Saturday, March 24, 2012

Sony MZ-R37 Portable Minidisc Player/Recorder Review

Sony MZ-R37 Portable Minidisc Player/Recorder
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
I wasn't bowled over by MiniDiscs when they first appeared. I heard there were some audible artifacts of the compression technology which kept these pocket-sized marvels from being a true match for CDs. And the price of the MD machines was more than I wanted to spend. Just the other day, however, I managed to score a Sony MZ-R37 portable MD recorder at an online auction, and I'm here to say -- jump in, everybody, the format's fine! The truth is, I'm not about to replace my CDs or cassettes or equipment. But I'm a semipro drummer who wanted to get digital quality recordings of rehearsals and jam sessions in a pocket-sized unit. Well, all I can say is -- if there are any audible deficiencies of the MD format, I can't hear them, and as a musician, my ears are pretty good. Although I haven't made a live recording of my band yet, I have been making test recordings all weekend, dubbing CDs of demanding acoustic music like the David Ware Quartet. The MZ-R37 makes and plays back superb recordings that I cannot distinguish from the original CDs; this despite the fact that I'm not using the digital optical hookup available (cord provided). I hear no hiss, wow, or flutter, no glitches between selections, and all instruments are present and accounted for, and sound the way they should. There are no problems with the azimuth misalignments I constantly encountered with cassettes. Recordings of electronic music sound superb too; the Beatles' "Come Together" sounded awesome! I did discover two things I have to get used to with the MD format. The first is the necessity of using the "END SEARCH" button if you have been listening to a recording before you resume recording; otherwise, songs get split in half and weird sequencing events occur. The second is to remember not to push PAUSE before pushing STOP at the end of a recording; every time you push PAUSE on the MZ-R37, it adds a track number. I'm so used to doing that on a cassette deck so as not to introduce a glitch onto the tape between songs. I also discovered that you can make a better recording by overriding the automatic gain control and pumping up the volume, so the peaks hit the top element in the display. In terms of things I would change on this unit, I wish the buttons were a little bigger; my old fingers don't always have the easiest time zeroing in on the button required for a certain function! And I wish the MZ-R37 had a back-lit or electro-luminescent LCD panel you could see in low-light conditions. I predict I'll be pulling out my pocket flashlight on more than one occasion to check levels and disc run status! And some sort of carrying case would have been a more welcome inclusion with this package for me than the cheapo headphones or optical cable included. Live recordists will need a stereo microphone too, one that draws power from the mike input; for sound quality, compactness, and affordable price, it's hard to beat Sony's PC-62 or its successor, if there is one. And that pretty much sums up the Sony MZ-R37 MD Recorder itself too!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Sony MZ-R37 Portable Minidisc Player/Recorder

This minidisc player and recorder is built with a horizontal design and has easily accessible buttons. To counter the skip-prone movements of walking or running, the player has forty second shock resistant memory. THe remote control contains editing functions. The high quality recording features comes with AGC. To improve the sound quality, the MZ-R37 contains: the Digital Mega Bass sound system with three positions, automatic volume limiter system (AVLS), sample rate converter, and digital synchro recording. The package comes rechargeable ready, and runs on two AA batteries.
What's in the Box Minidisc player, AC/DC adaptor, rechargeable batteries, two AA batteries, user manual and a one year warranty.

Buy Now

Click here for more information about Sony MZ-R37 Portable Minidisc Player/Recorder

0 comments:

Post a Comment