Product ReviewsSony MZ-R90 Personal MiniDisc Player

This basic, durable MD Walkman is worth decades of quality and functionality.

I've owned my first MZ-R90 for about 20 years now, and while it's finally starting to act up, it still refuses to die. Even the remote works properly when I don't jostle it too much.

Sound-wise, the ATRAC 1 codec is comparable to CD-R. The recording and playback functions are mostly intuitive, and the bass boost is my favorite feature. It sounds amazing through my Sennheiser earbuds. If you're lucky enough to get the full MZ-R90 kit, the included headphones are also surprisingly good for 20-year-old tech, and utilize that bass boost very well.

Durability-wise, the magnesium shell can take a serious beating, the buttons are solid, and you can drop it onto a concrete pad from about one meter without the disc skipping. (Assuming the disc doesn't pop out, but even if it does, MDs don't care about being tossed around, and the player won't see much more than superficial scratches.) Also, the hang-on battery pack, while not exactly aesthetically pleasing, is very stable. Mine's stood up to decades of abuse, and though it's starting to wiggle a bit now, it still doesn't lose contact.

Power-wise, Sony's rechargeable gumstick batteries are discontinued, and the one that might come with your "new" MZ-R90 is probably dead. However, you can still get after-market gumsticks online, or just use the battery pack that screws into the backside of the MD player. Lasts a good 6-10 hours on a fully charged Ni-MH AA (longer if you're just listening, shorter if you're skipping around the tracks or adding names to stuff), and something like 20 hours with both batteries. If you're recording, you'll have to have it plugged into an outlet.

Recording-wise, you can record standard-length in stereo, or double recording time in mono. The full kit comes with a TOSLINK optical cable that has a TOSLINK plug for your stereo end, and a 3mm audio-style jack for the MD player's end. Depending on the media you're recording, it may be able to save artist, album, and track data without requiring manual input. You can also record off standard 3mm-3mm cable, and the player can insert track marks with about 90% accuracy. When track marks fail, it's not that they're placed in the wrong spot, but that there wasn't enough "silence" between tracks for the player to recognize a track change. Inserting/removing tracks manually is as easy as pausing and hitting a button on the MD player. This applies both to music and voice recordings, which means you can organize your interviews with titles for each track.

My one personal sort-of-con is that the disc has to spin up when you manually change tracks or use "shuffle" playback (i.e., if you're not listening continuously through an album). This is apparently because the device conserves power by storing the music in memory and powering down the laser mechanism as much as possible. However, the 2-second delay never really bothered me, since I'd much rather have longer playback.

Another con that never bothered me, but may bother others, is that the MZ-R90 is a fairly early model. It doesn't have ATRAC 3 or later codecs with lossless recording quality and 1GB MD storage capacity. HOWEVER, that's part of the reason why the MZ-R90 tends to be so reasonably priced compared to later MD players, and the sound quality you do get shouldn't really bother non-audiophiles or people who just want it as a voice recorder. Also, it only takes standard 74-80min MDs, but although they're the cheapest ones available, they still exhibit the portability and durability you expect from all MDs.

Overall, the MZ-R90 is a fantastic nostalgia piece with great pricing, great functionality, and crazy longevity; and uses a media format that is equally long-lived and affordable. I've just bought my second one, and I fully expect it to last me another 20 years--perhaps longer, since I'll be treating it much more kindly this time.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: prepbo-5

sony mz-r90 one of the better MD models

This is being used by a soviet trained / Berkley college of music master guitarist professional who has and knows these small player/recorders - the mz-r90 by Sony is one of the better models and the external battery case adds to versatility when using player for composition backup music to accompany the guitar especially as a street musician often for long daily performance schedules where portability - high quality are required..Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: padester79

Best for loosless audio...

I copied my old cd, cd are not so durable and cd player makes scrathes on it. Exellent sound quality. So amazing sony not countinues making them...
Mp3 player is just a garbage when compared. I prefer MD... And is the best...
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Thanks now I can play my mini dc

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: andarush-22

Best mini disc sony I have.

Well built nice looking sounds fantastic.