It's official -- Sony's MP3 playing Hi-MD player :: TechJapan :: English news on technology from Japan

Main Menu

· Home
· Topics
· Search

Other Resources
· Downloads
· FAQ
· Top Ten
· Web Links

News by Category

· Ask TechJapan
· Audio/Video
· Business
· Car AV
· Desktops
· Digital Cameras
· Gaming
· Handhelds
· Internet
· Mobile Phones
· Notebooks
· Other
· Peripherals
· Portable AV
· Product of the Week
· Rapid Reviews
· Robotics
· Saturday Statistics
· Site News
· Size Matters
· Software
· Storage
· The CRASH
· Toys

Theme from THEMES.crossworlds.ru

Portable AV: It's official -- Sony's MP3 playing Hi-MD player
Posted on Mar 02, 2005 - 12:03 AM by zmcnulty
Email to a friend

| Print this article

Topic: Sony
Category: Portable AV
Technorati: Linking Blogs

Turns out that rumor of an MP3 playing Hi-MD Walkman was true! We reported on this about two weeks ago, but it's official now.

The "MZ-RH10" supports playback of MP3 files from Hi-MD (a new MiniDisc format with a 1GB capacity), and appears to be liquid awesome.

Sony has announced the recording/playback Hi-MD Walkman with an organic EL display, the "MZ-RH10," and will release it on March 10th, 2005. It is listed at Open Price, but estimates indicate it should cost around 34,000 yen.

The "MZ-RH10" is a Hi-MD Walkman with record and playback capabilities. It will be available in four body colors: Black (-B), Silver (-S), Blue (-L), and Orange (-D).

Like the "MZ-DH10P," in addition to ATRAC3/ATRAC3plus, this unit supports the playback of MP3 files. Supported MP3 bitrates are from 32kbps to 320kbps.

The front of the body features a half-mirrored finish, and has a large organic EL display. Data can be managed using the included "SonicStage 3.0" PC audio software, which features functionality to search by artist/album, and initial searches. It also supports playlist-based playback.

Audio files are transferred from a PC using a USB connection, but they can also be recorded in Linear PCM/ATRAC3plus audio formats from either the microphone input or optical digital jack. Though the recorded files are encrypted, they are converted to normal WAV files when come out of SonicStage and going to the PC itself (only files recorded using analog input can be converted to WAV; those recorded using Optical Digital cannot). Also, the only available recording modes are Hi-MD modes; the unit cannot record in legacy MD mode (ATRAC3).

A "NH-14WM(A)" NiMH battery is included. It can be recharged by USB. Also include is an additional battery case for using AA batteries. Using only the NiMH battery will allow for battery lives ranging from 8.5 hours (recording, Hi-LP/ATRAC3plus 64kbps) to 14.5 hours (Hi-LP/ATRAC3plus 64kbps)...using this in tangent with the foremention AA battery case gives batteries lives ranging from 12.5 hours to 33 hours. The external dimensions of the unit are 81.9 x 22.1 x 84.8mm (W x D x H), and it weighs about 147g. A recharging stand is included.

Inspired by:
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20050302/sony2.htm

Press Release:
http://www.sony.jp/CorporateCruise/Press/200503/05-0302/

Product Information:
http://www.ecat.sony.co.jp/audio/walkman/products/index.cfm?PD=20349&KM=MZ-RH10

Also in Portable AV:

Also in Sony:

Comments (must be registered to post)
mischa 02.03.05, 01:18	bling bling ~ gold remote... thats so kool
Anonymous 02.03.05, 09:16	Now if only they got rid of that ***** sonicstage bullshit program, or at least improved upon it.
zmcnulty 02.03.05, 11:57	You know I've heard a lot of people complain about SonicStage, and it's only ever really crashed on me once. What problems does it have? Sure, it's not as good as iTunes, but the entire management system is different. Personally, I enjoy the album-cover based approach to browsing. So what is it about SonicStage that people don't like? I can understand if you don't like it because of its dependence on ATRAC3/ATRAC3plus, but given its compatibility with the MP3 format (I have a large part of my MP3 collection catalogged in SonicStage), I don't see what the problem is. Even moreso these days, with Sony's increasing support for MP3. Seriously though, what's the problem? Requiring dedicated software to transfer files to portable audio players has existed since the days of the Diamond Rio. As long as there is some sort of digital rights management technology to uphold, I imagine it will stay like this for a long time. You can't expect digital audio products from two countries with all-powerful record organizations (RIAA for America, RIAJ for Japan) to have no support for DRM, can you? There's a few exceptions, but most of the players with support for the USB Storage class (as anonymous above me seems to be requesting) come from China and Korea, right?
a34 02.03.05, 13:14	As someone who has to use it, my main beef is that it is slow, does a horrible job of cataloging artists, and the fact that it won't automatically track a directory and update based on changes is a pain in the ass. More than anything else, it is the slowness. Opening the program is slow, scrolling through artists is slow, importing albums is slow. I still use a NetMD for my MP3s, and I wasn't going to get another MD based player, but if the newer version of SonicStage is better, I might consider it. (plus these players are hot as hell). Hell, I have no beef with Atrac3, I can't even tell the difference.
zmcnulty 02.03.05, 14:25	Is it because of the database that it's slow? I have probably 100 albums imported in MP3 -- they're just catalogged though, and not physically imported into ATRAC3 (I guess you understand the difference, since you've used it). I haven't noticed too much slowdown, but it's been quite some time since I've used it last. I agree with you about ATRAC3, though. Every time I see the format discussed on other sites, they always backup their "ATRAC3 IS CRAP FORMAT LOL :ROLLEYES: SONY" arguments with a link or two to some "professional audio test." The tests always put ATRAC3 dead last in audio quality. But really, I haven't noticed a difference at all. Someone needs to take a non-scientific approach to these audio formats and do a double-blind test...
a34 02.03.05, 18:00	Well, I only have about 250 albums catalogged - maybe about 10 imported. The database might be part of it. They really need to improve their ID3 support, I could deal with the slowness if it didn't take me 5 minutes to figure out which letter they decided to file an artist under
a34 02.03.05, 18:00	Whoops, also wanted to say that I REALLY like the look of the LCD screen on the player itself. HOT
mischa 02.03.05, 22:53	ATRAC3 shit? Ive never heard the difference between it and normal mp3... i was hoping ATRAC3 would be 'fantastic' just as the guy at sony said. I just bought a NW-HD3 20gig network walkman and im going to have to transfer about 15gigs of music over to ATRAC3 format because the player dosent support equlaiser settings and a whole lot of other bullshit unless it's in ATRAC3 format GRRR