Well, I thought this thing was quite awesome. It looks great and perfectly matches a lot of the intereor decor of my apartment. I liked the fact that it came with the free portable MD player, which I gave to my girlfriend because I have an Aiwa AM-F70 which is totally awesome. Aiwa is probably the best mainstream audio manufacturer available, with some of Pioneer's products nipping Aiwa's heels.
But this thing is NOT one of those great products.
This was the fifth Aiwa product I bought, all the others were great. But the sound on this is shockingly lacking, at least for the louder alternative I like. No bass whatsoever. Even with the bass all the way up and the EQ on ROCK mode. I played the entire CD Fantastic Planet by Failure (best CD ever!) plus some Static X, Blur, Tool, Radiohead, NIN, Refused, al that stuff... and NOTHING! NO BASS! WEAK MIDRANGES! Why, Aiwa, why betray me so?
I returned it and the MD player (much to my GF's dismay). Advice: get the new ultra-slim Aiwa CD/tape player. The sound is second to none. Note that this review was only on rock music; for classical and light jazz it'd be fairly good. This is a good intro to minidisc for teens, amateurs and the budget-minded. But professionals, afficiandos, or musicians such as I, you'd be better off with something with a little more oomph. But it is a hell of a lot better than a Pioneer MusicQube.



Recommended: No