Stay away from the DR77. I have two and both are broken. Most I see used don't read disks except when lucky. The DR7 has fewer TOC errors. Both both being Auvi, they have almost no stereo separation. Try listening to your music in mono. If you like that, then no problem. If you don't like mono sounding music, I suggest staying away from Auvi players/recorders.
I have, but only back in the day. I have an RH1 to test for a few more weeks, and will report on it hopefully very soon. Beyond that, my units tend to be a bit older.
It will be interesting to hear a detailed take on the RH1. There seems to be a huge market for it, since it seems everyone is trying to reverse rip their MDs. Cheers from Kyoto, by the way.
I own a sharp DS9, it has just given up on reading any minidisc, showing no disc even there is a disc in the machine. I don't think anyone can fix a 20 years old machine. The sound of it is very rich and artificial. I have a Panasonic Minidisc as well, that's my daily machine. Somehow I like to experience different interpretation of a song, the way Sharp does is very vivid and rich, especially, when I turn on base 3 with surround sound.
Nice work 👍. You're just like another me nitpicking on every tiny little details. LOL I only have SONY & Panasonic MDs and recently stocking up 100+ new MINI DISCs from Japan. Good deals are getting harder to come by.
The Sharps with the one bit DAC's had to use 4 pole mini-jack instead of the standard 3 pole. Maybe that's why for some people using earphones/headphones with 3 pole mini-jacks the stereo image isn't that great? minidisc.org/classd_amp.html
There is almost no stereo image if you don't use the TRRS connector with balanced wired earphones/headphones. 18-23dB max if you don't use the TRRS earphone and up to 90dB if you do.
Unfortunately it has pretty bad SQ: it is not well able to sustain current to voltage ratios to keep frequency response stable, and unless you are using the poor quality bundled earphones, it has almost no stereo image to speak of.
@@danmasaj I've not tried the DR-580, but I have tested around six Sharp units on the bench and not one performs well. They hiss less than Sony players do and have a fuller sound, but that is an artefact of other stuff. The etyomotics may be easier for the Sharp to drive. And with its powerful amp, it likely will sound as good as it can from them. Still, if you can get them wired for TRSS 3,5mm they will sound MUCH better.
BTW digital sound always have a frustration by fact that human ears have specific reception taste comapred to technical and syntethic tests. That is the fact that human ears more like sound of LP's than CD's, MD's etc... - i mean low end CD and MD players. Analog sound has round sounding, digital have more stright and precise. More precise are sound the more discomfort our ears / mind feels. That why many todays HiRes audio gear have Tube amplifiers to round up the digital precise sound. And by the fact many Audiophiles loves the sound of old CD players with TDA1541A DAC chip inside, it is 16 bit, but the sound of it are phenomenal. The same with TOP of the line SONY MDS-JA555ES it has awesome circuit design and well designed audio output stage with Noise shaper CXD8762Q and CXD8493M-E1 DAC work exelent together and many tests shows that it sound as good as TOP of the line CD. So the answer is somewhere into middle, "i like to say." Sound compression issue is important, but how it is decompressed and reproduced are more important. (thats my personal conclusion - of course.) But there are lot of technical details about this. But again, it depends what you are listening. :) If we compare heavy metal, then i say that it can be played on anything - it sounds good only on live stage and only one song - that's for me. :) And as you said, it is individual. And depends on what we reproduce music, Player, Amplifier and finaly the speakers or headphones.
cosmolv the 555ES has my interest. As I’ve mentioned I have the JA780, which sounds amazing but isn’t known for sound next to the 555ES. Interestingly, it tests really well as well. Good testing hardware that is easy to listen to is plentiful, especially today where audiophilia has spread to portable stuff. Still, some people really like digital sounding stuff but a number, like myself, prefer good testing stuff with ‘rounder’ transitions. It’s interesting. Still, saying something has good sound quality without qualification is a shame.
The whole video was and does not give any positive information and shows no other proof than your analysis, it’s disjointed an wholly like the reviews you are criticising, I think also that ridiculing people that found it an excellent player, it would depend on the headphones used, the music played and the age coupled with hearing capability. I’m a camera collector and have been a music lover of all genres for 65 years. I bought hi end audio in the form of Linn Deck and Pioneer, Cambridge, Nad, etc the HiFi outlets I have been to over the years, I ask them if they have heard or listened to certain speakers, Castle, Mordant, Wharfdale, mission, etc and then I ask if they have listened to Allinson, look him up and that is a sound, but really I’d change my approach to plain speaking without the Speak, I bet you work and talk in corporate language. 😇😜😏
Regarding SQ: why not go to the parts that reference industry-standard sound quality tests? I gave them, and it is terminal to the DS8. As goes all Hi-Fi, merely liking the sound of a thing does not mean it sounds good. Good sound depends on many things, including how well output cleaves to input, which the DS8 does reasonably well but not at the top of the game. The reviewers of the time did not utilise standards of any sort and just bought and paid for the marketing like complete rubes. The DS8 sounds okay, but is hardly a good-sounding player. If you want the relevant tests, look up from 16 minutes because obviously you did not pay attention to the SQ portions. Even with the RIGHT (supplied 4-pole) earphones, the DS8 isn't able to sustain enough current to return stable bass. The DS55 is a much better sounding player: no noise, stable current, and higher DR.
@@guyprolly I think the audience you are aiming at doesn’t really exist in the real world, the video was disjointed, complicated and referring to an item that is obsolete in terms how many are available in working condition and the price, I think I’m saying get a life. I view lots of very interesting tubes, but yours has no point as it arrives at conflicting results, I remember having a conversation with a great friend of mine, who was head of the Royal School for the deaf and his wife who is retired professor in the same area, your hearing in general starts to deteriorate from the age of 21 and you start to naturally lip read, so as with Art beauty is in the eye of as is hearing, if you had given better recommendations with a reasoning behind those thoughts, in a laypersons understanding, perhaps it would be worth it, but like those in the camera world you just vomit statistics and remember that some of these are your interpretation and not what Joe of the famous Blogg family will ever look at, you start to become a politician, a wise man once said, that a politician has to be so intelligent, that he can never give the right answer, or as I call it lying 🤥 as our current PM does, and has it mattered? No!
@@f1remandg I think it is fair to say that reviews of this sort, which rely on the purely mechanical aspects of a unit, do not point to beauty or alternatives, but it is possible to review something in the abstract. Fauxtaku never made the mistake of misleading people into thinking the DS8 was the best sounding thing, or that it outpowered or outperformed MP3 players of the day. We all know about deteriorating ability to hear and I did a video about that specifically, called 'there is no such thing as high resolution', or something like it, also on this channel. And yes, I took a mechanistic approach, which I now abhor and which is the reason I sort of abandoned the channel. Some people really appreciate it; in fact, most really did. Yours is a minority voice, which is not a problem. I agree with it: where does a review like this point? My ultimate answer is that there is no good point to any review that doesn't ultimately say that it is all meaningless and that the pleasure you derive from this or that thing is fleeting, does not bring you close to things that matter, and more, but at the same time, this was a device that was endlessly lied about in order to get it to sell. And clumsy or not, my criticism of it is spot on.
Nice.. You're getting good at this. Keep it up NateD.
Barun Chanda we will see!
Nice video! Where would be the best place to purchase Sharp Auvi players? Iam looking for sharp MD-DR77 or sharp MD-DR7. I can’t find any on Ebay.
Stay away from the DR77. I have two and both are broken. Most I see used don't read disks except when lucky. The DR7 has fewer TOC errors. Both both being Auvi, they have almost no stereo separation. Try listening to your music in mono. If you like that, then no problem. If you don't like mono sounding music, I suggest staying away from Auvi players/recorders.
Have you tried the Sony MZ-R900? I use it with an old pair of Shure SE310 ... sounds subjectively ‘good’ :-)
I have, but only back in the day. I have an RH1 to test for a few more weeks, and will report on it hopefully very soon. Beyond that, my units tend to be a bit older.
It will be interesting to hear a detailed take on the RH1. There seems to be a huge market for it, since it seems everyone is trying to reverse rip their MDs. Cheers from Kyoto, by the way.
I own a sharp DS9, it has just given up on reading any minidisc, showing no disc even there is a disc in the machine. I don't think anyone can fix a 20 years old machine. The sound of it is very rich and artificial. I have a Panasonic Minidisc as well, that's my daily machine. Somehow I like to experience different interpretation of a song, the way Sharp does is very vivid and rich, especially, when I turn on base 3 with surround sound.
Thank you for the comment. Are you using 4-pole earphones with it, because without it, the sound is terribly monaural.
@@FauxtakuLounge 4pale is a must. I am keeping the headphone and remote, hoping one day can find another cheap player somewhere.
Can i buy 1 of your MD, s
Something like sony
How about stereo image with dolby headphones activated?
It doesn't matter; if you're not using balanced headphones, you won't get stereo from it.
Nice work 👍. You're just like another me nitpicking on every tiny little details. LOL I only have SONY & Panasonic MDs and recently stocking up 100+ new MINI DISCs from Japan. Good deals are getting harder to come by.
Want to love and loving are the tiniest of minority disagreements that go FAR.
@@FauxtakuLounge --- Skullcandy Ink'd Plus are my favorite Earbuds. Nice bass. Clear mids & treble.
The Sharps with the one bit DAC's had to use 4 pole mini-jack instead of the standard 3 pole. Maybe that's why for some people using earphones/headphones with 3 pole mini-jacks the stereo image isn't that great? minidisc.org/classd_amp.html
There is almost no stereo image if you don't use the TRRS connector with balanced wired earphones/headphones. 18-23dB max if you don't use the TRRS earphone and up to 90dB if you do.
I am from Canada ON
I own this, and is the best md player ever.
Unfortunately it has pretty bad SQ: it is not well able to sustain current to voltage ratios to keep frequency response stable, and unless you are using the poor quality bundled earphones, it has almost no stereo image to speak of.
@@FauxtakuLounge true, i use etymotic er3xr and shure se215 and sound decent, clear and dinamic.
@@FauxtakuLounge sharp im-dr-580h , i have also these, is better?
@@danmasaj I've not tried the DR-580, but I have tested around six Sharp units on the bench and not one performs well. They hiss less than Sony players do and have a fuller sound, but that is an artefact of other stuff.
The etyomotics may be easier for the Sharp to drive. And with its powerful amp, it likely will sound as good as it can from them. Still, if you can get them wired for TRSS 3,5mm they will sound MUCH better.
@@FauxtakuLounge thanks for answers my friend
Exelent! 👌👍
cosmolv many thanks.
BTW digital sound always have a frustration by fact that human ears have specific reception taste comapred to technical and syntethic tests. That is the fact that human ears more like sound of LP's than CD's, MD's etc... - i mean low end CD and MD players.
Analog sound has round sounding, digital have more stright and precise. More precise are sound the more discomfort our ears / mind feels. That why many todays HiRes audio gear have Tube amplifiers to round up the digital precise sound. And by the fact many Audiophiles loves the sound of old CD players with TDA1541A DAC chip inside, it is 16 bit, but the sound of it are phenomenal. The same with TOP of the line SONY MDS-JA555ES it has awesome circuit design and well designed audio output stage with Noise shaper CXD8762Q and CXD8493M-E1 DAC work exelent together and many tests shows that it sound as good as TOP of the line CD. So the answer is somewhere into middle, "i like to say." Sound compression issue is important, but how it is decompressed and reproduced are more important. (thats my personal conclusion - of course.) But there are lot of technical details about this. But again, it depends what you are listening. :) If we compare heavy metal, then i say that it can be played on anything - it sounds good only on live stage and only one song - that's for me. :) And as you said, it is individual. And depends on what we reproduce music, Player, Amplifier and finaly the speakers or headphones.
cosmolv the 555ES has my interest. As I’ve mentioned I have the JA780, which sounds amazing but isn’t known for sound next to the 555ES. Interestingly, it tests really well as well. Good testing hardware that is easy to listen to is plentiful, especially today where audiophilia has spread to portable stuff. Still, some people really like digital sounding stuff but a number, like myself, prefer good testing stuff with ‘rounder’ transitions. It’s interesting.
Still, saying something has good sound quality without qualification is a shame.
The whole video was and does not give any positive information and shows no other proof than your analysis, it’s disjointed an wholly like the reviews you are criticising, I think also that ridiculing people that found it an excellent player, it would depend on the headphones used, the music played and the age coupled with hearing capability. I’m a camera collector and have been a music lover of all genres for 65 years. I bought hi end audio in the form of Linn Deck and Pioneer, Cambridge, Nad, etc the HiFi outlets I have been to over the years, I ask them if they have heard or listened to certain speakers, Castle, Mordant, Wharfdale, mission, etc and then I ask if they have listened to Allinson, look him up and that is a sound, but really I’d change my approach to plain speaking without the Speak, I bet you work and talk in corporate language. 😇😜😏
Regarding SQ: why not go to the parts that reference industry-standard sound quality tests? I gave them, and it is terminal to the DS8. As goes all Hi-Fi, merely liking the sound of a thing does not mean it sounds good. Good sound depends on many things, including how well output cleaves to input, which the DS8 does reasonably well but not at the top of the game. The reviewers of the time did not utilise standards of any sort and just bought and paid for the marketing like complete rubes.
The DS8 sounds okay, but is hardly a good-sounding player. If you want the relevant tests, look up from 16 minutes because obviously you did not pay attention to the SQ portions.
Even with the RIGHT (supplied 4-pole) earphones, the DS8 isn't able to sustain enough current to return stable bass. The DS55 is a much better sounding player: no noise, stable current, and higher DR.
@@guyprolly I think the audience you are aiming at doesn’t really exist in the real world, the video was disjointed, complicated and referring to an item that is obsolete in terms how many are available in working condition and the price, I think I’m saying get a life. I view lots of very interesting tubes, but yours has no point as it arrives at conflicting results, I remember having a conversation with a great friend of mine, who was head of the Royal School for the deaf and his wife who is retired professor in the same area, your hearing in general starts to deteriorate from the age of 21 and you start to naturally lip read, so as with Art beauty is in the eye of as is hearing, if you had given better recommendations with a reasoning behind those thoughts, in a laypersons understanding, perhaps it would be worth it, but like those in the camera world you just vomit statistics and remember that some of these are your interpretation and not what Joe of the famous Blogg family will ever look at, you start to become a politician, a wise man once said, that a politician has to be so intelligent, that he can never give the right answer, or as I call it lying 🤥 as our current PM does, and has it mattered? No!
@@f1remandg I think it is fair to say that reviews of this sort, which rely on the purely mechanical aspects of a unit, do not point to beauty or alternatives, but it is possible to review something in the abstract. Fauxtaku never made the mistake of misleading people into thinking the DS8 was the best sounding thing, or that it outpowered or outperformed MP3 players of the day. We all know about deteriorating ability to hear and I did a video about that specifically, called 'there is no such thing as high resolution', or something like it, also on this channel.
And yes, I took a mechanistic approach, which I now abhor and which is the reason I sort of abandoned the channel. Some people really appreciate it; in fact, most really did. Yours is a minority voice, which is not a problem. I agree with it: where does a review like this point?
My ultimate answer is that there is no good point to any review that doesn't ultimately say that it is all meaningless and that the pleasure you derive from this or that thing is fleeting, does not bring you close to things that matter, and more, but at the same time, this was a device that was endlessly lied about in order to get it to sell. And clumsy or not, my criticism of it is spot on.