Sony Net MD Walkman MZ-N707

[Sneakydude]

can you guys fill me in wether or not this mini disc player is any good, im concerned with what ive been reading, something about copyright protection, and the software sony uses.


and also if there are any better at the same price as the sony or cheaper, the sony is 229$

i really dont know much on minidisc players, i read a faq at minidisc.org, it basically left me confused, it seems to be a hassle to get mp3's on a minidisc, i really want to know how the sound quality is? is the only way to record mp3's is to do it through realtime? do i use the usb cable? or do have to plug it in the back of my computer because the only headphone input is on my sound card...im confused

Thanks

 

[Luna64]

Well I own an MD, and I must say I love it and hate it at the same time. I have an older version which only records in real time through a DOC (digital optical cable). Yours will be through USB/DOC and should record at up to 32x via USB, 1x DOC.

Plus:
1.Great Sound
2.Small
3.RW (ReWrite) media is good forever.
4.You can delete/add songs anywhere on the disk, even if it already has music on it.
5. Player / Recorder built into one.
6. Enter text info into the songs.
7. Remote Control

Bad:
1. Expensive compared to a CD-RW Drive.
2. Short battery life ( on older versions )
3. Not as compatable as a CD/DVD. You will only be able to listen to it in your MD unless you buy a MD Deck player.
4. Few other small things...

I love my MD, but the only time I use it is when I am not at home.


As for how your going to use this thing.

USB will work like this. You will plug in the MD with the USB cord to your PC. Your PC should detect it and it will be set to record. How it records is beyond me. I don't have the USB version so I don't really know

As for DOC, you should get a DOC to USB converter with your MD. If not you can get one for a few bucks. You would plug in the USB cord into your PC. Again your PC would find the MD via USB, except this time you play the song you want to record through the media player of your choice (ex: WMP, Winamp). The good part about this is that you can apply filters to your music to make them sound better, and then it will be carried over to your MD. Plus no audiable quality is lost in the recording. The bad is that it goes at 1x. Though you can listen to it record via the headphones, which is a good idea if your recording from the PC.

Also note that you can record from other sources such as Home Theater Systems, Playstation 2, and anything that has a Digital Out port on the back of it.

That help ?

 

[Sneakydude]

ok, lets say i record a song thats 160 kbps via a usb cable, will there be sound degradation? and if so how bad is it?

if there is no audio quality degradation from using the digital optic cable then i wouldnt mind it recording at 1x,

one more Q around how many songs can you put in there saying that the minimum length is 3 min per song? from what i understand, there are different levels of compresion? the more you compress, the more songs fit in right?
from your experience, how is the sound quality when you have it set to the highst compression? i think its called LP4 Mode


*When recording in LP4 mode – results vary based on PC specifications?

thanks for your help

 

[Luna64]

There will be no sound degration at all if you use the USB / DOC cable.

Song length should not be an issue. You can have a 1 sec song or a 30 min song. Does not really matter.

There are different compressions.

Here are the lvl's.

Uncompressed "SP" - Holds 80mins at 292kbps (CD quality+) shortest battery life.
LP2 - Holds 160min at 132kbps (close to CD, Mp3 quality) longer battery life.
LP4 - Holds 360min at 66kbps. I never use it. The quality is bad from what I hear. Longest battery life.

Think of the bitrates as Mp3's. A 292kps mp3 is going to sound great. 132kbs might sound good to you if you dont mind 128kbs mp3's.

 

[Sneakydude]

thanks for you help.

 

[DFX]

I took my Net MD back and got a R909. More features. The 32x is only useful if you want to sacrifice sound quality.

 

[DFX]

PS: I hate 128kbps MP3s...

Plus I use it for recording audio for more professional uses, not just general listening.

 

[Sneakydude]

where did you find the r909? its not at sonys website, isnt that only available in japan?

 

[Goatman]

I love my MD, and couldn't live without it. The Copy protection isn't really a issue, you can get a version of the program with it disabled, I forget what it's called though... argh! I hate brain farts.

anyway... you can also put differently encoded songs on the same disc, so you can put a SP, LP2, LP4 song all on the disc. and my MD gets amazing bat life, I go a month on 1 AA, and I use it everyday, for at least 5 hrs. I have a MZ-R500 (pre Net MD)

 

[Luna64]

I own the MZ-G750 and I have a few questions for you guys.

Goatman,

If I understand correctly, the new MD's (ones made after mine) can play over 36hours in SP mode. Is that correct ?

You also say that copy protection is not an issue. Is this for the USB part of the MD ? The Digital Optical Cable should not have any issues with copy protection unless you are recording from a CD/DVD with anti Digi Out protection on it.

DFX,

Please explain how recording at 32x degrades the sound quality. I am having a hard time understanding this. If the media is good at 32x you should have no sound problems.

Still though, it's hard to compare with the quality of a digital cable at 1x

 

[Goatman]

if you record optically then there is no copy protection problem. In current MD technology

in SP mode, if you use a 80 min disc, u get 80 mins

in LP2 you get 120 mins, and in LP4 you get 350 mins.

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