Great MD overall. Better than CD and MP3 players.
Written: Mar 02 '01
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Pros: slim design, 40 sec anti-skip, sound quality, many features
Cons: no backlit display, no display and no clip on remote
The Bottom Line: Sony MZ-R37 has all you need for casual use and affordable! Why pay extra for features you don't need or use?
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| jujube819's Full Review: Sony Walkman MZ-R37SP Personal MiniDisc Player |
I wanted to get a MD player/recorder because I want a listening device that combines the functionality of a CD player and the "recordability" of a tape player. What I meant is that I want the skip, repeat, shuffle, etc. functions and also to be able to record over a pre-recorded tape or disc in this case. I don't know about others, but my family and I don't go back to those "old" music/CDs and we have so many CDs sitting on the shelf collecting dust! With the MD, you can simply record over the songs you don't listen to anymore.
So, why did I get the MZ-R37? Well, I got this MD about an year ago when MZ-R55 was the top of the line. Yes, MZ-R55 looks better, in my own opinion, and has a display and clip on the remote, but from its description, the MZ-R55 only has about 4 hours of playback time. That's probably the only reason why I didn't get the MZ-R55. So the next one on the line was MZ-R37. The playing time is not so great with the rechargeable battery that came with it. Around 6 hours (recharges in about 2 hours), but you can use regular AA battery which gives you about 15 hours.
Oh, and I didn't know there were no clips on the remote when I made the purchase online. It's the one thing that bothers me the most. When I run with the MD, the remote jumps up and down pulling on my headphone. So, I had to switch to my regular earphone without the remote. Well, at least with the 40 sec. anti-skip, the music won't skip. While I'm talking about the cons, I'll just finish it up with just one other one - no backlit display on the MD unit. This makes it difficult to operate in low light condition.
Other then those, this MD is one great machine. It has great sound quality, and many features for editing your disc. After recording, you can move the tracks around to change the order of the songs so you don't have to worry about what to record first. Some people like to keep the same type of music together and don't have enough to fit the whole 74 minutes. Or you can just record whatever you have now and start listening and record some more later on that same disc! Something you can't do with the regular CDs. Other features include removing/adding track marks. This allows you to dissect a particular song or combine songs together. You may wonder why would you want to do that right? Read on...
When you record using analog input from analog-output-only device, like my PC through WinAmp player, sometimes the MD player can not pick up the gap between the songs (maybe due to the short gap or whatever reason). This will put the two songs under one track in the MD with a short gap/pause in between. So if you use the skip function, you'll never find that "attached" song. Well, using the track mark-remove function allow you to separate the two ( or three or more ) attached songs. And if you (just) want longer gaps between songs, you can create blank tracks using the track mark-add function and then move that track before (or after the song) and then remove that track mark. Cool right? Well, you won't have this problem if you're using the optical digital cable (provided) to record from a digital output device (such as a stereo system or some CD players). You can also delete one song at a time or the entire disc. Also, you can input titles for your songs using the unit itself or with the remote. This is something I never do because it takes too much time to input the titles.
Oh, and it comes with two levels of mega-bass adjustment so you can waste more battery... ha..ha..
Well, so why should you get the MZ-R37 and not r55, r70, r90, r91? The reason why you came here right? Well, I don't know! Maybe because you don't want to spend so much money for whatever extra features that you don't need ( if you just want to record and playback and don't care about those extra stuff). I bought mine for $199 but you can find one for around $150 now. At least I can tell you why you should get a MD and not a CD or MP3 player. You can recorder over and over again but not with CDs. And you can record MP3s from your PC and regular music from CD players without any conversions. Oh, almost forgot to mention that you can record from the microphone input as well. And with a car kit, you can play your MDs in your car just like how you will play your CDs through the tape deck.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 199
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Epinions.com ID:
jujube819
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Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 2 members
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