[TimSchirmer]

Anyone know of a good MD recorder that i could get for around 125 bucks on ebay? Im not sure what you all mean by this "line out" stuff, im assuming that is a seperate line to go to an amp? Anyways, ive been looking at the MZ-R91 and have been tempted, but i dont want to buy anything before I ask all of you audiophiles first.

 

[fiddler]

Well the R91 is basically the same as the R90.
It has an emulated line-out, not a real one. It's a nice little recorder but you might consider a Sharp unit instead because you can adjust recording levels while recording (you have to pause first on all Sony's before the R909) and most Sharps (except for some of the newer ones) have a 10mW per channel headphone amp as opposed to 5mW on Sonys.
See if you can get your hands on the Sharp MT831. It's the Sharp counterpart to the R90/91 and is regarded as one of the best non-MDLP units.
If a line-out is necessary to you, look into getting a Sony R37 or the legendary R50.

 

[TimSchirmer]

okay, good...i wont get the R91, I'll probabally be using this with a headphone amp and a pair of Ety's, and i know that good headphones really bring out the badness of some portables (such as my cd player)

 

[MacDEF]

First, the 90 and 91 really aren't that great -- apart from the R55, they were some of the least reliable recorders Sony's released in the last few years. Also, they don't have a real line-out.

If you're going to be using them with a separate amp, get one with a real line-out, e.g. Sony MZ-R50 or MZ-R37, or Sharp 831, 821, or 722.

 

[fiddler]

Don't get the 722!!!!!!

I know two friends who bought this unit (they were both soooo proud of the bulky slot loading mechanism and the dandy jog dial..) and BOTH units have DIED due to the infamous UTOC error! (plus lotsa dust and crap gets lodged in the unit due to the slot loading.. one of the two friends had to remove a big ball of dust that was jamming the recording head! The jog dial is very fragile too.. It broke on one of the units.)

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Don't get the 722!!!!!! I know two friends who bought this unit (they were both soooo proud of the bulky slot loading mechanism and the dandy jog dial..) and BOTH units have DIED due to the infamous UTOC error! (plus lotsa dust and crap gets lodged in the unit due to the slot loading.. one of the two friends had to remove a big ball of dust that was jamming the recording head! The jog dial is very fragile too.. It broke on one of the units.)

Fiddler, the 702 and 722 have bad reps due to bad batches EARLY in their production runs. However, the production problems were fixed by Sharp, so that it's actually very safe to buy one now. And the "infamous" UTOC error really wasn't as widespread as many people claim. Several Sony models had just as many reliability problems as the "problematic" 7x2 batches.

Personally, being an active member of the MiniDisc community for four or five years now, I think the difference is that quite a few Sony proponents, who didn't want to believe that Sharp could make good stuff, used the early UTOC problems to badmouth Sharp products. However, those who are a bit more objective will tell you that the 702 and 722 are actually very good units. As long as you get the 702MK or a later production run of the 722, they will be just as reliable as the top of the line Sony or Sharp of today. We own four or five MD portables from Sony and Sharp, including a 702MK and a 722. We haven't had a single problem with any of them.

From a design standpoint, the 722 is a great unit -- it's built like a tank, has the very convenient "floppy" inject/eject mechanism (perfect when your portable is in a bag or pocket), and has a huge jog-wheel that is actually useable without giving you RSI when you title

I hope it doesn't sound like I'm jumping on you

-- I've just heard the "bad 702/722" statement so many times.

 

[fiddler]

Quote:

Personally, being an active member of the MiniDisc community for four or five years now, I think the difference is that quite a few Sony proponents, who didn't want to believe that Sharp could make good stuff, used the early UTOC problems to badmouth Sharp products. However, those who are a bit more objective will tell you that the 702 and 722 are actually very good units. As long as you get the 702MK or a later production run of the 722, they will be just as reliable as the top of the line Sony or Sharp of today..... From a design standpoint, the 722 is a great unit -- it's built like a tank, has the very convenient "floppy" inject/eject mechanism (perfect when your portable is in a bag or pocket), and has a huge jog-wheel that is actually useable without giving you RSI when you title.

Yeah, but I've read about lots of reliability problems with the jog dial. I have nothing against Sharp units.. I just bought a MT77 the other day to replace my Sony R70. It's just that BOTH of them bought the same unit and they both died at around the same time... And I know as a fact that both of them treated them like their own babies. I guess both of them got unlucky with early units? Anyway, I was never a fan of that particular model.. Too bulky for my tastes.. and the rather robotic looking design wasn't my cup of tea either. *Glances towards the slick-lookin' MT77*.. Nope, no comparison.

 

[andrzejpw]

Quote:

Originally posted by fiddler Don't get the 722!!!!!! I know two friends who bought this unit (they were both soooo proud of the bulky slot loading mechanism and the dandy jog dial..) and BOTH units have DIED due to the infamous UTOC error! (plus lotsa dust and crap gets lodged in the unit due to the slot loading.. one of the two friends had to remove a big ball of dust that was jamming the recording head! The jog dial is very fragile too.. It broke on one of the units.)

My friend's also died. I have an mt90

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Yeah, but I've read about lots of reliability problems with the jog dial. I have nothing against Sharp units.. I just bought a MT77 the other day to replace my Sony R70. It's just that BOTH of them bought the same unit and they both died at around the same time... And I know as a fact that both of them treated them like their own babies. I guess both of them got unlucky with early units?

If they both broke at the same time, and both were purchases within a few months of each other, then probably

. Basically, I'm just saying that there are lots of "reports" from people on the web, but they really don't mean much statistically. Sony has always made many models at the same time, so if people bought a Sony, it could have been any one of a number of models. When the 702 and 722 were out, those were about the only Sharp models available in the US. So if you bought a Sharp, you probably had the 702 or 722, so they became very widespread. Couple that with the fact that early runs of both units had problems, and all of a sudden it seems like "everyone" has problems with them. Whereas even when Sony models had problems, they were spread out over many models.

But if you talk to people at service centers and retailers that actually do repairs and take returns, they tell you that since Sharp "fixed" the production problems, they see just as many Sony models in for repair as the 702/722, and that the 7x2 models are pretty darned reliable. Unfortunately, the 7x2 series now have a bad rep, so if something happens to someone's unit (and a certain % of every model will break down), it gets blamed on problems that were fixed years ago

I'm just saying that statistically, the 722 is just as reliable as any other unit out there, so no one should be steered away from it because of past problems. As long as they buy the models marked "MK" they'll be fine. While not the most attrative

it's a great overall unit that's very easy to use (the jog dial is very nice), has good sound, good battery life, and a juicy headphone amp.

Anyways, I do agree with you that the MT77x and the newer models are very nice

Sharp makes the best-looking MDs, IMO.