Sony MZR90 Minidisc Recorder

by Sony

Product Details

Product Manual [4.18mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 3.2 x 2.9 x 0.6 inches ; 4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000050B7R
• Item model number: MZR90
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Sony MZR90 is one of the smallest, lightest minidisc players with a long battery life. A pop-up mechanism softly ejects the minidisc, allowing easy insertion and removal. A 40-second shock-resistant memory stops skips from happening when you are listening to music. The laser scans ahead on the disc and stores 40 seconds of music in memory, for continuous playback.

The Sony comes with a digital cable to connect to a home digital preamplifier, CD player, DAT, or digital satellite system unit. The sampling-rate converter allows you to record minidiscs that have having different sampling frequencies, such as digital satellite systems and DAT. A digital recording-level control allows you to manually maintain a consistent recording level on your minidisc, no matter what your source. An automatic gain-control feature also prevents overload distortion.

A digital megabass sound system provides rich, deep bass tones with digital signal processing for virtually inaudible harmonic distortion. With digital synchro-recording, you can make digital copies of CDs onto a minidisc with a synchronized operation that only records once it receives the digital input signal.

You can use CD Text to record the title and songs onto the MD during recording. You can also create and modify individual track information to your own liking with personalized character input. With Sony's Name Bank, you can store up to 600 characters for easy, fast recall. The date and time stamp function automatically places a marker on each recording for future reference.

The slim, backlit LCD remote provides direct access to the minidisc player's functions. A backlit display informs you of the song title, disc title, playback status, and if the battery is on, off, or near depletion. This display is easy to see even in low light, and it has a stereo minijack for headphones on the remote.

From the optical-in, the sampling frequency is 32 kHz, 44.1 kHz, and 48kHz. The frequency response is 20 to 20,000Hz (+/- 3dB), and the wow and flutter is unmeasurable. It has a DC-in, a 3-volt microphone-in, plug-in power, and an in for an optical line. The outputs include headphones, which are connected to the remote, and a stereo minijack.

The Sony MZR90 comes with an AC adapter, digital connecting cable, NiMH rechargeable battery, AA battery, carrying case, and a battery protector.

The battery life is approximately 16.5 hours of recording time and 12 hours of playback with Sony's NH-14WM NiMH rechargeable battery; four hours of recording and 16.5 hours of playback with Sony's AA alkaline battery; and 14.5 hours of recording and 29 hours of playback with Sony's NH-14WM NiMH rechargeable battery plus the Sony AA alkaline battery. Recording time using only AA alkaline batteries varies depending on the brand.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Sony MZ-R90--A mini miracle in the world of MD, March 2, 2001

By 

Dan (Detroit, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony MZR90 Minidisc Recorder (Electronics)

I recently purchased the MZ-R90 as one of my birthday presents. At first, I was a little skeptical of the whole MD format, as it hasn't been real big in the U.S. But to me, there were two distinct advantages over MP3: The ability to record from digital AND analog sources, and the unlimited space according to how many discs you have. When I opened the box to this player, I almost couldn't find it! I was very surprised at the size of this machine. It is really small and intricate and has many features.

Recording--Recording was a snap for me. All you have to do is buy an analog cable which cost me ... at ... I also bought some blank MD's there too. To record form a CD, you just hook up one end of the cable to the R-90's line-in jack and the other end with the headphone jack of the CD player. Then, you slide the record button and play the CD! You can also record MP3's from your computer this way; I think it is better than an MP3 player because you have unlimited space.

Playback--Playback is about the same as portable CD players. You can do shuffle play, repeat 1, or repeat all. The volume control and bass boost are easy to use. You would think that MD recordings would sound worse than the actual CD, but let me tell you--they don't. I couldn't notice any difference between my CD and my MD.

Moving around with functions--This player is the epitome of ease with functions. It features a jog dial that you move up and down to scroll through options, and to select you press the dial in. There are 7 main functions during play and 4 when there is no disc.

The Remote :-)--This little thing is one of the sweetest parts of the player. It has all the basic functions, editing capabilities, and is backlit. I don't know if you could ask for a more functional remote.

Editing--The editing part of this machine is a cinch. You can label the disc and the track names for each MD. There is space for 1700 charaters each disc, so don't worry about running out of room. Pressing the pause button during editing will bring you to certain types of charaters: Upper and lower case letters, symbols, and numbers. This is very convenient so you do not have to spend forever searching for a letter. Note: The American version of the R-90 cannot display or edit with Japanese katakana. (But who cares about that?)

Overall Satisfaction--I am very pleased with my purchase of the MZ-R90. Is is small, functional, and very attractive. I don't have any major quirks with it, except that it sometimes takes a while to load, but...oh well! If I had to do this purchase over again, I would do it in a heartbeat.I hope you enjoyed this review, and happy listening!

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Few gotchas -- and much better than mp3 players, January 3, 2001

By 

Robert Mohns "Ghost in the Shell fanatic" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony MZR90 Minidisc Recorder (Electronics)

I wanted portable music. My first thoughts were of an MP3 player, but the options are currently quite limited: either fixed storage of 30-60 minutes, or removable storage (flash, memory stick, etc) at a cost of $1-2/minute of audio... and long download times to get the music into the player. Lot of money, not much functionality. I looked elsewhere...

Minidiscs have improved immeasurably since the first generation of harsh, metallic audio. Media is cheap as well; at $2-3 per 72-minute disc, the savings over mp3 media alone are enough to justify Mindisc.

I decided to get a portable player/recorder, and after looking at the options, purchased the MZ-R90. Sony's highest-end, smallest, lightest minidisc player (competitive with an mp3 player!), with a great feature set. The jog-dial is a suprisingly effective control -- a single control, which you can jog with thumb or finger, does almost every common operation -- except volume. Wonderful idea, I hope to see it blatantly stolen by everyone else.

RTFM, though, if you want to title your tracks: I figured out everything except how to save the title I had entered. There are a couple other gotchas: the same jack is used for headphones and line out, and it resets to headphones when it powers off, making it a hassle to switch between 'phones and stereo (or car). (Setting volume at max for line out is the easy workaround.) Recording off of battery avoids any chance of ground loop hum, but if the battery isn't freshly charged, you risk running out of juice. Use the external AA-holder to more than double your rec/playback time. These few gotchas make me rate this 4 stars instead of 5 -- my personal experience has been excellent!

With the addition of a $30 mic, it's also very handy for recording interviews, so it's now a business expense, too.

There's only one problem. The hard-to-find MZ-R91 looks even better. So I got one of those, too... :-)

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow, January 16, 2001

By 

"lordadmiral" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony MZR90 Minidisc Recorder (Electronics)

I have to admit, prior to purchasing this player, I had my doubts. One can easily say that a CD player is much less expensive, lacks the necessary time to record an MD from a CD, and overall is more popular (for those who want to listen to a friend's CD's while not at home, yet this friend is listening with his/her own CD player). Furthermore, for those of us who demand high sound quality, only the fiber optic cable provides for a digital recording. This means not just any CD player will record digitally; only those with an optical out will allow you to record withot a loss of sound quality.

I must say, however, that the benefits heavily outweigh the drawbacks. The size is very important. The MZ-R90 is tiny, measuring 2 7/8 inches by approximately 3 inches. This can be said to be only a little larger than a quarter of a typical CD player. Whereas I was unable to even dream of fitting CD's, much less a player into my inner jacket pocket (the pocket is too small by at least half an inch), the MZ-R90 fits with room to spare. Not only that, but the size difference allows me to fit 7 or 8 MD's into the pocket on the other side.

The remote is twice as useful as I first perceived it to be. The lack of a need to actually pull out the MD to change volume, play, stop, or pause has saved me at least a total of 24 hours since I bought my R90. The LCD display has its uses, especially when I want to know what track I am skipping to. I can, with the touch of a button, know how much time is left to the disc, what time of the day it is, the name of the track, or the default setting: the amount of track time passed.

The AA adapter holds only one battery, keeping the size small, but doubling the play time. As an adapter, the option of removing it to keep it light and small is always there.

No doubt, I highly recommend this product over any other portable MD player and recorder out there. The only thing I can imagine to compliment the lightweight and ease of the R90 would be a pair of wireless earphones.