Customer Reviews

Sony MZ-NF610 High Speed Net MD Walkman Recorder

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Hey everybody - this is not an MP3 Player! It is a MiniDisc Player. Yes, you can "transfer" MP3s to it using the software, but really it is meant to record directly from CD to ATRAC - which is Sony's proprietary (and superior) compression algorithm. When you transfer an MP3 - the software first converts it to ATRAC, then copies it to the MiniDisc player. So doing the math - the music is compressed twice. If all you want to do is listen to MP3s - GET AN MP3 PLAYER!!! Using an MD player to listen to MP3s is kind of like buying a bunch of DVDs, then recording them to VHS tape and watching them on a VCR.

As far as the software is concerned - if you don't care about transferring MP3s - you don't have to use the SonicStage software everybody whines about! You can use the supplied SimpleBurner - which records CDs in your PCs CD-ROM drive to your MD at either LP2 (160 minutes on an 80 minute blank MD) or LP4 (320 minutes). The quality of LP2 is very near CD quality. You can also hook the unit directly to a CD player (remember those) using analogue or digital connections. When you do it that way - you can record at SP (highest quality - 80 minutes on an 80 minute blank MD) or LP2/LP4.

Why would you want an MD player vs. an MP3 player? If you don't have a bunch of MP3s, and all you want to do is make your existing CD collection portable - MD offers a cheaper, more versatile, and sonically superior alternative to MP3. Blank MDs are cheap (less than $2) - re-recordable, durable, and easy-to-handle. Individual tracks can be split into multiple tracks, re-ordered, re-titled, and deleted directly on the MD unit, or using the supplied software. This is very useful for students, musicians, etc. Can't do any of that w/ an MP3. Again - if you have thousands of MP3s - then get an MP3 player. But if you don't - you should check this out.

I had been researching mp3 flash and hard drive players, when I found out about the Sony NetMD minidisc players. This player has everything I wanted in a mp3 player: small size, expandable memory, am/fm tuner. One of the big selling points for me was the inexpensive minidiscs: they cost only [...] dollars apiece and provide up to 5 hours of music (in the LP4 mode). The player comes with software that allows you to rip music directly from a CD or copy from a hard drive. So far, I have been using it only to rip my CDs. I have read if you have mp3 or wma music on the hard drive it will take longer to load because the Sony converts files to ATRAC3.

NOTE: This player uses Sony's proprietary compression scheme for music files (ATRAC3). This player will not directly play mp3 or wma file format. Also, software has a check-in, check-out feature for music; you are allowed to copy or check-out a song only 3 times. If you want to copy more times, you have to check-in the song. This is some kind of copyright protection scheme to keep you from making unlimited copies of music.

I purchased the MZ-NF610 in Sept. '03, and loved it when I got it. It's a great combination of MD player and radio, which is great for people like me who like to switch back and forth without having to carry two units.

My opinion changed dramatically this week, however. The radio function on the remote stopped working completely, and unfortunately that is the only way to control the radio. I lost a major portion of the unit's funcationality.

I called Sony to see what could be done. Just a short 60 minutes later (note the sarcasm), they wanted to charge me $93 in labor to "fix" (e.g. send me a new one) the remote since it is no longer under the labor portion of the warranty. That's over half the cost for a brand new whole unit (including the base!). I asked what the price for a new/replacement remote would be and found out it's $109! These guys must be kidding!

I've been pretty brand loyal to Sony over the years but no more. I saw another review on Amazon detailing the same problem with the remote, which leads me to believe that this is a systemic quality issue. Yet Sony refuses to stand behind their product.

If you're considering buying this product, please take this as a warning. You'll be happy with it at first, but there is a large probability the remote will break on you.

Sony used to stand for unquestionable quality and customer service in my mind, but not anymore. Apparantly, they're no longer concerned about the consumer once they make the sale. Spend your money on a more reliable product.

This "review" is really a caution: the Amazon page on this item lists a microphone in the 'Accessories' category, yet a review states that no direct voice recording is possible, and the Technical info does not specify any input for a microphone.
Amazon browsers beware!
I believe older MD recorders did have line/mic inputs, but the newer "Net-MD" types may lack them.
I gave this 1 stars because I had to choose something and wanted to get the browser's attention--I don't have one of these devices (trying to find one that will record live music via a microphone).

First things first:
[*]NO BACKLIGHT on the remote or the player (What the hell - my $10 watch packs that)
[*]Cheap - piece of junk software
[*]Crappy-old school headphones (be prepared to invest atleast $15 more on a decent pair)
[*]The pause feature is annoying as hell - If I paused a track, that means that I don't want to listen to the music and want to listen to the person talking to me. When you pause a track, you hear this "beep - beep - beep ..." and it goes on till you hit play again or hit STOP and then if you hit STOP, 10 secs later, the player will shut down. So then, when you hit play again, it will take about 2 seconds to come back and play that track again.
___________________
Now, I love this player. Its awesome.
Excellent sound quality and I can get about 40 songs on MD using LP2 conversion and hella lot more using LP4 (you loose some quality). I get a lot of base and I can stick it in my back pack and go and no skipping. I like the fact that I can carry my songs on a MD, I like Techno, Rock, Hip-hop ...compositions. so I basically have a MD for each type of music. The most impressive feature is the fact that this player can run forever on 1 AA bat. and if its a recharable bat, it gets charged while its in the player (given you have the player plugged into the wall). Which is awesome, means you can have 1 bat that lasts foooorever and you can carry additional bat as needed)

iPOD - I go camping, so how do you suggest I recharge it?
plus its expensive, so I have to be more careful with it. With the MD player, I don't care...I throw it around all the time

Now a little about the software:
If you use all the software that Sony has provided with this MD player, you will be in a world of TROUBLE. Things will break and you will get all sorts of errors and what not. So here is what you need to do (By dino):

1) Install all the software that came with the player
2) Get yourself a copy of NERO burner, you will also need NERO Image drive, Its installed with NERO burner.
3) Open Nero and create a "New Audio CD" project - Drag and drop all your MP3 files (Try to limit these to about 20 files otherwise "Net MD Simple burner will have issues") - basically if you add hella files, it will have memory issues when burning, not because of your hardware, but because of the software - NET MD SIMPLE BURNER.
4) Hit Burn - Select "Hard Drive" as the burn device on the Tab.
5) you will be asked to save image file (pick a location on your Hard drive and save)
6) You will see it burn all the MP3 - when its finished. Kill NERO
7) Now, Start Nero Image Drive and Mount this image.
8) Start NET MD simple burner and it will detect this image of Audio CD and you can move all the tracks to your MD.
NOTE: If you have multiple CD/DVD drives, make sure you remove all audio CD's from those drives.
9) Once done burning, Open Image drive and unmount the IMAGE and delete the Image file (Image of Audio CD).

What we basically did here was to fool Net MD Simple burner into thinking that its burning a real CD from the CD/DVD drive. So now, you can burn as many songs as you want without the 3 song limit.
ohhh..you did not know ?
haha - Net MD - Sony will not allow you to burn a song more than 3 times onto a MD unless you check the song back into your computer and then it will allow you to check out a copy. Eventually, if you get errors or something...you will not be able to burn that song on the MD at all...who came up with this junk ?

-so you will just be using NET MD simple Burner and NERO - Trash rest of the programs that sony installed. (make sure you leave the shared files on)

END of the DAy, THIS md PLAYER fits my lifestly and I am happy with what I paid for it.
If you are not Tech Savvy, you will have problems with this player, go for something simple :)
On the other hand, if the stuff above makes sense, you will be fine :)

Well, to start off, if you're thinking about getting this, the radio is probably the big selling point (especially if you're a sports/talk junkie and need the AM tuner that isn't found on MP3 players). While I can often receive weaker FM stations that I had trouble with on my other Sony products, the FM/AM in general is not exactly reliable if you're constantly on the go or deep inside buildings, so you can expect some frustration there.

As for the discs, I've only used real-time direct source recording from my DVD player (to use the software, you NEED at least Win98 SE), similar to the old CD-to-cassette dubbing, but it suits me fine. There's three recording modes: SP, LP2, and LP4. I guess the best comparison would be CD-quality, FM-, and AM-. With LP2 you can fit about 2h 40m onto one MD, and the difference in sound is negligible unless you have picky ears. At LP4 you get about 5h 20m of music which is really handy and as far as I'm concerned, the compression effect is not *too* bad, but is certainly apparent.

One thing I love is how I can record 5-hr radio programs onto MDs to listen to later (albeit from a separate radio), which I don't believe you can do with any other medium. You could even record TV/movie audiotracks if you were so inclined.

The big drawback is copyright restrictions. When using the software, you can only copy a song 3 times (deleting it from a MD allows you to re-copy it elsewhere). When using optical cables with a CD/DVD player (which gives digital quality and adds on the original trackmarks), you can only record from original CDs... no CD-Rs (second-generation copying). So while you can still transfer burned mp3s, you'll have to do so with analog cables (still decent) and tack on the trackmarks (which is simple).

A minor hassle is the fact that the remote results in two sets of cords for you to tangle up. But if you can find a way to keep the main unit on a belt (I've attached a belt clip to a leather pouch), and keep the remote in your hand or belt, you'll find it sure beats lugging around a CD player.

Overall, I like the small size, the format's verstility, that spiffy blue finish, and the added radio... usually.

I bought this wonderful little product from Sony several months ago and have been exceptionally pleased by it. It's even smaller and lighter-weight than a traditional cassette walkman, but it has all the versatility and more of a cd player.

The software that came with it was more or less easy to use, and I was able to record a mini disc in almost no time at all!

It's traveled with me several times on airlplanes, and it's compact size and shape are great space savers in my carry-on bag. I've also accidentally dropped it a couple of times (~3-4 foot drop), and it has never skipped a beat, nor has had an damage that I can detect. The only thing that happened was a tiny paint chip flaked off the edge...I guess I have to get a carrying case for it. I also use it while running on the treadmill at the gym...never a problem.

The rechargeable battery is a major plus, and it recharges very very easily by just plugging into an outlet.

Thanks SONY!!

Five hours of high quality music on a single disc, radio/tv/weatherbank tuner, capability to rewrite endlessly and to arrange music by folders, easy menus, user-friendly software, extra long battery life, very compact and stylish, what more do you need from a portable music player/recorder? And this model has it all. I'll never look back to a cd player again. I bought this unit at a sony style store where I could test and compare vitually every mini disc player sony markets at the moment. It's not easy to make a choice since there are so many sleek, stylish, tiny models that catch the eye. Well, the look, performance and the price of this model turned to be the most attractive to me.

A piece of advice when choosing the software to burn your music, either from CDs or your own downloaded MP3 files - use SonicStage, it's the easiest and least confusing.

I have been thinking of getting an mp3 player for a long time. I...so I looked into Sony Net MD players. WOW! They were really cool, and inexpensive. Unlike hard drive based mp3 players minidisc players can never run out of memory. All you have to do is buy more minidiscs at about [$$$] for 1. The 610 comes with a great remote that lets you control the player while it's in your pocket. The remote also has an LCD so you can see what song your playing, battery life etc. Also, alot of people talk about the software that comes with the Net MDs, well it's been fixed, kinda. Instead of using Open MG, it comes with Sonic Stage software. It's much better but it still makes you check in/check out your music. Its not too much of a hassle though. There are plenty of different model Net MD players, but I chose the 610 because it looked good, had a remote and a fm/am radio. All around it's pretty easy to use if you know your basics about computers and you know how to read. Also the transfers are really fast. I transfered 14 mp3s in about 3 or 4 minutes.
If your looking for a good inexpensive way to carry around your music collection this is it! I love it!

Got mine 7 months ago, used it about 1 hour per day, thought it was fine until the remote went up. Now none of the buttons function as labeled ("volume" changes tracks, "display" changes play mode, "stop" doesn't work at all). Unfortunately I am just now realizing that it only had a 90 day warranty and a new remote costs $100+! Seems like it should have lasted a little longer than 7 months... Also agree with others comments re: headphones (unusable), and small, hard-to-press buttons on the remote.