The Sony MZ-N505 is now at the budget end of the mini-disc player market and has been discontinued by Sony. Despite this, it is still available to buy from many online retailers and there are always plenty of these models lurking around on eBay. This MZ-N505 can be picked up for a mere £79.99 ... 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...
The Sony MZ-RH1 portable MiniDisc recorder offers variety and versatility - carry around ... more
an entire music library with you, at an affordable price. This recorder burns up to 1GB of music or data onto Hi-MD discs, while still supporting the older, standard MiniDiscs.
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Advantages: 56 hours playback, portable, stylish design, ability to group songs Disadvantages: Packaged software is unusable
The Sony MZ-N505 is now at the budget end of the mini-disc player market and has been discontinued by Sony. Despite this, it is still available to buy from many online retailers and there are always plenty of these models lurking around on eBay. This MZ-N505 can be picked up for a mere £79.99 brand new and comes in three different colours - silver, blue and a ghastly gold/yellow. The MZ-N505 boasts a sleek and modern looking design with rounded edges ... .../>
Along with the player Sony also include their own software package, Open MG Jukebox that can be used for transferring tracks from a computer to the player. In all honesty this program is really not worth the hassle - it suffers from serious instability issues when using both Windows 2000 and XP and has the most irritating interface I have ever come across.
Instead of Open MG I use Real Player, Microsoft's standard music player ... more
The Sony MZ-N505 is now at the budget end of the mini-disc player market and has been discontinued by Sony. Despite this, it is still available to buy from many online retailers and there are always plenty of these models lurking around on eBay. This MZ-N505 can be picked up for a mere £79.99 brand new and comes in three different colours - silver, blue and a ghastly gold/yellow. The MZ-N505 boasts a sleek and modern looking design with rounded edges and a two-tone finish. Small enough to fit snugly in the palm of your hand and weighing in at just 104g this device is the epitome of portability. The controls are located on the front of the player and are easy to access and very responsive. This player is perfect for a workout at the gym or passing some time on a long train journey with 56 hours of playback using just a single alkaline battery the MZ-N505
The MZ-N505 also has three different quality settings for recording - SP (80 minutes of music), LP2 (180 minutes) and LP4 (300 minutes). The first quality setting is obviously the highest and gives CD quality sound which when played back through the supplied headphones gives a good range of tones and the bass is full and thick. Taking the step down to LP2 quality there is little or no difference in the quality of the playback so this is the setting that I use the most. Using LP2 you are able to fit three average sized albums onto a single mini-disc at near on CD quality which is very useful indeed. Using the LP4 mode you can fit an incredible five hours of music on a single mini-disc but at a seriously reduced quality. Listening to music recorded on the LP4 mode is certainly not a pleasure and there is a significant loss in quality marked by a persistent hiss in the background of the music. The music also seems to lose some of its richness and both high and low tones seem to be dulled and the bass is almost non-existent. Considering the fact that I can fit three albums onto a single mini-disc using the vastly superior LP2 mode I rarely use the LP4 mode.
Along with the player Sony also include their own software package, Open MG Jukebox that can be used for transferring tracks from a computer to the player. In all honesty this program is really not worth the hassle - it suffers from serious instability issues when using both Windows 2000 and XP and has the most irritating interface I have ever come across.
Instead of Open MG I use Real Player, Microsoft's standard music player and CD ripper, which on the whole is a much better program and doesn’t suffer from rampant instability. Though in order to use Real Player to transfer tracks you need to have Open MG installed on your system as Real Player needs the drivers from the MG software to make the MZ-N505 compatible with it’s ripping technology. Using Real Player you can expect to transfer roughly an hours worth of music in a little under ten minutes which obviously equates to a transfer rate of 6x. Once the tracks have been transferred the MZ-N505 has another useful feature which lets you create groups of songs on a single mini-disc. This means that you can separate albums or clusters of songs and skip through them without having to skip through every single track on the disc.
The headphones supplied with the player* are of good quality, which is a major plus point as some manufacturers often include cheap headphones to keep the price of producing the player down. The inclusion of a stick remote is also a great feature and has access to most of the player’s functions including the basic ones such as skip, play, stop etc. This is of course a very useful feature and means I can carry the player in my pocket and still have access to the controls without having to take it out of my pocket. The sound from the headphones is very rich and the digitally enhanced bass comes through clearly even at high volumes and the headphones don’t buzz or vibrate. As far as ergonomics go the headphones are comfortable to wear, fit snugly inside your ear and I have been comfortable wearing them for hours on end.
Over the past three years I have been very happy with my MZ-N505. It has kept me entertained on many a gym workout and on innumerable train journeys. If you are looking for a cheap, portable music player then look no further than the MZ-N505. Combining an exceptional array of functions and a great price you really can’t go wrong.
* The headphones in the picture above are not correct.
Advantages: Carry your music around with you Disadvantages: Not an iPOD
...My model is called the Sony MZ–N505 in a rather glorious orange yellow/lemon yellow combo. Other colour options include silver and blue, but I love the yellow one. At the time this model was pretty new on the market, though there are several other options available today, although they all have pretty much the same features, though most are now a tad smaller than mine. But saying that, mine is certainly no brick. With it’s front face measuring approximately ... ...not hesitate to recommend the Sony MZ-N505 Net MD Walkman, I love it, and it has travelled the world with me – well it’s been to France, Germany and Denmark as well as most of the UK anyways – and with being shock-proof, it’s perfect for walking round town supplying me with my own little world of music. Like I said, one of the best bits is the ability to record whatever you like onto your disks, one disk that I listen to a lot has a couple of Dire ...
Belle 04.08.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Sony MiniDisc recorder
Advantages: Durable, excellent battery life, great features. Disadvantages: Plastic fantastic!
...possessions, I was bought the Sony MZ-N505 Net MD Walkman for my birthday (from my hubby). It was a replacement for my old and very knackered tape Walkman, something I had for well over 5 years. My Walkman had been sat on and cracked, dropped and cracked a bit more, lent out to brothers and bashed about a hell of a lot by my demonic son (he was then) and his cousins. So completely useless I needed a replacement, most of my music was on tape or on ... ...I would have settled for a nice little tape Walkman, but the man of the house (they all like to dream don’t they!) decided that I should get a mini-disc player. I of course said no! If he was going to get me a nice new, expensive personal audio system then it would have to be a recorder. So a Net MD recorder was what I got, and a damn nice little toy it has been too.
On first inspection, cheap, flimsy and overpriced were my original reactions. However ...
hunnibunni 19.01.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Sony MiniDisc recorder
Advantages: High speed download, superb sound, ultra lightweight Disadvantages: Pricey
...afternoon, I wandered into a Sony Centre and spotted a pocketsize silver box on display. It had this appealing futuristic look, and was so light I hardly noticed that I was holding it. Five minutes later, I was £179 poorer!
The little thingy is Sony MZ-N505, codename Net MD Walkman, or Sony Portable MiniDisc Recorder. MiniDisc was invented by Sony and uses a new compression technology to store digital sound in less space (up to 5 hours playback ... ...and solid. Just what has Sony done making the sound so good from a tiny box like this?!
The whole package includes:
MD recorder (81 x 28 x 74.5 mm)
In-ear stereo headphones with remote controller
Carrying case with belt clip
Rechargeable battery
AC power adaptor (for charging battery)
USB cable
Digital cord (for recording from CD player, etc)
PC software on CD Rom
I have learned that MZ-N505 is being sold cheaper in the USA ($149 I heard!). ...
LBoy 02.03.2002 (03.10.2002)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Sony MiniDisc recorder
Advantages: Looks great, sounds great, simple to use, long battery life Disadvantages: The software is a bit of a pain
I actually purchased this product a good two or three years ago. It was a birthday present but one chosen by myself. I already had a personal cassette player (which, incidentally, I loved) and a personal CD player (which was alright). I didn't really want to progress up the "Walkman ladder" because I was more than happy with my cassette player, but peer pressure meant I eventually gave in and did so!
I didn't really want to find one I liked: well, ... ...that it was the best thing since sliced bread. Soooo, I went shopping for one, and came across this little gem in one of the showcase cabinets. I fell in love with it straight away, which I didn't really want to do because I was so trapped in the past! I just couldn't resist buying it... I had a choice between blue and silver and, as a Coventry City fan, I had to go for the former.
I cannot remember how much I paid for it, but you can get one for ...
ktcov 15.08.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Sony MiniDisc recorder
Advantages: connect to pc, can convert mp3 files with included software Disadvantages: lacks features included on the other 2 models
The MZ-N505 is the cheaper out of the three players in the net md range by sony. Therefore it has less features, but for the money it is still a very good product.
When i was looking for a product to replace my portable tape player i was very tempted to buy an mp3 player. They looked so good, but they had flaws, they were expensive, had little memory, and extra memory was also quite expensive. It was then that i came across the MZ-N505 for £180 ... ...wanted one. It was half the price of an mp3, could store nearly five hours of music on one disc, using the long play 4 mode, and extra discs where as cheap as 50p each. Not only that but you could connect the player to your pc via usb and convert mp3 files with the included software, then copy the songs to the plaeyr.
After a bit of searching on the internet i found one for £150 and bought it. The software was very easy to use and set-up, and within ...
buckle247 08.03.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Sony MiniDisc recorder
Sound Quality
Ease of Use
Look & Design
Range of Features
Value for Money
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Advantages: small-light-compact-great sound quality-MDLP-great batery life Disadvantages: pricey!
It was my birthday and to my great surprise and joy I was given a sony MZ-R900.This is a minidisc player.In case you don?t know what a minidisk is, it is a revolutionary invention by Sony.A minidisc is a 2.5" square cartridge with a digital optical disc inside.It is designed for recording music onto and can be recorded over 1 million times without a loss of sounds quality!Most minidiscs can hold 80 minutes of music on them in normal mode.
Anyway back to the minidisc player.The Sony MZ-R900 is available in silver or blue (mine is blue) and will fit in the palm of your hand!It is extremely light too!As soon as I received the minidisc player I ,naturally, wanted to try it out.To my horror an extremely thick manual fell from the box!Luckily the minidisc player was extremely simple to use and understand and soon I was enjoying my new gift ...
Advantages: Small, excellent battery life, flexible Disadvantages: Poor headphones, can't get it off my girlfriend
Well, I?ve owned my little mini-discrecorder for about 6 weeks and I still haven?t figured out why I brought the little beastie! I know that I?ve always wanted one and finally took the plunge a few weeks ago, but when I try and pin down WHY I wanted one or why I finally bought it, I?m a bit stumped. Maybe I?ll be able to tell you when I?ve finished writing this!
So, probably best to start at the beginning and tell you what ?Mini-disc? is.
Well, Minidisc is a fairly new format for storing and recording and storing music. It was invented by Sony and released onto the market back in 1993. If you?ve never seen a minidisc, they are like little CD?s, about 7cms in diameter and encased in a plastic cover to protect them from dust and the possibility of being scratched. The whole thing looks a bit like like a small 3 1/2? diskette ...
Advantages: Looks good, good price, quite a few good features. Disadvantages: Not as many features as some MD's, not a NetMD
If you have had a look at my reviews, then you will have seen that I wrote about a MD player that I had before a few weeks ago. Unfortunately I left it on the bus a couple of weeks ago so I had to buy a new one. I saw this cheap on Ebay and decided to snap it up.
I'll start off by describing what a mini disc player is for those of you that don't have a clue what they are.
MiniDiscs were brought out by Sony in 1991 as a disc based digital medium for recording and distributing audio that is near CD in quality.
There are two types of discs: Premastered MDs, similar to CDs, and Recordable MDs, which can be recorded on repeatedly, like a CD-RW.
Anyway onto this MD player? I have only had this for a couple of days but I can still tell that it is better than the mp3 players that I have had in the past. With mp3 players the battery ...
Product Information for "Sony MiniDisc recorder" »
Audio system
Sound Output Mode
Stereo
Sound Effects
Digital Mega Bass
Automatic Volume Limiter System (AVLS)
Yes
Record Level Control
Automatic, manual
Features
Battery level indication, hold button, joint text capability, ATRAC technology, Multi-jog operation
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
Insert, erase
Response Bandwidth
20 - 20000 Hz
Sample Rate
44.1 kHz
Shockproof Memory
Yes
Features
Sampling rate converter, monaural playback mode, MDLP, USB 2.0 compatibility, mono extended time recording
Headphones
Headphones Type
Headphones - binaural - semi-open
Connectivity Technology
Wired
Sound Output Mode
Stereo
Connections
Connector Type
1 x SPDIF input ( optical plug 3.5 mm )
1 x audio line-in ( mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm )
1 x headphones ( mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm )
1 x USB ( mini-USB Type B )
1 x DC power input
System requirements
OS Required
Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 98/ME/2000
Peripheral / Interface Devices
CD-ROM, USB port
Manufacturer's product description
Sony's MZ-N505 Net MD Walkman Recorder has everything you need to create great-sounding music mixes in record time. In addition to transferring your music in up to 32x speed, title and track information created in OpenMG Jukebox is transferred to the MiniDisc. With Easy Skip group folder function, you can arrange songs into groups or "albums" in OpenMG Jukebox and easily transfer them to the MZ-N505 Net MD Recorder. If you record five hours of music, you can simply skip from group to group to suit your mood. And your mood can change as many times as you want with up to 56 hours of playback with one "AA" alkaline battery. You even get a choice of 12 playback modes for a choice of programs for shuffling, repeating and grouping tracks. Get your downloads - even faster - and Go with Net MD Walkman!
