[jlo mein]

i sure hope sharp doesnt pull out...otherwise sony will probably start releasing absolute crap MD players for big money.....

as if my current md recorder wasnt already crap...

 

[kerelybonto]

Hmm, I find it hard to believe that Sharp's pulling out. They already have their NetMD player/recorder, the MD-MT899 -- granted, I don't know if it's available in the US ... in fact, I don't think it is, but it just wouldn't make sense for them not to market it here.

kerelybonto

 

[Tweertinelle]

Quote:

Originally posted by sirion I'm planning on picking up a Sharp 770 or 877, and I was curious to see how either of these units sound (In 2 respects: the quality of the headphone jack, and the quality of its recordings from CD and/or from live sources)

A: Recording from CD sounds better than the 900 but not necessarily better than the 909. Recording live sounds far better on the 770 than virtually any Sony. Headphone playback on the 770 sounds better than anything else I've used, including my vintage 821.

Things to consider:

The main reason to get the 770 is because you can record and adjust the recording level from the remote alone. The reason I bought one: because I don't want to have to do anything conspicuous (like opening an Otter box) when recording in the field.

The major drawback of the 770 is its low battery life. All of those lights and screens have taken their toll. The 877 has a longer battery life than the 770, but Sony really does outperform Sharp conspicuously in this area.

Leon and I had a really detailed discussion about this on another thread; he also wrote the best review of the 770 I've read anywhere, even listing the various ATRAC revisions of previous Sharps and what those revisions involved.

As for Sharp closing up shop, I'll believe it when I read it officially. Until then, it's just another rumor.

 

[sweetben]

I don’t know about the rest of the world but the sharp press rep said that they will not be releasing any new MD products in the US. Sad but true.

 

[blr]

Quote:

Originally posted by sweetben I don’t know about the rest of the world but the sharp press rep said that they will not be releasing any new MD products in the US. Sad but true.

Hmmm...
This sounds very strange indeed. The MD is perhaps the biggest source of profit for Sharp (haven't seen that many other Sharp products in stores) and with the US market catching up on MD I'd expect that they can sell quite a bit of units in the US.

Well'I may be keeping my MT 866 and sell it later when it becomes a relic in US

 

[leon]

blr,

Sharp is big in the components business, namely IC chips and LCD. Those are the technologies they spent the most effort on, and it's products from those areas that you see Sharp as having the most market share.

MD is definitely not such a big source of income for Sharp, it's just that if they didn't succeed in MD they would've had to shut down their entire audio division in the early 90s.

There's also been cost compression in MD portables: things that sold for $400US street price in 1997 is now more like $250. That's going to clip the profit margin a bit, if not more. Consider Sharp's LCD TV sets, where they've been able to charge a premium over other brands (like Sony usually does).

Also remember that Sharp no longer gets business from cloning their MD products for other audio makers. Kenwood, for instance, is in debt (of about 17 billion yen), and has announced they're either completely dumping home audio or totally cloning someone else's lineup. Companies who used to clone Sharp portables are choosing Sony components for their home MD equipments.

 

[Tweertinelle]

Why should anyone care whether or not Sharp stops selling MD recorders in the States? Aside from the warranty (which doesn't matter if you snatch your device from a store with an extended return/repair policy on imports) and the need for a US-compliant power cord or voltage converter (which certain stores include), what other benefits are there?

I didn't bother to purchase a then-overpriced mt-770 from a pricey export store like Minidisco; instead, I bought it from Francis T. at HK Minidisc. Had I wanted the mt-877, I'd still have preferred the Japanese model (the mt-77), with its light and fetching robin's egg blue case.

Sony develops and designs MD units for the US because they know they dominate the US market utterly. They've also been careful to develop features that are hard for other manufacturers to implement (such as ATRAC-R/S and CD text-transfer). The beauty part of Sharp's MD design crew is their penchant for creating products that look unapologetically Japanese -- which is why the mt-770 and -880 were so unique and another reason why I intend on buying a Sharp when my 770 dies.

(Unless, of course, Sony or Sharp chose to market a superior format for removable recordable audio (though that would imply Sony cared about the wishes of consumers (and if you believe that, hedgehogs can be taught to sing like Mario Lanza and calligraph in Olde English script the Latin names for species of stingless bees)).)

 

[sirion]

Well, I just picked up an 877, and I wanted to know whether you guys had any tips for keeping it running in good shape. For recharging, will the battery lose its charge faster if I don't completely discharge the unit each time, or what? How does it interact with the alkaline battery (Does it do the same thing as the 770 in terms of shifting sound quality?) The manual says that I shouldnt use a NiCad AA battery...why not?

Any advice would be appreciated

Thanks!

 

[Clubkill]

Like most rechargeable batteries, it is recommended that you use it up all the way before recharging. You have to use it a lot before it loses any charge. I am not sure about the effect of various batteries. I just stick in whatever AA is around and it seems to work fine. A real, new duracell lasts for a long time. When you have it plugged in to the chraging stand, it willl not allow you to charge the battery and use the unit at the same time, so it is sort-of a built in way to make sure that you aren't always charging the battery before it is dead.

 

[Mystyler]

There is actually a reason that you should not use Ni-Cd batteries, but I forget why. There is actaully a thread here that explains it to you. Somthing to do with stuffing up the gumstick battery...

 

[blr]

Quote:

Originally posted by Mystyler There is actually a reason that you should not use Ni-Cd batteries, but I forget why. There is actaully a thread here that explains it to you. Somthing to do with stuffing up the gumstick battery...

Yes, DO NOT use any rechargables in the external pack. I did this for a couple of months and as a result my gumstick holds no more than 50% of its charge now.

On another note, it appears that Sharp and Sony have different ways of external battery management. With Sonys the external battery is charging the gumstick. Has anyone actually used rechargables in the external pack with Sony MD? The Sony manual does not say you cannot do this.