My new MZ-M100

[antiorario]

I hope I'll be excused if this is just a show-off topic, but I've just got a new MZ-M100 off eBay, for what I think is a very reasonable price (US$349.00 including shipping to Italy), and I'm already pleased.

The thing that pleases me most is the fact that the unit is apparently charging via USB. I am sure this is not new, but I probably didn't pay attention if someone said this before (I've always been too excited about a Mac-compatible Hi-MD to pay attention to smaller details).

I think the OLED display looks awesome, and I'm also very pleased with the sound level in the headphones. But this is probably because all other MD/Hi-MD Walkmans (I don't think the plural is "walkmen," is it?) were European models, thus, as we all know, crippled at birth.

In the end, since I became an iPod user last year (which covers all my listening needs), I'm not too worried about the fact that not having SonicStage for Mac OS X limits my possibilities with the MZ-M100. I sill believe in Hi-MD as a great recording device, and, as others have said, I'll stick to it as long as it's functional and convenient. Being a little sentimental, I'll probably stick to it when it's not anymore... Contrary to what others think, I don't want Sony to beat Apple. It would be enough for Sony to acknowledge Apple (which seems to be starting), if not even embrace it.

[sebastianbf]

Congratulation for the new unit!

It would be nice if you post your thoughts comparing your ipod ant your new minidisc. Which one do you like the most? What about sound quality?

Enjoy your little boy

ps: I've read several times about the mzrh10 getting scratched very easily. Do a search in the forums to get some advice on how to potect the unit from scratches.

[antiorario]

It would be nice if you post your thoughts comparing your ipod ant your new minidisc. Which one do you like the most? What about sound quality?

I've always enjoyed the sound quality of all my MD players. When I used MDs for carrying my music, I usually recorded in SP (back in the day) or Hi-SP (more recently), so the quality was awesome. With my switch to iPod, I did notice some "flattening" in the overall feeling I get from the sound (using the same Sony MDR-G73 earphones, which I find much more comfortable than the in-ear earphones provided by both Walman and iPod products). This flattening can be in part compensated by adjusting the equalizer settings in iTunes. Also, I started converting my CDs only to AAC (at 256 kbps or higher) because I realized the sound I got out of MP3 (even at 320 kbps) was totally unsatisfactory.

Last week, finally getting my ears on my old MDs, I was impressed by the depth I got out of them, which apparently I had forgotten about (again, I guess ATRAC3 sounds better than MP3, but the Hi-MD Walkman also has a good amp).

One more thing: I uploaded some old (non-Hi-) MDs to my computer via analog and in real-time, using a combination of a Creative SoundBlaster MP3+ and Rogue Amoeba's Audio Hijack Pro for Mac OS X, which allowed me to record directly to AAC. The result is that now that music still sounds quite rich on the iPod too, despite the combination of compression and analog transfer it went through.

Once again, for music portability nothing can beat a 60 GB iPod, especially considering that (in my opinion, but I know a lot of people would agree) iTunes works like magic (it has a few flaws, but I've seen and used SonicStage, WMP, RealOne, you name it, they all disappoint me in some big way). On the other hand, for my recording needs, Hi-MD still is the top choice.

Edited February 17, 2006 by antiorario

[1kyle]

Of course when your 60 GB device gets broken or stolen --you've got a prob re-creating all your music.

Now with MD's --the worst that can happen is you lose 1 unit + 1 disk.

Being in the middle of ripping all my CD's (hopefully for the last time) to ATRC3 Lossless I NEVER want to have to do this exercise again. Re-creating 60GB of music wouldn't also be my idea of fun either.

Also what do you do with these devices if you want to buy a new one. AFAIK there isn't any easy option copying music between these devices.

I don't like ITUNES or any other music downl;oad service which doesn't give me UNCOMPRESSED music and the ability to play it on whatever machine I choose so the convenience or otherwise of a HD player vs MD player for downloaded music doesn't interest me --however losing / re-creating music DOES.

Don't think it won't happen that you will lose music --it certainly will.

Long time computer users know to their cost what happens if they don't back up data regularly --apart from hard disk failures it's easy to delete data by mistake.

With decently labelled minidiscs your collection is safe, secure and will play on any minidisc player on the planet (assuming ATRAC type recording rather than MP3).

Cheers

-K

[antiorario]

Of course when your 60 GB device gets broken or stolen --you've got a prob re-creating all your music.

Well, this isn't really accurate: what's on the iPod's HDD is a copy of the music that was ripped from CD or downloaded from the store, whose main copy still resides on my computer's hard drive, so if I lose my iPod (or sell it, like I did with my 4th generation one), all I need to do is plug a new one into my iBook and in a few minutes I'm ready to go again.

Also what do you do with these devices if you want to buy a new one. AFAIK there isn't any easy option copying music between these devices.

As I said, once you rip your music you only copy it to the iPod, you don't move it (but this happens with Hi-MD too, so I don't see the big difference here). Plus, there are a few tools out there (easy to find, usually free, for both PC and Mac) to help you extract music files from the iPod. They are very useful, not if you lose your iPod but if you lose your computer. Contrary to what happens with MD and Hi-MD (downside of the format), iPods store actual MP3/AAC files, so if you know where the files are and how to retrieve them, it's very, very easy to transfer them back to a computer. Again, this can't be said about MDs. Well, I know that the new version of SonicStage makes it easier, but still.

I don't like ITUNES or any other music downl;oad service which doesn't give me UNCOMPRESSED music and the ability to play it on whatever machine I choose so the convenience or otherwise of a HD player vs MD player for downloaded music doesn't interest me --however losing / re-creating music DOES.

I'm not fond of the iTunes Music Store either, although I've bough some music from it, but that's beside the point here. Anyway, you can play music bought from the iTMS on as many iPods as you want and on up to five different computers at a time. Way more than the average music/computer geek needs ;-)

I used to be very skeptical about HDD-based players, but I have to say that the iPod won me over. I can't comment on other HDD players, of course. With this, I totally understand that different people have different needs and approaches to the way they listen to their music and organize their collection and their data. I still think (I will never say this enough) that Hi-MD kicks ass in many ways, and I won't stop using it, although only for some specific purpose.

Edited February 18, 2006 by antiorario

[mrock]

I hope I'll be excused if this is just a show-off topic, but I've just got a new MZ-M100 off eBay, for what I think is a very reasonable price (US$349.00 including shipping to Italy), and I'm already pleased.

I have been using the MZ-M100 for about a month, and am very happy with the purchase. I paid about CAD$500.

I had never owned a minidisc before, and purchased this one for doing interviews in qualitative academic research. (I opted to go with a minidisc on the advice of a journalist friend. I began recording digitally about 2 years ago, and did not even look at a minidisc then.) So while my needs and priorities do differ from many members, I found the forum very helpful when I was making this purchasing decision. The features of this 'pro-line' machine are just what a qualitative researcher would want: cheap high-volume removable storage media, excellent recording quality with included external microphone, USB-uploading, AC-adapter, small, lightweight, solid protective case, etc.

I am glad that I took some time to try it out at home, etc., before using in field situations. The buttons that need to be pushed for recording to begin are not that intuitive, for example.

The unit has now been used to record in public places (worst case: fountain as background 'white' noise), in focus group situations (about 15 participants), and private homes. Very, very good results. The microphone suppied with the MZ100 records in stereo, not mono like my Crown PMZ, and is at least as good at picking up and evening out people's voices. I REALLY like not having to ask people to cosy up to the microphone or sit directly across from me at their kitchen table because I am worried about not being able to hear what was said later on. I should say that, unlike radio journalists, I just need to be able to understand what was said; I will never need to use the original audio in a professional capacity. More to the point, I want students, etc. hired as transcriptionists to be able to pick out what was said. So it's more important to me that people feel as comfortable as possible than to have perfect recording quality. Nevertheless, I made this purchase because the recording quality of the dictation-oriented digital recorder that I already own (a Sony ICD-P17) did not pass muster.

On the basis of my experience so far, I plan to recommend that my institution buy a few units for students to use when doing interviews for research projects. USB-uploading capacity makes a big difference here, so students could share the units.

I already have a scratch on the front cover. If I get around to it (and the resident toddler permits), I might try some tips posted on the forum to remove the scratch. If not, well, it's a travelling machine, and I value the internal features and durable casing more than a pristine appearance. I have begun using a disused camera case to lug it around, since I do want to plug in the AC-adapter when recording, whenever possible. Before starting to the use this camera case, the MZ100 was pratcially being strangled by the wires from itsw peripherals. I use my old Clié stuffsack (don't even ask) and the stuffsack supplied with the MZ100 to transport the microphone and the headphones, and put the MZ100 itself in a zipped compartment on the front (which was probably intended to store extra or drained batteries for a camera user).

So far, so good, so long.