stymie miasma

If it's any consolation, I think my NH900 is the same. In fact, I'm not entirely sure whether any of the external chasis is metal, especially when compared to my old Sharp MDMT99. Furthermore, the Sharp is much heavier than the Sony, making me think there is very little in the way of 'metal' in the NH900. Not to worry though. If all goes well, the NH900 will keep me happy until Sharp brings out a HiMD recorder/player. Failing that, I may just get the MZ-EH1 for on-the-go, and leave the NH900 for recording/downloading duties.

I hear ya - I too love the 'gadgetness' of MDs. Aside from sonic and functional problems with the iPod, the iPod is kinda like a sterile brick. Sure, the GUI is fancypants, but after you get past that, the entire package is somewhat underwhelming IMHO :rasp:

Thanks kurisu, always good to see another Head-Fi'er in the forums!

Yeah, the iPod certainly puts out a flat frequency response, but to be honest, I found it fatiguing after a while, even with warm headphones like the KSC35s. Unlike the NH900, I would be tearing my phones off after a while in a state of vague despair. Wasn't my idea of 'entertainment' or 'enjoyment' It is quite possible that I had a 'dud' iPod, as the lack of bass was really quite shocking. I was hoping the MDR-7506 might be able to plumb the depths, but no luck there either. It was extremely frustrating, to know a song had a cool bassline, but having to imagine it because you certainly couldn't hear it! :rasp: You are right that MD can be a pain to navigate, so the iPod GUI certainly spanks it in that regard. That said, I am an album kind of guy. All my music is loaded on as entire albums, and I tend to listen to an entire album at a time. In that regard, there are very few times when I need to navigate, and when I do, it is only through a dozen or so 'albums'. Easy! Yep, that would be me! I have seen a few familar faces around here, including your own. You may have noticed lini (or was it Tomcat?) from Head-Fi referring to the Beyer DT531s as "the groovaliser". That is the extact same feeling I get when comparing MD (Sharp MDMT99 and Sony MD-NH900) to the iPod. The iPod may be the audiophile's wet dream, but it certainly doesn't get my foot tapping! :rasp:

The NH900 runs off an internal gumstick. If you wanted to use a AA as well, you need to attach the exteral AA case to the base of the unit. I think models lower than the NH900 use an internal AA, but don't have the option for the add-on external case.

For my first post, I'll throw my 2 cents in: I had a 40G iPod+HP for about 2 weeks. The first one I purchased was D.O.A. The second one functioned, but displayed the dreaded "audio defect", moreso on large, higher bitrate tracks. I could sorta live with the audio defect, although hearing a burst of light static in the middle of a track did become tiresome. What I could not live with was the jaw-dropping lack of bass, and the inability to play gapless. These are faults I had read about, but did not appreciate until I spent some time with the iPod. By no means am I a basshead, but I am a bass player, and I love to be able to follow a good bassline. This was near impossible on the iPod, using Koss KSC35s, Grado SR60s, Sony MDR-7506s or EX51s. I was toying with buying some Senn HD25s, but in the end thought better of it. You just can't polish a turd :rasp: So guess what? I am now grooving with a NH900 :laugh: My bass has been returned, as has gapless playback. No audio defects, and Sonic Stage 2.2 has been behaving, although it is kinda clunky and slightly slower than iTunes. All my music is ripped from CDs, so I have no beef with the lack of mp3 support, and to my ears, atrac3 (132 kb/LP2) is sufficient for the majority of my portable pursuits. Prior to the iPod, I had been using an old Sharp MDMT99 (also LP2) which was fun, but carting all those MDs around got a bit tiresome. The other huge advantage to the NH900 is the external AA battery case. Why is this feature not a option on all Sony MD/HD units??? That was the sole reason I went for the NH900 over the NH1. Ok, glad I got that off my chest. Keep up the good work folks, this is a cool forum!