Sony MZ-NH1 Net MD / Hi-MD Walkman Portable Minidisc Player / Recorder
By: Sony Average Rating: 4.0 Total Reviews: 12
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 On: 2007-01-10
Guess this product is sort of superceeded by iPods and other MP3 players, but if you have an old minidisc player and want extra capacity along with compatibility with your old MDs, this is the way to go. In the end it is now just another gadget in my drawer of toys, with very infrequent use. Sound is in my opinion better than mp3 format files, but limited storage 1G is still too small.
 On: 2006-03-29
MDs are one of the things I love best. Ever since 92, Im this device biggest fan. However, with 1G of information, Sony succeeded to F**k this product pretty bad.
Why?
Terrible software. Actually terrible isnt even tickle the real definition of the sonic stage, but I suspect that the real word to describe it cant be published on respectable site like Amazon. First of all you cant just transfer your music - you have to re-encode it. For the regular net MD, thats not so bad, for 30 songs. For this one - you have 200 songs; it will take you an hour.
The software GUI was probably designed by a blind person, and one that doesnt know computers at all. Its so frustrating to locate the songs to transfer, and you obviously cant use Windows explorer to do so. And this isnt even the start!... if you are trying to transfer too many songs at once it will just stuck, and you have to disconnect the device and close the "software" through the task manager. Not convinced yet? Heres another jam. Sonic stage will "organize" the songs for you, disregarding any organization that you had on your HD (or any reason what so ever), this extremely bizarre way of rearranging everything in order to make it as possibly hard for the user (I hope that it will not be you!) to actually find the song/s he wants is quite astounding. Still wanna buy this? Wait just a second. Whenever you are deleting or adding songs to your "device", sonic will recalculate the whole DB!!! Thats right; it will load all the songs, then rearrange, and then loads all of them again. This has something to do with the protection Sony have. For regular net MD this is not taking long. For 1Gb of data? You wish you were buying an MP3 player. This is what Im going to do. You think its over? Its not.
If you dont have the remote (this is only true for this unit) you cant do anything. And guess what! The DC charger, can not connect while you are transferring music from your PC. Thats right. Sony will make you choose: charge the device, or transfer the music. Its taking twice they time? You have time, according to Sony. Otherwise you would be buying an MP3 player that you can drag and drop songs to it, simple connection, easy to charge (with regular batteries!) and plays immediately whatever you load. Sure, you cant have multiple discs, but try to compile couple of full ones and you will understand that nothing worth this torture. I have bought 10 1GB MDs. I have recorded on 2. I just cant do it anymore. And either will you.
 On: 2005-10-13
After my old MD didnt work as good as before, I decided to buy a new one and the best one so I chose the most expensive coz I believe that if the price is so high then there must be something good in it.
Yeah! I bought MZNH1 I was innocent coz I didnt know about the USB stuff and all but when I use it I was surprised to see that this tiny ,thin aluminium Hi-MD player could do a lot of things. The sonic stage 3.2 is invincible. The one thats attached in the box is sonicstage 3.0 so u guys will have to download it from the sony.com The sound is real cool even though I think I would recommend u guys to buy new headphones. The ones they give us arent that good. The recording sound is great and they have the date and time to let us see when we recoded it too. Mic, u will have to buy it urself.
I know that some of u guys might think Ipod is much better and all but I want to assure u that MZNH1 or other models of Hi-MD is as good as Ipod, maybe the style isnt that cool to u all but those who want to be unique and not like those ppl sitting in the subway or tube wearing white ear plugs with the pround face thinkihng theyre so cool, should buy this MZNH1. I love one of the comment in here comparing Ipod with the wristband everyone is wearing. I agree!!!! U guys should check outthe sony website for further information......
On: 2005-06-28
I just got my Sony MZ-NH1 from warehouse123.com today as it is not available in amazon.com anymore. Great expectations, I have been waiting for while to get it and I finally got one device.
Look? It just looks great, robust, magnesium made with perfect design. Sound? Just unbelieably good and it will make other mp3 player to shame. This product is phenomenal, unbelievably great sound and construction! Great control using the remotes due to its jogdial, and enough details have been shown on the remote.
The only gripe that I have is that cannot both recharge and transfer music at the same time and must painstakingly change the cables if I want to recharge or transfer files.
On: 2005-05-18
If youre a sucker for frustration, then this item is for you. This MZNH1 is only useful for listening to music. The other features it boasts for doesnt work. Youll end up loosing valuable work. I used it to record minutes of the meeting and it bombed out at the end of the meeting. It started displaying AuFileERR and it erased the content of the entire disk. Chatting with the help desk didnt help. Ive only had it for a month and its driving me nuts already. The Sony warranty is so useless because its not honored in other countries. This is probably the last Sony product Ill ever buy.
On: 2005-05-17
If youre a sucker for frustration, then this item is for you. This MZNH1 is only useful for listening to music. The other features it boasts for doesnt work. Youll end up loosing valuable work. I used it to record minutes of the meeting and it bombed out at the end of the meeting. It started displaying AuFileERR and it erased the content of the entire disk. Chatting with the help desk didnt help. Ive only had it for a month and its driving me nuts already. The Sony warranty is so useless because its not honored in other countries. This is probably the last Sony product Ill ever buy.
 On: 2005-03-23
These minidisk players/recorders lock a user to some Sonys proprietary format (Atrac3) and software, and impose severe limitations on how your music collection (MP3, WMA and so on) may be copied from/to these devices (see WWW for details).
So I just ask myself why a one would want to use this thing if there are so many (much cheaper) alternatives available that dont impose all these annoying restrictions?
On: 2005-03-19
This little machine is awesome... I use it to play music copied from CDs (I ride the train to work) and to record live music. What puts this unit in a class by itself is the ability to record through the line-In or mic-In straight to 1Gig MD and then USB download to PC and convert to wav... Nobody else can do that, that I know of... that was the missing link --- Yea Sony! of course, from there, u can do anything you want with the digitized music: edit, layer tracks, crossfade with other music, burn CD, MD, the web, whatever... I also needed a good stereo mic for recording live music and rehearsals. I picked the Sony ECM-MS907 Stereo Microphone. Its small, sturdy and adequate, but the threads on the included adaptor dont fit standard mic stands, and the Sony mic wont fit in the adapter that comes with, say an SM57 or SM58... bummer... I also needed closed headphones. The Sennheisers are great for rehearsals, etc, but uncomfortable on long train rides,,, the Sony MDR-EX71SL/WK ear buds fixed that problem... OK Heres something you cant do,,,, you can,t transfer songs to and from your PC on AC power, cause you cant cradle the MZ into the AC adapter and plug in the USB cord at the same time... I know... thas dumb... The Sonic Stage software is adequate after you upgrade it from the Sony sight,,, and you need to download the MP3 and WAV conversions tools also $FREE$ ... You have to have Sonic Stage installed in order to install these other tools... OK heres another gotcha,,, An MD that was loaded from Sonic Stage knows what computer it came from, so you CANT take your MZ-NH1 to your friends house and download your Sonic Stage songs to his Sonic Stage so he can make a copy of your disc ... naa-daa ... u get a nasty message saying something like "This MD wasnt recorded on your friends computer so fuhgetaboutit" ... thas wackd Sony ... You CAN record directly from a CD to an MD loaded in the MZ through the Line-In, thus bypassing Sonic Stage step, but Line-In means analog so some degradation will occur (You can record your favorite TV show here, but why?). Oh yea, the units made out of some kind of alloy from outer-space (Cryptonite, i think), it feels like an indestructible cigararette case (looks like one too) ... but heres the gotcha... the remotes just painted plastic, it works good, lights up, etc, but it feels like if you accidentally stepped on it, itd crunch like a cockroach... Still, with the line-in, mic-in recording capabilities, 1GB disk capacity, WAV & MP3 conversion software, tank-build and very good sound, this unit is way ahead of the CD/MP3 players, I-Pods and other portable units availabe today...
On: 2005-02-16
i recently bought the sony mz-nh1 for recording live shows, and i couldnt be happier. you can transfer your recording to your computer, make cds (with sony WAV converter) and then format the minidisc and use it again! awesome
On: 2005-02-10
Whenever I am going to work, I cant help to notice all the people sitting around me on the train with their stylish iPod. They are just cool fad as are those yellow rubber bracelets that cost a dollar. Apple should have just added the yellow bracelet in the packaging! "I really dont want an iPod, but my friends have one so Ill dish out 250.00 so I can look cool." This is why I didnt want an iPod. They are dumb and trendy. This Mini Disk player will obliterate any iPod ever made. Just look at the specs and compare. Ok, sure some iPods can hold more music, but who wants a device whos internal battery will only last you about a year or so under normal use. Not only do Mini-Disk players offer superior sound, but they are long lasting. I myself have dropped my player many times over the past two years and it still plays and records like the first time I used it. So do yourself a favor and get a Mini-disk player and stand out, unless you want to be like everyone else on that train or bus or wherever with their little iPods and white earbud headphones. If you got an iPod for Christmas, sell it on EBAY so some poser out in suburban America can look cool with their yellow LIVESTRONG bracelet.
Pros:
-Fast Data Transfer
-Excellent sound
-Durabilty/Reliable
-Easy to use
-Record all types of digital music files
-Not an iPod
Cons:
Ahem,...its not an iPod!
On: 2004-12-17
I have been an MD user for a couple of years now. I finally got this great Hi-Md unit and I am very satisfied thus far. The unit is really sleek and sturdy; light, but at the same time has a rugged feel to it. The sound is amazing. Do yourself a favor and buy a good pair of phones for th unit. The phones that come with it do not do justice. I splurged and got the shure ec3s, and the sound is amazingly clear. SonicStage 2.2 has come a long way since OpenMG; and keeping in mind that when we are talking about transfering, we are actually talking about burning a cd; the transfer speed is very good.
Of course the big drawback is that there is no Apple support for the MD; but for the sound, the features (digital recording; microphone recording that is at pcm quality) I can live with that drawback. i have a dedicated windows laptop for my music.
Coming from just being an ipod user for the last 7 months; the batter life on this thing is trully amazing. In the two weeks that I have had it; I had to charge the battery just three times (including the initial time), and then I just listen to music hours and hours each day. I am using hi-sp for my songs which equates to 7 hrs of music at the 1gb disk, and 2 hrs of music at the regular MD disks formatted under the Hi-Md scheme. One word of advice; to enjoy the sound fidelity to its fullest, you will need to start with a lossless format; in my testing if I start the conversion from a compressed format already e.g., MP3, Atrac3 to AtracPlus; there is some distortion and artifact introduction. However, I believe this has to do with the sensitive earphones that I have. If you use medium grade earphones you should be ok.
Bottom line, I think the MD format is here to stay; true its not for everybody, but those of us that are used to the little quirks that come with the system (sonys drm leaves something ot be desired), love these little machines.
On: 2004-10-16
I got the MZ-NH1 a couple of weeks ago and I love it.
The sound is great when i use the headphones, and amazing sound when i connect the MZ-NH1 to my house amplifier or to my car audio system.
If you are a fanatic for the High Sound definition the Ipod dont compare whit the MZ-NH1.
The High quality of sound that gives the High Definition Digital Amp incorporated in the MZ-NH1 with the versatility of the Md are the perfect combination.
Additionally the MZ-NH1 has another amount of excellent characteristics.
On: 2004-09-14
I got the MZ-NH1 a couple of weeks ago and I am thrilled with it.
Let me sum it up:
PROS
* I gigabyte MD is great
* Over 7 hours of music using ATRAC3 256kbps, 2nd highest quality, and sounds beautiful
* Full Magnesium Body
* Small, Slim, and Solid Device
* Long Battery Life - Gumstick Rechargeable battery
* Sweet Cradle
* Finally we have Transfer from MD to PC
-important note- When the file is transferred its in sonys omg format which you can only play using the sonicstage software. However, there is official news that Sony will come out with a free program that will let you convert the "omg" file into
a wave.
* Mic recordings still sound incredible
* No check in - check out, but you still have to use SonicStage Software to transfer music to player
* You can drag and drop files
-note- If you drag and drop mp3s it will put the file on the disc but you wont be able to play it through the player, must use sonic stage.
* Backwards compatible with old minidiscs
* You can record from literally almost any source of sound.
CONS
* headphones included arent too good (no biggie)
This player is sweet
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