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A Beautiful Revelation -- the Epic MZ-RH1 Arrives


Christopher

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Have you found anyone willing to import the device to the U.S.? Minidisco.com told me to hang-tight, but I just cant seem to do so!

-Adam

Import? hmmm ... sorry, but have no idea. I live in Tokyo and have often been asked by people living in the other countries whether Japanese retailers who can arrange shipments to overseas exist. As far as I know, no retailers here take purchasing orders from foreign countries ... probably due to low profitability (or language barrier?)

side note: while it was initially believed that, as a 'special version', 'black' RH1 would be available only through Sony's WEB shop here, a reliable source said that Sony changed their mind. Both 'silver' and 'black' will be equally available at retailers.

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side note: while it was initially believed that, as a 'special version', 'black' RH1 would be available only through Sony's WEB shop here, a reliable source said that Sony changed their mind. Both 'silver' and 'black' will be equally available at retailers.

I was told the same just yesterday at Sony Building in Ginza.

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I remember ainticipating the release of the NH1 (and HiMD in general) and as soon as it was available in the US the electronics stores in NYC were shipping 'em out. Datavis sold the NH1 for $309 which I think was the lowest price on opening day...I hope the RH1 is like $274.

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Sorry people but I have to correct myself on one statement I made earlier. When I got the RH1 to test we briefly tested the 3-line remote (RM-MC40ELK) with the RH1 and at first sight not all lines seemed to be supported to we stated the RH1 doesn't support the 3-line remote. Sadly it was at the trainstation so we were in a bit of a hurry.

Today however Richyhu payed us a visited and he had also a RM-MC40ELK with him so we were able to test it a little bit more and it appeared that there is FULL support for the remote but that in just the one displaymode we tested not all lines were used. In our final review I will include a picture of the RH1 with the remote connected when all lines of the remote are in use (to give you final proof).

Sorry for the wrong info we gave on that one.

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Anxiously awaiting...do you have an idea of when this might be?

MDFreak is finishing off his review in dutch right now and I am working on the translation into English. All being well we can try and get this done this by this weekend.

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Anxiously awaiting...do you have an idea of when this might be?

Hopefully by the end of this week or early next week. It depents for the greatest part on when I get the official software that will be supplied with the RH1. Probably tomorrow I will get the CD-rom via mail and than I will need some days to test all the new functions in the software and have to add the findings to the review. Furthermore we want to launch an English version at the same time I release the (originally) Dutch version. Richyhu is working on that so he will also need some time after I have finished the review.

MDFreak is finishing off his review in dutch right now and I am working on the translation into English. All being well we can try and get this done this by this weekend.

You were a little bit faster B)

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I hope the RH1 is like $274.

I'm thinking along the same lines. Once the unit is officially released in the US I'm thinking it will be available for $250 US or less. I don't think that is wishful thinking either--as long as it gets released in the US that is.

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I'm really thrilled about all of this. I had started moving my legacy ATRAC 4.0 and ATRAC R files to computer by toslink in real time, saving them as wav files, and re-titling before burning to CD and trans-coding to high-bitrate MP3s for my ipod.

I've got a couple hundred or so legacy minidsics. My LP collection is on minidisc. I've got some great legacy minidsic equipment I bought on huge sales, including a sony ES recorder, a Sony 5CD / 5 MD recorder / tuner / kitchen sink, an MD deck with a keyboard input, and a couple of portables. I can't wait to start using my computer with this medium too. I never had any use for the netmd stuff.

So count me in -- I'll be picking up an MZ-RH1 rather than picking up a newer generation ipod as I had previously planned. :ok:

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I hope more 3rd gen units come out, and not just one.

And what those units have to look like? Do they have to be even higher-end or lower? Remeber, Sony stopped marketing MD as an mp3-player-alternative so you will not see any "budget" models anymore that lack microphone inputs and such because they realy don't sell that good. They now (finally) start marketing MD as a live-recording medium or a high-end player. In that there is no place for alternatives of the RH1 that are cheaper and lack vital functions.

So as for me: better one very good model then 10 models that are not up to their task (and thus don't sell).

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Hey guys

I just found this article on Sony's German webpage.

It clearly states that you can also download Music onto the MZ-RH1 with the Mac software.

It also says something about a vertical jogdial (to search for songs by title artist,..).

I don't know what they mean by that, probably the button you can push up and down.

There is some confusing picture with it but it's a bit small:

IPB Image

At least it would mean the display also shows the track title which is very important from my point of view.

Or can anyone explain me how to use the "line out" function without seeing the track titles among 50-500 songs?

edit: I'm not sure about the downloading modes on Mac.

It might only work with WAV

Edited by Hironiemus
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Hey guys

I just found this article on Sony's German webpage.

It clearly states that you can also download Music onto the MZ-RH1 with the Mac software.

It also says something about a vertical jogdial (to search for songs by title artist,..).

I don't know what they mean by that, probably the button you can push up and down.

There is some confusing picture with it but it's a bit small:

1141922858454.jpg

At least it would mean the display also shows the track title which is very important from my point of view.

Or can anyone explain me how to use the "line out" function without seeing the track titles among 50-500 songs?

Like already said in other topics: the articles on the European Sony sites (NL, DE, UK etc.) are based on "old" information from the time the RH1 was still being developed. That's why there are a number of errors in it:

- picture on first page implies the button on the right of the RH1 is a microphone: it isn't a microphone, it is the jog-lever.

- they talk about a search-button on the RH1: there is no search-button.

- they talk about a jog-dial (seen on the left on the old "photoshopped" picture): there is no jog-dial, there is a jog-lever and it is on the right. On the left the RH1 has the eject-button.

- they talk about running it on a AA battery: there is no dry-battery-case available and no place on the RH1 to connect it too so the only source of power is the internal Li-ION battery.

I already sent Sony these comments but as it is a big organisation it will probably take some time before these "mistakes" are corrected.

What I can confirm is that the MAC-software will be able to download from MAC to MD.

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And what those units have to look like? Do they have to be even higher-end or lower? Remeber, Sony stopped marketing MD as an mp3-player-alternative so you will not see any "budget" models anymore that lack microphone inputs and such because they realy don't sell that good. They now (finally) start marketing MD as a live-recording medium or a high-end player. In that there is no place for alternatives of the RH1 that are cheaper and lack vital functions.

So as for me: better one very good model then 10 models that are not up to their task (and thus don't sell).

For me, looks arn't that important, its the features that are important. The reason NetMD and Hi-MD didn't sell well is because they didn't playback mp3 files. (that's my theory anyways.). If they did play back mp3's (NON-CRIPPLED) from the start then they would have had better sales.

I think it would be a mistake for Sony to market MD as a pure recording format only and not for playback purposes. They should, at least, market it for both types of crowds

I love the idea of removable storage that Hi-MD offers. $12 (canadian) for 1 gig is reasonable, $60 for a 1 gig SD card is not. Also, Hard-drive players arn't for me (who *needs* 20 gigs with them at all times?..that's crazy), and I hate the limited amount of space flash-players have. CD/MP3 players I hate with a passion..can't erase a single song without formatting the whole disc.

When I read that the 2nd gen units could play mp3's, I almost purchased one..then I read it was cripped..that deterred me from purchasing it. Now that it is not (apparently), I'd be willing to buy one if they offered a unit without the mic input.

I think Sony would make a mistake by not offering one now.

Edited by SilverBlade
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Sorry people but I have to correct myself on one statement I made earlier. When I got the RH1 to test we briefly tested the 3-line remote (RM-MC40ELK) with the RH1 and at first sight not all lines seemed to be supported to we stated the RH1 doesn't support the 3-line remote. Sadly it was at the trainstation so we were in a bit of a hurry.

Today however Richyhu payed us a visited and he had also a RM-MC40ELK with him so we were able to test it a little bit more and it appeared that there is FULL support for the remote but that in just the one displaymode we tested not all lines were used. In our final review I will include a picture of the RH1 with the remote connected when all lines of the remote are in use (to give you final proof).

Sorry for the wrong info we gave on that one.

This is fantastic news. Thanks!

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Hey guys

I just found this article on Sony's German webpage.

It clearly states that you can also download Music onto the MZ-RH1 with the Mac software.

It also says something about a vertical jogdial (to search for songs by title artist,..).

I don't know what they mean by that, probably the button you can push up and down.

There is some confusing picture with it but it's a bit small:

IPB Image

At least it would mean the display also shows the track title which is very important from my point of view.

Or can anyone explain me how to use the "line out" function without seeing the track titles among 50-500 songs?

edit: I'm not sure about the downloading modes on Mac.

It might only work with WAV

So does the main unit display track information? Big minus to me if it can't display track info.

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Hopefully by the end of this week or early next week. It depents for the greatest part on when I get the official software that will be supplied with the RH1. Probably tomorrow I will get the CD-rom via mail and than I will need some days to test all the new functions in the software and have to add the findings to the review. Furthermore we want to launch an English version at the same time I release the (originally) Dutch version. Richyhu is working on that so he will also need some time after I have finished the review.

Thanks a lot.

looking forward to seeing the review before getting a black one from jp :lol:

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Thanks a lot.

looking forward to seeing the review before getting a black one from jp :lol:

Thursday is the official release in Japan so we try to get in online tomorrow of wednesday. The Dutch version is already finished but we wait untill the English version is also ready. Otherwise I know a lot of people will try to read it via a Babelfish-translation and those translations are so bad that they only lead to confusion so that will not be very helpful.

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Thursday is the official release in Japan so we try to get in online tomorrow of wednesday. The Dutch version is already finished but we wait untill the English version is also ready. Otherwise I know a lot of people will try to read it via a Babelfish-translation and those translations are so bad that they only lead to confusion so that will not be very helpful.

MDfreak, now that you're done with the RH1, please send it to me along with 3 grams of caramella. :D

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