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I thought I would review this little gem, but I decided to wait a week until
I would have had some serious time to play with it, and now it is a week, so
I shall review it.
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Sony MZ-R900
Price payed: �229.99 (about $330)
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I love this little baby, probably one of the best purchases I have made ever
(along with my SCMS Stripper, MDS-JE640, Widescreen TV, etc), much better
than my previous Sharp MD-MS701. I bought this because I was shown the UTOC
error by my player, the useless piece of..... and so far has proved to be a
beautiful machine, in many respects. It looks terrific, and has the
electronics under the hood to match.
I have made quite a bit of use out of this so far, one MiniDisc to MiniDisc
record, a couple of quotes of Ace Ventura, and a lot of playing. I usually
use this on my way to School, somtimes at breaks in school, and every now
and then at home, and has proved perfect for every situation so far. I have
yet to try titling, and probably never will, as I have a PS/2 input on my
Sony MDS-JE640, but from what I have heard it is pretty easy to use.
The menu system is good, but it is a bit fiddly to use sometimes, when
trying to delete a track that last 1 second, unless paused, will normally go
straight past it, but it is still a pretty ingeneous system nonetheless. I
like the Headphone/Line-Out switch, which I have used on my computers
Line-In and on my friends stereo, as I like the the little clock on it as
well, came in use in a recent Religious Studies lesson when, as usual, as
was too lazy to pull up my shirt sleeve and look at my watch, and instead
changed the display option on the player instead.
Recording is a breeze, just plug in your optical or analog lead and push
across REC and there you go. Normal record is a bit annoying, as it starts
recording without prompt, but Sync record is immaculate.
The Sound options, with the hetrogenial appealing (will appeal to anyone,
well, most) ability to change Bass and Treble, but I have yet needed to
really change this, as in my opinion it is great the way it is.
One addition over the MZ-R90/91 is the addition of MDLP (MiniDisc Long
Play), of which I have not used yet except to test it. I do not have optical
out on anything except my deck, so I was unable to test it with CD's, but I
did test it with a MiniDisc copy (SCMS free of course). It is pretty useful
for recording an excess amount of music (eg off a cassete), or for just
filling the end of a MiniDisc. LongPlay 2 Mode, is very close to Normal
Mode, yet not quite, as there is just a little bit missing from the extreme
top end and low end, but is still a highly commendable method of using
music. Some have said LongPlay 2 is absolutely rubbish, yet I beg to differ
(maybe this is just extended listening to MP3's....), and is certainly of
high use, especially if wanting to record 4 Offspring/Blink 182 albums
(around 35/40 Minutes). LongPlay 4, though, is a different story. It isn't
godawful as some people have said, but is certainly not a preferable method
of listening to music, much akin to the sound of 64kbps MP3's, while being
useful for speech, it is render pretty bad for music, unless, of course, it
is Westlife, then it is too good for them (stupid band, DIE! :) ). On
LongPlay 4, it sounds as though your listening to an AM broadcast on the
Radio, while providing lots of time, a lot will hate it.
The remote is perfect, I have learnt how to use the normal functions by
heart already. The backlit display is a big bonus, while the twisting dial
at the end is brilliant. Pull it out, you get volume change, in normal mode,
it changes tracks, turns the MD player on, etc.
The biggest problem so far with this unit is the supplied Headphones, man
they are awful, making normal mode sound like LP4, but I have only used them
for testing purpose anyway, as I already have some Groove Style headphones
anyway.
Overall, this MD player is absolutely fantastic, of which I would recommend,
unlike the Sharp MD-MS701, now thats a different matter....
Value *****
Quality *****
Sound *****
Features *****
Ease Of Use ****
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Overall *****
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I hope this review is useful to future purchasers of Portable MiniDisc
players, and also to anyone who rates this product down because they are
zealots of their brand. I am in no way a Sony zealot, if I had the money, I
would get a Panasonic SJ-MR 200 or a Sharp MT-(8)77, but I have to say that
Sony make quality products, and should be commended for bringing MiniDiscs
into the world in the first place. Now, all I need now is Sony MDS-PC3, a
Ford Ka, Pioneer MEH-P5100R, an Electric Guitar ................
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Stuart Howlette
"There are many questions in life, but is the right answer only correct
because the majority believe in it?"
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://minidisc.sphosting.com
http://minidisc.sphosting.com/personal/
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