SONY Minidisc Mz-RH1: Anyone familiar?

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

My older Sony minidisc has busted and I'm looking to replace it with something else small and portable for live recording. Looks like the latest replacement model is the RH1, which sells for around $325 and, from what I read, now seems to (finally) offer the ability to fast-upload digital (not just real-time analog) sound files to a computer via USB. It's about time! The new discs hold 1 gig, and it looks like this device could double as an iPOD: you can download mp3s from your computer onto it and take them on the go like with an iPOD.

Is anyone familiar with these machines? Are they as good as they seem to be? Here are the specs: http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/category.cgi?item=SONY-MZ-RH1&type=store

Thanks!
Jimbeaux

Mike Shefrin · Posted 1 Feb 2007 9:04 am

deleted

Gordy Hall · From: Fairfax, CA.

My friend has been using a Zoom H4 .wav recorder. It holds 2 gigs on a memory chip, and you can load it straight to your computer via the chip, or via USB 2.0.

The built-in mics sound pretty good recording our jams, and they record longer without having to change discs, and accepts XLR mics or stereo line ins, like from a mixer.

You can record as .mp3 or .wav, at 44.1, 48, or 96.

I'm waiting for them to come into the local store, but they seem to have a lot more going for them than the minidiscs.

Just a thought...http://www.zzounds.com/item--ZOMH4

Gordy Hall

Joey Ace · From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

You should check out the Edirol R-9.

Not a MD, records to Flash Cards.

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

Thanks guys. Joey, have you used the Edirol? How's the quality of the recording?

Joey Ace · From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Jim,
I borrowed a friends R-09. I was very happy with it.
It's quality is very high. I only used the MP3 record option, but it also does WAVs, which would be much better, but larger files.

Since my Sony MD is working well, I can't justify purchasing an R-09, but if I needed a new recorder it's the one I'd get.

Features I like about it are:

- Internal mikes standard, no moving parts to cause clicks.
-Uses standard AA batteries
-Uses memory cards, like a camera.
-File transfer via USB, or Card reader
-Overload LEDs are very visable

Do an internet search for more reviews.

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

How about the M-Audio one? I've heard some good things...

Joey Ace · From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

I wouldn't consider the M-Audio unit because it has an internal battery. I want batteries I can change.

ref:
http://www.discipleswithmicrophones.org/blog/tag/edirol/

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

I'm sure glad you pointed that out to me, Joey. Scratch the M-Audio right off my list.

T. C. Furlong · From: Lake County, Illinois, USA

Hi Jim, I have been using the Sony MZ-M100 with great success. As I am sure you know, it is a HI-MD Linear PCM recorder. The menu system takes a little bit of practice to get used to and is a bit confusing, but it's all there.

For live recording, I try to take a feed from a mixing console which works great. When that is not practical, I use the stereo microphone that came with the recorder. It sounds pretty good except the low end is not great. I try to never use the AGC setting and go with manual level set. No pumping that way. All in all it is very reliable and what a great package. And it's the cheapest (around $325). The docking AA battery option alone is worth the price. It not only allows you to change batteries while recording but extends the recording time by adding capacity to the internal rechargable battery. I never carry a charger. Everyone who has bought one of these from my company reports that they love it.

A friend showed me his newer model and it looks really nice with the readout on the skinny edge of the recorder instead of on the face like mine has. With that orientation, you can read and verify recording by looking down into your shirt pocket.
TC

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

Thanks, TC. With my older Sony minidisc (before it broke), it would sometimes pick up the sound of it's own motor whirring! Mainly (only?) just at the beginning of a track, so if you start a bit early you can get that out of the way before the real signal comes in. Have you ever experienced that with yours?

So far, here's what I think:

Pro's for Minidisc: cheaper, good quality sound, and has ability to mark tracks on the fly, while recording. Recharge battery while recording (as described by TC)

Con's for Minidisc: has moving parts and a storage system that is not shared by any other technology (so if your recorder breaks down some day, you may not be able to get the data off your discs)

Pro's for Edirol: good quality sound, saves to flash cards that can be put right into a card reader attached to your computer to upload files. Yay.

Con's for Edirol: records everything as one big track and you have to divide into tracks after uploading the file to your computer. Boo.

M-Audio: I won't even bother discussing since you can't swap out the batteries to lengthen recording time if need be (I assume you can still do that with the Sony MD, right TC?)

Anything else I should be aware of? Thanks, guys.
jc

Joey Ace · From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

I've had a Sony Sony MZ-M100 for almost 5 years.
It's still working great.

Here's an old discussion, and picture of it here:
http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum11/HTML/003953.html

It has the the external AA Battery adapter that is an excellent feature. You can swap the external battery while the unit is on and recording, providing you have a good internal battery.

I'd still buy the Edirol if the Sony died.

Ease of File Transfer, and Internal Mikes are the reason.

My friend uses his mainly to connect to the line out of of his church's sound board.

You should also check the Zoom unit mentioned above, Jim.
It has more features and a lower price than the Edirol.

I just don't like the increased complexity of it's menus.
If you want the extra features it might be the one for you.

Joey Ace · From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

T. C. Furlong · From: Lake County, Illinois, USA

As Joey said, you can swap batteies while recording. You also need to factor in that a gig of HI-MD is about $5 I think. Flash memory is more expensive. Also, regarding built-in mic versus Sony's T-style stereo mic. I really like the fact that you can extend the Sony mic with a cable, They even provide a lapel clip for it. I have set the mic on the stage side of my mixing console and monitored the record level next to me. If someone comes up and asks me a question, it's not picked up. I have also placed the mic right next to my steel amp and watched levels from the recorder setting on the keyhead.
TC

Brad Sarno · From: St. Louis, MO USA

Here's what I recently purchased:

http://www.mdcenter.nl/redirect.php?file=http://www.mdcenter.nl/artikelen/mzrh1/index_en.php

This is Sony's latest Hi-MD recorder. Hi-MD uses a special minidisk that holds a lot more data. I needed a compact and practical and reliable recorder. Sony is a great and reliable product. I considered the new Zoom unit, but I wanted to wait a year or so for them to maybe work some bugs out. This Sony really sounds good. It will record at true PCM (CD quality) rates, and a number of compressed formats. I like the setting just below CD quality. It basically sounds good enough, actually quite good, and on one disk it can get over 7 hours of audio. It also has USB to transfer to computer, mac or pc. It's super compact. Great for bootlegging and just compactness. I use a Audio Technica AT-822 mic, but Sony has some very afforadable mics too that sound real good. So far I'm totally impressed. Once you get the hang of navigating the menu's, it's real slick. It has manual or auto record levels. The luminescent display looks great in the dark too.

It does have a rechargeable battery that lasts very long, maybe 10 hours or so on a single charge. You can power and charge the thing with it's USB cable which can either go to a computer or an actual AC supply to plug into a power outlet. I thought minidisk was a dying format, but this seems to have blown that theory. The disks are about $6 each. That's a lot cheaper than the memory cards that some of these Zoom, M-Audio, and Edirol are using. But those units are definitely worthy of consideration as they have no moving parts inside, and the memory cards are getting bigger and cheaper every month.
_________________
Brad Sarno

'82 Emmons S-10 push/pull, Revelation Tube Preamp, Furlong SPLIT powered speaker cab, V8 Octal Tube Preamp, Ganz Straight Ahead power amp - JBL D130

Lynn Oliver · From: Redmond, Washington USA * R.I.P.

I recently switched from using a Sharp MD-MT770 minidisk to an Edirol R-09. It works well with both the internal mics and with the stereo Sony mic pictured earlier in this thread. I use the Sony mic with a micPOD.

You can plug it directly into a USB jack, so it's not necessary to pop out the flash card and use a reader.

Using high-capacity NiMH rechargables I'm getting considerably more than the rated 4 hour battery life. The R-09 has settings for both alkaline and NiMH batteries.

I'm really happy with the Edirol. It's easy to glance over at the display and check the operation and levels, which was not the case with the Sharp.
_________________
Lynn Oliver

Michael Brebes · From: Northridge CA

Regular minidisc is compressed and only has a 14 bit depth. All the other units will do uncompressed 16 bit audio, and some of them will do multiple sample rates. No moving parts.

Regarding the comment about "no batteries to replace", every unit I've ever seen that has an internal rechargeable battery also has a connection where you can hook up an external power source, which are usually pretty easy to come by. So I wouldn't consider that a problem.
_________________
Michael Brebes
Instrument/amp/ pickup repair
MSA D10 Classic/Rickenbacher B6/
Dickerson MOTS/Dobro D32 Hawaiian/
Goldtone Paul Beard Reso

Mesa Boogie Studio Pre/Hafler 3000
RP1/MPX100

Dan Tyack · From: Olympia, WA USA

I like the Zoom unit quite a bit. The internal mikes are really decent, the battery life is quite good. The advantages of the Zoom over the mini-disc are:

You can overdub, using it like a 4 track recorder with multiple versions per track. Very good for capturing compositions on the fly.

You can record at a much higher resolution (24bit/96K)

You can actually plug your steel straight in the thing, and record that way (It's got amp modeling).

Effects are decent.

You can use it at a computer interface.

Transfer time is *fast*

If all you are doing is recording jams, the mini-disk has some advantages.

Alan Brookes · From: Brummy living in Southern California

Brad Sarno · From: St. Louis, MO USA

I like these guys:

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SONY-MZ-RH1

and maybe try:

www.minidisco.com
_________________
Brad Sarno

'82 Emmons S-10 push/pull, Revelation Tube Preamp, Furlong SPLIT powered speaker cab, V8 Octal Tube Preamp, Ganz Straight Ahead power amp - JBL D130

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

Jim, I have been using an Edirol R-1 for almost a year now. It's the predecessor to the R-09.

I did have to send it for repair of the little mic input connector which broke, it took two weeks to get it returned and there are actually REAL people you talk to and follow up with.

I use the R-1 for pretty much everything, I record audio direct out from the PC, I record ALL gigs LIVE , I transfer files from my 16 tracker to the R-1 and I USB files back and forth from the PC to the R-1. I trasnsfer MP3 files to it from the PC and take it on my road trips as well.

It has 6 MP3 settings as well as 16 bit and 24 bit Stereo wave settings for recording. I use a 1 gig card and I think you can record the rest of your life non stop with that size memory ! I generally use one of the HI MP3 settings, it sounds great.

I also have a Stereo Sony Condensor Mic which I carry around with the R-1, ECM-MS907. Very nice little mic. About $75. Now and then I do use the R-1 on board mics and they sound pretty good as well.

It's very easy to use and I have no complaints other than the R-1 uses a single volume level meter for both left and right. I believe the R-09 uses a split left/right level meter which is a plus.

Another choice would be the Zoom H-4, similar unit same approx price or the MAudio unit.

the primary reason I choose the R-1 over the M Audio at the time was batteries, the Edirol uses regular everyday AA batteries,( comes with power supply too) the MAudio has a special battery pack where if it dies you have to send it back for repair.

I paid $350 for mine. last year

excellent Battery Life, easily 4 or 5 hours on fresh batteries.

I used mine at St Louis last year, fine results.

Good luck, it's a brave new world out there now...

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

Thanks, guys, I'm reading all these posts (and links) with great interest. Appreciate your input very much.

Kurt Kowalski · From: Kendall, NY USA

Guys,
Check out the Boss Micro BR!

I just bought one at Guitar Center for $200...

It is a Small... and I mean small 4 track digital recorder that fits in the PALM of your hand! It records to "SD" card digital info. It will record in wav, mp3.... etc...

It has a built in mic, also a line in jack, a jack for ext mic... headphones... etc. This thing is AWESOME.

It has a built in tuner and also built in practice drum tracks etc.

I have recorded my band live to 2 track (ie: the way I would have recorded to mini disc before) and it is just great.
What makes this thing really cool is that I can NOW take the sd card and insert it into my card reader for EASY file transfer.

Then I can edit my files with whatever program I want (ie: Adobe Audition, Cool edit)

For the price, I think this Micro BR is the BEST BANG for the buck, and also has a built in tuner, effects, recorder, etc...

Check it out!

Enough of my ranting... back to practice.
Later,
kk

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

I was not aware that the Micro BR recorded in MP3 and Wave, I thought I read where it can Playback MP3's if uploaded.

thats good news..these are great little units.

tp

Kurt Kowalski · From: Kendall, NY USA

Hey Tony,

Go to page 94 of the Micro BR manual and it will show you how to record in MP3 and WAV format.

Oh and by the way... you can also upload mp3's to it and use like and IPOD or other mp3 player.

AWESOME for using as a practice tool too. You can upload rhythm tracks to the unit and plug in your guitar to the unit to play along.

And it's about the size of a pack of Cig's. Smile

It is a way cool unit.

Later,
kk Very Happy

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