Sony MZ-R90 Personal MiniDisc Player
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Similar in Personal Audio Mini Disc Player
- Recordable: Recordable
- Headphones: Yes
- Remote Control: LCD
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Another "small" step for Sony
Pros
(fairly) small, excellent sound quality, long battery life
Cons
Minimally useful, rather expensive
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
This is technically a great product, and I would recommend it if there existed any reason to own it.
If you read my previous minidisc-related review (Mini-market), you have some idea of what's comming here; if not, please read on.
I bought this shortly after purchasing a MJ-D707 model Pioneer minidisc deck. I was completely taken by the quality of the playback and the sharpness of the recordings, and I wanted to be able to take the music with me when I went places or ran. Prior to realizing the drawbacks to minidisc technology, I dropped a real load on this (US$249), and although I don't exactly regret it, I don't think you should do the same. On the other hand, they seem to be a little cheaper now than they were when I purchased it, so depending on the price, maybe it's worth it to you.
External Quality
This is typical Sony fare, most of their portable stuff seems pretty resiliant. As usual it looks very impressively high-tech, and although that can be decieving, in this case it is really not. I have a tendancy to drop stuff, and this did not escape the curse; however even through several falls (a few of which included stairs of course) this unit has persevered and runs as well as the day I bought it.
Internal Quality
Again, it's typical Sony fare: Flawless and well designed. The 40 second anti skip really seems like overkill, the first thing I did was shake it violently for a minute and I was tired of shaking it when I gave up - it hadn't skipped yet. This is because a minidisc's data surface is much lighter and smaller than that of a CD, for instance - it is locked tightly to the spindle of the player and even when shaken, the data head rarely loses its place. With 40 seconds of time to find its place, and considering that the head can read the data much faster than neccesary to play the music, it's nearly impossible to make this player skip.
Sound Quality
After getting this, I found myself wishing I could return the Pioneer unit. The sound is JUST as good, and it has a digital IO port if you want to use optics with it. No complaints here, I heard no artifacts with any of my recordings and the recordings I made with it were flawless as well. The volume didn't seem to affect quality either, I found I could turn it up as high as I would ever want it without significant harmonic distortion or static.
Batteries
Who needs'em? Definitely not this, it lasts many many hours on a single pair. This is due also to the light data disc; it doesn't take as much energy to spin up and maintain as does a CD.
Value
Well this is where I get to justify my recommendation. Please refer to my Pioneer review if you want the full rant, but here it is in a nutshell.
Minidiscs don't have a market any more. CDR media discs are a dime a dozen (well, close anyway) and CDR recording devices for the computer that you obviously have are under US$100 anyway. If you want audio in your car, I strongly suggust you use that combination to burn your CD's (whether from audio CD's or from mp3's). In addition, there are lighter and cheaper methods of carrying music if you want it on your person, a RIO or similar mp3 player would suit you better for running or other activity in which you must carry the device.
For these reasons alone, I don't recommend this player. It's technologically great, to be sure, but even if the most highly advanced, energy efficient, skip-resistant, coolest-looking electric dog polisher in the world was available for US$249, would you buy it? (I expect a comment on that...)
Final Notes
That's it, the MX-R90 in a nutshell. Great to transport minidiscs, but why would you want to transport minidiscs?
I bought this shortly after purchasing a MJ-D707 model Pioneer minidisc deck. I was completely taken by the quality of the playback and the sharpness of the recordings, and I wanted to be able to take the music with me when I went places or ran. Prior to realizing the drawbacks to minidisc technology, I dropped a real load on this (US$249), and although I don't exactly regret it, I don't think you should do the same. On the other hand, they seem to be a little cheaper now than they were when I purchased it, so depending on the price, maybe it's worth it to you.
External Quality
This is typical Sony fare, most of their portable stuff seems pretty resiliant. As usual it looks very impressively high-tech, and although that can be decieving, in this case it is really not. I have a tendancy to drop stuff, and this did not escape the curse; however even through several falls (a few of which included stairs of course) this unit has persevered and runs as well as the day I bought it.
Internal Quality
Again, it's typical Sony fare: Flawless and well designed. The 40 second anti skip really seems like overkill, the first thing I did was shake it violently for a minute and I was tired of shaking it when I gave up - it hadn't skipped yet. This is because a minidisc's data surface is much lighter and smaller than that of a CD, for instance - it is locked tightly to the spindle of the player and even when shaken, the data head rarely loses its place. With 40 seconds of time to find its place, and considering that the head can read the data much faster than neccesary to play the music, it's nearly impossible to make this player skip.
Sound Quality
After getting this, I found myself wishing I could return the Pioneer unit. The sound is JUST as good, and it has a digital IO port if you want to use optics with it. No complaints here, I heard no artifacts with any of my recordings and the recordings I made with it were flawless as well. The volume didn't seem to affect quality either, I found I could turn it up as high as I would ever want it without significant harmonic distortion or static.
Batteries
Who needs'em? Definitely not this, it lasts many many hours on a single pair. This is due also to the light data disc; it doesn't take as much energy to spin up and maintain as does a CD.
Value
Well this is where I get to justify my recommendation. Please refer to my Pioneer review if you want the full rant, but here it is in a nutshell.
Minidiscs don't have a market any more. CDR media discs are a dime a dozen (well, close anyway) and CDR recording devices for the computer that you obviously have are under US$100 anyway. If you want audio in your car, I strongly suggust you use that combination to burn your CD's (whether from audio CD's or from mp3's). In addition, there are lighter and cheaper methods of carrying music if you want it on your person, a RIO or similar mp3 player would suit you better for running or other activity in which you must carry the device.
For these reasons alone, I don't recommend this player. It's technologically great, to be sure, but even if the most highly advanced, energy efficient, skip-resistant, coolest-looking electric dog polisher in the world was available for US$249, would you buy it? (I expect a comment on that...)
Final Notes
That's it, the MX-R90 in a nutshell. Great to transport minidiscs, but why would you want to transport minidiscs?
