Sony Hi-MD RH1 (Black) pictorial

[The Low Volta]

hi all, I know it is very dangerous to post a pictorial on a Hi-MD model Ishiyoshi already covered, as it is very hard to come close to his level of quality when it comes to macro-photography... but hey, I'll just go for it and post mine anyways

so here it is:

my black RH1

the sequence of displays on the unit

on-unit and remote display (together a split pseudo 'three-line' display)

compared to the NH900

comparing remotes (RM-MC40ELK/RM-MC38EL black/RM-MC38EL silver)

there, I hope this still was interesting...

If I find the time (and if I feel I have interesting things to add to what Richyu and MDFreak have already explained in their thorough review) I'll add some insights and experiences using the RH1 (and a comparison to the NH900) to this thread.

[Richard]

Great pictorial Volta! - Really nice photos - the NH900 sure does look fat in comparision.

PS: extra marks for cool use of retro calculator font

[The Low Volta]

thanks rich... Ishiy already has a patent on the 'handwriting'-style fonts, so I reckoned I'd go the exact oposite

BTW: the NH900 IS fat compared to the RH1

[AMPlitude]

id love to see a pic with a comparison between the nh1 and rh1 considering they are the most alike

[jaylen]

id love to see a pic with a comparison between the nh1 and rh1 considering they are the most alike

Ishiyoshi's RH1 pictorial has a few shots comparing the RH1 and NH1 (if you haven't seen it already, that is).

[Ishiyoshi]

Bravo, Volta! I love the retro calculator font and the sequence of displays on the unit.

[Rumz]

Nice shots! Definitely more to keep me going until this finally makes it stateside.

[tekdroid]

hi all, I know it is very dangerous to post a pictorial on a Hi-MD model Ishiyoshi already covered, as it is very hard to come close to his level of quality when it comes to macro-photography... but hey, I'll just go for it and post mine anyways

Sweeeet. The more shots the better, IMO.

Nice size perspective. Just curious what you used as your surface/background in these pics. Nice texture.

I don't mind the MZ-NH900's 'phatness'. A little fatness never bothered me. But I do mind the MZ-RH1's extra length/width more. Still, that's being picky. I also notice the MZ-NH900's Track Mark button is in an ideal place for easy access when put in Sony's Hi-MD case (included in the bargain bundles here). Good for those that bother with track marking on-site.

Oh, I'm supposed to be talking about the RH1, you say?

Yes yes, nice unit Can't say I'm a fan of the display(s), but it seems a nice enough unit that brings something new to the table.

[The Low Volta]

the background was the kind of tablecloth that looks textile but actually is made out of 'woven' paper-fibres... I draped it off the side of my bedd onto the floor (without real curves, only a slight 'bend'). It was very sunny outside, but my room faces north, so the light is purely real/indirect light from my double windows

I use the RH1 in a longer, flatter pouch from caselogic and it just fits great. because of the extra height it shades the OLED in brighter places just enough to make viewing excellent and when not in use I can fit the remote in there as well...

all in all it is the size of a wallet, so still very easy to store!

(I'll try to find a link to the pouch or even to take some pics if I find the time)

[eriktous]

Nice pics, Volta (and I see you're listening to some quality music on this quality device ).

For a split second I thought you had gone wild and bought six RH1's.

Glad to see your minidisc addiction hasn't gone that bad (yet).

[bogon07]

Great pictures TLV.

Some of yours have a more dramatic style with a shorter field of focus than Ishiyoshi's. The red bits came out really well too. The sequence displays was very neat, at first it looked as if you'd bought a whole store's stock.

I can feel smoke starting to come off my credit card in anticipation of the release of the RH1 here.

[Sparky191]

Nice Photos. I don't really understand the logic to the of layout of the buttons on the RH1 but I think it looks great.

[The Low Volta]

I only have one gripe with the button placement: placing the eject and play buttons opposed to each other makes me press the wrong one often when in a hurry (I just grab the machine instinctively by its two small sides and often I am pressing both buttons at once ... and mostly play wins )

the rest of the buttons are placed pretty well I must say

PS: thanks for all the supportive words for my pics... it really was my first try at macro shots, but I did look a lot at Ishi's posts If I have something else I think beautiful enough to show to y'all, I will definitely have another go and hope to improve my style a bit

[Sparky191]

Out of curiosity what camera/lense did you use and what kind of lighting?

[The Low Volta]

uh, nothing fancy... a two year old casio 3mp digital point and shoot thingy with 3x optical zoom and a very limited macro setting (with no zoom at all, just little improved focusing on objects nearby) I borrowed from my dad (and as he's on route with it now, I can't even check the model n°... though I doubt you'd really be interested in that ) with standard lense of course (dunno what make/type casio uses)

light was purely natural:

- very sunny day

- room on the north with not-so-large double french doors

- thin white (pretty translucent) curtains half-drawn (to prevent direct light completely as it reflected of a window across the street)

- white tablecloth as background (diffused light quite a bit as well)

[bobt]

Great job LV, unit sure is pretty, can't wait to get one to company for my NH1 twins, maybe I could try breeding them and see what happens (HA HA),

How do you like the sound?

Take care,

Bob

[The Low Volta]

sound so far is excellent... but then again, so was my NH900

I guess I have already been spoiled (or perhaps better to say: 'trained') by a previous unit with the HD Digital amp. I kinda like the 'honest', clear (and according to some overly sharp) soundpicture it creates.

Still, I haven't really tested all aspects I must say... like I haven't played any MP3s with it, as I only use MP3 on my mac and as we all know THAT software isn't really ready yet ... besides, I have never heard the crippled MP3-playback of the 2nd G, so it would be hard for me to comment on that anyhow

I have only listened to 256kbps tracks and all was goooood! I used the same eq-setting (the -1 all the way to raise the deeper bass a bit) as with my NH900 and it worked eq'ually well I think. (pardon the pun please)...(and the alliteration)

For a short while I was surprised by the warmth of the 'virtual surround stuff' (something I never tried with my NH900) and the ease of never changing the volume with the 'normaliser' setting... but it just doesn't work with my listening habits: I still listen to albums, so while the normaliser could be very useful for ppl listening to (a large collection of) tracks from different albums (with different overall loudness), it kinda bothers me if a quiet song is louder, while I know it actually is (meant to be) more quiet than the previous track (this could just be my imagination acting up, as I haven't really checked thoroughly whether it normalizes within albums as well). Also while the virtual stuff does bring a certain warmth to the sound, it is fake! It even warms up tracks that are meant to be 'as cold as ICE' (to quote some homey rapper I forget the name of right now), like some of the darker stuff I listen to (tool, some Mars Volta - indeed, that's where my nick stems from - and a lot of EITS). Or to put it in a less subjective way: I'm really old-skool, as I still listen to the real (digital but non-virtual) CDs often through a pretty decent setup (and often through the same phones I use with my HiMD) and the virtual surround thingy just colors in warm, comforting soundcolor, even where there is none and there SHOULD be none!

So yeah, the first is something I see myself using on a compilationn disc and the second on a summery style disc with some surf-rock and some pop-tunes or something... but I wouldn't let those gadgets touch any disc meant for serious, attentative lisening with a rod! (darn, I'm on my high horse now )

Also ('cause I know at least one of you guys is waiting for this) it delivers in the bass-department... but wait a sec, not 'bass' as in a: 'I like to have bass so my car windows tremble visually and will act as amps for the poor world oustide' or 'why 20Hz-20kHz?, 20-150Hz is all that really matters' or even 'I like all music that makes me shake my big fat booty to the beaaat' kind of way... (sorry all you phat-bass-heads out there, still no super-mega-I-almost-can't-hear-'nythin'-else-but bass setting on this Sony) but it packs the same bass punch that creates the (nice-but-not-yet-hurting) trembly feel of a well balanced concert IMHO (at least when the greenmachine -1 eq is applied).

well, after quite a couple of posts, I finally have been tempted to write down some of my first impressions of the RH1 (see what you did with that question of yours bobt) I hope they are of some help to you all... but I have to warn you: this itty bitty review was slightly inspired by Belgium's finest brew: Duvel (or Devil for you non-Dutch speakers out there )

[mrsoul]

LV-

Very nice pictorial and review. I just got my RH1 on Saturday. I haven't done too much other than upload a show that I recorded on Friday with my RH910. So far, very, very impressed with sound, features, build quality and size. That record slide is cool and retro. The line out and the Normalizer are a HUGE plus. Time stamp- great. Timer for recharge, even better.

Can't wait to put it through the test this weekend with the Allman Brothers Band and two opening bands, including the Derek Trucks Band. Should be just the device I have been looking for since I first got into MD recording. Good to have the RH910 as a backup since I can always switch over to AA for long recordings. I do also have one of the cheap Chinese Lithium ion batteries enroute from flea-bay

So, after 3 upgrades in 3 years, I feel good about spending more to keep the MD format going. My wife just rolls her eyes and I just keep adding extra shifts at work

Hope to post some live recordings soon once I have had more time to play.

Edited August 14, 2006 by mrsoul

[kentek]

Great pics of MDs. Who's image watermark software do you use?

Might it be an opensource product?

ken wood

[The Low Volta]

thanks Ken,

I have a legal copy of adobe creative suite (thanks to my employer ) so I mostly use photoshop...

but there are open source alternatives (like gimp(shop) ) and freeware thingies like the 'light version' of photoshop you get with some digi-cams etc (forget what it is called) and both will do all I did here (just cropping/adjusting size/adding a grey text-based layer at 40% opacity/flattening image/saving to JPEG with the right compression)