Sony MZ-R50
by HexaPunk
The Top
If you’re into live recording at least a few hours at a time in a sturdy metal frame for your MiniDisc addiction, the R50 is for you! I mean, it’s SP-only, very A E S T H E T I C, and functional. It does not have a particularly satisfying eject mechanism.
Go read the MiniDisc.wiki page for the MZ-R50; you’ll see the colors I’ve had!
For the rest of you, read on!
Specs and things
Released in October 1997 at ¥48000 ($ in 97, $$ in 2025) It was generation 4 of the ATRAC ICs, so it sounded pretty good (to me, YMMV, etc, etc) encoded right from the unit.
It has dealt with New England summers and bitter winters just fine. It may fit in a cargo pocket, but it better be sturdy! It is 109.5 x 19.7 x 77mm. Weight is listed at 240g (8½ oz), with LIP-8 and MD loaded (to the brim, of course).
Power is provided by a LIP-8 (14650 cell in a fancy carrier to get both contacts on one side) and/or 2-AA sidecar. Combined this can give you up to 22 hours of playback. At least for mid-90s batteries; it’s probably double or so today. It takes 6V DC; that’s how I charge my replacement LIP-8s! It’s enough to get me through a typical work day if the battery is fully charged.
Most of the controls are on the ‘top’ section with the LCD on one side, and the main transport controls on top of the battery. Front has the eject, record and headphone/remote port, hold and some editing controls. On the left it’s got Digital Mega Bass, which won’t work with the line-out or the inputs. Then a Synchro-Rec switch.
It came in Silver, Blue, and Orange. It’s a nicely finished metal case; I’m not sure if it’s aluminum or magnesium, but it takes the color from anodizing or whatever really well. Because it’s complete. I’ve been inside enough R30s and R50s to know the curtains match the drapes.
It’s got headphone out/remote port, Microphone and Line In (analog/optical) for input. It has a jog dial that is nice to fiddle with, but not really great for actually titling anything, at least for me.
My Experience
I’ve been daily using my orange R50 for a few weeks on-and-off for this review. But I do occasionally feel like an SP type of day, too!
I like the heft and slight slimming of the R50 vs the previous R30, especially the battery! Sony being Sony, probably made their own new ‘standard’ cell size just for things like this.
Sound is fine, it gets plenty loud if I need it via line out, but the analog volume is also fine. I am not a critical listener or audiophile of any kind. I usually use line out on my commute and trips. Headphone out at a low-moderate volume at work. Unless there is a writing error, it hasn’t raised a fuss.
One of my few gripes is the door. It barely pops open and ejects the MD when you press the eject button. I’ve tested on all my R50s, and even R30s (because they are very similarly constructed), and they all do this. It’s kind of infuriating; I can’t change MDs easily while driving my manual commuter car!
It can do mono playback and recording! That’s how I got an SP runtime of 82:44! Saved the mix, too as the last track isn’t properly time-stamped or split (I haven’t looked too closely at why) so it’s just over the 80 minutes and some spare seconds.