Sony AM-NX1 User Manual

3-253-939-11(1)

Portable MiniDisc Recorder

Operating Instructions

Recorder Operation ____________________________ Software Operation _____________________________

page 9 page 42

AM-NX1

WARNING

To prevent fire or shock hazard, do not expose the unit to rain or moisture.

Do not install the appliance in a confined space, such as a bookcase or built-in cabinet.

To prevent fire, do not cover the ventilation of the apparatus with news papers, table clot hs, curtains, etc. And don’t place lighted candles on the apparatus.

To prevent fire or shock hazard, do not place objects filled with liquids, such as vases, on the apparatus.

Certain countries may regulate disposal of the battery used to power t his product. Please consult with your local authority.

Caution

The use of optical instruments with this product will incre as e eye hazard.

CAUTION RADIATION WHEN OPEN

AVOID EXPOSURE TO BEAM

— INVISIBLE LASER

Information

IN NO EVENT SHALL SELLER BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY NATURE, OR LOSSES OR EXPENSES RESULTING FROM ANY DEFECTIVE PRODUCT OR THE USE OF ANY PRODUCT.

The validity of the CE marking is restricted to only th ose countries where i t is legally enforced, mainly in the countries EEA (European Economic Area).

• SonicStage, O p enMG and the Ope nMG

logo, MagicG at e M emory Stick and the MagicGate Memory Stick logo, Memory Stick and the Memory Stick logo, Net MD and the Net MD logo, ATRAC, ATRAC3 and ATRAC3 plus are trademarks of Sony Corporation.

• Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT and

Windows Media are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and /or other countr i es.

• IBM and PC/AT are registered

trademarks of Inter national Business Machines Corporation.

• Macintosh is a tra demark of Apple

Computer, Inc. in the United States and/ or other countries.

• Pentium is a registered trademark of

Intel Corporation.

• All other trademarks and registered

trademarks ar e trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

• ™ and ® marks are omitted in this

manual.

Notice for users

On the supplied software

• Copyright laws prohibit reproducing the

software or the manual accompanying it in whole or in part, or renting the software without the permission of the copyright holder.

• In no event will SONY be liable for any

financial damage, or loss of profits, including claims made by third parties, arising out of the use of the software supplied with this recorder.

• In the event a problem occurs with this

software as a result of defective manufacturing, SONY will replace it. However, SONY bears no other responsibility.

• The software provided with this

recorder cannot be used with equipment other than that which is so designated.

• Please note that, due to continued efforts

to improve quality, the software specifications may be changed without notice.

• Operation of this reco rder with soft ware

other than that provided is not covered by the warranty.

Table of contents

Recorder Operation

Looking at controls ............................. ............10

Getting started ...............................................13

Playing an MD right away! ..............................16

Various ways of playback ..............................18

Viewing various informat ion ..................... .... ... ...................... .... ... .......18

Selecting the play mode ........................................................................18

Playing a track repeatedly (Repeat Play) .............................. ... .... ...19

Listening to tracks in a desired sequence (Program Play) ..............19

Adjusting the sound (Virtual-Surround • Digital Sound Equalizer) .....20

Varying the virtual sound to create different acoustics (Virtual-

Selecting the sound quality (Digital Sound Equalizer) ..................20

Changing playback speed (Digital Speed Control) ...............................21

Using the group function ................................23

What is the group function? ..................................................................23

Using the group function when play in g .................................. .... ..........23

Playing a track in group play ..........................................................23

Selecting the play mode for group play (Group Play Mo de ) .........24

Repeat play for the selected group play mode

Playing groups in a desired sequence (Group Program Play) ........24

Surround) .........................................................................20

(Group Repeat Play) ........................................................24

Other operations .............................................25

Useful settings ............................... ... .... ...................... ... ...................... .25

How to use the menu items .............................. .... ..................... .... .26

Turning off the beep sound ............................................................ 26

Preserving battery power (Power Save Mode) .............................. 26

Starting the playback quickly (Qu ick Mod e ) ................. ................27

Protecting your hearing (EAR GUARD) .......................................27

Turning on/off the backlight ..........................................................28

Storing the settings for individua l discs

(Playback Information Memory) .................................... 28

List of menus .......................... ..................... .... .... ..................... .... .29

Power sources ................................................30

Battery life ................... ..................... .... .... ..................... .... .... ........ 30

Additional information ....................................31

Precautions ...........................................................................................31

Specifications ....................................................................................... 34

Troubleshooting and explanations ................35

Troubleshooting ................................................................................... 35

While charging ............................................................................... 35

While playing ................................................................................. 36

While using group function ...........................................................37

Others .............................................................................................37

Messages .............................................................................................. 39

Explanations ......................................................................................... 40

Software Operation

What is a Net MD? ..........................................43

Basic Operations ............................................44

Basic operational flow using the Net MD ............ ...................... ... .......44

Providing the required system environment .........................................45

System requirements ......................................................................45

Installing the software onto your computer ..........................................46

Before installing the software .........................................................46

Installing SonicStage Ver.1.5 .........................................................47

Connecting the Net MD to your computer ...........................................49

Storing audio data to your computer .....................................................50

Starting SonicStage ........................................................................50

Recording audio CDs to the hard disk drive ..................................51

Labeling audio data ........................................................................53

Transferring aud io data from your com puter to the

Net MD (Check-out) .................. .... ... .... ...................... ... .... ..............54

Checking out audio files to the Net MD .........................................54

Listening to an MD ............................. ...................... ... ...................... ...57

Listening to an MD with the Net MD connected to the

Listening to an MD with the Net MD disconnected from the

computer ..........................................................................57

Advanced operations ......................................58

Using other functions! ............................... .... ..................... .... .... ..........58

Using the SonicStage onlin e help .......................... ...................... ...58

Other information ...........................................60

Settings and Precautions ...................................................................... 60

Settings according to OS ........................... ... ...................... .... ... ..... 60

For users with OpenMG Jukebox, SonicStage, SonicStage Premium,

or SonicStage Si mple Burner ins talled on

their computer .................................................................62

Note on hard disk drive space ........................................................63

Notes on system suspend/hibernation mode ..................................63

Backing up the audio data ..................... ...................... ... ................63

Uninstalling the SonicStage software ..................................................64

For Windows XP users ..................................................................6 4

For Windows Millennium Edition/Windows 98 Second Edition

For Windows 2000 users ...............................................................65

Troubleshooting ................................................................................... 66

If your computer does not recognize the Net MD ......................... 68

If the installation was not successful ............................................. 68

Information and explanatio ns ................................. .... ... ...................... .70

Net MD FAQ ................................................................................. 70

On copyright protection ....................................... ..................... .... .71

Glossary ...............................................................................................73

Index ..................................................................................................... 75

users ................................................................................ 64

Before using this product

This manual explains the recorder operations and the installation and basic use of the supplied SonicSta ge software. For details on the various operations, refer to the pages indicated below.

When using the recorder

Recorder Operation (pages 9 to 40)

Pages 9 to 40 in t his man ua l e xp la in t he use of t he Net MD a s an or di na ry MiniDisc recorder.

3-253-939-11(1)

Portable MiniDisc Recorder

Operating Instructions

page9

Recorder Operation ____________________________

page42

Software Operation _____________________________

Troubleshooting and explanations (page 35)

This section shows the troubles you may find while using the recorder, and their solutions.

AM-NX1

When using the Net MD (the recorder) connected to your computer

Software Operation (pages 42 to 74)

Pages 42 to 74 in this manual explain the instal la tion and basic operations of the suppli ed SonicStage software. Refer to these pages for details.

Other information (page 60)

This section shows the tr oubles you may find while using the SonicStage software, and their solutions. It al so has the list of frequently asked questions and answers .

SonicStage Ver. 1.5 Help

This is an online help that you can view on your computer screen. Refer to online help for details on the use of the software . To display the help window, see page 58.

Notes on the “Software Operation” section

• The displayed items in the illustrations that appe ar in this section may differ from the actual items

displayed by the software.

• Explanations in this section assume familiarity with basic Windows operations. For details on the use

of your computer and the operating system, please refer to the respective manuals.

• Explanations in this section cover general Net M D pro duc ts. For th is rea son, some explanations (and

some illustrations) may not be applicable to your Net MD. Please refer to the operating instructions of your Net MD as well.

Checking the supplied accessories

AC power adaptor (1) Battery charging sta nd (1) Headphones/earphones

Dedicated US B cable (1)

Dry battery case (1)

NH-14WM Nickel metal hydride rechargea bl e battery (1)

with a remote control (1)

Battery carrying case (1)

Recorder Operation

CD-ROM (SonicStage Ver. 1.5) (1)* Carrying pouc h (1)

∗ Do not play a CD-ROM on an audio CD player.

Looking at controls

The recorder

A Battery compartment B Terminals for attaching a battery

charging stand

C Terminals for attaching a dry battery

case

D DC IN 3V jack E OPEN switch F Handstrap hole

Use the hole to attach your own strap.

G Dedicated USB cable connecting jack H CHARGE/DATA indicator I i (headphones/earphones) jack

The headphones/earphones with a remote control

A Volume contro l (VOL+, –)

Turn to adjust the volume.

B x (stop) button C NX/ENTER button: play, pause,

enter

D Dis pl ay window E (group) +, – F >: FF

.: REW

G Clip

H HOLD switch

Slide the switch in the directio n of the arrow (a yellow mark appears) to disable the buttons o n th e remote control. To prevent the buttons from being accidentally operated when you carry the recorder, use this function.

I SOUND button J DISPLAY button K P MODE/ button

Using the clip for the remote control

It may be hard for you to read th e indications in the display if the remote control is attach e d upside down with the clip in its c urrent position. In this case, attach the clip in the opposite direction as shown below.

1 Remove the clip.

2 Attach the cl ip in th e opposite direction.

The display window of the remote control

A Disc indication B Track number display C Character information display D Play mode indication

E SOUND indication F Battery level indica tio n G Group indication

Getting started

Charge the rechar geabl e battery befor e using. Ev en if the rech arge able battery is not charged, you can use the recorder as long as the AC power adaptor is connected.

Insert the rechargeable battery.

Insert the NH - 14WM

battery compartment lid.

rechargeable battery minus end first.

Charge the rechargeable battery.

1 Connect the AC power adaptor to the

battery chargin g st and and the AC adaptor to a wall outlet.

To a wall outlet

AC power adaptor

Battery charging stand

To DC IN 3V

Close the lid.Slide OPEN to open the

2 Place the recorder on the battery

charging stand.

Attach the connector to the jack firmly.

CHARGE/DA TA indicator lights in red, and charging starts. When charging completed, the CHARGE/DATA indicator goes off. The battery is fully charged after charging is continued 2 more hours.

3 Remove the recorder from the batter y

charging stand.

For models supplied with the AC plug adaptor

If the AC power adaptor does not fit the wall outlet, use the AC plug adaptor.

Using the alkaline dry battery

Attach the dry batter y c ase to the recorder. Rear of the

recorder

Insert an LR6 (size AA) alkaline dry battery. To operate the recorder for the longest possible time, use the dry battery together with a fully charged rechargeable battery.

Insert the battery mi nus end first.

Make connections and unlock the controls.

1 Connect the headphones/earphones

with the remote control to i.

Connect firmly.

2 Slide HOLD to the opposite direction of

the arrow (.) on the remote c ont rol to unlock the controls .

HOLD

To i

Connect firmly.

Y ou can also char g e th e rech ar geab le b atte ry b y connecting the A C p owe r adaptor d irectl y to th e recorder. Connect the headphones/ea rp hone s with the remote control to i. Connect the AC power adaptor to DC IN 3V on the recorder, and then press x on the remote control while the recorder is stoppe d. “Charging” and e appear in the display and charging starts. Full charging takes about 3.5 hours. Chargi ng is complete when disappears. Charging time may vary depe nding on the battery condit ion.

Notes

• If you start playback or do another operation

during charging, the charging will stop.

• “Charging” and e may not appear in the

display immediately after you place the recorder on the battery char g ing stand. The indication will, however, begin flashing after a few minutes and charging will begin.

• Charge th e ba tt ery at a tem p erature of +5°C

(+41°F) to +40°C (+104° F).

Battery life

See page 30.

Playing an MD right away!

Insert an MD.

1 Press OPEN to open the lid. 2 Insert an MD to the direction of the

arrow with the label side facing front, and press the lid down to clos e.

Play an MD.

1 Press NX/ENTER on the remote

control.

A short beep sounds in the headphones/ earphones when you operate.

2 Turn the volume control toward s VOL +

or – on the remote control.

Volume control

(VOL+, –)

/ENTER

The volume will be show n in the display.

To stop play, press x.

A long beep sounds in the headphones/ earphones when you operate. After you stop the recorder, the recorder will automatically turn off in about 10 seconds. Playback starts from the point you last stopped playing. To start with the first track of the disc, press NX/ENTER on the remote control for 2 seconds or more.

To Operation

Pause Press NX.

Press NX again to resume play.

Find the beginning of the current track Press ..

Press . repeatedly until you reac h the

beginnin g of the desired track. Find the beginning of the next track Press >. Go backwards or forward while playing Press and hold . or >. Search for a point in a track while

viewing the elapse d time (Time search) Search for a specific track while viewing

track numbers (Index search) Cue to the beginning o f every 10th tr ac k

(only during playback of the disc with no group settings)

Remove the MD Press x and open the lid.

For more details, see “Using the group func tion” (page 23).

Once you open the lid, the point to start play will change to the beginning of the first track (except when the disc information is stored to the Playback Information Memory).

While pausing, pr ess and hold . or >.

While the recorder is stopped, press and hold

. or >.

Press + or –.

If the play does not start

Make sure the recorder i s no t lo cked (pages 11,

14).

Note

The playback sound may skip if:

• the recorder receives stronger continuous

shock.

• a dirty or scratched MiniDisc is played.

Various ways of playback

This section explains the operations that are done on the remote control. For details on operations done on the recorder, see the pages indicated for eac h op eration.

Viewing various information

You can check the track name, disc name, etc. during playback. Group-related items appear only when a track with group settings is played.

DISPLAY

1 While playing, pres s D ISPLAY.

Each time you press DISPLAY, the display changes as follows.

Display windo w on the remot e cont r ol

Track number SP/LP mode of the

current track

Note

Depending on the group settings, the ope r ating conditions, and the disc settings, you may not be able to select certain indications or the indications may ap pe ar differ e n tly.

Selecting the play mode

You can select the various play m odes using the P MODE/ button.

P MODE/

/ENTER

1 Press P MODE/ repeatedly.

Each time you press the button, the play mode changes as follows:

Play mode indication

Display: A/B

Track nu m ber Elapsed time Track number Track name Numbers of

tracks in the group

Numbers of remaining tracks

Track number Group name and track

Group name

Disc name

name

Indication

(none) (normal Play)

1 (single-track play)

SHUF

(shuffle play)

Play mod e

All the tracks are played once.

A single track is played once.

All the tracks are played in random order.

Indication1)Play mode

PGM

(program play)

Group play mode ( ) appears whenever you play a disc with group settings. For more details, see “Playing a track in group play” (page 23).

Tracks are pl ayed in the order that you specified.

Playing a track repeatedly (Repeat P lay)

You can use th e r ep eat function for normal play, single-track pl ay, shuffle play, and program play mode.

1 While playin g in t he selected play

mode, press P MODE/ for 2 seconds or more.

appears in the dis play.

To cancel repeat play

Press P MODE/ for 2 seconds or more.

By pressing the P MODE/ button during repeat play, you can change the play mode to used with repeat play.

3 Repeat step 2 to program mor e tracks.

You can prog ram up to 20 tracks.

4 After programming the tracks, press

NX/ENTER for 2 seconds or mor e. The program is st ored and playback

starts from the first track.

The program play setting will remain in memory even after playback finishes or is stopped.

Note

If you open the lid, all program settings are canceled.

Listening to tracks in a desired sequence (Program Play)

1 While playing, press

P MODE/ repeatedly unti l “PGM” appears in the display.

2 Press . or > repeatedly to

select a track, and th en press NX/ ENTER to enter that track.

Track number

Programmed sequence

Adjusting the sound (Virtual-Surround • Digital Sound Equalizer)

You can vary the virtual sound to create differe nt acous tics, o r modify the sound t o suit your taste and store it for later use. The following two effect can be selected.

V- SUR (Virtual-Surround)

Provides 4 kinds of virt ual surround conditions.

Digital Sound Equalizer

Provides 5 different sound qualities.

SOUND

Varying the virtual sound to create different acoustics (Virtual-Surround)

1 While playing, press SOUND

repeatedly to select “V-SUR”

2 Press SOUND for 2 seconds or more. 3 Press . or > repeat edly to

select the surround mode.

CHURCH V-SUR C

4 Press NX/ENTER to enter the

selected surround mode.

Selecting the sound quality (Digital Sound Equalizer)

1 While playing, press SOUND

repeatedly to select “SOUND.”

2 Press SOUND for 2 seconds or more. 3 Press . or > repeatedly to

select the sound mode.

Each time you press . or >, A and B change a s follows:

METAL SOUL JAZZ TECHNO USER

SOUND 1 SOUND 2 SOUND 3 SOUND 4 SOUND U

4 Press NX/ENTER to enter the

selected sound m ode.

To cancel the procedure

Press x for 2 seco nds or more.

Each time you press . or >, A and B change as follows:

STUDIO LIVE HALL

V-SUR S V-SUR L V-SUR H

To cancel the setting

Press SOUND repeatedly until the indication at B disappears.

To modify and store the sound

You can modify the so und and store the results in “USER”.

1 Do steps 1 to 3 of “Selecting the sound

quality (Digital Sound E qualizer )” (page20),

. or > repeatedly until

and press “USER” appears.

2 Press NX/ENTER.

. or > repeatedly to select the

3 Press

frequency.

Changing playback speed (Digital Speed Control)

The speed contro l function is useful for language study and other purpose. Thi s function changes the playback speed without changing the playback pitch. The playback speed can be varied from +100% to –50% the normal speed, in 13 steps.

Frequency (100 Hz) From the left, you can se lec t 1 00 H z, 250 Hz, 630 Hz, 1.6kHz, 4 kHz, or 10 kHz

4 Turn the volume con trol repeatedly to adjus t

the level .

Level (+6 dB) You can select from among five lev els . –6 dB, –3 dB, 0 dB, +3 dB, +6 dB

5 Repeat steps 3 and 4 to adjust the level for

each frequency.

6 Press NX/ENTER to enter the selection.

To cancel the procedure

Press x for 2 seconds or more.

To return to the preceding setting

Press x.

DISPLAY

/ENTER

1 While playing, press DISPLAY for 2

seconds or more.

2 Press . or > repeatedly until

“USEFUL” appea rs in th e di splay, and then press

NX/ENTER.

3 Press . or > repeatedly until

“SpeedCtrl” appears in the display, and then press

The player changes to speed-s et t i ng mode. Select th e speed while listening the sound.

NX/ENTER.

4 Press . or > repeatedly to sele ct

the desired play back speed, and then

NX/ENTER to enter the

press selection.

“SC” appears in the display.

To cancel the procedure

Press x for 2 seconds or more.

To return to the preceding setting

Press x.

Once you open the lid, the playback speed reverts to the normal speed (0%).

Note

When using digital speed control, you may hear noise or an echo in the playback.

Using the group function

What is the group function?

The group function is provided to allow playback of di scs with gr oup sett ings. The group function is convenient for playb ack of MDs on which several albums or CD singles have been recorded in MDLP (LP2/LP4) mode.

What is a disc with group settings?

The recorder ca n operate various functions in units of group; that is tracks that have been recorded on a disc as part of separate grou ps , as shown below.

Note

It will not be possible to make a group setting if the tracks, groups and disc name on a disc exceed the maximum number that can be input.

Using the group function when playing

The recorder ca n operate various playback wit h a disc which has group setting.

P MODE/

Before group settings are m ade

Disc

2 4 5 6 7 8 12 131415

Track 1 to 5 are assigned to group 1. Track 8 to12 are assigned to group 2. Track 13 to15 are assigned to group 3.

Track 6 to 7 are assigned to no group.

After group assignments hav e been made

Disc

Group 1

2345 6

Tracks that were not assigned to a group are treat ed as being part of “Group - -” .

You can create a maximum of 99 groups on a disc.

Group 2

712345

Group 3

/ENTER

Playing a track in group play

In group play, all groups are played in order, starting with group 1, followed by the unassigned t racks (“Group -- ”) . Playback stops after all the tracks have been played.

1 While playing, press P MODE/

until “ ” appears in the display.

To cue to the start of a group (Group Skip)

1 While playin g, pre ss + or –.

Pressing the – button cues to the first track in the current group. Pressing the button again cues to the first track of the previous group.

Selecting the play mode for group play (Group Play Mode)

The shuffle play and progr am play function can be use d during group play mode.

1 Press P MODE/ repeatedly.

After normal playback, the following play modes are displayed.

Display Play mode

All tracks in the groups

(Normal Group Play)

, SHUF (In-Group Shuffle)

, PGM (Group Program)

Repeat play for the selected group play mode (Group Repeat Play)

play back once (starting with the first track in group 1).

Shuffle play starts with the group that is currently playing, and co ntinues with the succeeding groups.

The groups are played in the order that you specified.

Playing groups in a desired sequence (Group Program Play)

Do the procedure explai ned in “Listening to tracks in a desired sequence (Progr am Play)” (page 19) to playback grou ps in a desired sequence. You can program up to 10 groups. The seque nce of tracks within the groups cannot be changed.

Suppressing the skips of the sound (E.A.S.S. GP)

The E.A.S.S. GP func tion was developed to provide a higher level of shock resistance than that of existing players.

Note

The playback sound m ay skip if:

• the recorder received stronger

continuous shoc k.

• a dirty or scratc hed MD is played.

1 While playing in the selected group

play mode, press P MODE/ for 2 seconds or more.

Playback repea ts in th e respective group mode.

Display Play mode

, Repeat play of tracks

, SHUF Repeat shuffle play of

, PGM Repeat play for gr oup

within a group.

tracks within a group.

program.

+ 56 hidden pages