Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony MZ-N510 Silver Net MiniDisc Walkman

Hi,

The sonic stage software is a bit buggy. However, this is a fantastic piece of kit. I have had mine since March and it's been all over europe with me. It's robust. I tried to load a language MP3 on it and it wasn't too happy. However, by writing the MP3 to CD and using an optical link I was able to overcome this. Buy it!

i was very pleased with the minidisc player, and even in lp2 mode the sound quality is still amazing! the "SonicStage" software that came with it is not very good, however, if you download "RealOne Player", then you can use that for transferring songs, and that is a much better program. basically, its a very good minidisc player, and definatly worth getting!

I bought this and then wondered whether an MP3 player might have been the better option, but to be honest, it has a few advantages over an MP3 player.

You store on minidisks (obviously), which means that you don't have to delete songs as you won't be running out of space, even if you have a lot of music. Apart from putting music on using the included software you can also record directly from practically anything, it doesn't have to be digital. This means you can back up tapes or LPs and put them on the minidisk as well as rips from CDs or music you bought off the internet. That is probably the main advantage it has over MP3 players in my opinion, because they only read specific types of files.

Overall, a very good buy and I never had any problems with it. Would definitely recommend it, especially if you want to listen to music you haven't got in digital form yet.

I bought this MZ-N510 fifteen months ago, on the day before I had an important test. On that day I knew that I should study, but I couldn't. That little thing looking at me... I decided to record a MiniDisc. I installed the bundled software (SonicStage 1.5) on my pc (P4 2,66 GHz, 512 Mb DDR400, Seagate Barracuda IV 120 GB 7200rpm :P ), which took me about 5 minutes. I've never used that program and I didn't need to use the manual or the help option to start working with SonicStage so I found it very easy to use. My pc never freezed or went slower. In a few minutes I was using my new gadget. So absolutely no complaints about SonicStage... (I recently upgraded to the 3.1 version, but haven't tried it yet) As a matter of fact, I always use the Lp2 record option, I never tried the LP4... :S
The Walkman itself is small, light, good looking and very important (for me, at least) it is well-built. I was afraid of some very shinny buttons to lose their shine, but untill now, they seem just like brand new, as the whole device does (not a single strach... I always use the provided carrying case, so I never touch the buttons, I only use the remote). The battery life is quite good, especially with an alkaline battery, which I managed to try a few weeks ago, and it is still the same one. Very good! The display is a bit small, and there's no backlit. But it is easily readable. The remote is very simple, so it lacks a LCD display but, for me, it's no big deal. The supplied headphones have a decent sound quality, but the bass is weak, even when it is set to "+3", the maximum value. I tried better phones and I can say the sound is very good. (I ordered a pair of the MDR-EX71SL (B) 2 weeks ago, and I'm still waiting for them to come :( This is Portugal. Enough said).
In sum, this a great device with nice sound quality, great autonomy, with good acessories. 15 months ago it worth my 190 €. But i cannot recommend it now. There are better choices out there: the Hi-MD, the Sony NW-HD5, and the Creative Zen Micro 5GB (watch out the battery life: only 10 hours!).

It's shame that I write this review, as I had to put mine up for sale. But I had it for a year and can safely say it's one of the best things I invested in. Miles better than CD as with them being like a advanced floppy disc it records to and not CD you don't have to worry about scratches or the tune your playing jumping after you knocked it. The idea of linking it up via USB and using the software provided Sonic Stage to transfer music is without a doubt excellent. You can compress an 80 min disc to 240 mins using it's unique transfer system and have a complete disc full of tunes without having to worry about swapping to another disc with the second half of your favourites. I really am sad to be getting rid of it but I'll be getting another one in the future if you want a small compact music player go for one of these and spoil yourself rotten. Worth the investment in the long run believe me.