Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony MZ-N710 Silver Net MiniDisc Walkman

This is the first minidisc recorder i have ever owned and one of the best purchases on amazon i have ever made. Although new to the whole concept of mini discs i had absolutly no problems installing the software and recording onto the mini discs. Basically all you have to do is choose the source of the music (with a simple click on an icon), choose where you want the music to go (another click on an icon) and then click to start. Editing playlists is very straight forward as is actually operating the minidisc recorder. With a rechargeable battery (included), an attachment for a normal AA battery, an adapter, and a charging cradle there are plenty of options on how to power your mini disc. You can get up to 320 minutes of music on a single disc. I have currently only used the LP2 recording mode (160 minutes) and haven't noticed any change in the quality of sound. Sound quality overall is excellent, the little remote control stick is simple to use and very convienient.

The 710 is an amazing mid range NetMD. It has all the important feautures of a high end minidisc player yet around half the price.
At first i compared it to the poorly featured MZN505 but after just spending 1 hour with it i realised that this fantastic piece of kit is well worth its cost.
The MZ-N710 has a playback of up to 85 hours (MDLP4) using a thin chewing-gum battery and AA battery in unison. It boasts the latest PC to MD transfer technology and a docking station for easy charging. The 710 also has a microphone input, however this is on the charging cradle.
As well as MDLP functions, the player allows you to listen to high quality mono sound with double the normal capacity.
A brilliant feature on the player is the 6 band graphic equalser with 4 live acoustic presets, 4 virtual surround modes and 6 tone options.
However as will all things there are negatives, the major flaw is that the maximum transfer speed is only 16x but this isn't too much of a problem if you have the time. The player is also not sock protected instead it has a 40 second - 60 second og memory which might as well be forever because no minidisc player will jog for that long (unless you're sitting on a washing machine).
The MZ-N710 comes with all the accessories you'd expect from Sony and the new improved SonicStage software.

In my humble opinion, i beleive that this mid range player is brilliant if you are a broke teenager like me, the pro's are plentiful and the cons are insignificant.

Overall rating 98%

This snazzy piece of kit is a bargain. I moved to MD with Sony's last range of recorders, and for almost twice the price of this recorder, I got one with half the functions.

This is a great step-up from the slightly cheaper units, for only an extra 15, to 20 pounds you get a solid metal case, and the rechargeable stick battery, which will save you pounds on batteries. Plus there's a removeable battery holster, so you can clip on your AA's if need be, doubling the time you need before recharging.

It's worth pointing out that it does have a low volume output, but if you simply use the record input level function (check the manual) you can increase the standard volume level, which helps a lot. Be careful though, as ramping it right up can cause distortion, especially if you have the Bass expander on aswell.

I've had it a week and am more than pleased, as you would expect, this unit oozes sony quality, it's ergonomically sound and aesthetically pleasing.
Controls are easy to use (even if you don't read the instructions) and the included Sonic stage software is easy enough for anyone to use, and makes it extremely easy to record albums/tracks quickly - Also worthy of note is that this software is more stable than the Wiondows Media Player.
Sound quality is good up to LP2 mode (but could be improved with additional investment in better quality headphones).
On the downside, editing track information can be cumbersome using the unit rather than a PC and I can't seem to get the quoted battery life. It would be useful if the USB cable connected to the charger (like the MN-N1) but you can still keep your workspace tidy.

The minidisc player is very sound as it goes. It's even comparable to an MP3 player, as you can use it directly with your computer, although you still have to record data to the minidisc itself. It's got all mod cons, graphic EQ, remote controlled headphones, records LP4 and all that gubbins. It's technically very high spec, and you cannot fault any of it's functions in any way. The best minidisc out at the moment at this kind of price range.

However, there's one important drawback to this...the actual layout of controls and the quality of the hardware on it (i.e. buttons and things like that) is dubious on my particular item. For what I use the minidisc for, I need to name every track I record and because of this, even after only abomut two weeks, the quality of the buttons haas deteriorated. Now, a new minidisc cover costs a fair packet, so I don't want to buy another one if it will do the same thing. It's not too big a deal if I'm careful with it, but it's a pain all the same seeing as I paid 120 quid for it. It seems like the button has come away from the casing slightly and seems fragile. It might only be my particular player, as someone I know with exactly the same player has no problems with this whatsoever. However, I think it's important to bring this up, because if you are heavy handed or clumsy with this, then it WILL get damaged quite easily.

But overall, there isn't another minidisc on the market that is better than this for what it does. It has everything on it that you could possibly want, and for those interested in home recording of all kinds of music could use this effectively. Personally, I use this alongside a 32 track digital studio so that I can mix down straight onto minidisc and then put songs on my PC, THEN burn them to CD. NO quality is lost, everything is digital, and the minidisc is even compatible with really good microphones. I would recommend purchasing the MS-907 Sony microphone alongside this if you are a musician. Using this microphone, you can record just about anything you want (singing as well if you need to) and put it into songs, which is a huge benefit. I also use it a lot just for personal enjoyment of music, and I find that recording at LP4 length, I can fit at least six albums on a 74 minute minidisc, which is of course an absolute dream.

I would definately recommend this minidisc for pretty much all purposes, but in the same breath I would advise people to be very careful with the buttons on it. I had the same problem with another minidisc player, so I suspect I was just a bit heavy handed with the kit, but there you go...just a warning for you not to do the same.