tekdroid

Could it be that Sony is under some form of renaissance? I'll let the link do the talkin' Needless to say, I was tempted to buy another PCM-D50 so my current one wouldn't get lonely, but this will have to do I'll let your collective jaws drop after seeing what's coming. I knew something was coming because many stores were offering a 'free' bundled accessory with the PCM-D50 to move stock that little bit more quickly, and it looks like this is it. Speaking of the PCM-D50, I added a whole bunch of pics at the end of this thread in case anyone is curious. I'm expecting more of the same goodness in the newie. Edit: oh look, a video http://www.soundonsound.com/news?NewsID=11803

MZ-RH1 also transfers files faster (RPM is higher).

no native mp3 support for all first-gen Hi-MD hardware (converted to ATRAC).

Sony MZ-RH1: 1) No tracknames on the unit itself (requiring over-use of 1-line remote just to see track names) 2) No Group button on the unit itself (can't switch groups on-unit instantly) 3) No bookmark indicator on the unit itself. (from what I recall you need the remote to mark bookmarks, too) 4) No Group Release functionality (not available at all, quite a departure from earlier models) 5) dynamic normalizer in MZ-RH1, none in MZ-NH1 6) as I understand it, MZ-RH1 can charge from USB, MZ-NH1 cannot 7) by default, MZ-RH1 doesn't come with 3-line remote; only 1-line 8) OLED display on MZ-RH1 versus LCD on MZ-NH1 (advantages/disadvantages to each) 9) can't access all MZ-NH1 features without the 3-line remote, but as I understand it MZ-RH1 you can do it all with remote. 10) MZ-RH1 allows legacy MiniDisc digital uploads, MZ-NH1 does not 11) MZ-RH1 has controls on-unit that commonly fail with some use, MZ-NH1 does not 12) MZ-RH1 has big eject button that annoys some people, the MZ-NH1 does not. 13) MZ-RH1 has track-marking bugs that are apparently gone that were present in MZ-NH1 hardware and others.

Deleting tracks Yes, deleting is no problem whatsoever in any folder on-unit. Labelling tracks on unit Not possible to custom-label any file at all on this unit. EDIT: Added more pics. Takes about 9-10 seconds to start up with my 8GB Memory Stick. Seems to read both internal 4GB flash memory and memory stick on start-up, with the following graphics illustrating it: Graphics have small animations. Night shots: If you bought a Memory Stick and you want to use it over the internal 4GB memory, you need to do this (settings are retained after power off): Default thing you see after powering on is the last file you played or recorded cued up to the start at zero, not where it was last stopped. While it is powered on, stopping and restarting playback where you were is no problem; it's only when you turn it off and on again. Pressing DISPLAY from this initial start-up screen once, then pressing DISPLAY once again results in the following screens: Time remaining for recording: Time & Date (it uses the file's last Modified date and time). Forgot to mention Digital Pitch Control (DPC), another MiniDisc-like feature (ie. SpeedControl). Basically, set the speed-down or speed-up in advance (defautls shown here), then hit the physical switch. To change speeds from defaults, hit the menus. Blue socket below is for Sony's optional rudimentary wired remote. Pretty handy limiter and low-cut filter (LCF), too. 75Hz and 150Hz settings on Limiter, menu-selectable. Works well. Limiter has 3 recovery settings: 150ms, 1sec, 1min. It can save your bacon. There's also the SBM (Super Bit Mapping) function that is supposed to make 16bit audio sound better. Never tried. This is what happens when you plug in a mic while the unit is on. Nice touch: Plug-In Power has ON/OFF options in the menu, too. Ins & outs Included is an optical out, all up to 24bit 96KHz sample rate, apparently. Sync Record works just like MiniDisc. DIGITAL shows up on the LCD. Fancy going back in time 5 seconds before you hit record (while in pause-record)? The Pre Rec (pre-recording) feauture is nice. Here it can be seen filling up its 5 second buffer (and also at night): Pressing MENU briefly while unit is stopped brings up your 10 default folders (pressing and holding it for one second would bring up the main settings). In addition to showing your default 10 folders here, it also shows any others you may have transferred over from your computer (without the need for silly SonicStage; it's all native USB Mass Storage here, showing up as a Removable Disk in Windows, for instance). A darker folder icon indicates it's for playback only (here seen as NO FOLDER). Any new folder you put on it will be for playback-only. You may place music into any of the recorder's existing PLAYBACK & RECORDING folders (FOLDER01 to FOLDER10) transferred from the computer; you can chop it up with the Divide button to your heart's content without the use of a PC (eg. to trim that annoying intro to that track you love). Anyway, back to this NO FOLDER. Why NO FOLDER? Any files dragged to the root of your storage (without its own folder) will be presented on the unit as being placed in a virtual folder named NO FOLDER. It's just a virtual folder to make things neater on-unit. The actual physical locations of the file on your storage device (stick or on-board storage) don't change (ie. the files are still sitting at root of storage device). Entering a folder (an empty one to record in, for example, or one for playback filled with tracks from the PC) is performed with the PLAY/ENTER key. Simple. If recording, it will record in this chosen folder. If playing back, the same thing. You choose the folder. It defaults to FOLDER01 if not changed, or the last used folder if you changed it. Scrolling down or up with |<< and >>| is smooth and easy. Holding down the button will scroll continuously. Delete Pressing and holding MENU for a second while playing results in: Press PLAY/ENTER and see this, defaulting to no: Divide Hitting DIVIDE while playing or recording (won't work when in STOP mode): Then pressing DIVIDE again: Easy. MP3 tags Uncscrollable, but has a fair bit of text room to begin with, so may not be a big issue. A-B Repeat and Repeat 1 are basic playback features, not much more: Overloading LEDs at top light up. Red is danger zone. Green is safe zone. Here both red and green alight. LED feature can be disabled in menu (this includes disabling lit PLAY and PAUSE buttons and Access indicator). It provides a great instant visual as to how things are going. Power-off ..animates into a tiny blip on the screen before totally turning off. Pretty nice touches all the way through with animations and menu scrolling. Display is naturally totally dot-matrix and is visible well outdoors in sun as well as night with the nice orange back-light. Battery life is truly excellent. Menus are easy. If the unit is left on for 10 minutes doing nothing, it will enter low-power sleep mode. Pressing any key wakes it up. A tripod mount on the back of the unit makes mounting easy in a variety of situations.

I'm currently toying with the idea of making my own fully-fledged review of this unit. I love it that much. It resotres my faith in man. Nismo96, will be interesting to read your thoughts from the perspective of someone who has had it for a while. You may be glad to hear I am almost out of the phase of babying it like my precious.

This is basically what I'm trying to illustrate. All that would be needed is a thin plastic layer (mould) separating PCB from battery compartment and the connector can be made so much smaller than shown here in this pic of an old-school Panasonic cordless phone. Also when I mentioned the battery didn't look like it had circuitry on-board I wasn't suggesting you said that all do, but it does mean far less waste when replacing. But personally I think contacts direct on the battery are a much more elegant solution and easily done. I see plenty of scope for keeping the size small and battery replaceable. It's a question of design and intent, nothing much to it (and virtually no cost burden, if that). See, that thing I have no doubt is nice, but is way too big for me. I prefer separate chargers and like common battery sizes but I realise they are not for all devices. Just saying that for clarification in case you think I want AAs in everything I am OK with proprietary batts. Especially with more common devices, we have no shortage of third-party battery vendors offering equivalents for OK prices and as long as that's the case (and as long as I don't have to do surgery on the case!), I'm fine with 'em. That looks nice, but again too big for me. BIGHMW... I got lots of batteries too and an added benefit of common sizes (in addition to supplies eventually drying up with proprietary batts) is use in multiple devices. I do have a soft spot for MD units that use AA, though!

narp, regarding your response on buying the 'perfect device'. I think I have both now. I prefer all-in-one devices to a separate headphone amp. MiniDisc is fine for outdoors (in fact, preferable) with smaller 'phones or sports-type headbands, etc. This Sony recorder, while it may be considered nonsense to recommend it as a playback device to some, is great with big-arse headphones indoors - that's the key, really...driving big headphones to adequate volumes. Turning the volume dial a mere 3 or 3.5 was enough to make my small MDR-EX300 phones cry Turning it up to 10 on my Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro (250ohm impedance and something-or-other sensitivity) produced totally satisfying volumes. You should have seen me grin I like that both devices are: * portable * can take mains power if they need it (no batteries) I don't like that: * Sony or whoever hasn't made the near-perfect small playback and recording device - but I think there are business reasons for this. Most customers are happy with computer transfers, for other recording enthusiasts they are happy to sell products like this to - more capable in some areas, far less capable in others - and larger. Market segmentation and a different set of needs, really. MiniDisc reaches the most perfect compromise with small size and recording and editing ability and features. They can do more in 2009, but I think for most people MiniDisc is over-engineered. I am under no delusions that what I want is what most of the market wants. It's nice to dream, though Re: comparing playback with other devices It would be interesting, but like you say, these devices will probably fall short (and size is ridiculous except as an at-home device for playback, IMO). Re: comparing PCM-D50 to Zoom competition and other offings I haven't really given Zoom a fair shake, to be honest. The consistently high praise this recorder has received (and no glaring weaknesses a year or two after release) made me (eventually) jump and get it. Well, that and the fact that the exchange rate can be considered reasonable compared to lows of a while back Just looking at the Zoom products I have my reservations about the materials and design, too. Might be worth investigation, but I'd feel reluctant to put cold hard cash behind one of the competitors, to be honest - despite some cool features the Sony hasn't got. I have a generally happy history with Sony's products and that counts for a lot, too. What I did find surprising is talk of how the PCM-D1 cannot take sticks larger than 4GB. That's what got me. If that's true, it seems like some poor support for a flagship product from Sony. So far the PCM-D50 can do up to 16GB, I hear. Will probably pick one up this time next year as the prices continue to tumble. Now sitting at a reasonable USD$75ish, from memory. Re: Made In China I love China (and have two Lenovo laptops, though they aren't the admittedly nice ThinkPads). My clothes are Chinese. My PSP was made there. My desktop computer bits, etc. But I guess what I was trying to say is this really reminded me of qualities associated with old-school Sony Japanese product...and it may just be a result of Sony Quality always being synonomous with Japan to me. Traditionally they have also made their lower-end stuff in China, higher-end in Japan - though for sure that is changing now. Heaps of stuff from China is high quality and I have no problems with it (or Malaysia, or Thailand - like their headphones). Re: playback device not trying to be an iPod I agree it would be nice - I would like to see more innovation here, but more than that a good MiniDisc-type device for the new age. I have my doubts it will happen though, and it hasn't happened yet, which is why I still love me some Hi-MD. In 2009, when you think about it, all the traditional limits are gone: * physical size of cassette, DAT, MiniDisc (with tiny flash memory being available cheaply) * short recording lengths just about vapourised now (prices keep dropping on storage) * battery life and screen limitations * unit operation noise (whirring mechanisms, etc) Yet nobody is intent on killing MiniDisc and moving on I mean that to not offend anyone whatsoever. I LOVE MiniDisc for what it is and continue to use it. Plus everyone should know we never get everything better going forward as new models are released. Each period has its charm and usability and compromises in different areas. I will mention, though...that as my first solid-state recorder, complete silence from any whirring mechanism is a beautiful thing!

I'll keep this brief (?) Love. Lots of it. As a listening device Sick of Sony's traditional 5mW+5mW headphone amps? Not enough volume to drive your high-impedance hi-fi headphones? Want to listen to some decent sounds wherever you are and not where your stereo sits? Then you'll love the PCM-D50. I think you'll really like the battery life, too. Disappointments? ---- * doesn't resume from where you left off after you power off and turn on again. * Doesn't play FLACs (WAV and MP3 only). * it scrolls the file name (ie. something.wav), but seemingly doesn't scroll MP3 tag info (?). Maybe I need to spend more time with it, but this doesn't appear to be a Walkman substitute as far as playback goes, though the display and general usability is very nice for what it was designed to do, primarily. * Drag n drop tracks and folders on root of device on computer. Easy-peasy. Leave the 10 default folders alone on device and/or memory stick; they are needed. * all the ins and outs you could want, really * gapless (though I have yet to try a truly 'gapless' album on it) * no means to Divide tracks transferred from computer to the device As a recording device Really excellent. I won't go into details. You know what to do (buy one!) * No XLR on-board but I'm glad it's optional to keep the hand-held size reasonable. * can Divide tracks when playing back (only on tracks recorded from mic [and/or presumably real-time?] sources on the device itself). This is nice. MD features? * No Combine. Just Divide. * Lots of (superior) hands-on and eyes-on usability I won't bore you by mentioning. * No means to label tracks on-unit. * No cool remotes (though there is a lame must-cost-$2-to-make one available). * No real substitute for the compactness and Walkman-usability of an MD unit (but this wasn't hard to guess). * for recording, it goes well above and beyond what MD can do (24bit/96KHz... large capacity, long battery life, Pre-Rec, etc). Grab the manual off their site. Memory Stick? Yes. But it can take Memory Stick Pro Duo Mark 2 sticks and work flawlessly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MS-PRO-DUO.JPG These are higher-speed cards designed (primarily) to keep up with the demands of Sony's AVCHD cams, apparently. The advantages? You don't have to buy elite (read: expensive) Memory sticks like Memory Stick Pro HG Duo. Nice considering all the elite memory talk when this model was released. Reasonable prices. USD$35 for 8GB as I write this. You also have the choice of using the internal, embedded 4GB flash memory (menu-selectable). Bah to that, I say. Design nit-picks? I can talk for pages about the design and how well thought-out things are, but what good would that do? Instead I'll nit pick on some obvious failings * USB and other sockets have no protective covers. * Volume dial on the left should be protected like the Recording Level dial (on the right). Volume dial would suffer some impact damage if dropped on the side it's on...since it sticks out slightly (numbers 1 to 10 on it would suffer some impact damage). Why not protect it like the Recording Level dial? Hmm? * Recording Level dial has numerals written in RED. I'm assuming this was done for no practical reason except cosmetics and maybe to differentiate it from the volume dial (Red = Record?). It should be white for easier legibility, especially in the dark. The design is really good overall (I could talk for ages about ergonomics, usability of controls, ease of holding concave edges, raised surfaces protecting accidental switchings and aiding "by feel" usability, the right textures on switches and raised and recessed profiles on buttons - but I won't It is built well. Metal. It takes AAs. It takes removable storage. Naturally it has a real head-start in the gene pool right there. But Sony went above and beyond. Bottom line? Buy one if you like to listen to good headphones without being tied to your stereo and are sick of puny headphone amps not driving your gear. Buy one if you like to do point-and-shoot recordings. Buy one if you like incredible sound. Buy one if you like Made-In-China gadgets which feel like they are from Sony Japan This is the type of product that reminds me that there's still a bunch of talented engineers (and designers) at Sony. I believe this is love.

Before all this they had DAT, and the record industry's fear made all the manufacturers implement Serial Copy Management System (SCMS), so they knew this well before MD. Sony had a tough time promoting MiniDisc to record companies; on the one hand they had to convince customers that this was a new recording format and on the other hand they had to sort of downplay that and push the pre-recorded side of things to get broader support in the industry. Tough slog, it must have been.

You might consider a Sony MDR-EX300SL or Sony MDR-EX500SL (SL is the designation for Short Length cable, if memory serves). You will get a plug-in extension cable bundled with it if you need the extra length if not using a remote, so you can't lose. I own the MDR-EX300SL and it's ok as far as earbuds go. Not sure what the MDR-EX500 is like sonically. I'm not a great fan of many earbuds...but this does the job.

Nice dissection. How would be appreciably larger or wear out sooner or add to landfill more quickly? All that would be required is a plastic piece that slides off. It can be one like the MZ-NH600, that opens but doesn't totally disconnect so you can't lose it. Or it can be the whole back piece that slides off like a TV remote control. The battery could also have direct contacts like most do in mobile phones. If not, a simple detachable connector at the end of those wires, much like some older Pansonic cordless phones had. Stick it in, shut the case. All it takes is a slightly different design, and it doesn't need to be much bigger than what it is (if that). Like you mentioned, you can buy two of these units and connect the other one if one goes flat and you're away from power. It's an option since the cost is low. Many other embedded battery devices dont have this option. By the way, that battery doesn't look like it has any circuitry inside it, but I could be wrong. Seems to be all on the PCB there. Either way, we have money and we have choices. I am not a fan of the design at all, or the extra waste of disposing of embedded battery devices as opposed to just the battery. I don't expect everyone to feel the same, it's just personal choice. Thanks again for the pics.

The digital vs analogue amp is definitely down to taste and/or music and/or mood and/or ears. I like the sounds of both, but I have to say I probably prefer the digital amp most of the time, the sound is more defined, less mushy and overblown, for want of a better description, while still being very balanced. $51 is a good price. If I'm not totally mistaken, it's the buttons on the RH1 that fail... which is a shame. If you use the remote you should be good. I don't think there are any other unusual weaknesses, are there?

Taken apart Li-Ion batteries and understand your point, but at the end of the day it's still more waste, not less. It's still less convenience not being able to swap out a battery without downtime, too. I just see no advantages at all. Can you? Re: space. Mobile phones of all descriptions use removables. I don't see the space argument really coming up. If anything, I see it more of a 'sleek' seamless design aesthetic that they are going for. There are Air competitors with full removable batteries at equal or very similar dimensions with more features. There are iPhone competitors with removables. I don't see space being an issue at all. re: enthusiast replaceability: all of them are 'enthusiast' replaceable if we want to be honest (iPods included), but enthusiasts who do surgery on hardware are a very small percentage. Plus Apple has Macbooks with no removable battery too. Surgery often means voiding the warranty and a delicate procdure with risks, and it still means not having the flexibility of easy battery swaps when one runs down temporarily away from an outlet or computer with USB port. Benefits? What are the they? I wish I knew. Here we have a little amp...that's fine. Maybe it sounds good, maybe it doesn't. Nice choice in the market. Not so much additional waste tossing it out along with expired battery, but still it's needless waste. Still more needless inconvenience to be forced to recharge when perhaps you might want a spare battery, too. Anyway, from an environmental standpoint, multiply this by thousands or millions of devices without removable batteries (with far more substantiial electronics, LCDs, levels of toxicity)... and you start to see a bigger picture forming. The benefits? Would the market be better off with cameras, phones, computers, little amps like this...everything having an embedded battery, non-replaceable by the average user? Would the environment? Would your wallet? I say no. In case you haven't guessed, I think their E3 model is better...wthout having tried any of them, btw.

It's a question of what's most important to you: size (E5 is small, I'll give it that.. but they could have done that while making the batt removable, too) or longevity (no need to dispose it when battery finally dies) and practicality of switching a battery in without forced downtime, anytime, anywhere. Most Li-Ion batts are rated at about 500 charge cycles, with environmental and charging factors playing a big part in the variability (they don't like heat, etc). Ni-MH eneloops do 1,000 - if manufacturers can be believed - but they have diffrent chemistry. Regular Ni-MH aren't rated more than a few hundred. I don't reward bad design (at least not willingly). What is the point of throwing out a unit, even a cheap one, if it doesn't need to be thrown out? There's some circuitry in there doing the work, why toss that out when the battery ends its useful life? Why not actually keep a device that theoretically last for decades with decent care? Their E3 design seems to be far better in this regard, and allows for quick batterry swaps when it decides to crap out on you in a listening session. Convenience. I haven't tried any of these, btw. IF we can switch the argument to Sony noise-cancelling phones. Who here would like an integrated, non-removable battery in those? And why? Makes no sense. What we have here is far too many companies copying Apple's bad practices. They are applying the 'no user-replaceable batteries' philosophy in their laptops too. Shameful, inconvenient, surgery-replacement-hell and should not be rewarded, IMO.

http://damage.wordpress.com/2009/03/07/dam...views-mdr-xb40/

Just curious on what AEP and EE stand for. The amp outputs of my Australian models have always been lacking for real hi-fi headphone use, so IMO there's not a snowflake's chance in hell of being even close to causing deafness, or any real enjoyment with bigger phones, for that matter The French law sounds a lot like gov bureaucrats in charge of parenting, by the way. My thoughts on this FiiO headphone amp, just by looking at it: * non-removable battery * shaped as an iPod Shuffle clone No further comment necessary

Cannot disagree MD has reduced sound quality compared to CD (except with Hi-MD). But the author has his facts wrong regarding MiniDisc being first to compromise sound for size, convenience, etc. I am not defending MD in the slightest here, but just feel it was hardly the first device to compromise sound quality for other attributes. In fact, you could argue that CD is a compromise cutting off frequencies beyond 20KHz, which can be felt, if not heard - that in itself was a compromise to keep the disc small and playtimes longer. Everything is a compromise on some level to what came before it. Digital music itself is a compromise in certain areas. Nothing is better in all areas. I will admit to being excited about pushing well beyond what CD can do, though, which is why higher bitrates and sample rates excite me (and I am glad we have progressed beyond being stingy for space and 16bit bitrates, lower sample rates, etc) - even if that isn't so evident in average devices. Maybe the author of this article feels the same, but he still has his facts wrong.

" Despite its ultimate failure, the MiniDisc did plenty of damage as the first medium to represent a degradation in audio quality, rather than an improvement, over what came before it." ---------- I wonder if the author of this piece has heard of Philips DCC, which was released a little bit before MiniDisc. Or those voice recorders that sold well before both of them. Or that Apple's products can do lossless. Or that the compact cassette is itself a sonic compromise for convenience. Just another amusing article filled with self-serving links to other articles on their own site, masquerading as informative.

So funny but so true.

I finally ordered a Sony PCM-D50 with 8GB Memory Stick. http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/product-PCMD50/ $449 USD for the unit is reasonable at current exchange rates (especially when they throw in that otherwise overpriced windmuff). I think the fun-to-funds ratio will be very high.

Dumb This is the equivalent of whipping out the first iPod and comparing that brick to today's models. Bah. It seems every mainstream article goes out of their way to exaggerate differences and pick sides, or laugh at some bygone era or fashion. Yet I am laughing at what's selling today, in many ways. I love the sound of many older Walkmans with a good tape (TDK SA or similar) and I've never experienced bad battery life or 'warbling'...which I presume to mean obvious wow & flutter. Non-issues. Size Plenty of tape Walkmans as far back as 15 years ago (older than that kid) were farrr smaller than the one they chose (and he can see them on ebay with a simple search for Walkman), so points to them for picking something truly hard-to-get and large to emphasize a point (?). I doubt 99% would choose their crapPods over a good tape dubbed from CD or vinyl on a half-decent unit, sound quality-wise. Plenty of older units sound damn great. Storage just a few short years ago 128MB, 256MB and 512MB flash-based portables were common. Why doesn't this article compare how many tracks you can get on those to how many you could get on tapes? What am I getting at? Technologies are not talked about fairly or given the respect they deserve. Instead these so-called journalists and so-called kids go out of their way to present 'caricatures' for people to laugh at in mainstream media. Each have advantages and disadvantages, but when they dumb it down with articles like this, presumably done for so-called entertainment and advertising hits more than reasoned discussion - it really annoyes me. Especially when the closing paragraph makes it out to be an iPod versus Walkman comparison. Please. The article also sounds nothing like that kid wrote it! Yes, all this means I take stupid articles like this way too seriously...but...I'm just sick of caricatures. Great technology not given the respect it deserves all under the banner of "OMG, it's so big and old!" "I created a makeshift shuffle feature!" Please. Caricatures. Dumb. Has nothing to do with the youth of today either, but rather the same old tired mainstream media mantra: bring in more advertising revenue. make headlines where there are none. Sensationalism. Contrast this-versus-that (unfairly) Etc. Just once I'd love to see them point out that stuff fairly - and maybe even mention that the stuff selling today is designed for disposal. Silly embedded batteries and fixed-storage flash media that often do little more than haave to last out their warranty period. Bah x2. Tapes have feelings, too! I say that without ahint of nostalgia! (haven't used tape Walkmans in a while)... just purely on the grounds of "Enough fricken caricature reporting!".

I have absolutely no use for this, but damn (!) it's a unique piece of tech to satisfy curuiosity lusts...and it's BRAND NEW, unopened? Tasty purchase if shipping is not too much. Must feel like going back in time opening that box... Good luck to all of you ordering units.

Why do you want to do such a thing? I advise against it

Much like recording real-time with the precision cut and chemistry of MD/Hi-MD media and laser in conjunction with the briskness of that always-changing magnetic head! The closest I've come to doing this has been using those old Gillette blades (flat, sharp on both sides) and all-metal razor, handed down to me. It's a different experience, I'll say that much... there is a higher risk of cuts but not much riskier. It seems to get smoother and closer, too. Just slices through lots of hair far quicker than multiple-blade razors, however has a harder time getting under the nose, etc... just based on its design" http://www.countryjoescollectiblestuff.com...uper-speed.html BTW, the design is quite ingenious... and obviously built to last the ages. You rotate the thingy on the bottom and the top flaps open up to replace the blades (much like opening a MD/Hi-MD unit and replacing the media and/or battery for a quick swap!) =)