Exactly, I couldn't have said it better myself. It is definitely a problem,
good to see I'm not the only one..
Nathan White
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
It's not the AVLS, and no we are not deaf. A lot of this depends on how you
are using it. I have had a lot of walkmans, diskmans, ect over the years and
I'd have to say that the MZ-R90 has the weakest headphone output of anything
I have ever listned to.
The only way you can get decent sound is to use earbuds, and those screwy
cheap headphones that Sony USA packs in with their MD players. Even then you
better not be riding on a train or anything because the sound of the things
around you (I mean things like rustling papers and conversations, not just
the train) will heavily drown out the music.
When you turn up the volume to the point you can hear it (ie: MAX) , then
the quality of the sound get's really bad as the puney 5mw amp cannot push a
full range of sound at that level. When using the Digital MegaBass, the
sound get's even worse as the high end keeps it's enhancment, but the amp
cannot keep up with the low end so it just drops of totally, leaving you
with a rather squeaky sound. Quite crappy. This is why external headphone
amps are so popular with the MD-nerd crowd. They just want sound quality!
If you try using *real* headphones, like DJ stuff, the resistence is too
much and the volume level drops even more. Where as my DJ mixer at home has
a headphone output that it amazingly powerful. I wear glasses, and when I
have headphones on at the same time as my glasses I can actually *see* the
vibration of sound when the volume is cranked about 3/4 due to the
headphones vibrating my glasses.
And it still sounds good.
Of course I don't demand this kind of sound quality from a tiny little box
like an MD player, but maybe 1/4 of that power would be nice.
Of course if you are just sitting on the couch listning to a well made
recording with no noise around you, the output is fine. In fact the first
two notches on the volume indicator are good enough for when I listen to MDs
to go to sleep at night.
I think it's rather pitiful that the MZ-R90 is such a capable device, with
so many functions, etc, that it truely is an amazing piece of late-20th
century technology, but it's really sad that the headphone output sucks so
bad on a piece of equipment that cost over $300, when really a headphone amp
is the simplist component in the entire unit! To me it really mars an
otherwise perfect player.
I can almost guarentee this shortcoming is due to power saving, as is the
very very sluggish transport. I surely apreaciate the amazing batery life of
modernday players, but I'd like to see two different modes (like, Power
Saver, and Power Hogger) or something so that when one wants more power in
the headphone amp, or speedier response on the cue buttons, they can get it.
This should not be a problem really since who really needs 12 hours every
time they leave the house? When the extra AA is attached there is plenty of
battery mass to get good time, and power from a MD player.
Chad Gombosi
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