Odyssey

//// well what do the rest of you think? is this format really now dead in North America? Does it only have a decent fanbase in the UK/Europe & parts of Asia? //// Well, to determine what will happen, you really need to be a marketing technition. However, the MD has been reliable and held a toehold in the North America market since it first came out. I think what hurt the marketing was the fact that Sony really didn't put a lot of effort into the advertising end in North America, at least I never saw very many ads. Plus the fact that SONY kept taking away or adding limited features. That was the main reason I did not upgrade, my old unit did more than the newer units, so that resulted in NO SALE for Sony. With the advent of the MZ-RH1 and sister unit MZ-M200, all the features are included and it has been improved to Professional levels. The Professional market has had limited interest, again, the games with limited features hurt, but now the professional market has the most compact recording studio that money can buy as well as an excellant recorder for interviews and sound bites. Nothing before could match these units and with the added feature of using as an additional drive on the computer, the use has become quite flexible. I think the orginial goal to replace the Cassette, sort of worked, but the goal was lost when other technologies entered the market. With the Professional level machine and added features including the New displays, the machine may have a whole new interest. For instance, if you read this forum, anyone that has an older model is wanting to upgrade to the MZ-RH1 or MZ-M200. Either as an additional unit or as a replacement. That says something in itself. With Professional interest, this may become a mainstay for the coming years. I read with interest the REVIEWS of the units and wait for OWNERS to come up with their own reviews. As for North America not getting them, All I have heard is North America will not get the BLACK unit, however, Sony will be releasing the SILVER unit. I don't beleive the MD is dead by a long shot. Especially when MD's were pulled from the Aussies and now I read that the MZ-RH1 and most likely the sister unit, MZ-M200 will be re-introduced again to the Aussies. This speaks volumes of how confident Sony is on this improved technology and the sales expected during this release. AS long as there is an interest and dollar value, the MD will continue to be sold. O

ok, let me try reworking the question. HAS anyone bought an MD player from Japan, if so what are the differences for power are there. I assume the recorder is pretty much the same. thanks

by the way Are there any differences in the power adaptors when imported from Japan? you know, plug in the wall, voltage????? thanks

//// Did Chris say when it was going to be out? I dont care what color it comes in as long as it works as well as my RH10. //// They would not even GUESS when the release would be in the States. Don't know what the hold up is since early guesstimates were release date of late May/Early June. Personally, my old MD is silver, and as much as I like it, I'd prefer the black one this time. It just looks better......

I like the excitement the MZ-RH1 and MZ-M200 has on this group. They have certainly stirred everyone up. I know some people with IPuds and they are even looking at this unit-go figure! I spoke with the Sound Professionals and they said the MZ-RH1 will only be released in USA in SILVER...... Thats too bad, the black unit is really sexy. Can anyone tell me what the big difference is if a unit is purchased in Japan? Is the unit the same as the usa release except I think they have both silver and black. Is operation the same? Display in English?? Thanks for any thoughts O

well hey, whats with the pink warning at 0 %???? funny I see it here but nobody said what I did....hmmm no matter, I have lots to say In mention of the three line remote.... There was a review ( I'd give the addy but don't want to offend the pink warning Gods ) and there is a picture of the test unit..... It had a three line remote model AM-MC40ELK AS a matter of fact I had seen this review before I read here about the single line remote so I had to find the review again to make sure I saw the MZ-RH1 with the RM-MC40ELK. It is right there in Picture #5 and you can read the numbers of of the face of the remote. OK, OK as I read on, they MZ-RH1 does indeed come with a single line remote. THE RM-MC40ELK was from an NH1 to see if the screen would work. They said... 16. The RM-MC40ELK 3 Line remote that come with the NH1 (amongst others) works in full with the prototype version of the RH1 Well, thought I had some Earth shaking news but now I see they just borrowed from an NH1, but since it works, could get another RM-MC40ELK for the MZ-RH1 or MZ-M200. Just thinking out loud again. O

UHM, instead of building all your electronics to curb voltage variances, have you considered just applying the 4volts to the battery terminals with a dummy battery for the plug? This would allow the MZ-RH1 to use its own electronics and you are not going to accidentally damage this expensive recorder by feeding the wrong voltage in a USB port. Just a thought. O

(((( By the gods Sony, what the heck is wrong with you folks? This recorder should come STANDARD with that remote. It seems that we are one again taking a step forward, only to take another back)))) Hey, don't take away SONY's chance at a follow-up recorder, you can't have everything at once, you have gots to take it slowly, ahem, lolol Besides, LOOK AT WHAT YOU ARE GETTING!!!!!!!!!!!!! (((( Would it be possible to power the unit through the USB w/o the lithium battery )))) Look in the manual, I think it requires the battery in place when the usb charger is inserted. I am trying to reason, that the battery acts like a filter to prevent spurious voltage spikes to invade and damage the recorder electronics. One of them suckers will have my name on it!!! O

The MZ-Rh1 has a sister unit, the MZ-M200. Have not found any dates for availablity, just as with the MZ-RH1. The manual indicates the only difference between the two is the type of microphone supplied with the units. Otherwise, they seem to be carbon copies. Both advertisements show the units in BLACK. The MZ-M200 was priced at around $100 bucks more than the MZ-RH1, but that was not a final price, expect it to be cheaper. Another fine HiMD product from Sony, Gen 3

How does PREORDERING WORK??? Do you have to pay them now or wait till the MZ-RH1 is at the store? Seems kinda dumb to let them hold your money till it arrives, could be a month? O

The biggest thing that SONY likes to jump back and forth on is Inputs and Outputs. the MZ-RH1 and MZ-M200 has all the Inputs and outputs (mic, line"in/out", usb, opt"in"). You need to look at the manual but I don't beleive the units you are looking at has all the inputs or outputs. I beleive all have computer access with USB. You have to watch what Sony intended the units for. If it was a NetMD, it was intended for downloading mostly and has few inputs and only headphone output. Some models gain a line input or out put but SONY was not generous with these on the NetMD models and more often took them away. Thats why the rage is with the soon to be released MZ-RH1 and MZ-M200 which basically have almost every feature that Sony ever had. You really need to look at the manuals and see what catches your eye. O

The Walmart and Best Buy had crap quality MDs here and I never looked at Circuit (jump on you ) city. I have bought my MD's from the internet for ever now. I am not sure why the big concern, the us market was not too hot to begin with but MD's are very hot in Japan and Europe. They will be popular and available for quite some time. If you are so concerned about the MD's, STOCKPILE THEM! buy them and store them for future use. No one knows where the MD will go now that the MZ-RH1 and MZ-M200 are coming out. Face it, these two units are the greatest leap ahead that SONY has made since MD's came onto the market. It is true that the market that SONY is looking at is changing a bit, a bit more PROFESSIONAL in nature but that makes the future of the MD brighter. But when you talk about these generic stores discontinuing MD disks, well, what are you thinking??? THe MD does not make or break by the mere existance of WALLMART! You have one of the most advance recording systems known today so ENJOY IT. USE IT and ignore these stores that drop product lines because they can't make megabucks from them. "Ever see how Radio Crap drops products off the shelf? Notice they are selling Cell Phones now?" BTW, I would never buy a MD from Radio Crap, I don't trust their product. So get on line and start buying the MDs and store them for use later. Enjoy your gadget and have fun and don't sweat the small stuff. O

Ok, I just scrolled through the Owners manual for the MZ-RH1 / MZ-M200 and here is the difference that I can find..... The microphones sent with the units are different! Can this be true? These are exact duplicate models except for the Mic? I guess when you build the premier HiMD recorder, it is tough to make better on the next one. Hope they get the RH1 here soon. lolol

I am excitedly waiting for the unit to become available. Now it has a sister in the MD HiMD world. Anyone know what the difference is supposed to be between the MZ-RH1 and the MZ-M200? It ( MZ-M200 ) is being released now and the pictures of it look EXACTLY like the MZ-RH1 all the way down to the led screen and buttons. However the only price I have found is at least $100 over the MZ-RH1. That makes the second model to come out this year. What are the differences, anyone care to explain this one???? O

<<<<<<< WELL, Happy Aprils FOool to me then. lol That was a great article, and beleive it or not, similar things have happened in other industries. Perhaps that why I beleived it possible. But hands down, this MZ-RH1 is basically UNTOUCHABLE in comparison by any other medium for music portability, recording, oh you know, etc etc etc. IF Sony were to come out with additional models, look for very simple changes, mostly looks, maybe outside power source(extra batt). ANY device can, and will be bettered by developement, but this is SONYs flagship and since we are enjoying the beggining of the deployment of delivery and sales, at this time, there IS NO BETTER available. Yes, guess I am quite excited about this unit. You couldn't ask for much more. If this one is great, what will the next version of the MD player/recorder offer??? Just thinking about it just bogles the mind. As for the home deck, just plug the line-out in the system. Sony had some problems with the standard MD home decks then they stopped making them. They will be hard pressed to make more in the near future, or may they will slap me down and make tons of them (hope so). SLAP ME HARD SONY! No matter how anyone feels, the MZ-RH1 is the hot model and as I see it, will meet just about anyones needs. Sony, I think we have a winner here. O

The MZ-RH1 is the best news to come in a long time. What a catch this is. Loaded with all the goodies Sony ever invented on the MD line-up. The article about how the MZ-HR1 was developed by the engineers explains a lot if you think about it. There are some thread comments about being uncomfortable because there is only one unit coming out. The article clearly says that the MZ-RH1 is loaded with everything that the MD customers wanted. Simply put, there is nothing else that could be added. They loaded this one with everything they could throw in, short of the kitchen sink of course. I chuckled where SONY told the engineers that they cannot develope anything in the MD market without permission from SONY management. Sometimes you have to go ahead and make a statement, don't ya? But look at the reviews this unit is getting! Have you looked? The reviewers are having trouble coming up with enough good things to say. thats a good thing. I have looked for a unit with all the input and Output of a normal deck unit and this one has it. One review commented about the MZ-RH1 as being equiped with all the functions of a shelf audio unit all put into a small portable case. Think about what they said! No time in the past did SONY MD units have that kind of functionality avaliable. It figures the engineers had to go undercover (stealth) to develope the ultimate machine. Now is SONY really angry that all that developement money was spent on this (foolish) endeavour, or are they ready to rake in the money???? I feel there might be a glut of older MD units as people purchase this new "one size serves all" MZ-RH1. I gotta tell ya, soon as they are here in the States, There will be one with my name on it. O