Which MD recorder or player have the best SNR

[Guest Anonymous]

All,

When I bought my SONY MZ-R909 I was disappoint with the signal to noise ratio. When I listen to it in my bed and turn the volume down I can hear the hissing noise (which it NOT part of the recording).

To this end I bought the sharp playback only unit ST880 which have a very good SNR. I wonder if anyone else wishes to share with us their experience of thier MD's SNR

Thank you

[Leon]

The MD format itself has S/N ratio that's comparable to CD; in theory it's even capable of better than that. However, the S/N ratio of portables is often less than what the format's capable of, usually because...

(a) the D/A conversion IC used has not-so-good performance. I recall a few years ago seeing Japanese discussions on the D/A, A/D ICs made by Asahi Kasei (used in some Sonys), that they have the same S/N ratio spec no matter if they're 16-bit, 20-bit, or 24-bit...

( The power that the amp is allowed to draw has really been cut down, to allow for better battery life, and that somehow hurts performance.

Digital amp is a very exciting technology for us, because it can incorporate D/A conversion (in the form Sharp implemented it, at least), and can do a better job of it. When a lot of people say the DS8 and DR7 sound better, I believe that's at least partly due to better S/N ratio.

[Andy]

Are you running the signal through any (external) amplification? The fact that you only hear this when the volume is low means that the source of the noise is something which is constantly going and being introduced after amplification.

I was doing some active listening to my MD (MZ-R70) before and comparing it with a pro CD player. I couldn't hear any noise in either of them. The recording was done through an analogue connection too. What actually gave away the MD was the bass response. Since my unit isn't particularly high end, I get the suspicion that there might be something more to your problem.

Questions:

1) What is the exact signal path for playback (MD->???->Ears) and recording (CD?->Optical Cable?->MD)

2) How are you sure that the problem isn't the recording?

3) Do you get similar noise if you turn the volume all the way down?