[coolvij]

i guess i'll use PS2.........sounds like a plan to me.

However, if i could just get the dang Xitel thingie to work, i would be SOOOO much happier.......i'd do everything like this:
- EAC, PLAY, REC, ENJOY.......

Oh well. It's all good, anyway.

 

[coolvij]

Well, forget what i said about analog sounded good - i just finished digitally dubbing Everclear's "So much for the afterglow" CD with a friend's PS2. Digital recordings sounds soooo much clearer, and the sound opens up - loud parts are loud, soft parts are soft, and there is no audible hiss - at least, not to me. Now, my analog dubs sound as if some sort of satanic AVLS feature created in hell was in place - everything stays at roughly the same volume - some rock and jazz pieces REALLY got hurt because of that. So....ignore what i said about analog recording of CDs to MD - it's ok, but digital kicks azz. Also, analog recording would probably benefit from a source better than a circa '93 Sony minisystem.

Also, LP2 is, frankly, EXCELLENT sounding. Unless you get some non-portable cans, like Grado 80s, to use @home in a quiet enviroment, i think it would be really hard to tell the ATRAC and ATRAC3 LP2 apart.....especially when used portably.

People who think that LP2 is terrible, because you sacrifice detail, and such, are two things - annoying and slightly foolish. ONLY SLIGHTLY. I say that because LP2, and, for that matter, MD, are all implementations of technology for creating a PORTABLE audio device. PORTABLE! Not some sort of be-all, end-all, this-pairs-with-stax-well -type device. For me, CDs stay @ home now, and MD goes on the road. That means my MD will be used 70% of the time, now...

More later.....(i'm workin on that review)

 

[artmusic247]

coolvig and joelongwood,
You guys were talking about the line out of Sony MDs. Well I have the Sony MZ-R90 and the line out and the headphone out share the same jack. You have to switch it from headphone out to line out internally under the AUDIO OUT menu. The first thing you notice is the volume increase, whether it's a better signal then the headphone out, it's hard to say but I would like to think so. A friend of mine has the Sony MZ-R37 and it has a dedicated line out jack but it's a bigger unit.

 

[joelongwood]

artmusic247, I did quite a bit of research at minidisc.org and was aware of Sony's incorporation of both headphone out and line out into one jack, switchable in the menu. The only problem I have with this is that the default is headphone out, not line. Since I would be using this with a portable amp at all times, it would be an inconvenience to have to switch to line-out everytime I turned on the MD. Because of this, I opted for a larger unit, an oldie but goodie, the Sony MZ-R50. According to what I read in many places, this unit is built like a tank and has a dedicated line-out. Some people consider this unit to be the best portable MD Sony ever made. We'll see. Thanks for your input.

 

[coolvij]

Joelongwood, i think you wait for just a little while, the R50 is gonna be overthrown as "overall #1" with the next-to-next MD generation. The R50 had good sound quality, EXCELLENT track access times, and an amazingly solid build.

The R900 had better sound quality (newer ATRAC version, excluding LP..), good track access times (not there yet, tho), and a pretty darn good build.

Perhaps in two more generations, all of the "pros" of the R50 will moot points....except for a line out. I somehow feel sharp is the only company that is gonna keep a line-out alive on MDs....i just have this strange feeling....sony is pushing highly-efficient phones...

NAME ONE SONY PHONE CURRENTLY BEING MARKETED THAT CANNOT RUN OFF OF 5mw!

CURRENTLY being the key word.......cd1700 - gone, r10 - not marketed, etc.

 

[joelongwood]

coolvij, everything you say is probably true.......BUT........I want, I need, that dedicated LINE-OUT..........which no manufacturer today seems too concerned about. I already have an MD player, but it has no line-out, hence my recent purchase.

 

[thomas]

i think MDs will go downhill, not improve...

The r-50 has THE BEST build quality of any MD. Everything is solid and durable. New MD's are only designed to be as small as possible, and have as long battery life as possible. As a result, recording heads are becoming flimsier and flimsier (look at the top of your MD... the recording head is held there by a piece of metal about as thick as tin foil) (that's why i don't recommend jogging with these things) And headphone amps and access speeds are also getting worse as they try to squeze an extra hour of battery life.

Its not that Sony doesn't know how to build a perfect MD, its that they can sell more MD's if they're the world's ____est

and if all their products were as durable as the r50, they'd go bankrupt because no one would need to replace their broken products!

 

[artmusic247]

joelongwood,
I'm glad to see you bought the MZ-R50. I have the R90 and I use a portable headphone amp and it's a bitch to always switch it to line out. I don't know why Sony didn't make it so the last setting would remain until changed to the other. Sometimes you wonder what are these guys thinking.

 

[ronzoni]

Artmusic and Coolvij,

At least with the R900 there is a line out setting, I assume they change the output impedence which will make it sound louder into a line in jack. For my R700, Sony says to use it for a line out, make sure the bass boost is off, But it won't drive my line in to my soundcard adequately. The last Sony machine with a real- seperate line out jack, I believe, is on the R37. I have one and it will drive line inputs much better than a headphone out. The R37 is maybe then next best unit in durability to the R50 and you can still buy them new around $100. Minidisc.org had a MD repair dude evaluate units and his favorite was the R50 with the R37 his next choice.

But I like my R700 with the MDLP!

 

[coolvij]

Yah, i really don't need a line-out...

And as for build quality - i am from the MP3 player, before i got the R700. I had an RCA Lyra, and came "THIS" close to buying a Rio Volt, or even a TDK Mojo. My R700 feels ROCK solid...any solider and i think i'd start to hate the weight...now, the weight is at a pleasant level, IMO.

And, yes, the parts are getting cheaper.....but if MD really explodes in the US, i'm sure some other companies will come in with better products (panasonic, denon?, philips/marantz, etc.) or at least give sony a reason to add a line-out. Maybe....tho MD hasn't exploded.....

 

[fiddler]

Quote:

but if MD really explodes in the US...

I hope that really does happen someday.. but unfortunately, I don't think it will...

It does piss me off that the only place I can purchase blank MDs are at the Sony Store, where EVERYTHING, including the MDs, are far overpriced (I live in Canada)...
MD has been around since 1992-ish so it's had plenty of time to gain some recognition here in North America.. and it HAS to a certain extent, but it's still a niche market.. It's used widely in radio broadcasting and such, but it just hasn't caught on to the general public. It's HUGE in Japan and quite popular also in Europe.. It seems North Americans in general are just too lazy.. I've encountered many people who chose an MP3 player over MD because of the fact that they don't have to RECORD; They much prefer being able to upload songs to their MP3 player in a matter of seconds rather than real-time recording.. And of course, those MP3 files are usually encoded at 128kbs (ewwww) or LOWER! (EWWWW!)... Who cares about good sound quality anyways?

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

the only place I can buy blank MDs is at the Sony store

Really!? That sucks. Here in the U.S. I even see them in drug stores like Walgreens

Quote:

MD has been around since 1992-ish so it's had plenty of time to gain some recognition here in North America.. and it HAS to a certain extent, but it's still a niche market.. It's used widely in radio broadcasting and such, but it just hasn't caught on to the general public.

Part of that was Sony's initial marketing -- they made it sound like competition for CD, when what it really is is a replacement for cassette.

That said, Sony has done a bit more marketing in the past couple years (not enough, but an improvement) and I recently saw a couple independent studies that showed MD growing in popularity in the U.S. We can hope!