Sony Japan formally announced the new MZ-RH1 minidisc recorder today. Details on US availability are sketchy. Looks like early summer, and the rumored price is $300. There are some very important features worth mentioning. The recorder is capable of uploading old SP and MDLP material via USB 2.0 as well as Hi-MD. A normalizer can be engaged to mange playback levels, full AGC input support and Mac compatible software out of the box.[I have been waiting for this]. Also available in black aluminum.
-ptfigg.
The new Hi-MD units are really great. I have a MZ-NH700 and I’m more than happy! 1GB of datas or up to 45 hours of music…and what great joy to record even in linear PCM. This is a great feature!
Hi-MD have something that I-pods and other mp3 players could never match!
Miky
wait a minute, whats this usb thingy? i thought the RIAA said sony had to have a different format for music and data minidisc. and if that has been changed, does anyone know if there is a reader that fits in a pc slot?
The Hi-MD (or MD formatted in Hi-MD) can host both music and datas.
Hi Paul- I saw you at Podcast Academy Boston, and you mentioned this (I think this was the one) as you were packing up. So, I can hook this to a Mac and get the files into an editor? Did I get that all right? (Noob? Moi?)
Hi Chris,
Sony is promising Mac compatibility via USB ‘eventually’. The word is the device will be released sometime in May or June. The Mac software will follow sometime this summer.
Here is a great review of the device:
http://www.mdcenter.nl/redirect.php?file=http://www.mdcenter.nl/artikelen/mzrh1/index_en.php
-ptfigg.
Has anyone heard when the RH1 will be available in the states? I mean an exact release date?
Thanks!
I heard the end of this month from a reliable retailer.
-ptfigg.
I heard the same thing (with the Mac compatibility out in June). However, I’m also told the US Price might change from $300 to around $400 (?). I thought that was funny, because I thought I remembered seeing a site whre you could Pre-Order at $300. Unfortunately, I can’t find that site again! It’s their last version (or so they say). However, I ‘m pretty sure these things will fly off the shelves (which I’m 100% positive they will, mainly due to the compatibility with Mac/podcast users). I think I’m going to pick up 2 (I expect them to skyrocket once word gets out to EVERYONE in Mac Land and Video Production nuts like myself) on Ebay. Does anyone know what’s up with the silver version? Is this the US version (every US webiste showing these now are silver (when they originally were black). Is the black version the overseas version (that would suck, but would make the black version more popular/valueable).
Thanks for the note Crash. Lets continue to keep a dialog going. I am anxiously awaiting this to hit the street as well. I’m *hoping* for black too - I have not heard anything about specific color availability …
-ptfigg.
Can these songs recorded to hdmd or regular md can they get into my itunes library and if so how. Ken
I purchased one if these (in black) a couple of weeks back to replace my older NET MD Walkman and am using it with a Sony ECM-MS907 Mic and have to say it is one piece of sexy kit.
The only downside is the battery - it doesn’t have the fucntionality to accept an external ordinary batter back up source and when recording (the main reason for it’s purchase) the battery runs down very quickly. I enquired as to the price for a spare battery and the battery on it’s own was a quarter of the price of the unit itself! Apparently the batteries aren’t ’stock’ items but rather special order - hopefully this will change as the model starts to sell in quantity.
Being able to use the HiMD disks is a real bonus when recording on location.
I used the MZ-RH1 for 2 days now on a Mac. Only in HI-MD format the disk mounts on my desktop.
Sound on MP3 seems better on the MZ-RH1 than on my 30GB iPod. I can be mistaken but it seems a bit better.
Indeed the battery runs down quicker than the specs but still last 3 times longer than my iPod. I also used a MicroTrack. That device was to unreliable for live recordings. The MZ-RH1 is ok. But the dependancy of the propriety Sony Mac software makes me doubt for the future. Will it run on Leopard? How long will Sony support minidisc? It seems like the last days of the Psion PDA’s. Indeed there came Mac software, but in the end Palm won. MD will be obsolete in 2 years if Sony doesnt make the MD format to direct connect to windows or Mac liek a USB device. All alternatives will be able to do this and that will be a knock-out criteria within 1 year.
hi,
i have a sony mz-n707. i’m downloaded driver and setup it.
now how can i trancefar data/music from pc.pls tell me.