Sony's NF-610 Minidisc Recorder - "Prosumer"?
Written: Jun 22 '03 (Updated Jun 22 '03)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Sound: |
 |
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
|
|
| Portability: |
 |
|
| Battery Life: |
|
|
|
Pros: Good value, decent design, feature-rich, nice remote
Cons: Somewhat slow, rechargable battery has short life, HORRIBLE SOFTWARE
The Bottom Line: The horrible counterintuitive software package is the only reason why you shouldn't purchase this unit. You won't be disappointed otherwise.
|
|
|
| JDooty1234's Full Review: Sony Net MD Walkman MZ-NF610 Personal MiniDisc Pla... |
I was introduced to the world of Minidiscs by a friend at my high school (both now graduated, :-D) and when he sold me his old player (MZ-R700), I immediately fell in love with the format. The highly flexible track system, the crisp sound quality, and the higher capacity smaller discs made it a winner in my mind. If you've not tried minidisc, or don't understand it, I suggest you go to www.minidisc.org and take a look at the different things you can do with it. It's a highly flexible, and now mature format that is consistently overlooked, because of Sony's unfortunate leashes on the potential it holds. But that's another story...
The MZ-NF610 includes a Type-S ATRAC compression codec. Like Type-R encoding, which enhances SP recording, Type-S apparently enhances MDLP recording slightly. I've not done any listening tests between the two, and I've not noticed any difference between the quality of the two MD units I've recorded on.
What's In The Box:
The package includes the unit itself, which is a blue colour with silver buttons, a remote control with LCD screen, an AC adaptor, a Nickel-Metal Hydride AA cell rechargeable battery, a pair of cheap Sony headphones, a CD-ROM containing the software used for NetMD transfer, a NetMD USB cable, and the instruction manual.
In-Depth Exploration:
The MZ-NF610 is an MDLP compatible NetMD Minidisc recorder.
The LCD display isn't as long as the MZ-R700, and the characters are smaller, but the display is smooth and functional. The buttons are pretty much standard, save for a few that have double functions within the menu system. The menu system is fairly intuitive, but due to the small size of the LCD, the different functions are abbreviated horribly, (what the hell does G:Rls mean to someone who's just picked up the unit?) and branches of the system have misleading titles or items that confused me. The titling system, like any other portable MD unit, is tedious and time-consuming, but that's really just the nature of the beast. The sound can be customized through the menu system, bass and treble can be increased and decreased, and this really helps out the sound. To my great surprise and delight, the trademark "all your bass are belong to us" above about 75% volume "function" is missing on this unit. Maybe this is a residual of me buying a more expensive model, but whatever it is, I'm happy. The infamous "End Search" button is here, too.
The hoopla raised over the button's apparent lack of purpose in lieu of an automatic end search has been enough to merit a petition to Sony to end the button's life, and include a feature in the menu system itself. Sony apparently listened, and took the appropriate action in a later model than mine. I personally like the button, hardware has always been preferable over software to me, and I think the button's presence helps one to pay more attention to detail rather than just plug and go.
Track marking remains the same, the mark button is in a good place, and all buttons are easily depressed and are in fairly intuitive positions.
The unit itself has inputs for Line-In (optical) and USB, but no powered mic input, which disappointed me as I liked to plug my acoustic guitar into the older MZ-R700's powered mic input. It also has a special remote input.
The remote included with the unit is the RM-MC37LT. This is where the radio function comes in. The remote has a long LCD display that is not backlit, unfortunately, but is very nice for myself when I drive and don't have enough flexibility to take the MD out of my pocket to change tracks. I can just clip the remote on the seatbelt and use it to do pretty much anything I can on the unit itself. The remote has a Display, Play Mode/Repeat, Sound, Radio On/Off, Stop, Folder Up, and Folder Down buttons, along with a volume rocker button. It also has, for track and time selection, a sliding triggerlike button, that you push for play/pause, or to choose between AM/FM/WB/TV, or Bass/Treble. You slide this back and forth, or hold it to change tracks or move up and down in time, respectively. The direction you move it in relation to holding it is somewhat awkward at first, but you get the hang of it. The Radio On/Off button is placed badly, though, at the top of the LCD, right where my thumb goes when I clip it to my pocket, with the LCD facing in. This causes the radio to come on before I can (or if I forgot to) engage the hold switch, and if I don't notice it, this will drain the battery. The radio actually drains the battery faster than listening to an MD.
The radio's function is dependent upon the remote, and I find that I don't use it as much as I expected to, so YMMV.
NetMD Exploration:
NetMD is Sony's answer to those who say that they don't like Minidiscs because they can't play MP3's. It's really sort of a joke, because NetMD players still don't play MP3's. The software included in the package converts your MP3's into Open MG files, which applies Sony's infamous nazi licensing and rights system, and sends those files at relatively high speeds to your Minidisc. I'm still not sure if they store on the disc as actual files or tracks, but you can't edit track markings on them from the MD unit, so I'm assuming they store as a kind of file.
When you install the NetMD software, called SonicStage, you're going to have to pay attention, because it will assume you want to use it to play all your MP3's from now on. You have to tell it you don't want it to take over your computer, and then you can start to learn the interface, which I still haven't. It's horribly confusing, and it's graphically intensive. If you've not got a decent amount of memory on your video card, be prepared for some slow and choppy animation. The software's interface is clunky, and much less intuitive than anything Microsoft has put out. I can't even explain it here, you have to use it for yourself.
The NetMD transfers nicely after you decipher the software, and sounds just as good as realtime transfers, even though you can't edit the tracks, or transfer them to another MD. I am glad I opted for NetMD, ultimately. If I want to listen to a just-downloaded song, I just drop it on a Minidisc in about a third of the song's actual length. Remember, however, you can't make digital copies of these tracks, and you can't take them off at another computer. You have to do it at the same computer. I shudder to think what happens when the computer crashes on someone.
To sum up: The MZ-NF610 is a very nice portable MD recorder, and the package is a good value, all the accessories are useful. The software is bad enough to take off a full star, but it's got enough bare functionality (it transfers music, eventually) that it is mostly worth the effort. If you like Minidiscs and want a decent player that you can do a lot of fiddling with, maybe even professional, go for this one.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 175(openbox)
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
JDooty1234
|
|
Member: John Wallace
Reviews written: 9
Trusted by: 1 member
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.