Subject:Open MG .omg blues

Posted by: robinc

Date:8/18/2004 8:46:32 PM

I recently got a sony pc with Sonic Stage. Ignorant trust led me to start saving all my music / audio in this digital music manager. Slick, uh? Now, I want to open and edit the audio. Enter the demon file format. Open MG is toying with my sanity. I figured out that it's Sonys proprietary file format and nobody else can / will read it. So I ran out and got Sound Forge. Surely Sonys audio editer can read Sonys file format. Wrong!
I must be missing something. I did try a quick search before posting so I would appreciate any guidance or knowledgeon the subject.

Subject:RE: Open MG .omg blues

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:8/19/2004 3:38:09 AM

Sadly, .omg is pretty much limited to use with SONY minidisc players/recorders. Keep in mind that .omg is a product of SONY Electronics and Sound Forge is a product of SONY Pictures Digital. Other than the first four letters of the company names, they have just about nothing to do with each other.

<rant>SonicStage is one of the most frustratingly unusable pieces of software i've ever seen. It ranks right up there with Pixela for utter user hostility. There is simply no excuse for making software so difficult to use.</rant> That being said, it does just barely offer an export feature that will let you save tracks as MP3 format. Double-click on "Music Drive" to see your list of music, select all the files, right-mouse-button click, choose Move file, select MP3, specify a new folder. This means that you'll be taking a highly compressed lossy version of the audio file and recompressing it to another compressed lossy format. This is not an ideal situaion, but at least you'll have files that can be opened in other software. Probably the best thing to do is to go back to the source of the music and start over again from scratch.

Subject:RE: Open MG .omg blues

Reply by: robinc

Date:8/19/2004 9:58:29 AM

Thanks Chienworks. I was afraid the answer would be something like that. I appreciate the mp3 words though. Unfortunately some of the files are not retrievable from scratch. Live and learn.*************************************************************************************
I just tried to move file as you suggested. I am only offered the option of Open MG (ATRAC3). Foiled again.

Subject:RE: Open MG .omg blues

Reply by: rraud

Date:8/19/2004 11:36:41 AM

Notice from Minidisco, about the new generation of MDs.-

Important info about digital uploads and Hi-MD:
First the Bad news:
MiniDisc users have long desired a feature which would allow high speed digital uploads of microphone and analog line input recordings from MD to PC. While the new Hi-MD units will allow high speed digital uploads of these recordings, there is currently no way to export those recordings from Sony's Sonic Stage software to an open format. Simply put, you can upload your recordings, but only for playback on your PC or for the purposes of burning an ATRAC format CD (Sony's proprietary format, not a traditional audio CD).

Now the Good news:
Sony has announced plans to address this limitation by releasing a free application in the fall of 2004 called "Wave Converter". According to Sony, the promised application will allow users to export their recordings to WAV format and free them from any and all copyright restrictions. The bottom line is that with the new Hi-MD units, you can upload your recordings via USB, but it will be at least a few months before you'll be able to use them to burn audio CDs or create MP3s.

Subject:RE: Open MG .omg blues

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:8/19/2004 12:31:34 PM

That is indeed good news!

Now, what are the chances of them offering some software to allow USB uploads from the current Net-MD players that many of us already own? I bought one because the literature claimed it could be done. I was rather annoyed to discover that SonicStage wouldn't do it. Of course, by the time i finally figured out that the software wouldn't do it (and it wasn't just me not being able to figure out how), the 14 day return period had expired. Ah well, my wife gets good use out of the thing listening to music in the car.

Subject:RE: Open MG .omg blues

Reply by: Rednroll

Date:8/20/2004 2:14:32 PM

The Mini Disc format has always detered me from purchasing it. It seems like the red headed step child of formats. Quite similar to beta vs VHS from years back. It seems to always be pushed in one form or the other though, I believe that's because it is very popular in the Japan market. I see Sony has a hard drive mini player with a 20gig storage capacity, listing for $399. In comparison I recently just purchased a similar unit, an RCA Lyra RD2825 20gig. You can get one of these at Sam's club for $170, I happened to get the floor model in their showcase for $100. I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with it. Not only can I use it as a mini player of my .MP3 and .WMA files I store on it, but it's basically a portable hard drive that fits in the palm of your hand, that I can transport files back and forth between PC's. I even used it on my laptop with Sound Forge and recorded directly to it, over the USB 2.0 connection without any problems. RCA has a 40 gig model also, that's the same size. Technology, is impressing the hell out of me. I can remember 8 years back doing mastering work caring around a $1000 1 Gig ext SCSI hard drive the size of a large dictionary and a Sony Walkman cassette player weighing down my left side. Now, I'm carrying 20 gig HD/MP3 player in the palm of my hand that also has headphone and line out jacks, and an LCD navigation screen, and it can connect to any PC with a USB connection vs the expensive non standard SCSI connection. F**king amazing!!!

Subject:RE: Open MG .omg blues

Reply by: naclenat

Date:9/20/2004 2:56:54 PM

hi - your reply seems to most closely correspond to what i am looking to do. thanks for all your help - it has definitely clarified things.

so, i have a new net md (specifically the SONY MZ-NF810CK). when i purchased it, i explained to the representative what i needed to do (all on the up and up). he guaranteed that the net md had those capabilities. that does not seem to be the case unfortunately. so, in very simple terms please, is it possible for me to extract the sudio from my net md to my pc and convert to wav and mp3 files? if so, how do i do this? when i say i know nothing about computers, i really know nothing.

thank you very much!

Subject:RE: Open MG .omg blues

Reply by: rraud

Date:9/20/2004 6:02:31 PM

naclenat, Most sales people of consumer electronics when it comes to audio are.... to be politically correct and polite... uninformed. ( I prefer the term f***ing idiots) Sorry. The "Net MD" can transfer files from PC to MD. Only the "Hi MD" can transfer files from MD to PC and only in the .omg format until "Sony Electronics" not "Sony Digital" releases the utility to convert .omg to .wav as stated in my post above. For more info on Net MD or Hi MD contact Mini-Disco or Planet Minidisc.

With your current set-up you would have to playback from the MDs analog output and digitize though the sound card on your PC.
Line-out or headphone on the MD to Line-in on sound card.

Subject:RE: Open MG .omg blues

Reply by: musicvid10

Date:9/20/2004 8:03:33 PM

Here is a wealth of forum discussion on the topic. Apparently there are different ways around it. Good luck!
http://forum.dbpoweramp.com/
Search for: .omg

Subject:RE: Open MG .omg blues

Reply by: naclenat

Date:9/21/2004 10:29:40 AM

yeah - it's amazing that these purported specialist really have no clue as to their products' capabilities. pretty pathetic.

so, from your response, i understand that it is possible for me to import files from md to pc. then convert to mp3 and wavs so i can make audio cds and cd-roms with the converted audio. what i do is send attorney's the md recorder and they record their lecture. i then want to take that audio file, edit it if necessary and then turn the lecture into audio cd and cd-rom. is this possible and, if so, how should i proceed. in very simple terms! i am in marketing and have no clue about this computer jargon! thanks so much.

i'm natalie by the way. and, i really appreciate your help.

Subject:RE: Open MG .omg blues

Reply by: rraud

Date:9/21/2004 3:23:19 PM

Natalie,
Like I said, I think the SONY MZ-NF810CK is NOT a Hi-MD but a Net-MD. If this is the case, you cannot import the audio into a PC as files. It would have to be done in real-time, aka, re-recording.
There are a many variables if your looking to even get close to something that sounds professional. I would suggest hiring a pro audio person to record and master the seminars. Or possably set up a system and provide instruction.

BTW, Giving an minidisc or any kind of recorder to a lawyer and expecting to get a decent recording is probably not going to happen. They are generally pretty bright people but not when it comes to electronic devices. .Trust me, I've worked with hundreds of em'. One of my clients is a major bar organization.