Leave CDs at home
Written: Jun 13 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Lovely. Quality.
Cons: Jog Dial
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| etonhall2's Full Review: Sony Walkman MZ-R30 Personal MiniDisc Player |
I’ve got to think back on this one, because I bought it over three years ago now…
First off, unless you buy a used one, you’ll be lucky to find one of these left on the shelves, as it’s long been superseded. However, if you ARE buying one, and want some opinion, here’s mine.
In the past, I’ve had all manner of tape Walkmans, and finally bought an early Discman. This languished (and still does) in a bottom drawer after I changed jobs and started driving or walking to work instead of travelling by train (my only time to listen).
Anyway, when I got yet another job, and started rail travelling again, I just had to have some music to help pass the time. I dusted off the old Discman, and I’d forgotten just how huge it was. I decided that I couldn’t carry that about any more, it definitely didn’t fit in a suit pocket, and I don’t carry a bag. I needed something smaller.
I quickly discounted tape, but MD had just become available, so I looked at this machine. I was immediately smitten by its size, functionality, quality, etc. All the things Sony is good at are present on this machine.
Also, all the things Sony are bad at as well – Mine did not come with the Optical lead, which is entirely essential for decent recording quality.
My main fear in jumping into this new technology was that MDs were new, and would they go the way of DAT and DCC? Would I have a useless format on my hands?
Who cares? This thing is made of cold brushed aluminium (or is it stainless steel) so you’ve just got to buy it. I did take the precaution of buying ten MDs with it, reasoning that I could always reuse them if the format did disappear (with hindsight – how dumb could I have been?).
To the machine itself. Well, it has all the good stuff –remote control for the headphones, excellent track/album display, easy to use, and it also came with a really soppy bag thing to carry it in.
I plugged it into my home stereo, and set to work recording. I was immediately knocked out by the quality and convenience of the unit and the format. I know it compresses the sound files, and I know the ultimates of the dynamic range are lost, but so what?
I’ve tried it on every type of music from Gangsta rap, thru Heavy Metal, Punk, and on & up to Beethoven’s Pathetique. It handles them all superbly, and if there’s any quality lacking, well I can’t tell.
Anyway, if you’re wearing a Walkman, chances are there’s significant background noise around anyway.
Still. The stereo reproduction is awesome. The clarity has revealed recordings I didn’t know existed (Did you know Al Green whispers at the beginning of ‘Let’s Stay Together’? If you did, and you heard it on a home stereo without headphones, you’re playing it too loud! Have you ever heard the bass voice on the chorus of Gene Chandler’s ‘Duke of Earl’? Don’t even get me started on Vicki Carr…) .
As for convenience, it slips right into an inside pocket, and is totally portable.
And it uses a rechargeable battery pack – what a great idea! It lasted me about 5 – 6 hours each charging, and even if it failed unexpectedly (it never did) there’s a supplementary battery pack that screws on, takes over, and takes AAs. Great.
You can also plug it into the mains (Sony DID supply that lead) if you’re at home. This charges the battery as well as powering the unit.
Downsides? Well that jog dial thing for naming tracks is not the easiest thing to use, but then you don’t HAVE to name everything. In the correct case. With punctuation. Do you?
Would I recommend one? Absolutely. I have. I know of five people who bought the exact same model as a result of me boring them senseless about it, and all of them are delighted.
And what about the format? Well how wrong can you be? I’ve got about 80 MDs now, including the original ten, and I don’t see it dying yet. Even with MP3 on the rise.
So if that was three years ago, is it still going. Is it reliable/durable?
Well, the headphones (in-ear type) gave up the ghost after about two years, and had to be replaced, and the remote control has begun to malfunction in the last month. The unit just goes on and on however.
I said at the beginning that my DiscMan needed three people and a truck to carry it around, well, I’m afraid that like mobile phones, something that seemed tiny suddenly becomes vast. Well, somehow that happened with this unit. So – I wired it up to my stereo and bought a new one as a Walkman. A play-only MZ25. So I record and play (at home) on the 30, and play on the move with the 25 I also take the 30 on holidays, with some portable speakers because of its great battery life (something the 25 doesn’t share).
Of course, it’s not REALLY too big, and if you are buying one, don’t worry. If you are buying new, however, then the newer players like the 55 are much more compact.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
etonhall2
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Member: Jonathan Marshall
Location: London, England
Reviews written: 32
Trusted by: 11 members
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