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Mz-nh900 - Impressions

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citizen_52

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I bought a MZ-NH900 a few days ago. This is my third Minidisc machine. I've used each a lot and enjoyed each one until it finally quit working. Even with all the insane digital rights software, etc, this is almost an incredibly great piece of equipment. With just a few changes it could be great. Here are my impressions:

THUMBS UP:

* Complete kit with all accessories.

* Small, light, fits pocket easily.

* USB file download works. Thank you!

* Great fidelity, good battery life, satisfying results for field recording.

THUMBS DOWN:

* Wall power adapter is USA only, not good for travel.

* Wall power adapter has three (count 'em) RF filters. why?

* Wall power adapter should also have capability to externally charge an additional NH-10WM battery.

* USB cable has has three (count 'em) RF filters. why?

* USB v1 is employed. Should be USB v2.

* Unit will only charge with wall adapter + charging cradle. charging should occur when power adapter is plugged directly to unit. Charging cradle is junk.

* Unit should be able to charge whenever USB is plugged in.

* Display window is WAY too small. Should be at least twice as big.

* Display NEEDS A BACKLIGHT BUTTON. Many of us use these units for recording in poorly lit settings.

* Some settings should be retained in flash ram. In particular, setting "Manual Recording Level" option.

* Disks previously recorded on a MD-SP recorder are not downloadable via USB.

* There should be an ATRAC3+ mode (Hi-XP) in the 132 to 105 kbps range. This is a very useful range.

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I'll be moving this to the Hi-MD forum, but let me address a few things.

I bought a MZ-NH900 a few days ago..

Welcome to the forums, and thanks for a very well-rounded first post. I look forward to more from you. Now, let's get down to business. ph34r.gif

* Wall power adapter is USA only, not good for travel.

* Wall power adapter has three (count 'em) RF filters. why?

* Wall power adapter should also have capability to externally charge an additional NH-10WM battery.

The RF filters are to eliminate interference from a hypothetical poorly built outlet. These can also be a godsend in live recording situations whilst using the AC adapter. Additionally, please do not use that NH-10WM battery - read my Hi-MD battery faq. Plus, have you considered a gumstick charger? That way, you don't have to worry about charging via the unit. The Sony BC-7HT is good for this, but there are many other alternatives.

* USB v1 is employed. Should be USB v2.

I couldn't agree more. wink.gif

* Unit will only charge with wall adapter + charging cradle. charging should occur when power adapter is plugged directly to unit. Charging cradle is junk.

I thought you could charge AC to unit only? Are you sure you hit "Stop" to initate charge?

* Unit should be able to charge whenever USB is plugged in.

Agreed.

* Display window is WAY too small. Should be at least twice as big.

Why? What else do you need to see?

* Display NEEDS A BACKLIGHT BUTTON. Many of us use these units for recording in poorly lit settings.

Sorta agreed, but you must remember that this decrease the battery life quite a bit.

* Some settings should be retained in flash ram. In particular, setting "Manual Recording Level" option.

I agree 1000% on this one.

* There should be an ATRAC3+ mode (Hi-XP) in the 132 to 105 kbps range. This is a very useful range.

Why don't you just use the ATRAC3 bitrates? They're freely encoded in Sonicstage 2.#.

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you can plug your AC adapter straight into the unit, theres a port for it called "DC IN 3V" next to the ports used by the cradle... you can use this to charge or power the unit

ive never used the cradle to charge my NH900

also you may be interested to know that you can actually change recording levels while recording.... for a long while i heard nothing but "it sucks that you have to pause to change levels!!!"... then someone mentioned that you can use the forward and reverse positions on the joystick to adjust the levels

you can also just turn the wheel

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USB2 Support is moot if the data transfer rate of the medium is less than 10 or so megabits per second smile.gif Readjusting rec levels with the jog is cool. but it would be nice if you could default AGC to off so you wouldn't have to do the initial pause and change to manual level control.

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Sony should have used a harder clear plastic to cover the LCD on the MC40ELK remote. Mine picked up minor scratches and scuffs WAY too easily even when I babied it. The clear plastic seems alot softer than the remotes that came with the nh700 and 900.

Edited by streaml1ne
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Just to add - I've had my MZ-NH900 for a couple of days now and and I'm pretty impressed. To be honest I only bought because my old MD was player was on it's last legs and I wanted 44100 16bit PCM recording.

The interface is fine - I dont expect too much from something so small and I always enjoy trying to master new operating systems.

My initial tests have shown the PCM recording to be pretty good. I monitor through Genelec 1029As with a 1081A bass unit. I've A/B'd MZ-NH900 PCM recordings from my desk with what's actually coming out of my desk and so far it's been very hard to tell the difference. That's a thumbs up in my books. I'm going to A/B test with some Mackie HR824s at the weekend.

I was a bit concerned with this post http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=7447 as I thought it didn't show the MZ-NH900 performing that well (although I'm not sure if right mark analyzer can be callibrated for external units) isn't it all about how it sounds anyway wink.gif. My good results may be due to the material that I was using at the time.

My only wish is to be able transfer an exact copy of my old MD recordings to my PC via USB.

Andrew

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-Line out and Headphone out should be separate like they were on my MZ-R37.

-Modern portable electronics are becoming ever increasingly difficult and time consuming to use because manufacturers insist on cost cutting by eliminating manual controls, ports, etc and forcing the user to wade through menus. Camcorders are the worst example.

-Build quality is poor compared to the MZ-R37. I have opened both cases and I can safely say that the MZ-NH900 will not last as long as the older unit.

John

Edited by craftech
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