... Mp3, wma etc… files which are stored on your computer can be downloaded into the program which you receive with the MZN-1 (Sony Open MG Jukebox) then from there they are converted in to ATRAC files which the mini disc can read. These are then transferred to the mini disc. Although this all ... Read review
Recording functionality of a Notetaker with all the flexibility ofMini Disc - divide ... more
combine erase title move and with MDLP youcan record for over 5 hours onto a single 80 minute disc. With abuilt-in microphone and speaker for playback you will be a
Postage & Packaging:£4.39 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: Fast downloads, amazing long battery life, smallest Sony mini disc player, has LP2 and LP4 Disadvantages: Very expensive, does not have back lit display on the main unit
...long battery life
Smallest Sony mini disc player yet
Downloading capability
SP, LP2 and LP4
Newest G Protection which reads over 40 sec’s in advance to stop ALL skipping
Large 3 Line display and back lit controller
Software (Sony Open MG jukebox)
Can rename songs on the computer when mini disc is in cradle to save endless hours of renaming
Easy to use buttons with many quick functions
... ...there was no choice of Sony to get around this.
You also cannot up load songs from the MZN-1 to another computer because of the copyright laws which Sony had to keep within.
Problems with the software were found in other counties before it came out in the UK when trying to find the name of tracks on the Internet but I have never found a problem with it. I think the reason for this was because they changed the software ... more
The MZN-1 is easily the best mini disc player on the market. Purely because of its downloading capability as well as it’s 110hours playback and small compact size. But because of all of this the price is also very expensive.
However if it was intended to be used professionally either use with connecting to sound systems on a regular basis or with people who are really serious about listening to their music it is worth it.
Downloading rather than just playing music on to your MZN-1 is the best idea yet. It enables you to download up to 5 1/2 hours of music on to your mini disc in 15 - 30 min. Also because of this you can just put your mini disc in to your cradle charger and delete, move, rename or add new songs to your mini disc in seconds.
LP allows you to double or quadruple the amount of music that you can fit on your mini discs. The annoying thing is that the more files you put on the mini disc the worse quality. i.e. LP2 is using half as much memory as SP. But the quality is damaged very mildly. It is almost impossible to hear with the human ear.
LP4 is half of LP2 again. Although now you can tell the difference between SP and LP4 it is still good quality and is worth using, purely because you can fit on 4x as much music. The battery time doubles because the mini disc does not need to read as much as when it is reading SP.
LP4 enables you to go away for a few days with only 1 mini disc in your MZN-1 because you can have a large number of your favourite tracks on one single mini disc. Rather than having to carry endless amounts of mini discs with you.
The way music is put on to the MZN-1 is that there is a USB port connected to the cradle charger stand which the mini disc sits in. This then connects to the back of the PC USB port. Mp3, wma etc… files which are stored on your computer can be downloaded into the program which you receive with the MZN-1 (Sony Open MG Jukebox) then from there they are converted in to ATRAC files which the mini disc can read. These are then transferred to the mini disc. Although this all sounds very complicated it is rather easy to get the hang of it and becomes very quick and easy to use.
The reason this is better than a mp3 player is that rather than having to spend £60 on memory for your mp3 player and swapping between the cards. You can just save about 70 songs on a single mini disc then change the mini discs around when you want another group of songs. Mp3 players always also have short battery times, which would only last for a few hours when the MZN-1 will go for days with out you even having to worry about a low battery.
Group functions allow the user to put all their music in to groups, either albums or style of music. This is very useful if you have 5 - 6 albums on one mini disc. Other functions, which make life a lot easier, are things such as being able to play a single song and then stop after it, programming tracks to play in an order. Also shuffling tracks around so you get more of a mixture of songs etc…
A way of explaining what the mini disc can do is by putting every good feature of every mini disc on the market into one mini disk player. Now you have the MZN-1. Except the MZN-1 has newer technology that only the new Net mini discs have. Not any other mini disc players.
Other useful functions are things such as a scroller button which makes finding tracks of finding letters to rename tracks on the mini disc a lot quicker. A Jog dial is also on the front of the MZN-1 which can be either pushed in to play, moved up to pause, moved down to stop, or move left and right to fast forward and rewind.
Before I bought the MZN-1 I could not find anything that I wanted. I had looked at all the mp3 players but they all had short battery times and little memory, which would have to be changed every few days. I had also looked at all the mini disc players, they seemed good because of having LP4 but I could not see my self, spending 5 1/2 hours of my time making a mini disc. I would end up not using it at all. I then heard about the MZN-1, which was coming out in a few months. I thought this is the thing I want because it had everything I could ever want on a music player. I thought it was the perfect way to handle my music. So I saved the extra which it cost from a normal priced mini disc player and bought it the day it came in the shops. From Late March I have listened to my MZN-1 almost everyday because it is so easy to use and so easy to take around with me.
Advantages of the MZN-1 out weigh the disadvantages of the MZN-1 easily.
Although it is a lot of money you would have to spend to get one, you are getting a lot of things for that money. Things such as…
Very long battery life Smallest Sony mini disc player yet Downloading capability SP, LP2 and LP4 Newest G Protection which reads over 40 sec’s in advance to stop ALL skipping Large 3 Line display and back lit controller Software (Sony Open MG jukebox) Can rename songs on the computer when mini disc is in cradle to save endless hours of renaming Easy to use buttons with many quick functions Can recharge while using it Stylish looking mini disc which is better than every persons mini disc that you know!
Disadvantages of the MZN-1 are that it costs a lot. £260 for a mini disc is a lot for just a music player. Even though the price has now gone down to £249.
Other problems that I found while using the MSN-1 was that you could only put a song on at most 3 mini discs. If you wanted to put it on another mini disc as well you would have to ‘check in’ the song off another mini disc with the song on before you put it on another one. I managed to get around this by deleting the play lists, which saved the amount of times it has been checked out. The main reason they have this is because of copy, right laws so there was no choice of Sony to get around this.
You also cannot up load songs from the MZN-1 to another computer because of the copyright laws which Sony had to keep within.
Problems with the software were found in other counties before it came out in the UK when trying to find the name of tracks on the Internet but I have never found a problem with it. I think the reason for this was because they changed the software as soon as they spotted a problem. This would have explained the delay of the MZN-1 coming in to the UK and missing two release dates.
Other things such as a back lit main display would have been nice to have on the MZN-1. But lets face it you can’t have everything otherwise what will Sony have to make better next time.
...onto one MD now, so Sony have introduced groups (a little like folders). This allows you to group songs together, for example artist or album. It makes searching through songs faster. As mentioned, rather than the long play featured on older players, this is one of the new breed that let you record at 1x, 2x or 4x MD length. For most artists, this means that you can get 4 albums on one MD.
Controls: First, there is the supplied remote control. Easy ... ...songs, which is useful. The Sony ad's state that it can record at 32x. I have found, when using my Sony Vaio, this is indeed true. Put your CD in (whilst connected to the internet) and whilst transcoding the songs, it will also transfer them to the player. You can also copy songs from a MD to the PC as well. When you do transfer songs from PC to MD (Checking out) this is only allowed three times to stop pirating. I haven't found it a problem
The ...
pefidler 24.09.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Sony MiniDisc recorder
Advantages: Lightweight, excellent battery life, looks great Disadvantages: the atrac formatting, controls are slightly awkward
...and looks cool, all NET sony products are compatible with this software.
The software lets you select the music you want to import (importing is compressing to ATRAC format), which can be existing music on your computer or from a CD. It supports already compressed file formats mp3, wmv, and wav as well as the cda format for CDs. Importing music is fairly fast at around 10 to 15 seconds for a mp3 of around 3.5 mb already on your hard disk.
Once ... ...it in the ATRAC format will be saved in the directoery you disignate. This I beilieve is a downfall, as it requires you use more space on your hard disk for the same amount of music. There isnt a noticable decrease in sound quality on any of the data rate LP2 and LP4 or just normal. Although compressing a song which is already compressed may reduce quality more than compressing a song which hasn't been compressed (ie from a CD).
The OpenMG software ...
syj_uk 29.09.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Sony MiniDisc recorder
Advantages: Compact design, good remote, many features Disadvantages: AWFUL Net MD software, fragile turning controller on remote
...software is painstakingly slow. Sony did offer a free upgrade to SonicStage, which may be better, but when I tried to remove OpenMG from my computer, there was some sort of corruption meaning that I now can not install the new version OR get completely rid of the old. Good, because I'd rather just use the BRILLIANT MD itself and not worry about mp3's. If I wanted that, I'd buy an Ipod. ...
ashthesurveysleuth 12.07.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Sony MiniDisc recorder
...purchased a pair of the sony fontopia in-ear headphones (£25) which more than matched the quality of the walkman.
-The cradle:- is very handy for instant charging and for keeping the unit safe during transfers. It sometimes gets in the way as too many usb peripherals will always do, but that said, it is a good idea.
-The Battery:- The battery is recharcheable. It's usage life is great and can go without a charge for days or even weeks (depending ... ...case is standard with every sony walkman and you can tell! It is black leather case that velcro's baggy around the walkman. It does not provide much protection at all.
-Transfer Time:- Including converting mp3 into attrac compression, the time it takes to trasnfer one song with an approx size of 5mb is about 1-2 minutes. After that particular song has been transferred, conversion is no longer needed and transfer takes less than a minute.
-Sound ...
misticalmat 15.02.2004 (01.09.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Sony MiniDisc recorder
Advantages: Sound Quality / Size / Battery Life Disadvantages: Price / Complex menu structure
...I actually bought the Sony to replace a cheap-ish (now obsolete) Sharp machine, and was looking forward to its better battery life, its PC connectivity, and better recording sound quality. Anyway - I just love gadgets, the newer, smaller and sexier the better.
The sound quality (on full speed, I never use anything else) is brilliant, although the bass boost settings are not exactly "hi fi". Battery life, using the inbuilt rechargeable battery plus ... ...record from a microphone, the Sony defaults to an automatic volume control (AVC). This is convenient for "bootlegging" or other "secret" taping but certainly does not give the best sound quality. With loud rock music, the AVC can clearly be heard to change the volume setting, trying to keep up with the music. You can go into a sub-menu, and change the setting to "manual", which makes the little "jog wheel" the recording volume control. However, as ...
Fforfreddy 05.09.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Sony MiniDisc recorder
Sound Quality
Ease of Use
Look & Design
Range of Features
Value for Money
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Product Information for "Sony MiniDisc recorder" »
Audio system
Sound Output Mode
Stereo
Automatic Volume Limiter System (AVLS)
Yes
Built-in clock
Yes, alarm
Timer
Once
Alarm Tone Qty
1
Alarm Wake-up Modes
Buzzer
Record Level Control
Automatic, manual
Features
Battery level indication, hold button, joint text capability, ATRAC technology, bass & treble control, Multi-jog operation, playback speed control
Md system
Type
MiniDisc recorder
Media Load Type
Slot-load
Playback Modes
Programme play, random play / shuffle, all tracks repeat, one track repeat
Edit Functions
Title input, record from end, erase, move, track marking
Response Bandwidth
20 - 20000 Hz
Sample Rate
44.1 kHz
Shockproof Memory
Yes
Features
Synchro recording, sampling rate converter, monaural playback mode, MDLP, personal disc memory, USB 2.0 compatibility, mono extended time recording
Headphones
Headphones Type
Headphones - binaural
Connectivity Technology
Wired
Sound Output Mode
Stereo
Remote control
Type
Player remote control - cable
Backlit Remote
Built-in
Remote with LCD Display
Built-in
Features
LCD backlight
Connections
Connector Type
1 x microphone ( mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm )
1 x audio line-in ( mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm )
1 x SPDIF input ( optical plug 3.5 mm )
1 x headphones / remote control ( mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm )
1 x USB
1 x DC power input
1 x audio line-out ( mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm )
System requirements
OS Required
Microsoft Windows 98 or later
Peripheral / Interface Devices
USB port
Manufacturer's product description
Record MP3s or CDs at up to 32x speed with Sony's new MZ-N1 high speed NetMD Walkman player/recorder. Supplied with a USB cradle for charging and Easy PC connection, this NetMD recorder rocks! Featuring a 3-line dot matrix LCD display, up to 110 hours playback, an "Easy Skip" group/folder function, ATRAC3 playback and the support of multiple Internet audio formats, this recorder utilizes affordable MD media for over 5 hours of music storage on one 80-minute disc. A backlit LCD remote with editing functions, a rechargeable battery and AC adapter are also supplied. Record from the Net in no time with NetMD!
