WOOT! Got my Sony MZ-R50...
Jun 27, 2002 at 2:40 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 12

Vertigo-1

Señor Sony
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UPS came by today and dropped off a brand spanking new in box Sony MZ-R50 that I won off Ebay. This was my first contact with this now legendary recorder, and man it is not hard at all to see why it's been such a rave. I knew that if I wanted one of these that I had better act, and boy am I glad I did.

This thing is built SO much better than just about any MD recorder or player that came out after it. The first sign of this is its weight without the rechargeable battery inserted. It is heavy...it weighs as much as some of the older discmans that were built out of all metal. Just about all current day MD players and recorders feel as if they could be blown off a desk if the rechargeable battery weren't inserted to put some weight in it. The tray, when ejecting open, comes up smoothly and without any springy loose sounds that you hear in today's recorders and players. IIRC the R50 utilizes titanium for the tray construction...don't know if stuff after the R50 bothered to use that.

Anyways I haven't listened to it yet and I suspect its sound quality will be so-so compared to what we have by now, but I'm quite the happy owner now of this old piece of technological marvel.
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In it goes with my collection of other recorders and players with outstanding features or build construction.
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If anybody's thinking of getting one of these old dinosaurs, I can highly recommend you do so. It's definitely the highest quality MD recorder Sony has ever built.
 
Jun 27, 2002 at 2:42 AM Post #2 of 12
It will give you many years of portable recording/listening pleasure. I can't say enough good things about mine. I might just get another one as a spare!
 
Jun 27, 2002 at 3:27 AM Post #3 of 12
Vertigo,
I'm glad that you like your new R50. I'm a proud owner of the blue color MZ-R50 as well. However, recently..the recording head is dead, but it sill play flawlessly.
I'm sure that you will like the line out of R50. R50 has the best line out out of any MD I've tried. Treat it good...it will bring you endless hours of enjoyment.
 
Jun 27, 2002 at 4:10 AM Post #4 of 12
ya kudos on having such a great MD recorder...my friend had one of these and man is it tough. This thing can take fall after fall after fall. Really sturdy, with excellent sound for an MD unit.

The weight of the old sony MD recorders is something really reassuring. I have a sony mz-r37, which was released one year after. It shares much of the same design of the r50, and apears quite similar.

BTW: i separately bought the remote of the r50 for my r37. It is a great little remote.
 
Jun 27, 2002 at 4:20 AM Post #5 of 12
Well, just gave it a quick sound run...sure enough it doesn't match the current players with bass and treble controls as far as sound quality goes. However its internal amp is quite loud...what takes level 15 on my E900 takes level 10 on the R50's volume bar. The sound is a bit on the smooth, warmish dark side, which is to be expected given there's no option to tweak the treble, and I always did think Sony's MD recorders/players sounded a bit dark to begin with. The Megabass option is pretty useless as well, quite boomy and not tight and controlled like it can be on the newer players/recorders. Overall I prefer the sound of my E900 out of the headphone jack, along with the Sharp 821/831 recorder's headphone out. Just more pristine clarity in the treble.

However the R50 is one of the last MD recorders with the benefit of a dedicated Line Out jack, and I suspect that combined with an amp is where the R50 will shine.

I still can't get over how well this thing is built...
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Jun 27, 2002 at 4:25 AM Post #6 of 12
Hey! I didn't know my MD Player is legendary! I always wanted the newer models
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I'm so happy that I didn't sell it!
 
Jun 27, 2002 at 5:09 AM Post #8 of 12
No it's not. It's missing the Type R ATRAC the more recent portable MD recorders have. And as I said earlier, its playback sound quality isn't as good as Sony's players and recorders that allow both treble and bass adjustments. I got it as a novelty item myself then for serious usage. For playback I still use the E900, and for recording I use the N707.
 
Jun 27, 2002 at 5:32 AM Post #9 of 12
ya my r37 has a dedicated line out as well (i looked into it)...

curious, so no new model sony's have dedicated line outs? i was thinking of picking up a sony 707 sometime since i heard it had 8 step treble and bass...
 
Jun 27, 2002 at 8:30 AM Post #11 of 12
I'm a Sharp man - more so after my experiences with the N1 and N707. I've got rid of both for reasons of NetMD (graaaaaah!), Silly recording features - (press record, pause, then select manual recording level???) and a positively weedy headphone/line out (on the N1) mode.

My 3 year old MD-MT821 puts out a much better and punchier sound - I suspect on a part with the R50 - the 821 has a 3V li-ion battery and recording is a breeze. Now I've threatened it with permanent retirement with a hammer, it's also not gone wrong this year. Just this MDLP thing which is a problem, but still, I make all recordings in SP.

As for my previous Sony portables, I never really got to find out whether the R900 was reliable after the R700 gave up on me - as I dropped it behind my car and without realising it backed over it. Doh.
 
Jun 27, 2002 at 2:12 PM Post #12 of 12
Congrats Vertigo-1!

I am also looking for a "classic" recorder as a "novelty" item as you so put it. Because MD hasn't really taken off here, I bet I can probably find one sitting in a store window all dusty...

So the eject mechanism is like that of a tape deck?
 

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