・MZ-1

001   |   Sony   |   '92  11.01

When Tape going to Disc

In Nov, '92 the Mini Disc was born as a replacement for cassette tapes. Offering pristine digital audio quality in a compact, cookie-sized, and dreamy recordable disc format, the next-generation portable player, MZ-1, was unveiled.

MZ-1 made a grand entrance with its imposing presence. Its hefty price tag of ¥79,800 only served to distance it from the masses. The plethora of intricate button operations, the rare fully motorized disc loading/unloading mechanism, and the standalone optical fiber audio input/output, among other luxurious features, seemed to justify the substantial weight of the MZ-1.

With the ability to record external digital / analog / MIC sources and equipped with a 3-second anti-shock memory to prevent vibrations, the MZ-1's robust editing capabilities allowed for unprecedented tasks like merging, splitting, moving, and erasing recorded content, all thanks to the unique optical-magnetic principles of MD.

Its multi-element display screen could showcase up to 12 x 2 characters, and the screen backlight activated when connected to DC (using a charger). The colossal 170g battery offered a brief 60-minute recording or 75-minute playback time, yet it boldly came with a price tag of ¥7,000 and didn't support an external battery pack.

With its lofty price and massive size, the MZ-1 clearly distanced itself from the Walkman, fitting more as a compact recording companion. Leading research out of the laboratory and turning dreams into reality, Sony declared to the world the next-generation music lifestyle after the cassette era."

MZ-2P