The five-line LCD screen lets you know what's playing -- the display provides album, artist, and song title. Music on the go has never been better with Sony's Skip-Free G-Protection technology which provides virtually uninterrupted playback of your music.

Sony had the digital music lover in mind when they built this digital player. It is highly compatible with your PC. With the included software you can transfer files from your PC to the MZ-RH910, and vice versa, at a break-neck, 100x transfer speed. And while you're doing this you won't have to worry about your digital music player's battery life -- the USB cable will power the unit when transferring music. Speaking of battery life, you can expect up to 34 hours of continuous playback with the included nickel-metal hydride rechargeable battery plus one AA battery.

If you already have extensive music libraries, use the included software to store and play back your collection of MP3s. On the other hand, if you're just getting into digital music and downloading, Sony's ATRAC format provides higher sound quality with smaller sizes than many competing formats. This enables you to store more music and have longer listening times. The system also allows you to play back the most popular Internet audio formats, including WMA and WAV files, with quick, easy conversion to ATRAC.

Sony just keeps on bringing you the hits with this device. Another great feature is the self-recording upload function. Use the line-in jack on the Hi-MD player to transfer and archive your favorite, old tapes to low cost Hi-MD discs. The mic input is a perfect solution for self-recordings, school concerts, or meetings. With your music or recordings stored on Hi-MD discs, you can transfer the files to your computer and covert them to WAV format. A file saved in WAV format provides you with the flexibility to import the file into a music burning software program where you can burn the file to a CD-R/RW. The MZ-RH910 from Sony is not only a digital music player, but also a mini-recording studio in the palm of your hand. You can capture and digitize almost any sound or old-school recorded format with the mic input and line-in jack!

In addition, this recorder supports multiple Internet audio formats, including MP3 and WMA, and enables ATRAC3 playback. ATRAC (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding) is the data-compression scheme developed for minidisc, and ATRAC3--the format used by Sony's Memory Stick--offers even greater compression while maintaining near-CD quality. The Net MD Simple Burner QuickRip CD-dubbing application facilitates fast transfer of CDs to minidisc without the need to store files on a hard drive as an interim step. Simply launch the application and select the tracks you want to transfer to the player. (Actual transfer speed depends on your PC.)

The player records in standard mode for the richest sound quality or two different long-play modes for the most effective use of space. The bundled OpenMG Jukebox management software supports secure music downloads (including tracks from pressplay.com), organizes playlists, and titles tracks. As with all minidisc products, this Net MD player records from various sources and offers flexible audio editing tools. Minidisc media is affordable, durable, and re-recordable up to a million times without degradation.

In addition, this recorder supports multiple Internet audio formats, including MP3 and WMA, and enables ATRAC3 playback. ATRAC (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding) is the data-compression scheme developed for minidisc, and ATRAC3--the format used by Sony's Memory Stick--offers even greater compression while maintaining near-CD quality. The Net MD Simple Burner QuickRip CD-dubbing application facilitates fast transfer of CDs to minidisc without the need to store files on a hard drive as an interim step. Simply launch the application and select the tracks you want to transfer to the player. (Actual transfer speed depends on your PC.)

The player records in standard mode for the richest sound quality or two different long-play modes for the most effective use of space. The bundled OpenMG Jukebox management software supports secure music downloads (including tracks from pressplay.com), organizes playlists, and titles tracks. As with all minidisc products, this Net MD player records from various sources and offers flexible audio editing tools. Minidisc media is affordable, durable, and re-recordable up to a million times without degradation.

The XU-301BK is CD text-compatible, reading and displaying the title and track information encoded in many newer CDs. But even with older CDs, the XU-301BK lets you input (via the front panel, or, as we prefer, via the remote control's mini keyboard) a disc's title, artist, and one of 27 preselected musical genres.

Other features include JVC's Compu Link remote operation capability, a sleep/timer, a full array of inputs and outputs (including optical-digital as well as analog-line and microphone inputs), a CD pitch control, and a sampling-rate converter to allow recording of digital audio from sources whose original sampling rates are either 32, 44.1, or 48 kHz (the standard CD sampling frequency is 44.1 kHz).

At first glance, the XU-301BK's busy front panel and remote control may seem intimidating--after all, this machine does a lot. But once you've used it for a while, the XU-301BK is actually pretty straightforward; record buttons are even highlighted in red.

Playing CDs and minidiscs with the XU-301BK is easy, and you can mix playback between them using one of three program modes or the random mode. We especially like the XU-301BK's unusual jog dial control, which lets you rapidly skip forward or back to the next track with either format--not just with minidisc.

The XU-301BK sounds great with both CD and minidisc: well-balanced, open, detailed, and natural, with excellent separation and imaging. The bottom end exerts good authority and the player sounds quite neutral, with no exaggerated sonic coloration.

Recording is also a breeze. With the press of a single button, we could record to minidisc an entire CD or the first track of each CD loaded into the player. We also enjoyed using the XU-301BK's many editing functions, which let you splice tracks, rearrange tracks, and erase any or all tracks with ease.

The XU-301BK is not CD-R/RW compatible, but chances are that if you're buying this component you've already settled on minidisc as your digital recording format of choice.

JVC has produced one of the most versatile record-playback devices we know in the XU-301BK. All of this flexibility does come at a cost, but the excellent array of features, solid construction, and one-year warranty make it well worth its price tag.--Wayne Garcia

Pros:

• Exceptional flexibility
• High-quality sound
• Excellent build quality

Cons:

• Not compatible with CD-R/RW
• No coaxial digital output

Minidiscs are not only smaller and more convenient to record on than cassettes, they alsosoundmuch better--nearly as good as CDs. Minidiscs' recording and editing functions, in fact, are more convenient than those allowed by CD recorders, granting not only rewritability but also the ability to erase tracks as you choose (whereas with rewritable CDs it's all or nothing). Furthermore, you can rearrange your track order on minidiscs and erase stray unwanted sounds that find their way to disc (such as the drop of a phonograph cartridge before a song starts).

Features of the JVC XU-301BK include one-bit digital-to-audio and audio-to-digital converters, minidisc smart random and repeat play, a sampling-rate converter (32 kHz and 48 kHz to the standard 44.1 kHz), title memory (disc title/performer name), genre memory (27 patterns), and smart random play or continuous play across all three CDs.

The minidisc recorder lets you divide, combine, erase, move, or name tracks when creating your own custom discs. It also offers JVC's enhanced COMPU LINK control system for quick, seamless integration with other audio-video components. The unit's full-function remote control includes a keyboard for track and disc title entry.

You can digitally copy an entire CD to MD with a single press of a button, as well as record music from the radio. When you record onto MD from the radio, the station name is appended onto the MD track title. You also divide or combine tracks recorded from the radio and add a date and time stamp of the recording.