What's the difference

[jazz_user]

I'm looking to upgrade my old portable recorder and I'm confused with the following Sony models:

MZ-RH1

MZ-RH10

MZ-RH1B

Different web sites seem to mix these up. Which is the newest / best one?

[raintheory]

The RH1 is the newest model,

http://www.minidisc.org/part_Sony_MZ-RH1.html

[MZ-1]

MZ-RH1 is the latest model - just beginning to appear in parts of the world (not USA as of yet).

MZ-RH10 is last year's model

MZ-RH1B assuming this is a notation for the RH1 but black in color.

Paul

[johnsmells]

Rh10s have letters after them also, e.g my rh10 is rh10l cos it is blue, there are gold and i think a red or maybe pink one aswell but chances are you wont get the choice anyway.

MZ-RH1 is newest, but good luck finding one.

[RobA]

Go for the rh10 if:

1. You will be using it as a player as well (has jog dial + large display)

2. Recording without the need to upload legacy tracks.

Go for the rh1 if:

1. You will be ONLY recording and need to upload legacy tracks.

The rh1 is very poor as a player as it lacks a jog dial and cannot display artist/track titles on the small 1 line display, you will have to purchase a $70 remote to make it worth using as a player.

The rh10 is the best all around player and can also be a great recorder, if you don't need uploading of legacy tracks.

[bobt]

Go for the rh10 if:

1. You will be using it as a player as well (has jog dial + large display)

2. Recording without the need to upload legacy tracks.

Go for the rh1 if:

1. You will be ONLY recording and need to upload legacy tracks.

The rh1 is very poor as a player as it lacks a jog dial and cannot display artist/track titles on the small 1 line display, you will have to purchase a $70 remote to make it worth using as a player.

The rh10 is the best all around player and can also be a great recorder, if you don't need uploading of legacy tracks.

There you go again on the player aspect. What did you do with a casette walkman, no information at all.

Again, of course the RH1 is an excellent plaer, as is the NH1. The amount of time you spend looking at the siplay or the remote is minimal. Most people either listen strait through, or put it in shuffle. With either remote it takes less time to find a song that it did to type this sentence.

There are alternatives to "jog dial", it just takes getting used to your unit and using it.

Again to all The RH1 can play as well as record.

Bob

[m15a]

also, if it comes up, the mz-m100 is similar to the mz-rh10, but has mac compatibility (the rh10 does not). just thought i'd throw that out there.

[Tunster]

Go for the rh10 if:

1. You will be using it as a player as well (has jog dial + large display)

2. Recording without the need to upload legacy tracks.

Go for the rh1 if:

1. You will be ONLY recording and need to upload legacy tracks.

The rh1 is very poor as a player as it lacks a jog dial and cannot display artist/track titles on the small 1 line display, you will have to purchase a $70 remote to make it worth using as a player.

The rh10 is the best all around player and can also be a great recorder, if you don't need uploading of legacy tracks.

The RH10 is not the best player and the RH1 is certainly NOT the worst player. A 1 line display is more than enough;

RobA: are you obsessed with looking at it the tracks titles all the time or something? You don't need a 3 line remote the to get the most out of it. I know this maybe your preference, but you're putting a bad emphasis on the RH1 when you don't need to. The RH1 is the top of the pile in terms of MD portables.

You won't just use the RH1 for recording. It has far better MP3 support, and why spend less on the RH10 to not get the extra features like Legacy Recording, unrestricted upload for all tracks (except for NetMD downloaded tracks), and a nice snazzy sexy player.

[RobA]

The RH10 is not the best player and the RH1 is certainly NOT the worst player. A 1 line display is more than enough;

RobA: are you obsessed with looking at it the tracks titles all the time or something? You don't need a 3 line remote the to get the most out of it. I know this maybe your preference, but you're putting a bad emphasis on the RH1 when you don't need to. The RH1 is the top of the pile in terms of MD portables.

You won't just use the RH1 for recording. It has far better MP3 support, and why spend less on the RH10 to not get the extra features like Legacy Recording, unrestricted upload for all tracks (except for NetMD downloaded tracks), and a nice snazzy sexy player.

No I'm not obsessed with looking at track titles, but think about it. Without the 3 line remote and just the rh1, and you have a disc with say 500 songs on it, do you know how hard it would be to find the one you want? Very annoying just pressing next and previous over and over and not know what you are getting each time (since there is no track title display). Plus, you wouldn't be able to just browse, as a new song would play one you hit next/previous and no title display of course. MP3 support is useless IMO, atrac3plus sounds better and can store much more music per disc, conversion is a very simple process. I can upload on my rh10 fine, and have no need for legacy stuff as I've only been into MD since october. That's why I said what I said, without the need to upload legacy tracks, the rh10 is the better option. Plus you can also use the AA addon pack with the rh10 to get 30+ hrs of listening compared to 19 on the rh1. And you say you would be getting a snazzy sexy player, to speak for the rh10, I have to say it is a very snazzy player/recorder.

Edited May 30, 2006 by RobA

[m15a]

from my experience with mp3 players, i'd agree that navigation is an important feature. although knowing that there are 6 lines vs. 1 or whatever doesn't tell you how natural the navigation is. you'd probably need a good review of each model for that. um . . the original poster didn't really ask for that, but regarding this argument, i know i'd find opinions like, "i found it tough to navigate through albums on the rh1," to be more helpful. downside of that being that people navigate through their players in different ways and find different methods to be easy or difficult.

[jazz_user]

Thanks for the reponses and discussion - all very useful. I think I will wait to get my hands on a MZ-RH1 in a few months. I will be using it for semi-pro recording in PCM mode and will need the lecagy uploading facilities. I'm not using it as a player - that's what my iPod is for (is that word banned on this site?).

I'm just upgrading from an old generation model, so the whole Hi-MD thing is new to me ..

[kuuan]

does the RH10 record 'worse' than the RH1?

how do the recording features od the RH1 and the RH10 differ?

are there real differences of the control of recordings?

would you go so far as to say that the RH10 record 'worse' than the RH1?

[Tunster]

does the RH10 record 'worse' than the RH1?

how do the recording features od the RH1 and the RH10 differ?

are there real differences of the control of recordings?

would you go so far as to say that the RH10 record 'worse' than the RH1?

Its not that the RH10 is worse at recording, the big difference is that the RH10 cannot record in the legacy MD formats (SP, LP2, LP4).

Have a peek at the equipment browser and reviews of these players/recorders, and then you can form the best opinion .

[Roamer]

Plus the RH1 keeps manual settings and can upload legacy recordings, which are new features for HiMDs (legacy recording was there in the 1st gen., but not uploading).

[kuuan]

well, sorry for my 'dumb' question, but what 'do' the legacy MD formats (SP, LP2, LP4) for me? What advantages do they offer? What is their relevance to recording?

Or in other words: What is the best quality setting for uploadable recordings for the RH10, and for the RH1? Do they differ?

( quote: Roamer: 'legacy recording was there in the 1st gen., but not uploading' - that's ridiculous! )

Gernerally: How do I upload my recordings to my PC?

It 'keeps' manual settings - does that means when I turn it off and on again earlier manual settings still will be there on the RH1, but gone on the RH10?

Edited June 28, 2006 by kuuan

[Tunster]

well, sorry for my 'dumb' question, but what 'do' the legacy MD formats (SP, LP2, LP4) for me? What advantages do they offer? What is their relevance to recording?

Or in other words: What is the best quality setting for uploadable recordings for the RH10, and for the RH1? Do they differ?

( quote: Roamer: 'legacy recording was there in the 1st gen., but not uploading' - that's ridiculous! )

Gernerally: How do I upload my recordings to my PC?

It 'keeps' manual settings - does that means when I turn it off and on again earlier manual settings still will be there on the RH1, but gone on the RH10?

If you have discs that have been recorded on the old discs (74/80 min discs) in SP/LP2/LP4, you can now upload them to your PC with no hassle (unless they were downloaded with SonicStage, of which, you cannot do this because of DRM Protection).

You'll probably be using the ATRAC3plus settings to download or record to your Hi-MD. If you use the USB cable and transfer them through SonicStage, 352kbps is your best bet, but quite an over kill for quality as it really isnt much different to 256kbps. When you upload, you can still use SonicStage, and it will either just download it onto your PC or ask you if you want to convert it to WAV. This is so you can convert it into another format like MP3, OGG or WAV for example.

The RH1 keeps the recordings settings for you if you use it when recording directly to it (not using SonicStage). This is handy as a recorder will not want to change the settings everytime the unit is switched off and on.

[kuuan]

....

You'll probably be using the ATRAC3plus settings to download or record to your Hi-MD. If you use the USB cable and transfer them through SonicStage, 352kbps is your best bet, but quite an over kill for quality as it really isnt much different to 256kbps. When you upload, you can still use SonicStage, and it will either just download it onto your PC or ask you if you want to convert it to WAV. This is so you can convert it into another format like MP3, OGG or WAV for example.

...

thxs a lot Tunster.

is there any way I would not need any special software installed like Sonic Stage to upload files or audio I recorded with an external mic?

( I am asking because I travel a lot and use an external HD which I conect to computers in internet cafes. Would be nice if I could upload my audios to my HD without having to install any soft )

[Tunster]

thxs a lot Tunster.

is there any way I would not need any special software installed like Sonic Stage to upload files or audio I recorded with an external mic?

( I am asking because I travel a lot and use an external HD which I conect to computers in internet cafes. Would be nice if I could upload my audios to my HD without having to install any soft )

Unfortunately you can't. Sony hasn't opted to do drag and drop method right from the start. You are going to need some kind of laptop to upload music on the go. You could install SonicStage on your external hard-drive and organise registry files that will make sure SS works on any computer you use while travelling. But... you may get a problem when wanting to upload back to s computer from your MD equipment because of the copyright and you need to use the same computer that you use to transfer to your MD player/recorder (anyone tell me if I'm wrong, not sure if its any different with MP3s).

You could use the HiMD equipment as file storage and put raw MP3 files on the disc. But you wouldn't be able play them on the HiMD player (which is the whole point).

[lamewing]

No I'm not obsessed with looking at track titles, but think about it. Without the 3 line remote and just the rh1, and you have a disc with say 500 songs on it, do you know how hard it would be to find the one you want? Very annoying just pressing next and previous over and over and not know what you are getting each time (since there is no track title display). Plus, you wouldn't be able to just browse, as a new song would play one you hit next/previous and no title display of course. MP3 support is useless IMO, atrac3plus sounds better and can store much more music per disc, conversion is a very simple process. I can upload on my rh10 fine, and have no need for legacy stuff as I've only been into MD since october. That's why I said what I said, without the need to upload legacy tracks, the rh10 is the better option. Plus you can also use the AA addon pack with the rh10 to get 30+ hrs of listening compared to 19 on the rh1. And you say you would be getting a snazzy sexy player, to speak for the rh10, I have to say it is a very snazzy player/recorder.

I think the RH1 is a fine player, but I do admit that I am confused as to why Sony would choose to remove full support of the 3 line ELK remote from their top-tier unit. The NH1 (and some of the other 1st gen) could use it as well as the DH10P (and other 2nd gens?) so it really makes no sense to neuter the RH1 in this aspect.

I don't care so much for constantly looking through my tracks, but it would be nice to have the option to scroll through them to find a particular song. I have felt this was since the days of the R900/R909/R910/N910/N920 units. I LOVED the little scroll wheel on the units - and NOT the iPod knock off - scroll wheel on the front of the HiMD units.

Of course my personal choice would be to include the color LCD from the DH10P on a unit like the RH1 - with the ability to turn it off in the menu and only use the remote to save battery power if you wish. Overall, the ability to look through the music based on album art was unique to the DH10P and the Pocket Vaio. Even the iPod doesn't offer this great feature (if Apple did offer it, I probably would bite!!! Are you listening Sony?).

The camera aspect was worthless due to a low-end camera. Think of another camera unit with a GOOD camera, line-in, mic, etc. I would love to have carried a DH10P on a trip, taking photos and making voice notes as I took photos. Too bad Sony missed the boat on that one.

In the end, I chose the RH1, simply due to the construction....metal body wins everyday. This is the same reason I bought the Cowon X5L over the iPod....metal body. After being raised on the Sony and Sharp units with sold alum. and magnesium bodies I cannot use a recorder/player with an easily scratchable face, and this so included the A-series HDD players.

Unfortunately you can't. Sony hasn't opted to do drag and drop method right from the start. You are going to need some kind of laptop to upload music on the go. You could install SonicStage on your external hard-drive and organise registry files that will make sure SS works on any computer you use while travelling. But... you may get a problem when wanting to upload back to s computer from your MD equipment because of the copyright and you need to use the same computer that you use to transfer to your MD player/recorder (anyone tell me if I'm wrong, not sure if its any different with MP3s).

You could use the HiMD equipment as file storage and put raw MP3 files on the disc. But you wouldn't be able play them on the HiMD player (which is the whole point).

Don't forget that you can record in PCM mode and just play the recording while recording it to WAV on your PC/Mac via the line in on your PC. It is slow, but it will still allow you to get the recording on the computer. If you do this, there is no DRM of any kind. But the portables don't have optical out, so the sound quality won't be quite a good and it will take real-time to do this.