[MacDEF]

A site with some great pictures comparing the two units:

http://mdman.net/minidisc/mdr/909877/

 

[coolvij]

MacDEF: They are both beautiful machines......and for the first time, I can't decide if I like the Sony better than the Sharp (usually Sony wins hands-down, IMO).

That Sharp....it's like a "prettified" SR60 - and I loved the SR60....too bad it didn't have MDLP....wow......I think I'm going to sell my soul for BOTH!

j/k (I HAD to use that devil smiley)

 

[coolvij]

Thanks for the pictures, too......

 

[thomas]

Quote:

usually Sony wins hands-down, IMO).

IMO, you're very very wrong

 

[Neruda]

wow...that sharp does look very cool! and the sony!

dangit....

well, coolvij, at leat you're not the only one

 

[leon]

Hey, that Sharp is the MT770, not the MT877

Speaking of myself... I'd like to see what design Kenwood comes up with for their 770 clone. Kenwood has more of the "Tokyoite aura" that Sony is so popular for.

I'm also banking on kenwood to tweak the 770 remote (like they did with the MT77 remote) so that the backlight isn't always either blue or green.

 

[MacDEF]

leon, you're right! I didn't even read the header on the page -- I just went by the link and the URL

 

[coolvij]

Thomas: i did say IMO.....lemme change that...IMhO....happy? lol

Neruda: yay! I am not alone....I thougt almost everyone here preferred the aesthetics of Sharps.....or perhaps the useability.....meh.....doesn't matter.

 

[bearwise]

I have to say, owning several Sony porable cdp's and two sony and one sharp md players is that neither has a lock on the md market in terms of quality or sound. I own the the Sharp 831 and its a wonderful little machine, but so is the MZ-R900 for totally different reasons. I've read review that the MT877 was not as well received as the MT831 was. I'll have to look at these new models a bit to see if its worth upgrading. I like the SHarps overall sound and ease of use (the R900 is very fiddly, with the two half-jog dials). My home decks all have Type R ATRAC, and I assume, becuse of the backward compativbility of all the ATRAC's that th advantage of Type-R makes itslef apparent at recording, not playback (is that true?). I have to say that I like the looks of the R909 better than the MT770, which is getting kind of cutesy for my taste.

 

[MacDEF]

http://www.japan-direct.com/cartitem.asp?prodid=295

http://mdman.net/minidisc/mdp/sharp/st880/snap/

 

[coolvij]

Aw, man..... I think I'm beginning to want a Sharp recorder - just for the line out, and "look." Maybe I'll get the super cheap SR60....for playback only.....hmm.....the 770 is beautiful.....and the R909 is beautiful, too.......I feel strangely happy

 

[Neruda]

It's just nice to know they exist!

 

[Voyager]

I prefer the look of the R900 to both the R909 and MT770; it is much simpler looking than the others, especially the Sharp, although the plastic battery latch on the main unit does stick out as an eyesore. They could have atleast made it out of aluminum like the rest of the unit.

 

[MacDEF]

Someone on the MD list just got a 909 and posted the following short review:


----------begin quote-------------
I'm actually very impressed with this little sucker. I wasn't expecting
much, but Sony put in a number of little improvements... let me just brief
you guys on a few...

- --DUAL VU METERS FOR LEFT AND RIGHT CHANNELS for both playback and
recording! This is very impressive! During recording, the third line of
the display is split into two, with the top half for LEFT and the bottom
half for RIGHT. During playback, the dotted bar at the bottom is used to
indicate the level... from what I can tell, the meters are split into left
and right from the middle, and both bars move outward to indicate the level.
If this doesn't make sense, I apologize, I'll explain more fully in my
review next week...

- --Contrast adjustments on the main display... adjustable in 8 steps. This
is like the contrast control you would have on your graphing calculator...
there is NO backlight still, and it should be noted that the color of
everything in the display is now a dark blue (like on the Sharp MT77), and
no longer black as on previous Sony units.

- --The charging stand works with the R900 (and should work with the R90/91).
I have no idea if Sony plans to make it available separately, but they
certainly could.

- --The jog dial feels nice, and all three lines of the display are used to
display track titles while searching through the songs with the jog dial.
The track number AND name are displayed now, which is very nice.

- --SOUND settings can now be adjusted from the main unit, WITHOUT THE REMOTE.
When changing the bass and treble settings, all 3 lines of the display are
used, and (like with most of the menu options), you can use the "control
pad" to make changes.

- --I really like the new playstation-style "control pad"... unfortunately it
is not that firm, and gives a bit (feels a little mushy). Pushing it
straight in hits PLAY, and the rest of the controls are clearly labeled.

- --The menu layout is even more vast than on the R900... the manual devotes 6
pages just to map out the various menus during different modes! I'll have
full scans of these within the week...

- --I haven't gotten to play with the GROUP function at all yet, but it seems
that the GROUP name acts sort of like the DISC name... the manual states
that the GROUP name is stored in the discname area (the explanation in the
English section of the manual is really minimal, so I need to explore this
myself)... It seems that before recording, you can select a group, and then
the recording will be placed into that group. And if you don't designate a
group before a recording, it goes into a "new" group. Not sure how you
create/name groups, but I'll let you guys know in more detail as I find out.

Anyway... the color I have is blue, and it's a very warm blue (almost
between blue and purple). If you guys are wondering anything specific, let
me know, I'll try my best to address any questions.
----------end quote-------------

 

[disturbed]

Ahh..now to wait for the opinion on the differnce in sound between the 900 and the 909
is the upgrade really worth it?

Anyway im not upgrading my R900 until something really intresting comes out unless I get a good resale price for it