Is A Hi-md Player Necessary?

[peare]

Since all HI-MD's are the portable ones, what is the necessity of a player only model? A good USB equipped deck is still not in the horizon. So I dont think it is wise to buy a player.

[yamagatacamille]

i'm not sure about the onkyo decks using USB... but i'm sure those hi-md play-only units are useful; i'll bet people pair it up w/ a hi-md recorder (ie NH1) for recording only and use the player to relieve stress on the recorder

[Guest tony wong]

Since all HI-MD's are the portable ones, what is the necessity of a player only model? A good USB equipped deck is still not in the horizon. So I dont think it is wise to buy a player.

←

no, u r wrong

there is a bookshelf for Hi-MD : LAM-X1

with 6x cd to md dubbing

[peare]

no, u r wrong

there is a bookshelf for Hi-MD : LAM-X1

with 6x cd to md dubbing

←

Yes! I forgot that, still it is bookshelf model not a deck. I still wait to replace my 940 & 50ES

[ROMBUSTERS]

plus its just convinent because it can also play standard MD (obviously)

[Fat Tires]

i'm not sure about the onkyo decks using USB... but i'm sure those hi-md play-only units are useful; i'll bet people pair it up w/ a hi-md recorder (ie NH1) for recording only and use the player to relieve stress on the recorder

←

I do not, and have not ever owned a deck, but I use a MDP extensively. The reason for my choise is primarily due to the increased battery life I gain, but I also think I'm saving wear on the unit and thereby saving myself from having issues with the recording mechanism. I've heard about many users who complain that the optical block has failed on their recorder. I do not wish to be one of them.

With that said, I'd loveto see a proper Hi-MD deck released. I'd be sure to get one.

[Guest tony wong]

I do not, and have not ever owned a deck, but I use a MDP extensively. The reason for my choise is primarily due to the increased battery life I gain, but I also think I'm saving wear on the unit and thereby saving myself from having issues with the recording mechanism. I've heard about many users who complain that the optical block has failed on their recorder. I do not wish to be one of them.

With that said, I'd loveto see a proper Hi-MD deck released. I'd be sure to get one.

←

will u consider a Hi-MD computer drive instead?

[Fat Tires]

No I would not consider a Hi-MD computer drive, Tony. The portable recorder would be an adequate computer drive. I do not see any reason for Sony to develop any such device when the portables can be seen as a storage device by Windows/Linux/Mac. I am also satisfied with Sonicstage for music transfer when I choose not to do an optical recording from my CD deck.

I do think that the need for a high quality Hi-MD seperate stereo component deck exists. Many MD/Hi-MD users have nice home stereos and wish to listen their recordings/dubs on them. Using my portable MD gear with a mini-RCA cable is a pretty unwielding and aesthetically unappealing. I'd purchase a quality audio deck for my system. I don't want to pay the Onkyo premium price though.

[Andy]

My understanding of the Hi-MD discs is that to read them, they need to be written to (since writing is more accurate than reading, there are two "window" layers above the data layer which are written to in order to focus on the data below), although it is likely that this is just a poor description coming from the marketting, it makes me think that a player-only unit will still have all the same components as a recorder - and I wouldn't be surprised if the battery life isn't so impressive too.

[Guest tony wong]

No I would not consider a Hi-MD computer drive, Tony. The portable recorder would be an adequate computer drive. I do not see any reason for Sony to develop any such device when the portables can be seen as a storage device by Windows/Linux/Mac. I am also satisfied with Sonicstage for music transfer when I choose not to do an optical recording from my CD deck.

I do think that the need for a high quality Hi-MD seperate stereo component deck exists. Many MD/Hi-MD users have nice home stereos and wish to listen their recordings/dubs on them. Using my portable MD gear with a mini-RCA cable is a pretty unwielding and aesthetically unappealing. I'd purchase a quality audio deck for my system. I don't want to pay the Onkyo premium price though.

←

no, that's different

usually a portable will wear out in 1 to 2 years time

whereas a record only machine won't

e.g. My DHC MD313 use for about 8 years

but the portable only can be used for around 4 years(E35)

and 2 years(E710)

and I'd like u to know :

if u have made a legal MD copy from a legally bought cd, it's obviously much better to play back the original cd than the downgraded MD

[Guest tony wong]

My understanding of the Hi-MD discs is that to read them, they need to be written to (since writing is more accurate than reading, there are two "window" layers above the data layer which are written to in order to focus on the data below), although it is likely that this is just a poor description coming from the marketting, it makes me think that a player-only unit will still have all the same components as a recorder - and I wouldn't be surprised if the battery life isn't so impressive too.

←

no, the new model will be as just slim as ur old playback only E series do

[Fat Tires]

I'm not refering to home units wearing out, although I'm sure it happens. I'm specifically refering to the common problems that portable recorders such as the MZ-N1 had with their optical block failing. I use my recorder at home only to make MDs. My MZ-E710 serves as my portable recorder. It's over a year old and it's still working great.

As to your second point about the quality difference between a SP and LP2 recorded track. It's well known that SP sounds better.

[Fat Tires]

no, the new model will be as just slim as ur old playback only E series do

←

Tony, have you used a MZ-EH1 or seen the MZ-EH930 to make this comparison?

[Guest tony wong]

Tony, have you used a MZ-EH1 or seen the MZ-EH930 to make this comparison?

←

don't be misleading

when I am talking about E series, I am talking about E720 or E620 or even E730

[Fat Tires]

Why would we discuss MDLP only units in a thread titled "Is A Hi-md Player Necessary?" The slimness of older units has nothing to do with the utility of having a player only unit for HI-MD recordings.

[Guest tony wong]

Why would we discuss MDLP only units in a thread titled "Is A Hi-md Player Necessary?" The slimness of older units has nothing to do with the utility of having a player only unit for HI-MD recordings.

←

it's because he's talking about slimness

and he doubt the slimness of the new playback only model

and it's wrong

EH930 sure have a depth of around 14mm only

[Guest tony wong]

The reason for a player only Hi-MD unit is obvious :

it's for the people who still using MD

it's obvious not so wise to buy a recorder unit when they will only use it as a playback only unit

the price difference between player only and recording unit will be obvious

it's just not convinceable to ask someone to buy a recorder at over $300 but never use it as recorder

or buy a bulky side low end model that looks stupid

it fits the needs for old MD follower and a chance to get into Hi-MD family if they want with this player only unit

my only doubt is : why it can't be used as reader for data storage?

it should be good to see a player only unit can also have a usb plug, and upload(upload only) data files to pc

[added]

more to say :

this player only unit provide u the chance to use a Hi-MD disc

well, today there's no deck doesn't tomorrow there will be none

and, as u can see, there are almost no MD player available in the market now

it's a must for Sony to release model to these people who want MD playback only

there are complaints in hk about they found no MD players anymore in the market

and they do not want to pay so high price as $300 for a player

Edited March 3, 2005 by tony wong

[Fat Tires]

If a unit has a USB port, then it would at least be a downloader unit. Think of the NetMD unit MZ-NE810 or Hi-MD unit MZ-NH3D as examples. Both of those units are basically player only units, and they are slim. They aren't as slimm as a MZ-E930 though. They have the added benefit of working with Sonicstage to get music from the PC.

Sony Will never release a player only unit with USB for data use only. If there is a USB port on a unit, that unit will work with Sonicstage. That's the only sensible way to do things.