doomlordis

Ok my second and last attempt, again not the best at paintshop stuff , more Rolf Harris than Monet! This is the MZ-XH100 Bluetooth Hi-MD Recorder. The Unit is shown actual size, it has a couple of innovations, the first is that the remote slides into the top of the unit to add the display and when unit is in pocket you detach the bluetooth remote and just plug in your earphones. The second innovation is that the unit is a slot loader, no opening required just slide in your disk. All record functions are available from the remote. Specs: Weight 80g without remote attached. 95g with it attached. Battery life is 20 hours with bluetooth on and remote detached , 30 hours with remote attached. MP3, WMA and Atrac3,3+ and new Atrac Lossless compatible. Mic in, Optical IN, Line out. Usb on the go AC on units base. Mini Usb port on units base. Docking Station. 7mw + 7mw output. Windows/Mac drag and drop operation. Comes in White, black and Red. [attachmentid=769] Here is a 3D picture of my design. [attachmentid=823]

It can shuffle all tracks on a disk, all tracks by an artist, all tracks in an album - its shuffletastic! It is shuffle however not random, it will shuffle the tracks and then play them one after another not repeating a track untill all tracks have been played. Random is crap as you oftren get the same tracks repeated regularly.

Good luck to all!

OK , all you budding artists out there now is your chance to design the next Generation of Hi-MD. Just attach photos and Specs and we will maybe have a poll to pick a favourite! This is an offical contest that ends on September 9th! Read more information about the prize and requirements, here. I will get the ball rolling with the MZ-XH1: Full magnesium body 15mm thick Line in/out Optical in/out Mic in 25 hours battery life with just internal battery (mp3 at 128kbps) Improved MP3 playback Standard Mini usb connector AC is on unit (but comes with charging/docking station also) 5mw output on all versions Backlit LCD come with 3 line remote with record functions USB on the go weighs just 90g Comes in Silver , Black and Red [attachmentid=759] Forrgive my lack of talent ( i used microsoft paint!) Here is the black version of the MZ-XH1 [attachmentid=760]

I wouldnt get the black armband out yet, i am simply saying that i think that fewer units will appear in the future , they may be great units , they may not. I think Hi-MD will be around for at least another 3 years.

I have used Minidisc for a little while now , i started with Net-MD , i had a lot of vinyl i wanted to back up before storing or selling. I bought a N1 model, it is an attractive , well built device that felt expensive in the hand. My friends bought minidiscs after playing with mine, they also were either in bands and wanted to record to Minidisc or had cassettes or Vinyl to back up also. The Playing of MP3 files on the device to me was a welcome bonus , not a deal breaker at all. I then went on to buy a few different units , Aiwa NX1, N910 and last year bought my first HI-MD the NH700. I liked it but wanted a better built unit so got the NH900 - big mistake. Unlike many here i think the NH900 is the worst minidisc player i had ever had, i couldnt read the screen even in daylight, the battery life was rubbish (i replaced the supplied battery with a nh14wm and that nearly broke my unit by expanding indide it) the build quality was poor for a minidisc in the price range , the back should have been metal. THe digital amp sounded a bit harsh also. The NH1 was a far prettier device but also had enough issues to keep me away - charger stand, no jog dial (best thing about NH700/900), 1 line display etc. So the 1st generation of Hi-MD in my opinion was flawed, i think the NH700 was probably the best unit, missing only a line out. I sold my NH900 last year and bought a Iriver H320 for its recording abilities - not a great unit for recording as it happens, limited codecs etc. I noticed that Sony had released a new generation of Minidisc only a couple of months ago, Sonys usual promotional activities failing to capture my attention!. I spent a couple of weeks reading reviews , going into Sony Centre and listening to units to see if it was for me, the news that Sonicstage supported unlimited uploads was the clincher, so i decided to go to and buy one. I think the second generation is also flawed, its so frustrating! I think the three units all look really good but the build quality is very questionable. NO line out!!! Why? Remotes are crap and battery life is awful (RH710s is best by far). On paper HI-MD is fantastic , when i explain what i can do with my unit, how cheap the media is etc people are sold, then they see the new units and say wow nice screen etc, then they hold them, they frown , then they leave the shop. The 2nd generation feel like they would smash into a million pieces if you dropped them , My old aluminium n910 was dropped several times and lived to play another day , i think all the HI-MD except the NH1 would be lucky to survive. Why has Sonys build quality on Minidiscs taken a nose dive? are the internals so expensive that they cant afford nice exteriors? The HD1/3/5 prove they can still make well build/designed players. Anyway i bought a RH710 in the end, i got it cheap and it does everything i need. It has optical/analogue in and plays my old and new MDs. Battery life is also good (compared to RH910/RH10) , I always wanted a black minidisc player and the RH710 looks really good in person. I wont be upgrading to another 2nd generation and the 3rd will have to see a big improvement in build quality to tempt me. As for the future my prediction is this: 3rd Generation will have only two units, a cheap one and an expensive one. MP3 playback will be improved - i think it was an afterthought in 2nd gen. The HI-MD market will get smaller. Sony will market the devices on recording abilities - if they have any sense. I think eventually only one unit will appear every so often, maybe annually. I think it will be around for a few more years, until it develops again into something else - recordable UMD maybe.

CAn someone who has a RH910 do a review with some nice pics please! Doesnt seem to be much interest in what seems to be a great unit. Ta in advance

Is there any difference in a generations build quality internally? I ask because i was looking at the internals of my NH900 and my RH710 and they look quite different. I read somewhere that the sharp players internals were very hi quality compared to Sonys.

Thanks , just bought it £5.99 ic delivery!

This case , will it fit a RH710 ? It is a official sony product but i cant find dimensions anywhere. [attachmentid=736]

Hi-MD , i love it but i am getting worried. Unbeatable, avland , sonystyle and many others have stopped stocking any Minidisc players at all. Is it Sony that have stopped manufacture, are the sales so bad they are not worth it? When i asked the guy at my local sony centre he said he had seen a few presentations on new MP3 players etc but no new MD units... I hope Sony have a new generation on the go as i will personally be gutted to see the end of MD in the UK. Japan has a great market for the units (60%ish of all portable audio users use minidisc there i believe!) so i guess i could import!

Thanks thats kinda what i though i heard on some tunes. Wonder why the volume increase hack doesnt work?

I do however have nuclear powered hi-tek super man boobs.

I agree , MP3 playback on mine sounds sweet but then i dont have nuclear powered hi-tek super ears. I have compared playback with my DNE10 and HD5 and difference is minimal - a little less treble thats all.

Ok , i have hacked my RH710 and get the full equalizer options but no increase in volume, i am generally happy with the volume but on older cd rips the volume can be a little week even at 90% volume. I have been playing with the equalizer and if you put every bar up 2 notches you get very high volume output, what i want to know is wether this will provide poor quality audio (break up etc) and what effect this will have on battery life? For what it is worth i dont notice any loss of quality at up to 2 notches up but 3 up seems to make the bass sratchy and less smooth.

I have had a nh700 , nh900 , nh1 (1 week only) and now have a RH710. This is my take , i liked the NH700 a lot but "upgraded" to a nh900 for the line out - result had a unit where the battery expanded and could not be removed and i couldnt read the screen except in perfect conditions. I also think the digital amp in the NH900 + NH1 was a bit metallic sounding and preferred the sound of my NH700. I upgraded from the nh900 to the nh1 and hated it from day 1 , charging stand was a pain, 1 line lcd and no jogwheel (i like the jogwheel a lot) i promptly got rid of it. Now i have been without a Hi-MD for a while now and have been using my HD5 and my old netmd 910 but was in Sony Centre the other week and had a good look at the 2nd gen models, i bought a RH710 (got it cheap!) and love it, its the UK version and has DC and Digital in, sturdy build quality and i was a bit nervous about getting the digital amp again on the rh910/rh10. If i hear good things about the RH910s sound i may indulge.

No, hitting stop (usually doubles as charge button) has no effect so i think no charging mechanism present.

Yes it does , and a line in (optical) below the usb port.

picture added as requested

Added a new photo to review

A friend works in Sony Centre , it was a open box return. Best price i have seen online is Unbeatable , £97.99 delivered (when stock is in , you get free postage).

It does seems strange? Maybe based on spending habits or something anal like that. I got this over the RH910 because of the AA, just bought a black MC33EL to go with it (£9 on ebay!). The MC33EL on my DNE10 works fine with this unit, you can even search by artist etc.

Thats what i am using 2300 to be exact - 17hrs fine by me! dimensions are 83.6*29.5*77 107grams OH and you get a full paper manual!!!!!!

Just black in UK , but i think i would have chosen it over silver anyway. Black looks very cool!

I bought this a few days ago , this is a quick review. BUILD QUALITY/LOOKS This photo shows surface texture well Very nice for the price (i payed £80) , i think it looks better than any other low range minidisc sony have released. The front is shiny , it feels a bit like the surface of my DNE10. The back is black also and is matt finish. The silver disc on the front may or may not be metal , you cant really tell but it does feel colder than the rest of the unit. The buttons and jog dial are also high quality and the joystick is the same as my NH900. It feels solid and there is NO movement when the door is shut (my nh900 moves a bit) The screen is very clear even in sunlight , much better than my nh900 which is unreadable in most conditions. SOFTWARE Sonicstage 3.2 is what i use, this ships with 3.0. I am sure you are all familiar with it. Line-In Visible SOUND QUALITY This unit does not appear to have a digital amp (no icon on back of player or mention in manual). I have read a lot about MP3 playback being crippled on these players. I have found no issue with MP3 playback, 256 MP3 compared with Hi-SP sounded very similar, hard to tell apart. I tested 132 atrac3 vs 128 MP3 and did notice that Atrac had slightly more treble but nothing to worry about. I would say that if you want MP3 playback this unit is very good, i compared MP3 playback with my DNE10 and the difference is not in detail , there is nothing missing with MP3 on the RH710 it just sounds like it has more bass. Now i hacked the unit and got the full equalizer (no real volume increase however) i then put 4khz up 1 notch and 10khz up 2 and could not tell the difference between this and my DNE10!. I use PX200 and HJE50s. BATTERY LIFE I left it running overnight on repeat with a AA in it playing MP3s at 128-192and got to 17hrs and still had a bar left with no flashing , so ii guess 19 hours is about right. RECORDING Usual features , recorded White Stripes DVD optically with no issues at all. OVERALL I recommend highly, i got it at a good price but anything under £100 is a fair price imho. A+