[Mystyler]

Yeah! Panasonic releases a portable NetMD recorder, the SJ-MR250!

http://www.minidisct.com/products/pana_sjmr250.html

And check out the press release at the bottom of the above page.

 

[Magicthyse]

Thanx Mystyler.

I suppose it was a godsend that my IM-MT899 hasn't arrived yet! I've cancelled it...

PS. We have to stop meeting like this. People will talk.

 

[Mystyler]

Quote:

Originally posted by Magicthyse Thanx Mystyler. I suppose it was a godsend that my IM-MT899 hasn't arrived yet! I've cancelled it... PS. We have to stop meeting like this. People will talk.

Hey, are you gonna get an MR250?

And don't worry, I didn't see nuttin...

 

[Vertigo-1]

Wow, that is a very nice MD package there.

My only critiques would be that I wish Panasonic would get with the picture and offer better equalizer features (their S-XBS feature is absolutely morbid which makes Panas only usuable on flat, which ain't too pretty compared to Sharp/Sonys), and make something to compete with Sony's Type R ATRAC on the recording side!

 

[Magicthyse]

Quote:

Originally posted by Mystyler Hey, are you gonna get an MR250? And don't worry, I didn't see nuttin...

Well - now that I've done the Nero automation test (after I almost literally prised the N1 out of my GF's hand), I can afford to wait for a decent non-NetMD NetMD unit (if you see what I mean) to come onto the market.

Life is however getting a bit confusing as I can't take any old MD that I have with me if I've got my MD-MT821 - sometimes the dreaded LP: display flashes up after I've stuck a disc in. So now if I'm taking MD, I need both the E501 and the MT821 - so an MDLP recorder is getting pretty much a necessity. Can I wait? Will I rush out and buy something inadvisable again? Check back soon...

Also, I really want the Audio-Technica Ath-a100ti. That would use up the portable budget I've set for myself for the year... What to do? Arrrgh.

 

[Magicthyse]

I just read the specs in detail.

Anti-bacterial coating? What?

Do Panasonic think we blow our noses on it?

Or is this some weird bukkake thing that the Japs do with their MD's?

 

[Mystyler]

Quote:

Originally posted by Magicthyse I just read the specs in detail. Anti-bacterial coating? What? Do Panasonic think we blow our noses on it? Or is this some weird bukkake thing that the Japs do with their MD's?

Hehe!
No, its meant to stop the growth of bacteria on the unit, you know, like from people's hands and whatnot.
And I'm in the same situation as you! I can't decide to buy this or some D66s...
I'll probably end up buying this!!

Vertigo-1, I have to agree about S-XBS. I wish that it had a bit more oomph, or maybe even seperate treble/bass settings. My MR200 lacks bass, but at least it ain't overpowering. I also think that Panasonic has a similar encoding method to Type R, H.D.E.S. I can only take advantage of this when using the powerpack on my 2 year old MR200, and on the newer models (the MR220 and MR250) it is only available in SP only. Not sure about the need for the AC pack.
Maybe H.D.E.S. is the reason my Panasonic's recordings sound better than my friend's non "R" units?? If anyone has any info on H.D.E.S. I'd be interested. The only think I've read about it is that it is a "dynamic bit allocation algorithm" or something and my manual says "higher-quality recordings". Anyone have any ideas?

 

[andrzejpw]

that case looks so good.

 

[Braver]

this is one sleek looking player!

 

[Mystyler]

I hear that it is also going to be available in Australia, a first for Panasonic MD units.

So it looks as though it will make it to the US too.

 

[leon]

IIRC there was an anti-bacterial boom in Japan several years ago... when I first started surfing the web (1996) there was a kenwood walkman with "anti-virus" printed on

Nowdays it's no longer a big deal (from my understanding)... but

First off, H.D.E.S. is tuned to emphasize the lows and the highs relatively more, as opposed to the original ATRAC idea of completely following the ear's masking curve (most sensitive to mids/less sensitive to lows and highs). I think that's what makes the outcome less closed-in.

I'm sure someone can explain it better, but:
Within ATRAC the incoming signal is "classified" in a number of ways, one of them is a pick between "long" and "short" time-domain windows. The long mode is used more, as it provides good solution. But with attack signals (loud sound that suddenly rises out of silence) the long mode will induce some quantization noise, or "pre-echo" noise that wasn't in the source signal.

What H.D.E.S. does is to make more use of the short mode to minimize the pre-echo. On the MR200, HDES only kicks in with the AC adaptor, and the display will say "digital HDES" or "analog HDES" when it's in action. On the MR220 it functions even on the gumstick.

The MR250 seems more like a facelift of the MR220 (all jacks in the same place), but who am I to complain, I like the design too

P.S. that AVwatch thing isn't a press release... it's a news website.

 

[Mystyler]

Thanks for the explaination.
Where did you read it? Thats the only info I've ever seen on H.D.E.S, and its nice to see that you no longer need the AC adapter to use it on the newer models. Its a pity Panasonic didn't move the jacks back to the original position like they were on the MR100/200. Oh well, I'm still gonna buy it!

And the AVwatch site, my mistake.

 

[leon]

When the MR200 came out, Panasonic's Japanese press release had a brief blurb about pre-echo noise, and the lows/highs emphasis. I must've found the actual explanation somewhere else, but you can find the basic principles on the AES ATRAC paper, on minidisc.org. Tough reading!

And.. well, T makes a lot of mistakes. 6 character display becomes 9, and so on

 

[Mystyler]

I don't know if I have the strength to read through the stuff at minidisc.org....

 

[leon]

I know, me neither

I'm still not 100% confident with my understanding of ATRAC... and ATRAC3 is still a mystery (except that its more processing-intensive).