[andy2667]

Hello,

I have just entered the MD world. I want MD with good line out and is small & light for matching a good portable amp for portable listening. Although I have Sony R50, I want a new models with good battery life and compact size. My Sharp MT-831 although sound good out of te headphone jack do not has a line out.

Any Recommendations?

 

[Eagle_Driver]

I'm sorry to say this, but there are absolutely no current PMDP's at all whatsoever that have a true line-out jack; there simply is no room whatsoever inside today's tiny players to include discrete line-out circuitry. (Had a manufacturer included a true line out on a small, lightweight PMDP, the headphone jack and its associated op-amp circuitry would have had to go - and thus you'll need a separate amp just to even listen to that PMDP.) And the few that have a "line-out" mode actually use the very same jack as the headphone jack, activated either by a menu selection (Sony MZ-N10) or by simply turning up the volume to maximum - and all of those so-called "line-outs" must use the same cheap headphone-out op-amp circuitry.

 

[tbdoah]

As Eagle said, there aren't any units with a fixed line out, only the pseudo line outs.

I have the R50 and the 831, and the R50's dedicated line-out sounds better than the pseudo of the 831.

However, the Sharp 701/702's psuedo are supposed to be better sounding that the dedicated line out of the R50, but I've yet to hear one. You can easily land an older sharp on ebay, but you always run the chance of getting a unit with a UTOC error that plagued Sharp for many generations.

I don't think we'll ever see a godd portable minidisc again, as the battery times go up, the quality goes down.

If I were you, I'd try to land a Sharp MT180, 10mW x 10mW output, better than the 2.5 and 5 outputs of Sony's. Still it's a headphone out, but DLP has one and you can always contact him if you have any questions.

Good luck!

 

[andy2667]

Hi,

This is a disappointment. I want to use a PMDP with a portable headphone amp to improve sound quality. I note that the panasonic have a line out. Any comment? Is it a pseudo line out? How about the pseudo line out og the sharp 722 compared with the 701?

Thanks.

 

[Mystyler]

To my knowledge, Panasonic units have never had a line out. At very least, neither the MR100, MR200 or MR220 have and I'll be damned if the MR230/250 has one.

The best line out around is reportedly the MS701, or one of its clones. These days, your best bet is to land a newer Sharp, DR7 perhaps, and use the auto-switching line out.

 

[blr]

As the others have said no PMDP currently offers a true line out. IMO you'll get better results with some good sensitive phones unamped, since the quality of the headphone out of PMDP is generally good.

 

[RockysDad]

I'm using an old school Sharp MD-MT20 recorder at MAX volume as a line out to my amp and think its sounds pretty good. Its interesting that things don't sound as good if I drop the volume by one. I'll venture to say it is a "true" line-out vs. a "dedicated" line-out. Maybe the software controls the output frequency response, which is calibrated to be flat, when the volume level of 30 is reached. Thats my guess... Anyway, it does sound pretty good and I have no complaints.

 

[D555]

Hello,

MZ-1, MZ-R3 both have line out.

I think the MZ-1 still sounds good.

The MZ-R3 sounds good as well. The headphone out has a trace of hiss and a bit of mid upper range congestion.

Paul

 

[andy2667]

Hi,

Thanks all. I think I will try an old school Sharp 701/702 or the OEM products. They are inexpensive and is not difficult to find. I am already usig high efficiency headphones for portable use (MX500, ER4P & KSC35). I just want to improve the sound and is eying for the Super-mini V6.2D. A very small and elegant headphone amp. Hope that it sounds as good as its look..

Andy