Now in Stock - the first player from Sony
to support LP2 and LP4 compression
With LP4 you can hold up to 5 hours and 20 minutes
of music on one MD!
Tell that to your friends with a 30 minute MP3 player. (smile:-)
Super long play 21 hours and record 8 hours time on a single rechargable internal battery. Play 250+ songs on one battery charge!!
And best of all: END SEARCH is now OPTIONAL!!!
As of Sep 10, 2000, the Sony MZ-R900 is the world's longest record and playback MiniDisc recorder. It is also Sony's first recorder eqquiped with MDLP; this is 2 modes 2x and 4x times the amount of music on one MD. The unit uses a newly developed LSI process and IC (with 16 mg DRAM) to increase disc reading speed, resulting in the reduction of power consumption (lasting an average of 1.5 times longer than the MZ-R90/91). Unit can edit disc while playing and recording. Unit's RAM contains a 'Name Bank' that stores up to 600 characters of frequently used words for fast editing and titling. 'Joint text' operation allows direct digital text dubbing when connected to CD player through optional connector (RK-TXT1), records CD TEXT automatically. 'Personal Disc Memory' to remember sound setting for up to 20 different discs. Preset sound of up to 64 different possible combinations. 7 Step speed/tempo control for playback (good for language study and recording industry). Up to 160 seconds shock memory protection (in LP4 mode).
Information is provided for the R900 release date: Sep 10, 2000. This is a Japanese domestic market recorder and is not available outside Japan on the release date - except of course through Japan-Direct!
Our testing shows: Is LP2/4 better or worse than MP3? To get a reference point we first recorded LP2 sound and could barely hear a difference to the original! But to compare to MP3, well that depends on what quality of MP3 you listen too. If you only ever download 192+ Kbps, which sounds acceptable, LP2 is as good or better. What about LP4 testing? After 3 people listening, here is our verdict: LP2 is good not as good as an Atrac R encoder but still very good. We rate it to 192-230KBit MP3 sound. LP4 we rate somewhere between 96-128Kbit MP3 Sound. The sound was tested using a Sony V555 running in Stereo mode (no DSP), speakers B&W CDM7's running a digital link between MDS-JB940 and V555. Ok so cut the techno-babble. Is LP2/4 better than MP3? Absolutely considering you can get 160mins on a Disc at really good quality MP3 sound and the disc only costs $4 you can't really complain. The same amount on an MP3 player would require around 216Mb which costs an arm and a leg. We looked at it this way if you were on a flight from say Adelaide Australia to Canada which is around 20hrs, 6MD's and a MZ-E900 would get you there happily listening to music. With no recharge!
Incredible Features of this unit.
Multi-function ``Jog Lever'' on the main unit enables easy operation and editing The jog lever allows title search even while a disc is playing. It also simplifies titling of track or artist names. Various menu settings can be selected and set as with cellular phones. Ease of operation has been greatly improved even though it is the world's smallest size recorder.
Equipped with ``Name Bank'' function.Favorite artist names and frequently used title names can be registered in the RAM of the main unit. This convenient feature lets you recall and register words as needed. Previous models required all characters to be entered when titling, with the ``Name Bank'' feature registered words can be recalled and recorded easily whenever it is convenient. About 600 characters can be registered.
``Smart Stick Controller'' with titling and editing functions Entering disc names or track names and editing operations such as track move are possible with the remote controller. As titling is possible even while recording, recording time can be used effectively. Also, playback and AMS (``Automatic Music Search'', i.e. track search/skip) are possible just by clicking the head of the remote controller to the left or right. A wide backlit display that shows nine characters makes the remote controller very easy to use. Silver MZ-R90 equipped with silver-smoke color remote controller (black MZ-R90 respectively equipped with black-smoke remote). MZ-R91 is equipped with cool clear (translucent) remote controller.
``Joint Text'' feature records the titles from a CD while recording By connecting a Sony CD Walkman with Joint Text feature using the CD text connecting cable (option RK-TXT1) and a separately available digital optical cable, title information can be copied simultaneously when recording from CDs with CD-text data on them. 1.Only effective with CD Walkman models with ``Joint Text'' feature (D-E01 as of Aug 24, 1999). 2.CD Text connection cable ``RK-TXT1'' exclusively for MD Walkman (option). 3.Only effective with CDs incorporating CD-text.
Key features of the NEW MZ-R900.
Last updated: Sep 15, 2000 by Japan Direct (c) Copyright 2000. All Rights Reserved. All trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.