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Legendary MD . . .

post #1 of 14
12/4/01 at 9:19am
Thread Starter 
I forgot, is it the sony r50, or the r55? Just wondering.

How do they compare to my sharp mt90?
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post #2 of 14
12/4/01 at 10:07am
I'm pretty sure it's the r50.

I would imagine it's a good deal better than the mt90.
which sucks for me, 'cuz I'm getting the 90
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post #3 of 14
12/4/01 at 11:19am
It is r-50, according to many the best MD portable ever made.
One thing sucks tho, the battery life.
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post #4 of 14
12/4/01 at 12:42pm
Between these two, it has to be the R50, because there were too many complaints about the R55 acting strangely, and the R55 has much less battery life than anything else on offer then

The R50's battery life doesn't really suck, if I recall correctly you get around 11 hours of playback. I'd guess the reason for its "elegance" is that its size, design and features hit the sweet spot. Everything's got its own button - one titling button, one erase, for instance - the jog dial's there, it looks good, the rectangular form factor is sweet, and so on.

If asked to design a MD portable today, I'd take the R50's length-width size over any "jacket-size" today. I don't know, just like the idea

The R50, according to an article on the MDCP, was very popular in its days.

The MT90's specs are not bad at all, it seems that Sharp based it on an older model (MT821?).

My vote for a legendary Sharp, if anyone wants to consider that too, goes to the 831/832, because it also represents a good combination of things: the size, Li-ion battery, battery life, interface... titling on the 831 is actually not much slower than any jog-dial-equipped model.
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post #5 of 14
12/4/01 at 2:01pm

Re: Legendary MD . . .

I'd advise you to stay away from the Sony MZ-R55. It has strange problems. I've had two of them, and both started to spontaneously turn on after a while, and one of them tried to spontaneously record every now and then. Also, one of the remotes only partially works; the volume controls don't have any effect.

The MZ-R50, on the other hand, is a nice unit, aside from the battery life, which was considered good at the time of its release. It also has a true, separate line out, unlike the newer models.

I have no experience with any of the Sharps.

Quote:
Originally posted by andrzejpw
I forgot, is it the sony r50, or the r55? Just wondering.

How do they compare to my sharp mt90?
Reply
post #6 of 14
12/4/01 at 2:59pm
The MZ-R50 is the "classic" in the Sony line. The Sharp "classics" are the 821/831/702/722 (all very similar except for the case).

We own an R50, 702, and 722. Overall, I would say that the R50 is one of the best MD portables ever. There are really only three complaints I have against the R50:

1) End Search. The stupidest "feature" ever put on an electronic device. People have been complaining to Sony about it for years, but the most they do is that the very latest models (R900, etc.) allow you to defeat it, but it's still there. But this is more a criticism of Sony models than the R50.

2) No on-the-fly record level. Again, a Sony problem, not an R50 problem.

3) It doesn't have a wonderfully big (and useable) jog dial like the Sharp 722 -- but neither does any portable but the 722 And, in fact, the R50 actually dues have a real thumb wheel that rotates 360 degrees, which is better than any other portable save the 722, so, again, not really much of a complaint.


It has a very good headphone jack, a true, dedicated, "I have my own circuitry" line-out jack, and is built like a tank. Battery life is actually very good, considering when it was released (it was one of the first devices to use a Lithium Ion battery. You get 7 hours of playback off the built-in battery, 12 hours off of two AAs, or 22 hours if you use both together. For recording, it's 4 for the LI, 5 for AAs, and 12 for both. Those numbers are still quite good, even today.
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post #7 of 14
12/4/01 at 4:50pm
Thread Starter 
Ok, thanks guys. I'm happy with my sharp mt90, thanks.
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post #8 of 14
12/4/01 at 5:28pm
The other player that just might hit legendary status someday soon is the Sony E-95 player only. Turns out that player was a limited edition player by Sony. It's the only player to have certain features such as a graphic equalizer on the main unit (something that's only on recorders normally) and a very long life and reliable lithium ion polymer battery. It also just looks hella cool.
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post #9 of 14
12/4/01 at 6:37pm
Quote:
It's the only player to have certain features such as a graphic equalizer on the main unit (something that's only on recorders normally)
Vert, I was just looking at the specs on it at minidisc.org, and I can't find what you mean by "graphic equalizer on the main unit"
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post #10 of 14
12/4/01 at 6:46pm
I took MacDEF's advice awhile ago and picked up a mint condition R-50 on e-bay. I can't say enough about this thing......great build quality, great sound. I can't believe that the line-out on modern MDs is going (gone) the way of the Dodo bird.
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post #11 of 14
12/4/01 at 7:19pm
I had the R-35 and that was an outstanding MD recorder - good battery life and superb sound - even through its own stock headphones believe it or not.

I traded for the R-900 recorder - neat machine but definitely not as good sounding as the R-35.
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post #12 of 14
12/4/01 at 9:18pm
Quote:
Vert, I was just looking at the specs on it at minidisc.org, and I can't find what you mean by "graphic equalizer on the main unit"
This is something that is indeed not mentioned anywhere on any site that mentions the E95, much to its detriment. What I mean is that on recorders, you'll normally see on the main unit's LCD that little bar that pumps up and down during play to show the sound level. This is something that's been exclusive to recorders because it takes a nice and relatively large LCD to show this bar, and players just don't have LCDs on the main unit (with maybe 3 exceptions out there).

The E95 has that graphic equalizer though, by making use of the lights that are normally meant for what is pimped as the "LED battery life indicator on main unit" on those web sites. When you hit the "battery check" button, you'll normally see those LEDs light up to show how much battery life is remaining. What those sites don't mention is that those same set of lights pump left and right like the front light on the Knight Rider's "Kit" car when the player is in play mode. It's really gotta be seen in real life to be appreciated, especially in the dark. Sadly, this feature was one of the major reasons I just had to get myself one after I saw it.

But, make no mistake either, the E95 is definitely one of the best sounding MD player onlys that Sony has made. It's flagship level stuff for sure.
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post #13 of 14
12/4/01 at 9:53pm
i have the mzr37....what i like to consider the poor man's mzr50....

MD's of that generation are really built sturdy and durable. And of course, you can't beat having a dedicated line out.
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post #14 of 14
12/4/01 at 10:54pm
Vert:

Aaah, OK, I actually remember hearing about that now. When you said "graphic equalizer" I was thinking about the circuitry, not the display
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