[Voyager]

I've been thinking of purchasing a minidisc player for some time, and after I went over DanG's house and saw his MZR-900 I decided that I NEED a minidisc player to replace my cd player in portable applications. Assuming cost no object, is the best player out there the MZR-900? Is there anything by sharp that could compete? The most important thing is sound, followed by size, but I will carry a brick around if it sounds better than something smaller (exaggeration, but I think you get the point

). Thanks everyone!

 

[fiddler]

I would recommend a Sharp, like the MT90 which has a 10mW headphone amp as opposed to the 5mW amps you find on Sonys. However, Sharp units in general are bassier, with a warmer sound, while Sony units (like my MZ-R70) sounds more neutral and accurate (to me anyway).
I did see a R900 at the Sony Store and I was quite impressed by the size/weight... Now I really want to upgrade..

The MT90 btw does NOT have MDLP. I personally don't really care much about MDLP; I don't mind at all having to switch discs every 80 minutes in order to not sacrifice sound quality.

 

[MacDEF]

fid is right about the sound -- Sony's are more accurate/flat, while Sharp's are a bit "warmer."

In terms of headphone amps, the older Sharps had 10mW amps. I personally love the 831 and would consider that if I didn't want MDLP.

If "money is no object"

the best current models are the MZ-R900 and the Sharp MT877.

http://www.minidisco.com/minispecs/sonymzr900dpc.html
http://www.minidisco.com/minispecs/sharpmt877.html

P.S. Your subject says "player" -- I'm assuming you actually mean "recorder?" If you really did mean player, then the Sony MZ-E900 is the best one hands down.

http://www.minidisco.com/minispecs/sonymze900.html

 

[thomas]

I agree with the previous replies about sound quality.

Personally, i think the best MDs for sound quality are the Sharp 821 - 831. They were the last MDs to have the powerful amps, and they are still quite small and have pretty good batery life...

So the only reason i see of getting the newest generation of players is for MDLP. The newest Sony portable has Type-R encoding, it might improve the sound a bit, but i haven't seen any reveiws yet...

THe best MD Player (only) IMO is the new sharp with Dolby headphone. DH rules, i honestly think it *improves* the sound through headhpones, which is somthing i cant say about *any* other virtualizer i've heard....

 

[Voyager]

Yes, I meant recorder too. Sorry about any confusion and thank you for the replies!

 

[nick danger]

I've been thinking of purchasing a digital type recorder and was considering a digital voice recorder. Negative of this device are poor voice quality on playback. Positive can be fed as sound file to computer. Spend some more and get voice to text transcription.

Minidiscs have superior sound but how do i get sound to computer? Plus - I need an ear- and micro- phone to use the minidisc effectively. No built in mike or speaker. Less effective as I am driving down the road and want to "voice-jot" a note!

Minidiscs seem to have other musical benefits beyond which I'd originally imagined for just a handheld recorder and I'd like to combine the two if I could. Any suggestions?

 

[MacDEF]

Yes, the best of all worlds

http://www.minidisco.com/minispecs/sonymzb50-port.html

 

[nick danger]

I know that you are not trying to kill me with kindness and yes I'd seen this before. I'd love to have it but...I started out with a budget of $50, then thought I could do 80, well maybe 150, but 450 has left the building and I must see something for far less than that. What can be done within my budget or is it a no go?

 

[reynman]

Check out this website for a very thorough review of Sharp's MT 77 and Sony's MZR900 by Brian Youn:

http://www.minidisc.org/brian_youn/sharp_mt77.html

I have the MZR900DPC version in pimp red. I bought mine new for $271.23 (total) from:

http://www.etronichaven.com - use coupon code f8400 for a discount.

They only delivered via UPS Ground. The only drawback is that they did not respond to my e-mails, but they did send one out with tracking info once it was shipped out. They are part of Yahoo Shopping.

I love my MZR900!

Regards - reynman

 

[becomethemould]

i good place to buy md units is bluetin.hypermart.net

they are based in singapore and have good prices.. i got my 831 from there.. i dont think they have them anymore coz they are not listed on their website.. could ask them though if u wanna go for the 831

 

[chadbang]

I also second the R900 as a great minidisc player. Like a fool I wasted my money on a Phillips player that would play Mp3 burned CDs. Unfortunately most of my Mp3s came from Napster and were recorded at 128kb. Consequently, played back through my Senn 600s, they sound terrible. The treble almost gives me motion sickness during extended listening sessions. I think the two best descriptions I've heard ascribed to the Mp3 sound is "phasey" and "flangey" - and once you recognise thes onic flaw it's hard to overlook it in the sound of Mp3 recorded at 128kb (higher sampling rates excluded). Even though minidisc recordings are also compressed, the sound is fantastic. Recorded in standard play mode, my Sony delivers terrific sound - so much so that I don't miss listening to my MDs rather than the original CD. However the new extended MD recordings that give you twice the recording time start to pick up that "phasey" Mp3 sound, so I skip that route entirely. My R900 is also a well thought out piece of equipment that is a pleasure to use and after 5 months of heavy use has yet to skip a beat or show a flaw. All in all a great little machine!

 

[disturbed]

Quote:

Originally posted by chadbang I also second the R900 as a great minidisc player. Like a fool I wasted my money on a Phillips player that would play Mp3 burned CDs. Unfortunately most of my Mp3s came from Napster and were recorded at 128kb. Consequently, played back through my Senn 600s, they sound terrible. The treble almost gives me motion sickness during extended listening sessions. I think the two best descriptions I've heard ascribed to the Mp3 sound is "phasey" and "flangey" - and once you recognise thes onic flaw it's hard to overlook it in the sound of Mp3 recorded at 128kb (higher sampling rates excluded). Even though minidisc recordings are also compressed, the sound is fantastic. Recorded in standard play mode, my Sony delivers terrific sound - so much so that I don't miss listening to my MDs rather than the original CD. However the new extended MD recordings that give you twice the recording time start to pick up that "phasey" Mp3 sound, so I skip that route entirely. My R900 is also a well thought out piece of equipment that is a pleasure to use and after 5 months of heavy use has yet to skip a beat or show a flaw. All in all a great little machine!

I second this good mans opinion the MZR-900 is just short of the word "excellent"
Performs well, ive had it for ages and nothings wrong with it and I dont have enough words to say how good this device is
JUST GO AND BUY IT!

 

[MacDEF]

I also like the R900. However, to play devil's advocate for a second

a big reason thomas and I also suggested the Sharp 831 is that it has a much heftier headphone amp, so depending on what headphones you'll be using, the Sharp may be a better deal (plus it will be a lot cheaper than the R900). Also, if you ever do any live recording, the 831 has on-the-fly recording level adjustment, which the R900 doesn't. I also think the layout of the 831 is easier to use.

On the other hand, the R900 is smaller with better battery life, and has MDLP, which can be nice if you want to carry around a lot more music with a tradeoff in sound quality (LP2 is actually very good).