Opinions on my new Sony Explod Mobile ES head unit

[Jornum1]

I have heard some bad things about they new sony explod line. I went shopping in NYC yesterday for a new Mini Disc head unit. The only two companies that make one as far as i know are Sony and Kenwood. I have been a long time fan of Sony's head units. I found out that the Sony carries 3 MD head units. The top of the line one that records, the same one, but it just doesnt have the record feature. And a lower end model that has less features. I was running a Mobile ES cassette head unit before. It was just about 2 years old. I bought the The best one they had, besides the recordable one. I already have a home recorder. It was a direct plug in to my old unit, and WOW. My old head unit was the second best sony made at the time. It was right below the one with no power going through it, their show car model. I dont know if mine was going bad or what, but this new head unit is at least 2 or 3 times louder, and at least 5 times clearer. I was literally amazed. Is the technology that much better in two years, or was my old headunit going bad?? Either way, I still praise sony's head units, and have changed my opinion on their explod line. Their head units at least. Anyone else have any experience with at explod head unit.
heres what it looks like.

 

[mmpc]

Great info!

Good to see another person using MiniDisc ; sometimes I think I'm the only one (wish it would catch on here!). I still have the stock audio system in my Sport, but your post is making me think again about getting an MD unit. Some months ago I was seriously looking into JVC's KD-MX3000 deck (which is now discontinued ); capable of playing both CDs and MDs. It looked like a great deck, but my hesitation regarded its high price of $500+.

Still, good to hear that Sony's Explod line is good, should I decide to go for it and can no longer find the JVC...

 

[Jornum1]

I love minidiscs, they are great. People say they can hear a difference from CDs, but I cant. If you digitally copy from a cd, there is no difference in my opinion. I love them because you can make mixes, and name the tracks too as well as the album name. They can be recorded over a million times without losing any quality. I am a huge Dave mathews band fan, and I get alot of their live stuff from the internet, and just copy them right on my md player, no worries about burning a cd, or having a crapy tape. I too wish people would catch on. Honestly I dont think people know too much about them. Thats why they dont.
just my opinions
Jason

 

[JTang]

Hi Jornum,

Wait, are you saying your previous unit was a cassette head unit, or an older minidisc player? If it was a cassette head unit, then that's the reason, since cassettes have a really high noise level. The minidisc will play a lot better than any cassette player two years ago or 5 years from now as long as cassettes are still recorded in an analog, rather than digital format. The cassette player might be going bad, as the heads get dirty and old, but even new, it would have never been better than any MD player.

Jon

 

[Jornum1]

no no no, I dont mean that. Yes my old head unit had a cassette deck, but I also had a 6 disc minidisc changer on it, as well as the same 10 disc ES changer I have on my new one. Sorry for the confusion. I know that comparing a cassette to a minidisc or CD is like night and day.

 

[Skippman]

I am SERIOUSLY interested in Mini-Disks. I have been holding off on getting a player for quite a while. I'm waiting for Alpine to release thier Mini-Disk changer for thier AI-Net system, and then I will have Mini-Disk capability.

 

[JTang]

I'm not an expert on this, but really with digital material, there should be no loss in sound quality due to signal degredation like analog. The only think I could think of is that it's not that your older system is getting worse, but that the new designs from Sony are just better as far as the engineering goes. Some car audio enthusiasts argue that if you had two amps exactly the same with just a single vital piece different, it can drastically affect the sound quality. Maybe that's just what happened here, which is a pretty good guess. Well, anyway, have fun with the new one!

Jon

 

[Skippman]

ACTULLY... there IS a diffrence. You see a CD is nothing more than a record read with a laser. Now stamped cd's (originals) can be produced with much more 'finite' diffrences in the media than you can achieve with the cheap lasers they put in todays burners. So there technically IS a diffrence, all be it a miniscule one. But for those who spend even more than 'I' on thier car audio they claim they can tell the driffrence. As long as it's loud and clear, I personally don't care that much.

Ok, I'm done ranting.... For Now.

 

[Jornum1]

yeah I guess there is slight differences. I love music, especially good live jams, and I really cant tell a difference from a actual record company released cd and a digitally copied minidisc. I guess what I am saying is there is a difference, but I cant tell, and I honestly dont think the human ear can either. Maybe through some computer analysis they can tell that there is some more distortion with mini discs. I know someone is going to yell at me and disagree, but thats what my opinion is. I love mds though, you dont have to worry about skipping for the most part. And best of all, they are basicly scratch proof because of the outer casing. I have dropped them in puddles before, let them dry, and they are fine. You can rerecord infinate times without any loss in quality. For the convience and sound quality, they are the best of both cds, and tapes. I really wish that more record companies would release albums on MD.

 

[Skippman]

I think I would rather had my music on CD's and my copys or mixes on MD. MD's are great for 4 wheeling. I'm planning on installing a PC in the 'Echo Mirage' here soon and am concerned about the Hard Drive and playing MP3's while 4 wheeling. Anyone have any idea's? Also, how bout DVD audio. My friend (Manager of the local car audio shop) let me play with some beta equiptment they've been given to test. It's FANTASTIC. The ambieance is incredable. Of course the fact it's comming across on Paradigem speakers doesnt hurt. Paradigem and Meranzt. Ohhhh..... <drools uncrontrolably>

 

[mmpc]

It's all about marketing...

I guess people will only catch on to MiniDisc (which has been out nearly 10 years - hard to believe!!!) when the manufacturers start marketing it! Oh well, that's a whole can of worms that probably shouldn't be opened here...

As for sound quality, I completely agree with Jason. In fact, I'd challenge anybody to tell the difference between a CD and a digitally recorded MD by ear. In fact, in addition to my appreciation of MD for personal use, I also use it in my work - TV/video production - to record field audio, sound FX, voice overs and music. It truly is a GREAT format!

BTW, if you haven't discovered it already, there's an excellent site devoted to MiniDisc gear and topics: http://www.minidiscussion.com. Check it out and enjoy your MD!

 

[Jornum1]

I totally agree on the marketing aspect. I have seen a few minidisc comercials from Sony. But they dont say what it does, or what its capable of. What kind of marketing is that? Most people know what a minidisc looks like, but know nothing about what it can do. Then when I show them, they love it. I have gotten about a half dozen of my friends to buy either a car, or portable unit.
Also, just a little FYI for anyone that lives near NYC and wants just about any car audio equiptment you can imagine. Try Uncle Steves on canal st. Its about 2 blocks east of broadway. You can barter with them, and they give great prices if you can play the game well. I got my head unit MDX-C8500X for $310! I mean it MSRP's at like 425 I think. The best price I got from The Wiz, Circut City, and about 5 local stereo shops was 375. I am sure someone can get it cheaper somewhere, but they also have the best selection I have ever seen. They had 6 Sony MD head units alone in stock. Sorry to pitch these guys to you, especially since most of you probably live outside the NYC area. But I thought I got a great deal. I will stop now ;-)

 

[Skippman]

Does anyone know if Alpine makes a Mini-disk changer? I dont think they do. I would buy it as soon as I could if they did.

 

[NITELIFE]

I love my Sony Personal Minidisc player! I have been looking at Pioneer's minidisc player, deh-900r, and am amazed at it's specs. Has anyone here installed one in their ride? Anyone know who has the best price for this deck?

--mark

 

[Jayson]

I don't think MD will ever catch on. CD burners are so affordable and come with most computers now. MD should have been marketed about 5 years ago with the focus of their buyers being athletic gym buffs/runners. CD burners have taken over the market from MD of people just wanting to have the ability to max their own music mixes.

As far as Sony headunits I too am a fan and have been using Sony components since 1994. I am, however, disappointed with Sony's quality since they stopped manufacturing their products in Japan. This new "Xplode" lineup looks real cheesy. I can't see any serious competitor with a brand new BMW competing with this ugly headunit in their cars. I'm going to stick with Sony's older, more reliable Japanese products. My CDX-7850 is a nice unit, but compared to what Eclipse has to offer for the same price, with that awesome theft warranty, I feel I could have gotten a lot better quality in my product.

Here's what I am currently using,

1993 Ford Explorer XLT
Sony CDX-900
Sony CDX-C1 Disc Changer
Sony XDP-U50D Digital Signal Processor
Sony Fiber Optic Cabling
Orion HCCA 425 Amplifier
Orion XTRpro 10d subwoofer
Orion MBR-70 Battery Isolator
Optima Red Top Battery
Q-Logic Custom Sub Enclosure for Ford Explorers
JL Audio VR525cs Components
JL Audio VR600cs Components

Here's my web site address: http://voodard.tripod.lycos.com/caraudio

Jayson

 

[Nate46290]

One of my friends just bought a sony explode head unite. He really likes it. It looks pretty cool too.