Quick Thoughts On Rh910

[Damage]

And been playing around with it for about couple of days. While Damage this time isn't the trend-setter that I was last year (Man, that was sweet with one of the first HiMD units. hehehe), I did get onboard for the 2nd gen. Here are some quick thoughts on the unit. Unlike the 1st gen, the 2nd gen comes with MP3 abilities, so I tried more of that, since that is the biggest focus on the second get go.

1. Seamless MP3, or as close to it without fudging things much. By this, I mean the same gapless you get from transcoded MP3s, you get with native MP3 playback. There is still a distinct gap, however. In quiet transitions, you won't notice it. In concert sets (or long electronica) here's is still an audible gap, which still jarrs you out of the experience. This isn't bad as HD DAPS though.

2. MP3 sound quality seems slightly off... I think in the end, its no better or worse than any other Sony MP3 products. I've been sticking with sony's MP3 decoder for a better part of this decade hardware wise, so I think that comes into play here. Digital AMP makes the unit more pleasant, since the ever present low-level noise isn't there, for the most part. (D-NE520, despite it having a Digital AMP, buzzed in a very annoying manner..)

I'd hope that it would've been nicer/better overall, considering the MD at one point carried that high quality sound reputation...

3. File View is nice, but I believe it to be vestigial. It would be nice if you can store some text files and read it (especially during playback, since this function is disabled during playback). It might have better use on DH10P, but not on a RH910.

4. RH910 could've gone with high-res backlit LCD ala D-NE9/5XX series, and probably would've had very little impact on final unit price. If you're going to job the US market of a remote, at least give us a backlit LCD.

5. Speaking of Remotes, the RM-MC40ELK works wonders. The navigation functionalities work on the remote as it would on the remote. While the navigation scheme's changed from the 1st gen to the 2nd gen (I prefer the 1st gen, it's quicker with normal mode), the whole general idea remains the same. The MC40ELK makes it all that much better. RM-MC5X series loses out here, as the search button is disabled. That is questionable since the PCDP folks managed to nicely simulate the search UI with one line remote quite elegantly.

6. Unit feels much more solid than the NH900, 800 or 600. This was said several times, and I'll repeat it here. The mirrored surface picks up fingerprints and minor scratches easily, which was also said many a times. PDA screen overlay saver thingy would be mighty useful. The thickness? It's about 1.5x the thickness of the NH1. No, it won't win any pagents like NH1 would, but I see some of the design carried over from NH1 to the 910/10 series. I also think the new orientation of the player was inspired by iPod (making it "taller" vs. "wider")...

7. USB charging is a nice perk, but I'd still keep that wall wart charger around. I think I need to find a way to get the RH10/910 dock from elsewhere though.

8. You know, if they wanted to get the iPod crowd, they should've made this white, gave it two 1GB blanks, and removed the LCD, call it HiMDShuffle or something. I'm reaching for things here.

9. Gone is the line-out and VPF. But come on, did you really use the VPF? I did on some occassion. The EQ works well equally on Atrac3plus and MP3 files, so no worries there ala HD3.

10. You can try the initial search before the HD5 gets released. Again, it's a nice feature, allowing you to quickly find the individual songs, songs by artists, etc. I suspect though, it works better on a larger capacity players vs. a 1GB one.

So, my thoughts overall, they're one generation late. This really should've been the NH1/900/800/600 from the get go. It is better late than never, but one wonders...

And Sony should seriously investigate a simple drag and drop extension for Explorer or some sort of easy file manager for the HiMD, I think that's the biggest obstacle here. If I were Howard, I'd seriously call Steve in Appleland and take up on his offer of iTunes.

But I'm not Howard, and neither are you.

[Christopher]

They will read this, though.

This is really an excellent summation, that kinda fills in the holes that were left by the other reviews. With your style, you don't need to see pictures - the words do well enough.

[erictioh84]

i'm not quite understand about digital amp, what is that? may i have better detail?

[rszasz]

digital amp usualy refers to a delta sigma converter (aka 1 bit amplifier). A digital amp allows for fewer passive components, and filtering in the digital domain instead of the analog (less ringing, better alias protection).

[bug80]

Excellent short review, thanks. I'm thinking of buying a RH910 myself.

[Damage]

For all practical purposes, the Digital Amp appears to have very little (if any) changes to SQ (in the case of Sony audio items, I have more than my fair share).

In terms of Sony's audio products, the Digital Amp does help with passive noise, in that there isn't any (in 2/3 items with Digital Amp, this has been true). And supposedly help with battery life as well, though that seems to have been... ignored.

HD Digital Amp does alter the SQ somewhat, but I believe it to be very inconsequential to most users here and nearly all general audiences. The difference is there, but it's neither blatant nor dramatic as Panasonic's D-Sound AMP system, for example.

My biggest beef with this unit is the LCD. If a $80 PCDP (D-NE520) can have a high-res backlit LCD on unit, then there really isn't any good excuse for the RH910 not to have one. It is one of the most puzzling and questionable decisions with regards to a unit that is otherwise well designed.

Oh, and don't half-ass the multilingual aspects either. Seriously, just because this is the US doesn't mean that we only use latin languages. Get the multilanguage support right, this mean the proper display of tag info, easy way to change the language menu, etc.

[Christopher]

They probably have market studies and watch annual domestic reports to determine what languages are going to more useful than another.

[streaml1ne]

My biggest beef with this unit is the LCD.  If a $80 PCDP (D-NE520) can have a high-res backlit LCD on unit, then there really isn't any good excuse for the RH910 not to have one.  It is one of the most puzzling and questionable decisions with regards to a unit that is otherwise well designed.

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That's the point of the RH10. If they put a better LCD on the 910 why would anyone bother buying the 10.

[Damage]

That's the point of the RH10. If they put a better LCD on the 910 why would anyone bother buying the 10.

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OLED and LCD look significantly different. That wasn't my point, however.

The point is, is that a CD player that's 1/2 the cost of the RH910 has a better LCD and makes better use of it than the RH910's normal LCD. Considering that, why not a backlit LCD for the 910 and the 710?

Sony's jobbing the US market of any decent remotes, the least we deserve is a functional LCD that's on a comparable priced Flash or HD-DAP. That's the point.