> Hi, I caught your post on the md-l and wanted to ask what your
> thoughts on the R5-ST are. I've been thinking about getting a deck
> for doing md-md dubbing, but haven't been able to find much info
> about the r5-st to save my life. Besides the ability to undock the unit
> and go portable, is there any other feature that's not found in regular
> md deck?
> On Sat, 13 May 2000, User wrote:
>
>>
>> occasionally have to conceal my gear. I own a Sony R5-St (the portable that
>> mounts to a station) and I take the portable unit and plug in a dummy pair
>
>
I posted a message concerning stealth recording and as a result of my
mention of my Sony R5-ST, I recieved several inquiries concerning my
opinions on the unit. So I'm posting my review to the list for everyone.
Most of the info I got for the R5-ST when I was going to buy it came
from the minidisc.org page and the links from the product overview. The main
advantages are the 20 bit recordings that brings the audio quality much
closer to a CD. The station is small - roughly the size of 10 CD cases
stacked flat in 2 piles of 5 (I measured...) The portable pops out from
under the clamshell, backlit LCD and mechanically is similar to the R-50. It
also comes with a Li-Ion and an add-on AA pack for the port that, combined
covers my 1 hour in - 1 hour out subway commute all week without a recharge
or replacement, in addition the Li-Ion does not have to be removed from the
portable when it docks, it can recharge in the unit or it can be removed and
put in a side compartment in the station where it will also recharge. so you
can charge 2 batts at once. Also, it has two TOSLINK inputs (switchable) one
TOSLINK output, RCA I/O, and while playing, all outputs are hot - meaning
while you are playing or recording on the station, sound is being sent to
the 1/4" headphones on the station, the 1/8" on the remote for the portable,
the RCA out, and the TOSLINK out. This feature was very cool during my very
brief stint as electrionic composer. I could loop samples and tracks on MD
to analog pedals, my Mac, or whatever my heart desired.
The one disadvantage pertains to the station's power usage. It takes
1.2amps at 9volts DC. This is supplied by a 100v AC bulky transformer power
supply that is nearly as large as the entire unit and weighs more than the
whole station! To make matters worse, to use this unit with US currents, the
100v in requires an additional wall-wart adapter! I also have been
unsuccessful in locating a rechargeable battery to power the station for a
couple of hours - smaller than a lead acid or car battery, ( which,
incedentally, isn't much heavier than the power supply.)
The other problem you are going to have with the R5 is finding it. I think
it was discontinued. I haven't seen it in a year and when I bought it from
Japan in Dec 98 it wasn't available in the US. I know minidiscnow.com had
them when I was shopping for it, but according to this MD list, they are out
of business - good riddance. It took three months for them to send me a
special MD head cleaner for the R5 as I found the unit could not be used
with standard MD head cleaners.
I hope this answers the all the questions some of you had about the R5
- - - Aqualangs.
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