Which should I get?

[neueziel]

Hi, I'm new to this MD stuff so I'd really like help on what to get. The reason why im getting a MD is because I my PC sounds like crap and I'd like to also get a portable. My sources will be MP3 or through my CD-ROM drive. Now the players that I have looked at are the Sony MZ-E75 and the Sony MZ-NE410. I know that one is a lot newer than the other but I like how the MZ-NE75 looks lol, and also it has a charger feature so thats another big plus. But the my concern for me is quality, which one sounds better?? Thanks

[aeriyn]

Hi there. :happy:

The E75 is a player-only unit. It only plays MDs that have already been recorded (if you were to look inside it, all you'd see would be the optical pick-up block; the magnetic write head present on recorders is not there).

The NE410 is probably the cheapest MD player (it's actually a downloader too) that exists, but I do not recommend it at all because it has all the downsides of MD and none of the good parts (mic recording, track editing functions, etc.)

Among the MD recorder world, I would suggest the Sharp IM-DR80 or the Sony MZ-N920. The DR80 pwns the N920 in terms of sound quality, but the N920 isn't bad either (I believe it has a digital amp as well). Both units have NetMD, so they can get tracks from SonicStage via the USB connection. Both use the NiMH gumstick batteries, which I am more fond of than internal Li-Ion batteries and like better than having to deal with a battery bulge. Check these units out at . Also, Audiocubes also offers them both.

If you want extreme sound quality, ease of function, and you will not be doing any sort of recording (like recording bands, field-recording, sound samples, etc.) then I suggest an iPod. The iPod will do everything you need, offer you more storage space, is totally easy to use, and is more than worth the price. Get the mini, it's really small and very sexy looking (FYI I'm saving up for a pink Mini myself). :laugh:

So there you go. :rasp:

[neueziel]

Thanks for the reply, aww man the E75 is player only. The main reason why I chose those two was because of the price but I guess I'm gonna have to wait a while or something. Also is there a way to get just a recorder or something for MD so that I can get the E75 and are there any older models that I should consider. Thanks BTW I see you like Hikaru, gonna buy her US debut?

[sony_man]

then get both? you'll probably find find you will have a longer life with a plyer only unit and a seperate recorder.

thats what im planning to do is get a kenwood dmc-s55 with a ne410.

[aeriyn]

then get both? you'll probably find find you will have a longer life with a plyer only unit and a seperate recorder.

thats what im planning to do is get a kenwood dmc-s55 with a ne410.

Well you can do that too. But if you do, you should get one of the new Sharp Auvi players, or one of the Kenwoods. Both sound way better than Sony, but I am partial to the Sharps considering how I am totally in love with my DS8.

If you get a player only and a recorder, I suggest getting a deck or a bookshelf system as the recorder. You can dub CDs directly with bookshelf systems (and a lot of bookshelf systems are also NetMD ready), and decks are awesome because you can hook them up to your stereo system and listen to MDs (and record them) at home. There's a few decks with NetMD also, but the ATRAC DSP in the decks (and even in the portable recorders) is a whole lot better than the encoder in SonicStage. x.x

Although... iPod is everything you need, all in one package. The only bad thing about it is the low battery life. ~7 hours per charge for the mini, and ~12 hours per charge for the 4G big pod.

BTW, the E75 is not MDLP capable. It only plays in SP mode, so getting a deck or standalone (non NetMD) recorder would be crucial since SonicStage will not encode in SP mode, just in SP "compatibility" mode, which is just LP2 with a compatibility layer.