My Sharp MD-MT821 is having problems.
Jul 21, 2002 at 9:03 AM Post #31 of 57
Because the F90 is an R900 clone, I wouldn't expect to much from it, amp wise. You may have trouble finding one too, it was discontinued ages ago.
 
Jul 21, 2002 at 11:55 AM Post #32 of 57
acid,

I'd forget about the Aiwa F90. It's literally aging technology by now. If you're going to go for that, you might as well go for a Sony MZ-R909.

I'll leave you on your own to research the Panasonic and Sharps and Sonys. It's really up to you about what features you like, and who's sound quality you'll prefer. Each company's players have a signature sound that's pretty noticeable, much like headphones.

Personally though if I had to grab a recorder in this day and age blindfolded, it'd be the R909 (which I did in fact, should be here anyday). It's one of the better recorders made in a long time, and I think it has been discontinued. It sounds like Sony started doing the whole downhill trend right after the R909. The NZ-1 is reportedly much flimsier then the R909.

NetMD doesn't impress me at all. If you intend to do most if not all of your recording through a digital optical cable from CDs, it shouldn't impress you either.
 
Jul 21, 2002 at 4:13 PM Post #33 of 57
Not just the flimsy, it's the whole sound thing...
 
Jul 21, 2002 at 4:30 PM Post #34 of 57
I'll research the Sony R909 to see what it has to offer. I couldn't help myself so I just purchased the Sharp MD-ST77. I just thought it looked too cool.
biggrin.gif
It's only a player so now I'll need a recorder of course.
 
Jul 21, 2002 at 6:12 PM Post #35 of 57
The R909 seems to be better built than the N1, although I haven't actually picked up the latter. It looks sort of cheap by comparison. I'm confident my R909 will hold up.

There are a few non-Net MD units that should be cherished - the MZ-R900/909, the MD-MT877, and the similar offerings by Panasonic. Most or all of these are now discontinued, unfortunately.
frown.gif
 
Jul 31, 2002 at 7:48 PM Post #37 of 57
Woohoo, got my Sharp MD-ST77 today. Man is this thing tiny. I like the flashing lights. I've just tried it for a few minutes with my Sony 888 earbuds and it sounds a lot like my old Sharp 821. It has a 3 position bass boost just like the 821. The little remote looks cool with a fish that swims across the display against a blue light. I'm easily amused!
biggrin.gif
Burn in really helped my 821 and I think the same will happen with this Sharp unit too. I'll try to post some pics this weekend. Oh, and I also have a Sharp 831 on the way.

sharp_mdst77.gif
 
Jul 31, 2002 at 8:10 PM Post #38 of 57
Acid,
One nice looking machine!! Do you like it? I have the ST531 and it sound quite good, though not up to the level of 831 and 821. Tha bass seems weaker, but over all characteristics are very similar.

Purk
Love those LEDs!
 
Jul 31, 2002 at 8:15 PM Post #39 of 57
I don't quite understand what you mean by "burn-in" with an MD unit. BTW, there are lots of great MDP's out there on the market, if one overlooks all this hub-bub about Net MD recorders.

Glad you like your new Sharp baby.
biggrin.gif
 
Jul 31, 2002 at 8:44 PM Post #40 of 57
Quote:

Do you like it?


Yep, it sounds pretty good to me. I'm listening to a MD of Rare Earth right now.

Quote:

I don't quite understand what you mean by "burn-in" with an MD unit.


I found my 821 sounded much better after about 2 weeks. It sounded kind of harsh and thin when I first got it. After 2 weeks it had a warmer overall sound.
 
Jul 31, 2002 at 9:58 PM Post #41 of 57
Acid,
I don't think "burn in" an audio device will contribute to a significant improvement in sound quality. I can understand that in headphones, and speakers....but not in an MD.

PUrk
 
Aug 1, 2002 at 9:31 AM Post #43 of 57
I am a recent Sharp to Sony convert. After using Sharp MT 866 (the same thing as 877 but without MDLP) for about 18 months I switched to R909 and never looked back. I don't understand why some people complain against the sound of Sony. OK it won't power my HD 600 but it is not necessarry. At flat eq the Sony has a bit more bite in the treble and tighter bass. Given the fact that the buds I use, i.e. 888 and MX 500 are rather warm sounding (Magicthyse, put some foamies on MX500) it is IMO a better sinergy. Plus and this is a big PLUS the sound of the Sony can be tweaked. In comparison the latest Sharps pack some rather stupid features. Why on earth they shrunk the on unit display. As a result you cannot title only from the main unit, because the display doesn't show titles-how clever is that. Instead they give you a huge remote with a Rec button. One may found out how clever this is after erasing some recordings by mistake, not easy to happen but possible. Battery life is also not great. OK, I don't need a week of non stop use, but 12 hours (and in my experience Sharps cheats even more than Sony) isn't much. I don't think this is related only to the slightly more powerful output.
Finally, I had both the Sharp and the Sony for about a month before I sold the former, enough time to compare them. IMO the ability of the Sharp to drive headphones is not that much better. Specs aside, I found them about equally loud at max volume with several different phones, including Koss KSC 35, Beyer DT 250 and DT 831 and Sennheiser HD 280. Neighter clipped or distorted badly. Couldn't try buds since the the volume of both is far to high for a safe listening. Both players cannot drive adequately most big phones. The sound is thin and lifeless, so to me I'll stick with earbuds for MD listening. If you want something more, get an amp.
Oh, and the recording quality, I guess Magicthyse is talking about mic recordings, because otherwize the new portable recorders with type R ATRAC are superrior to the Sharps.
 
Aug 1, 2002 at 12:27 PM Post #44 of 57
Yes - I'm talking about Mic recordings. I do CD dubs on other gear so the only use for a portable recorder for me is as a portable recorder...

Interesting - my comparison between the 821 and the E501 using the HD280 was significantly different. While neither drive the HD280 satisfactorily, the 821 was significantly less strained. But then I think we've established now that phones like the 280 are a poor choice for equipment like this. On the KSC-50, the difference was also significant. (Sharp using Flat EQ, Sony using EQ to simulate Sharp sound on flat EQ - so as to evaluate volume). I personally find the Sharp 'flat' sound to be suited to most music.

As for the Type-R v Sharp encoding, I can't comment - all of my recent CD stuff is encoded on Type-R using a deck or a system. But the difference between recordings made on a JE500 and a JE770 is not earth-shatteringly huge, especially on portable ear gear.
 
Aug 1, 2002 at 1:10 PM Post #45 of 57
Yes, I don't use big phones with MD simply because it destroys the whole concept of portability. I mainly use buds and ocassionally something like KSC35 or Philips HP550 (mostly during the winter).
To me Sonys have more than enough power to cope with any bud and the possibility to tweak the sound and thus offset some of the colorations of the buds is nice. I'll give you two examples:
1. Everybody knows that E888 are great, but to many (me included) they sound a bit too warm and midrange heavy. This is ofcourse with foamies on. Now, set the treble to +1 and everything gets perfect.
2. EX70 are another popular bud, bud many people complain about their heavy bass. There have been mods suggested here in order to fix this. Instead eq the bass to-1 and the sound gets a lot more ballanced.
 
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