Sony MZR90 Minidisc Recorder
By: Sony Average Rating: 4.5 Total Reviews: 16
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 On: 2002-07-28
I am electrical dumb. And being only 16, when reading the instruction booklet to my MZ-R90, the booklet seems very vague. Id like to know everything my MiniDisc can do. Maybe it says it in the book. But Id like a step-by-step learners guide on not only what it can do, but a simple how-to do it guide. This Recorder is pretty neat for what it is. But even my brother, who is semi-electronic smart, hates the instruction booklet because it is confusing. Im sure I would like the product more if I knew how to use it and what to do. I guess its just the new technology changes. I wonder how the normal owner of one of these things found out how to use it and what to use it with and for.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-01-23
I ordered the MZR70 first and wasnt too impressed with it. The remote was pretty aweful and it felt a little breakable. The R90 I got instead has a much nicer feel to it. The remote is about 20x better than the R70 remote, and the body of the recorder seems much sturdier. Its like the difference between a $40 cd player and a $100 one.
Given the small price diffence, Im glad I went for the higher model.
On: 2001-05-26
Let me start off by saying that I love this thing. Its by far the coolest new toy ive purchased. I got it at some going out of business sale in the city. I bought a nice microphone from Sony to go along with it. My primary goal was to record all my language classes while overseas and then post them on my web site. Anyways, the sound quality is great, and im definitely sold, but here are the two major drawbacks for me: 1) No digital offload of recordings to your computer. (Im a web developer) 2) They have this stupid "End Search" button. It works like this. If you want to record anything... first you hit the "End Search" button, then you hit the "Record" button. If you dont hit the end search button first, it will erase all the rest of your recordings after the track number that you hit record in front of. I lost lots of great recordings in Thailand before i finally learned about this user interface failure. They should have just labeled it "prepare for recording" in stead of "End Search". Better yet, they should have just eliminated it and included the functionality in the record button. That being said, Im thinking about selling my my current one in favor of one of their new ones that is more expensive but promises to overcome the above two drawbacks.
On: 2001-05-22
Living over here in asia I get access to all the new gadgets by japanese companies. I actually have this model. Mine is silver though. I guess blue is a world model.There are some pains you must go through with this piece of equipment. 1st of all you cant change the bass level through the remote. This is the worst feature. Very inconvenient Second sony still didnt get rid of the End search button. You might just erase your album by mistake. Third the playing time isnt that great. 8 Hrs of so. Unless you have 2 or more batteries gets pretty irritating. Actually the most important thing to know is that this model has been replaced. The current flagship sony is the r-900 which allows MDLP recording/playback allowing max 320 minutes of recording on 1 disc. This is worthless but the 160 minute option is very useful. I recommend getting a MD audio system and a dedicated player. Not a recorder/player. I personally use a E-900 which supports MDLP playback and 20 hours of playback on 1 charge. Smallest, lightest in the world right now. Once you go to a dedicated MD player there is no turning back. MD recorders have just too many drawbacks.
by: Anonymous On: 2001-03-04
Having a lot of experince with minidisc players, i can easily say that the MZR90 is a great buy. Its practically skip free under all conditions including running. Its recording and titling capabilities are easy and compact. The option for two colors always allows for slight creativity. The remote has display/and playmode features so u never have to be bother to even take the remote out of your pocket. The headphones are foldable for compact storage, or you can use your old ones and plug them right into the remote. If you have a few extra dollars and a need for an MD Player I would get the MZR90.
On: 2001-03-03
I recently purchased the MZ-R90 as one of my birthday presents. At first, I was a little skeptical of the whole MD format, as it hasnt been real big in the U.S. But to me, there were two distinct advantages over MP3: The ability to record from digital AND analog sources, and the unlimited space according to how many discs you have. When I opened the box to this player, I almost couldnt find it! I was very surprised at the size of this machine. It is really small and intricate and has many features.Recording--Recording was a snap for me. All you have to do is buy an analog cable which cost me ... at ... I also bought some blank MDs there too. To record form a CD, you just hook up one end of the cable to the R-90s line-in jack and the other end with the headphone jack of the CD player. Then, you slide the record button and play the CD! You can also record MP3s from your computer this way; I think it is better than an MP3 player because you have unlimited space. Playback--Playback is about the same as portable CD players. You can do shuffle play, repeat 1, or repeat all. The volume control and bass boost are easy to use. You would think that MD recordings would sound worse than the actual CD, but let me tell you--they dont. I couldnt notice any difference between my CD and my MD. Moving around with functions--This player is the epitome of ease with functions. It features a jog dial that you move up and down to scroll through options, and to select you press the dial in. There are 7 main functions during play and 4 when there is no disc. The Remote :-)--This little thing is one of the sweetest parts of the player. It has all the basic functions, editing capabilities, and is backlit. I dont know if you could ask for a more functional remote. Editing--The editing part of this machine is a cinch. You can label the disc and the track names for each MD. There is space for 1700 charaters each disc, so dont worry about running out of room. Pressing the pause button during editing will bring you to certain types of charaters: Upper and lower case letters, symbols, and numbers. This is very convenient so you do not have to spend forever searching for a letter. Note: The American version of the R-90 cannot display or edit with Japanese katakana. (But who cares about that?) Overall Satisfaction--I am very pleased with my purchase of the MZ-R90. Is is small, functional, and very attractive. I dont have any major quirks with it, except that it sometimes takes a while to load, but...oh well! If I had to do this purchase over again, I would do it in a heartbeat.I hope you enjoyed this review, and happy listening!
On: 2001-02-06
What can i say, another great piece of kit, from sony. I have purchased other minidisc players, but i have only found sony to be the best out of the lot. The MZR-90 has some exllent features on it. For example LCD on both the unit and the remote control, this means that you dont have to fish the unit from your pocket to look at the name of the track, or to change it. The unit also has better bass on it than other minidisc players i have bought, thanks to sony. Id say if you were looking to buy one, this is the best one to get, you wont find a beter one!!!!!!
by: Anonymous On: 2001-02-03
i own the mz-r900(yes theres such kind of model)and i would like to write a few comments about sony usa: 1.if sony launched the new walkman trade mark,why dont they replace the "old" models which has the old trademark? 2.the mz-r 900 has mdlp(mini disc long play)why dont sony distribute the new md models which have already been launched in: united kingdom,japan,and other european countries. 3.the price of this player is high,if youll search in other internet shopping sites youll find it there chipper. 4.it is not the "worlds smallest md recorder" yeah really AS OF 99!panasonic now has the smallest md recorder(which is not distributed in the us(as of 2000) 5.theres now a new technology called "dot play" which is a tiny disc that can handle 3 hours of music(in mp3). 6.it is recommended if you purchase a md recorder to come with a computer usb link or else itll be a bit annoying to record mp3s. 7.since you live in the us,this is the best md recorder imported by official sony industries in the us. 8.no its not! you can purchase the mz-r900 model on the internet.(search for yourself) have a nice day!
On: 2001-01-27
This md recorder does not even compare to mpfree players. One review favored cds! Why? I am guessing that they like to carry a brick sized cd player that cannot even record. And its too early for our time? The first MD came out in 1990. 11 years ago is our time. But I understand why people hate it, because it replaced the cd player in compactness, alowing more hours of playback without carrying 12 batteries like a cd player, and best of all, it records. I can truely say nothing bad about the MZR-90. Its just a perfect machine.
On: 2001-01-19
I got the MZ-R90 for christmas and since then I have been using it all the time. If you whant to buy a mini disc recorder I think you better buy this one.
On: 2001-01-16
I have to admit, prior to purchasing this player, I had my doubts. One can easily say that a CD player is much less expensive, lacks the necessary time to record an MD from a CD, and overall is more popular (for those who want to listen to a friends CDs while not at home, yet this friend is listening with his/her own CD player). Furthermore, for those of us who demand high sound quality, only the fiber optic cable provides for a digital recording. This means not just any CD player will record digitally; only those with an optical out will allow you to record withot a loss of sound quality.I must say, however, that the benefits heavily outweigh the drawbacks. The size is very important. The MZ-R90 is tiny, measuring 2 7/8 inches by approximately 3 inches. This can be said to be only a little larger than a quarter of a typical CD player. Whereas I was unable to even dream of fitting CDs, much less a player into my inner jacket pocket (the pocket is too small by at least half an inch), the MZ-R90 fits with room to spare. Not only that, but the size difference allows me to fit 7 or 8 MDs into the pocket on the other side. The remote is twice as useful as I first perceived it to be. The lack of a need to actually pull out the MD to change volume, play, stop, or pause has saved me at least a total of 24 hours since I bought my R90. The LCD display has its uses, especially when I want to know what track I am skipping to. I can, with the touch of a button, know how much time is left to the disc, what time of the day it is, the name of the track, or the default setting: the amount of track time passed. The AA adapter holds only one battery, keeping the size small, but doubling the play time. As an adapter, the option of removing it to keep it light and small is always there. No doubt, I highly recommend this product over any other portable MD player and recorder out there. The only thing I can imagine to compliment the lightweight and ease of the R90 would be a pair of wireless earphones.
On: 2001-01-04
I wanted portable music. My first thoughts were of an MP3 player, but the options are currently quite limited: either fixed storage of 30-60 minutes, or removable storage (flash, memory stick, etc) at a cost of $1-2/minute of audio... and long download times to get the music into the player. Lot of money, not much functionality. I looked elsewhere...Minidiscs have improved immeasurably since the first generation of harsh, metallic audio. Media is cheap as well; at $2-3 per 72-minute disc, the savings over mp3 media alone are enough to justify Mindisc. I decided to get a portable player/recorder, and after looking at the options, purchased the MZ-R90. Sonys highest-end, smallest, lightest minidisc player (competitive with an mp3 player!), with a great feature set. The jog-dial is a suprisingly effective control -- a single control, which you can jog with thumb or finger, does almost every common operation -- except volume. Wonderful idea, I hope to see it blatantly stolen by everyone else. RTFM, though, if you want to title your tracks: I figured out everything except how to save the title I had entered. There are a couple other gotchas: the same jack is used for headphones and line out, and it resets to headphones when it powers off, making it a hassle to switch between phones and stereo (or car). (Setting volume at max for line out is the easy workaround.) Recording off of battery avoids any chance of ground loop hum, but if the battery isnt freshly charged, you risk running out of juice. Use the external AA-holder to more than double your rec/playback time. These few gotchas make me rate this 4 stars instead of 5 -- my personal experience has been excellent! With the addition of a $30 mic, its also very handy for recording interviews, so its now a business expense, too. Theres only one problem. The hard-to-find MZ-R91 looks even better. So I got one of those, too... :-)
On: 2000-12-28
Like the Title implies, this product is really a technological advance, but it really is too advanced for this time. In 5 years, this product will completely dominate the market, but for now, it is pretty much just a way to show off. Since CDs are still immensely popular, and no artists are releasing there albums on Minidiscs (yet), I would recommend saving your money for an entry level CD-R and/or a CD/MP3 player. And probably since the Minidisc player is probably going to decrease in price in a couple of years, I would wait.
by: Anonymous On: 2000-12-21
I just ordered this item and it is great! I got it next day air and it arrived just in time for the holidays. This is perfect for any music fans of all ages. If you got it for a younger audience, it doesnt matter because since its so simple to use, a 6 year old can use it! Its great and I would recommend it!
On: 2000-12-16
Well, this is a great Minidisc recorder. It makes an ideal Christmas present for the music fan. Of course...this is just a GRAND item to own. If you have ANY children in their teens. This is a great buy. Sony has done it again.
On: 2000-12-15
This is a great product.I bought this player about 2 weeks ago. It is the second md player i have owned. The first one was the Sharp 722 it every thing on it broke and sharp would not send me anether one or ever fix it. Sharp sucks dont buy from them. Anyway, this one is great. It is the smallest player/recorder currently on the market. It is a little over 2 md cases thick. It is very easy to use witch is a plus. My other one was way to complicated and things would happen that I did not want to happen. Also the sound is excellent. this is a good player recorder for anyone. it is great.
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