transfer process. There’s a very good chance the data on the disc will be lost.
• You can play the transferred sound files in the left panel to make sure they are okay.
47
How do I convert these files using WAV Conversion Tool?
[Note: you must do this conversion in order to be able to use the sounds in FCP or
Logic— basically any application except for SoundStage.]
• Close SonicStage. Look for the icon on the desktop for an shortcut folder named,
“Converted .Wav Files” Open this folder and move everything in it to the Recycle
Bin.
• Launch the WAV Conversion Tool (SonicStage software must be closed first).
• In the My Library screen, choose an album “Transferred HiMD” containing the
track(s) you wish to convert to a .wav file. You can also choose the "All convertible
tracks" view from the Display Mode to view all applicable track. Note: Only
convertible tracks residing in SonicStage My Library albums are displayed in this
application.
• Select the track(s) you wish to convert by checking the box to the left of the track.
It leaves check mark when it is selected.
• Next, determine where the converted .wav files are to be placed. In the Target
Folder on the Right side, there should be a folder named, “Converted .Wav Files” (If
its not visible, navigate to the “MY Documents” folder. Open the “Converted .Wav
Files” folder by clicking on it. This is where your converted .wav files will be created.
• Click the red "Convert" button located in the center of the screen. The selected
track(s) will be converted and saved in the specified Target Folder. This process
takes a little less time than the initial transfer. If the button in the middle is not red,
it usually means there is not enough space on the PC’s hard drive to create the new
files. You can empty the Recycle Bin to enable more space.
•
Note that WavConverter automatically divides very long files into separate 650mb
sound files.
What can I do with .WAV files?
The .wav sound file format can be imported into most audio editing/mixing
applications including Logic after they have been given “Read and Write”
permission. (See instructions below). The .wav files are 16bit with a sample
rate of 44100K. Final Cut Pro requires 16 bit files at 48000K, so you’ll need to
convert the .wav files to .aif files @ 16bits and a sample rate of 48000K
QuickTime Pro or Peak before importing them into your FCP session. This and
48
giving the files “Read and Write” permission have to be done on a Mac
computer.
Copying the .Wav files to Data CD-R with Nero
•
Close WavConverter. Use the link to Nero on the desktop to launch it. Click
on the DATA CD-R option and a window opens. Drag the folder, “Converted
.Wav Files” into this window. Click on NEXT. You can rename the CD to
something more more useful.
•
Click on Burn CD and select 12X speed or slower and insert a blank CD-R.
Data CD’s created by Nero are mac compatible.
Copying .Wav files to an External FireWire Drive
•
Connect your external FireWire drive to a FW port in the rear of the PC and
turn on the drive’s power. A window should open on the PC desktop as soon
as it mounts. Drag-copy your files to your FW drive in the normal manner.
After the copies are complete, click on them to play them back and make
sure they are working okay. Do not remove the drive while the PC is ON!
Shut down the PC first, shut down your ext FW drive and then remove it. Note
that both PC and Mac initialized FW drives will mount on the PC because it
uses MacDrive.
•
Don’t forget to take your CD-R(s) and your Sony HiMD Recorder, your USB
cable and AC power supply with you.
How do I give my new .wav Sound Files “Read & Write” Permission?
•
The .Wav sound files created by WavConverter have been tagged, “Read
Only” and will not import into LOGIC Audio as is.
•
To give them “Read and Write” permission, first drag-copy them from your
data CD-R or FW Hard Drive to the “Field Recordings” or other appropriate
folder in your Logic Session folder. Once in this folder, group select ALL of
them and and press the “APPLE” and “I” keys. In the Multiple Item
Information window that opens, under “Ownership and Permissions,” select
“Read & Write” from the pull-down menu:
49
•
This changes their status allowing Logic to import your new .Wav files.
Where do I go for more information about USB Transfers?
Additional usage information can be found in the Help File on the WAV Converter
application in the upper right corner. For technical assistance, please visit
www.sony.com/walkmansupport.
50