Sony MZ-1 - Help
Sep 23, 2002 at 4:19 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 8

Watchdog

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I'm looking at a used Sony MZ-1, which I think is the first portable MD Sony ever made.

It appears the remote has been lost and the unit hasn't been used in years. I'm wondering if the rechargeable battery will last much longer and if it dies will I be able to buy a new one?

This unit doesn't allow me to record from an analog source, only digital. One neat thing I noticed is that this unit has a digital out, which I believe is pretty rare for a portable MD unit.

The unit is kind of bulky and I'll have to buy a smaller unit for most purposes, but I thought this unit would be cool to have for the digital out.

Any comments, like how much would you pay?
 
Sep 23, 2002 at 4:36 AM Post #2 of 8
Well, the NiCd pack would be lucky to last an hour if it was new.
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It doesn't sound the best, and you might be better of buying a deck for digital output. It was the only MD "portable" with opical out. Is it a tad broken? (Can't rec from analog)

I saw on sell on ebay for $45US.
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Sep 23, 2002 at 4:47 AM Post #3 of 8
Not broken, there isn't an analog in. I find this kind of surprising too since back when this unit was new how many people had CD players with an optical out? I would think only the mid to high priced CD players would have had optical out 10 years ago, but my memory isn't that good.

Is the battery life that bad?

Hmm maybe I'll use it as a quasi home deck then, I just thought the optical out was cool.
 
Sep 23, 2002 at 5:42 AM Post #5 of 8
There are some who think no MD portables have respectable analog sections (headphone amp etc) except for the MZ-1 and the first Sharp models, but I digress...

The Japanese government requires the manufacturers to have basic parts for a given model for at least 6 years after the production ended (this is stated in the manual for every Japanese model, and might have been increased to 8 years now). After that period it's up to the manufacturers, but you can certainly make an inquiry.

Pickup can be crucial because in the early days they didn't last very long - rumor has it that a whole batch of the MD-JA3ES deck's pickup failed after recording about 30 discs. If you get the MZ-1, and suspect that it's dying, definitely contact Sony and see if they can replace it.
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I think the MZ-1 is worth picking up mostly for its historical value (I haven't heard one so I can't prove the good amp rumor)...but as long as you like your purchase it's all good
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Sep 23, 2002 at 6:09 AM Post #6 of 8
Apparently (
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) the DACs on the MZ-1 aren't the best.
If you can get one for cheap, get it. I know that if I saw one going for cheap I'd get it "just because". I dunno what I'd use it for though.
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Sep 24, 2002 at 3:41 AM Post #7 of 8
Mystyler you're right it does have analog input and outputs.

Apparently they use the exact same jacks as for the digital in/out. I had never seen that before and they're only labeled as digital. My friend brought me the manual today.

I thought that was kind of odd to have the same jack for both analog and digital.
 

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