MiniDisc Sony Equipment Notes
- End Search Sony recorders do not automatically record new
audio segments at the logical end of the medium. To ensure a recording
is placed at the end, the END SEARCH button must be pressed before
beginning a recording. Failure to do so can cause previously recorded
material to be overwritten, depending upon the last audio segment accessed.
A petition was made asking Sony to Drop End Search. They replied politely in July 2000, and the MZ-R900, Sony's latest portable MD recorder, has the option to automate the End Search function. Thank You Sony!
- Recording Level Sony units will, by default, set recording levels with an Automatic Gain Control (AGC) circuit. This may be changed to Manual Recording Level control by holding the REC slider for two seconds on older units or by selecting it from the menu on newer units. Once in manual mode (on units prior to the MZ-R909) the recording level can only be changed while the unit is in REC-PAUSE mode. The level is adjusted using the |<< and >>| track positioning buttons. The manual record level setting is forgotten when the disc is changed.
- Auto Track Marking on Analog Input When recording from analog inputs (line or mic) Sony units will make track marks whenever 2 seconds or more of silence occurs. This cannot be disabled.
- Analog mono recording In mono, the analog-in is mixed into one channel on an internal chip, so input to either mic channel will be recorded, and any other devices connected to the microphone (via splitter) will still get a stereo signal (Left is not shorted to Right).
- Sony remotes generally interoperate among the various portable units. Gerald Tomyn adds: Sony sells a replacement wired remote control, the RM-MZE1. It comes in silver or blue (both see-through) and has a backlit LCD screen. This remote can be used with ANY of the following recorders/players: MZ-R30, R37, R50, R55, R90, R91, R4ST, R5ST, E25, E30, E33, E35, E44, E45, E50, E55, E70, E80, EP10, EP11, EPS11.
- Glossary Modern
(ca. 2002) Sony MD portables have so many different possible features
that a glossary is necessary. (Check individual unit entries to determine
which features each unit offers).
Recording Features
- Auto Time Track Mark When recording from analog inputs, unit can be set to automatically place a track mark at regular intervals (5/10/15 minutes). (MZ-N10 track mark interval can be set from 1 to 99 minutes).
- Digital REC Level Control Volume levels of recordings made from digital sources (via optical link) may be be adjusted, allowing "mix" discs made from several CDs to have consistent volume levels.
- Name Bank Allows user to store frequently used names and words in the recorder's internal memory (up to 600 characters worth) to speed up track titling. Dropped beginning with the MZ-N10.
- Joint Text A feature allowing MZ-R909/R900/R90/R91/R55 recorders to be coupled to particular Sony CD walkman (e.g. Model D-EJ2000, etc.) with a special Sony RK-TXT1 cable. When coupled with this cable (as well as a normal digital optical audio cable), a "CD-Text" CD (i.e. CD with track title information) can have its track titles transferred to Minidisc during recording. Note that as each track is recorded, several button presses on the MD unit are required in order to capture the text information. Given these factors, and that most CD-Text CDs were released with the titles set to "COPY-PROHIBIT", it is not surprising that this feature disappeared beginning with the Sony MZ-N1/N10/R910 units.
Listening Features
- Bookmark Track The portable can be set to play only certain tracks from the currently loaded MD. Up to 20 tracks may be selected. The player's memory of these selected tracks is lost when the MD is ejected. (See "New Play Mode" below.)
- Personal Disk Memory
The portable associates its internal settings with up to 20 MDs. The settings
are reloaded whenever one of those 20 disks is inserted. Settings that can be remembered are:
- Program play setting.
- Tone adjustments (bass/treble or equalizer settings)
- Volume
- Play mode
- Group mode ON/OFF (MZ-N10, MZ-E909)
- Playback speed
- VPT ("Virtual Phone Technology") Uses internal DSP to provide "Studio, Club, Live, or Arena" acoustic effects. (Cannot be used in conjunction with 6-band equalizer.)
- 6-band Equalizer Tone control in 6 bands (each band adjustable from -10dB to +10dB). Includes 4 presets "Heavy, Pops, Jazz, Unique" and the ability to store settings in 2 user "custom modes". (Cannot be used in conjunction with VPT)
- Digital Sound Presets Bass and Treble controls that can be adjusted in 8 steps each (-4 to +3). Settings may be stored in 2 user custom modes.
- Play Mode
Four basic modes:
- All track play
- One track play
- Program play (user selected tracks in user selected ordering)
- Shuffle play
- New Play Mode
Eight basic modes:
- All track play
- One track play
- Bookmark play (play only bookmarked tracks)
- Shuffle play
- Program play
- Group play
- Within-Group shuffle play
- Group program play
- Digital Pitch Control Playback speed can be adjusted in 13 steps from -50% to +100%, yet the original pitch is retained (in other words, Digital Pitch Control is used to compensate and prevent the normal pitch shift that would occur with a change of playback speed). Useful for language learning (listening slower than normal) or skimming recordings of meetings (listening faster than normal).
- Digital Speed Control Playback speed (together with pitch) can be adjusted from -80% to +110% in 7 steps (5% per step).
- Three color info LED
LED gives info about group mode and battery condition:
- Normal (non-group) mode playback: Red
- Group mode playback: Green
- Group skip mode: Orange (goes orange after pressing "group" button and stays orange for 5 seconds, indicating that use of the |<< or >>| buttons will skip to the next group).
- Battery conditition: Charge level indicated in 3 steps (on, slow-blink, fast-blink)