[Anacondastan]

I am seriously considering buy a MDP, but I need some help in the area. don't need a radio just a simple good sounding machine (well built and attractive) that will allow me to burn a few disc for walks and hikes.


Thanks

 

[joedogg]

If you are looking for just a player ( that won't record ) I would suggest the Sony MZ-E720. It sounds great thanks to its HD digital amp and it looks stylish too. I just got one from audiocubes and I love it.

 

[DeadTrying]

Anacondastan, you need to read up about the players and the technology. This is so you make a better informed decision and end up with a product which you won't regret buying in a year's time.

First, if you want to burn (record) minidiscs you need a MiniDisc recorder. A player will only play back pre-recorded minidiscs; not much use unless you're planning to buy everything in MD format.

My suggestion to you is to click [size=small]HERE[/size] and keep reading till next week. Then follow all the links. Thats another month. By then a new model would have come out so whatever we suggest now might be out of date.

I really, really want the Sharp IM DR 420
Features:
NetMD
1Bit Amp (V.good)
4 pole technology(V.good)
Mic In, Digital In,
Excellent bass and 7mW output per channel (good by today's standard...better than most Sony's)

Please be aware that you cannot 'upload' music from your minidisc to your computer via USB/Digital Out. The only way is real-time via analogue cable (some quality may be lost).

 

[Mike Walker]

I was WAY into minidisc a few years ago. Now I'm convinced that it is insignificant. ATRAC data compression DOES NOT sound better than mp3, ogg, or wma at high bitrates, much less some of the LOSSLESS formats available now...such as LOSSLESS wma (which CAN be played by many portable hard disk and cd players.

The magneto-optical technology used in md is slower, more fragile, and has many limitations (in terms of editing, etc) when compared to hard disk based systems (or computer systems on which one would prepare files for an hd or cd portable.

Media sometimes fails. Ask a radio reporter who has lost an entier news conference because his batteries feiled before the table of contents could be written on his portable md recorder, or because the machine simply didn't write a toc. This is common enough that it happens to EVERY md user occasionally. It has NEVER happened to me with, for instance, my Archos Jukebox recorder.

Want removable media? You can get 8-12 hours (even 24 hours with wma) on a 50 cent blank cd, vs 80 minutes to 5 hours on a 3 dollar md.

I frankly hate the idea of abandoning the md format, because I'm heavily invested in it...with two high end "decks", two (one broken) portables, and even one (Casio) boombox. But this isn't 1997. There are better choices now. Even the radio stations which used to send audio to me on md now use other formats (usually either cd, or some compressed format e-mailed directly to my studio). So my poor old md gear sits idle, alongside my 3 head dolby s cassette deck, and DAT recorder...relics of digital's rapidly changing past, and testimony to how rapidly gear becomes obsolete these days!

Please, don't flame me. There is some excellent md gear out there, and it DOES provide superb sound quality (as does dat, reel to reel, and dolby s cassette!) It's just that, well, time marches on!

 

[Damage]

Then, of course, Sony throws everyone a curveball and introduced Hi-MDs. You can read more about them on www.minidisc.org. In short, it's a person mutant child of Minidisc format designed to compete with mini-HD players (ie, the iPod Mini, Rio Karma) with 1GB Hi-MiniDiscs. They will hit the streets sometime between April and May, the latter if the rumors are true about last minute QC issues.

But just a light perusal through minidisc.org will take you at least couple of weeks, and arm you with enough knowledge to go about in getting an MD Recorder/Player unit. On the whole, Sharp units are held in very high regards.

 

[D-EJ915]

I'd suggest you either get a MZ-S1 (since it's for backpacking...it's got a backlight and is indestructible) or the MZ-N510, which is a more "normal" unit, it comes with a Car Kit. (I like the S1 better, it's really comfy to hold) With the advent of HiMD lurking around the corner (supposedly in April) you may want to wait till then because they will record in true PCM audio instead of Atrac compression (they'll be compatible to some degree).

For more information, I'd check out the MiniDisc T-Board and search there/read about stuff...there's a lot of info.

 

[appar111]

How do you hold the MZ-S1? I had one once (couldn't get my computer to recognize that there was anything attached via USB...) I could never figure out how to hold it and use my thumb to control the joystick control... perhaps if I held it do I could use my index finger to control it?

 

[D-EJ915]

You're supposed to hold it in your left-hand. It just fits there...umm...yeah, I can't explain it

, but...the "clamp" is held by your fingers and the thumb goes over the pause/thumbstick area...I found that to be comfy.