Home > Consumer Reviews > Sharp MDMT821 Ultra-Thin Minidisc Player/Recorder

this product is basically the same size as the Sony's smallest md player/recorder, but with much more advantages... First off, Sony always fails to mention that their product is only 16 bit ATRAC, where as the Sharp's is 24 bit. What this simply means is that this product has better sound quality (especially in the mega bass). Also, the Sony's products run not on Lithium-Ion rechargable batteries, which the Sharp does. this means a much longer battery life (Sharp goes about 12 hours with the rechargable battery alone -->Sony's goes about 5 hours). To sum it all up, Sony should be given credit for introducing MD to the world, but they have lost on the competition to many other companies.

I purchased a Sony R55 a few months ago and returned it after a couple weeks. This unit blows the Sony away! The R55 had many shortcomings, but its most obvious was its poor battery life which yields around 3.5 hours of playback. The Sharp will give you about 11-12 hours! The other most noticeable thing was the sound quality, another area where the Sony fails in comparison. I find the drums a bit tinny with the Sony unit. I have found that the Sharp's ATRAC captures the sound much closer to the original. The recording features of this unit are also fantastic! If you are interested in MD, this is the way to start!

I've had this md player/recorder for about a year and it has been a great product. It is very small and light, I don't think it makes that much difference between this and the new more expensive models. This md player still has the most recent and best sounding atrac as well (atrac is what records and compresses your sound) I can barely tell the difference between cd and this md, only when I go at a high volume with high bass that you start to hear distortion. It comes with everything you need except blank MD's. I record from my JVC fs-7000 with the digital output from my cds, and my output on my soundcard for analog recording mp3, which also sounds very good. I would recommend this product to anyone that thinks cd's are too big, damage too easily, and aren't customizable. The price is a bit steep (I got mine for 300 a year ago) and you can also check out sharps new md recorder (md-831) which is a bit smaller, and has a couple new features but is also more expensive. The backlit remote is also very handy in the dark. The only setback I think of this is the headphones. If you buy this package, it's a good idea to buy another pair of nice headphones like Koss SportaPros or Sony mdr-888. Hope this helps!

Sharp MDMT821 Ultra-Thin Minidisc Player/Recorder is VERY NICE! I have had mine for 5 months now, I dont know what I would do with out it. I got it in England, so I got the nice little bud headphones ;D I just love hooking it up to my computer and recording my MP3's in one easy step. Just hook it up, set the volume (easly done with the output bar on display), press sync-start and your away, another great thing is the optical recordings! WOW! Just hook it up and your away, no hastle with the volume, I call it a DIGITAL PORT ;D I cant tell the difference between a CD and a optical recording played on my Sharp MDMT821 Ultra-Thin Minidisc Player/Recorder. I just love the way it sits in my hand. I wouldnt say its light though, Id say it is a really good weight, it feels dense and very solid, and the silver finish is just awesome. For those who are wondering if the "record" red button lights up, it doesnt. Optical and Line input are feed through the same hole. It also has a seperate MIC INPUT, but I havnt tried that, the md features all the EDIT FUNCTIONS! you can put titles on your md, and at the touch of a button, it changes the text into "ABC", "abc", "123! ..." . It just makes it look really cool. Also, it features a BASS BOOST! 3 way. The max volume is "30", if you have the bass on "3" and the volume on 28, the bass is automatically cut down to avoid distortion. I recommend the Sharp MDMT821 Ultra-Thin Minidisc Player/Recorder to everyone, looks great, sounds great, and the Li-Ion battery is AWESOME! Charge it when ever you like, un like most cell phone batterys.....

I bought the MD-MT821 for my 14 year old son for Christmas. We have about come to blows, fighting over who is going to use this machine next! We both enjoy it very much. I did quite a bit of research into MP3 and Mini Disks before buying this unit 3 days before christmas on Amazon. It arrived Christmas eve as promised. The size compares to Sony's smallest player and is $50 less. The buttons on the front of the player are shaped different for each function. This makes it really easy to figure out which ones to use with less mistakes. Take a couple of hours reading the manual and playing with the machine and you will have it mastered. I like the solid feel of the deck when opening and closing and the disk carrier in the lid. It would be nice if the display on the unit was backlit. The plug in remote functions only for playback and does not record. It is backlit and very easy to use. It would be nice to have an equalizer but the three base levels are more than adequate. Analog recordings are very good, but recording using the digital optical cable just blows you away. You will be very happy with this unit. I couldn't find any other manufacturer that offered the same combination of features and price. No wonder they are hard to get. If you can find one, you'll be a "happy camper".