All you need for portable audio playback/recording
Written: Mar 08 '01
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Pros: MD format has many advantages, long battery life, great sound quality, intuitive remote, durable
Cons: no program play, body lacks backlight, larger than current models, lacks outputs of professional models
The Bottom Line: A great buy, it's durable, easy to use, sounds great, is battery-efficient and is affordable. Well worth the price!
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| dirwin's Full Review: Sharp MD-MS722 Personal MiniDisc Player |
I got my 722 from minidisco.com in December of 1999. It cost $249, but the cost came down to $199 after rebate. Since then, I've been extremely pleased with the Sharp MD-MS722. It has so many little features that you won't realize you missed until you use something different. I'll talk about my few gripes first, then I'll cover many of the things I like about the 722.
The Cons
This model has a main unit and a wired remote control that plugs into the main unit. Headphones can be plugged directly into the remote jack, or the remote can be plugged into the remote jack and the headphones plugged into the remote. If you use the unit by itself without the remote, you will notice an absence of backlight on the main unit. This is a mild annoyance at night. However, since I usually use the remote, it isn't a major issue for me.
This model does not have program play. With Minidisc, you can move tracks into the order in which you want them to be played back. However, no program play exists on the 722.
Third, the 722 is bulkier than most new models on the market. Look at a Sony MZR900 or a Sharp MDSR60 and you'll see what I mean. However, bigger can be better. The 722 is extremely durable, partially due to its design which inherently has large size incorporated. Nevertheless, realize that this is somewhat bulkier than some units out there.
Finally, this unit has no digital output. This is mildly annoying while trying to go digital out of the MD to the digital input of my PC. I ended up going analog instead. Now I use my Sharp MD-X5 shelf system for this purpose. In and of itself, though, this unit will take some time to make a perfect analog copy to another source. This may not be a big issue at all for some of you, but I use MD for concerts, which I like to burn onto CD. This requires the use of my PC, and therefore requires some time with audio levels.
The Pros
First, the MiniDisc format in general is awesome. Admittedly, MD compresses sound five times from its bitrate on CD. This does not mean that the sound is of five times lower quality!!! Much of the sound that is removed is out of the human ear's frequency response range. With a little practice, you can get near-CD quality sound out of just this unit. For the most part, this simply entails checking the levels and perfecting them if you use analog transfer. I use a Xitel DG-1 which takes audio through the USB port on my PC and transforms it to Digital signal for minidisc. I can use the 722 to record this sound. With this unit, I have approached CD-quality. There is a difference between this and CD, but MD clearly blows away even the highest quality analog tapes when it is used properly. Remember that this is MiniDisc. If you don't like a track, you can move it or erase it--nonlinearly. If you want to divide a track or combine two, it's a snap. Believe me when I say it takes less than 5 minutes to learn what you're doing.
Second, battery life in combination with small size is perfect for portability anywhere. Throw the unit itself, a pair of ear bud headphones, and a few discs into the case and away you go. My battery has been quite abused and still gives me several hours of listening. A "AA" battery pack is supplied that can be attached to the unit for extra battery life. However, the ease of taking the unit and simply plugging it in to charge the Lithium-Ion battery is unbeatable.
Third, I highly recommend this unit for live recording. You'll get a few hours out of the battery, and recording has never been easier. Just plug in a microphone of your choice and you're set to record 80 minutes stereo or 2 hours and 40 minutes mono. (This is with 80 minute discs, 74 minute is typical.) The sound quality is awesome (I use a pretty decent microphone, results may vary with mic quality.) Audio levels can be adjusted on the fly. No need to pause to adjust levels, just slide the lever.
Fourth, I'd like to talk about durability. This unit has spend several weeks at summer camps, it has been hiking in the Grand Canyon, it has been dropped, stepped on, left in my car in sub-zero temperatures overnight, and generally abused. (I'm out of the warranty period, so I don't care who knows how many times I've voided it.) Of course, most of the abuse was accidental (although sometimes people's attempts to make it skip are a bit extreme, but more on that later.) The point is that this unit can take a lot. I don't recommend throwing the thing on concrete, but if it does fall out of your pocket and hit the ground, you're likely to just add another battle scar and keep going. In addition, skip protection is great. About 40-second protection, or about 10 seconds in "power save" mode. In reality, it's more than this. If I shake the unit constantly for over a minute, it won't skip. There's a report of a guy who totalled his truck while he had his 722 playing, and yet no skip. Don't plan on missing any music with this gadget.
Fifth, I will cover car-use. I use the unit in my car with a car DC power adapter, the remote, and an old Panasonic cassette adapter. Sound from this is great. The unit can be programmed so that the light on the remote stays on when the unit is plugged in. In addition to this, the unit automatically turns on when it senses DC or AC power. Finally, there is an auto-play mode, which means the unit starts playing exactly where it left off as soon as it is turned on, as opposed to pressing play to start playing. Let me explain what this means. The unit is plugged into my car stereo. As soon as I turn the car on, the unit spews forth music, no buttons to press. I do have to remember to shut the unit off when I shut the car off, or the battery(ies) will die. The unit does not lose power while switching between battery and auxilliary power. This is a nice feature.
Summary
I could easily go on forever about the Sharp MD-MS722 (and sometimes do while talking about it.) This unit is great for the money, you should be able to find a new one well under $200 and maybe even under $150. I'm not really sure of the price, but it's worth it. Ease of use, near-CD audio quality, battery life, portability, strong construction, and easy car use are just some of the strong points of the 722. If you're only worried about small size, move on. However, if you want a great, affordable, tough unit that sounds darn good, take a long look at the Sharp MD-MS722.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 199
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Epinions.com ID:
dirwin
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Location: Latrobe, PA, USA
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
21-year-old male college student. Computer guru. Geek/Gadget lover for life. Audiophile. AMD Fanatic.
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