Sharp MDMT15 VQ MiniDisc Player/Recorder with Voquette Web Audio Manager

Ready to take your portable audio to the next level? This minidisc bundle starts with a fully featured player/recorder, then adds the hardware and software you need to bring your PC's Web audio, music, and information with you wherever you go. With Sharp's MD-MT15 and the Voquette NetLink adapter, your minidisc player becomes an Internet-enabled recorder.

The Sharp MD-MT15VQ itself lets you record your favorite songs from various sources, including CD players and satellite broadcasting tuners (thanks to the sample rate converter), and then play your selections back in 24-bit ATRAC sound. True digital recording is possible from a digital source via the optional optical cable, while analog dubbing can be performed from the RCA left/right-out on your stereo to the optical/line-in jack on the player, using the included wiring.

The MD-MT15VQ also features comprehensive editing functions and text input to identify your minidiscs and individual tracks, along with a three-mode extra bass system and 10 seconds of buffer memory to reduce skips. The player, which sports a compact design with a clamshell opening mechanism, comes with headphones, an AC adapter, and a drawstring carrying pouch.

Of course, the real star of this system is the Voquette Media Manager software, the key to downloading, recording, and controlling Web audio content. Creating custom play lists of songs, live Webcasts, news, and other spoken information is remarkably simple, thanks to its friendly and intuitive user interface.

Voquette is all about taking Web audio, with its wealth of content and personalized play lists, beyond the PC. Voquette converts MP3, Microsoft Media, and Real Audio files and transfers them in real time. Unfortunately, once you've gotten used to the minutes-in-seconds downloads of MP3, real time suddenly seems slow. For this reason, Voquette allows you to schedule copying sessions at convenient times, like when you're sleeping.

We're also spoiled by MP3's ability to compress 10 CDs' worth of music into the space of one. Since Voquette duplicates files in their uncompressed form, a 74-minute disk is still only good for 74 minutes worth of music.

Voquette's NetLink hardware consists of a four-headed cable adapter with special pass-through plugs that patch in between your keyboard and your PC's keyboard port, as well as between your multimedia speakers and your sound card. The cable also connects to the player at the line-in and DC-in jacks, acting as a bonus power supply. One downside to this configuration is that it's a bit of a tangled mess.

After the usual learning curve, the Voquette software easily manages music, talk, and even converted text from a variety of sources.

In addition to the Voquette software recognizing Real Audio, Microsoft Media Player, MP3, WAV, and CD tracks, an optional upgrade can convert HTML and Microsoft Word documents into speech (albeit in a less-than-mellifluous computerized voice) and automatically record it to minidisc. Having done so, you can listen to e-mail, text, and even Web pages on the go. You can also schedule automatic program downloads on an ongoing basis once you've specified your personal preferences, or just drag and drop the desired files from a Web site onto the Media Manager for instant or future playback. The proprietary technology "translates" from the various sources, so there are virtually no worries about incompatible audio formats. It's rather difficult to imagine Web audio getting much easier.

With so much focus on MP3 these days, we should not forget that the most impressive aspect of using the minidisc format to download computer music files lies in its editing capabilities, which are second to none. MD accesses, rearranges, and deletes files easily at any time. It also offers the freedom to erase and re-record frequently on an affordable medium.

Surprisingly, the MD-MT15VQ is one of the most affordable minidisc player/recorders on the market. The Voquete NetLink makes for a happy, rewarding marriage of two popular entertainment (and information) technologies. This is a uniquely liberating bundle for anyone wanting to take their PC content beyond the desktop.

Pros:

Excellent sound quality
All-in-one-solution records, plays, and links to your PC for next-generation features
Extremely stable playback, even under active conditions
Unparalleled content editing and access

Cons:

More cables for your desktop to contend with
Traditional audio recording (without MP3 compression) means a 74-minute disc is good for 74 minutes of music, period
No blank minidiscs included with player

With Sharp's MDMT15 and Voquette's NetLink analog adapter, your minidisc player becomes an Internet-enabled Web recorder. You can download MP3s, RealAudio, Windows Media Player, and WAV files from your PC for more portable music. Also, your e-mails, Microsoft Word documents, Web pages, and text files can be automatically converted to audio and recorded onto your minidisc player.

Sharp's MDMT15 provides 7.5 hours of recording and 15 hours of playback from a single NiMH battery or two AA batteries. You can digitally record your favorite songs from various sources, including CD players and satellite broadcasting tuners, thanks to the sample rate converter. Then, play your selections back in 24-bit ATRAC sound. The Sharp MDMT15 also features editing functions and text input for your minidiscs.

The compact design features a clamshell opening mechanism. There is a three-mode extra-bass system and 10-second memory buffer so the player won't skip if it's jarred or knocked about. Headphones, an AC adapter, RCA cable, and a carrying case are included.

Sharp offers a one-year warranty on parts, 90 days on labor.

1 Lousy Quality
I have had TWO of these MDMT15 players fail on me. One did not work out of the box. I returned it and the new one failed one month out of warranty. Sharp would not repair it. I am an audiophile and keep my electronics in pristene condition. This player is of horrible quality and I would encourage anyone to buy a sony over sharp's bad quality.

2 ....As far as the MDMT-15 goes
I would give it a 4. It's a little large, but it is an older design. As far as Voquette goes, it is indeed a glorified patch cord. It gets a 1. There is no communication with the player except to pass along the audio exactly as a patch cord would. Strangely, in the Voquette software, there is a choice to specify what model Sharp recorder you are using, like it makes any difference. Maybe it just lets Voquette know when you register it what kind of player you have without asking. Who knows... It is nice to leave the power supply at home and use the Voquette cord for power at work, where most of my recording is done (with a faster connection). .... I bought the Voquette ... after I bought the MDMT-15, thinking it was going to be this neat gizmo that would communicate with my MDMT-15. The box art and copy is a little deceptive, in my opinion.

It saddens me to think that people may be put off from purchasing the MDMT-15 because of ... claim(s) that it cannot divide tracks. It certainly does, with 4 keypresses. For the price, it's more than adequate.

3 Buy a MiniDisc player without the Voquette adapter
I bought the Voquette adapter separately after I had purchased the Sharp MD-MS722. I'm happy with the player and the whole MiniDisc technology in general. However, I do take issue with the Voquette adapter. I had expected it to actually communicate with the player as far as when to start and stop recording, and with titling tracks. It does neither.

I had become somewhat tired of titling songs by scrolling through the alphabet one letter at a time and was looking forward to being able to simply type the title on my keyboard and have the adapter transfer it to my disc as part of the recording process. It doesn't do this.

The adapter is basically a fancy cable that connects your computer's sound card to the line-in jack on your player. You still have to use the synchro record feature of your player to record songs, and this, while fine for a lot of recording, doesn't work in all cases. The first few seconds of a song can be cut off, or pauses in a track can be misinterpreted as the end of the song. I thought the adapter would solve this problem by communicating with the player and telling it when to start and stop recording. Not true.

Just to make sure I'm getting my point across, the actual hardware piece that Voquette supplies does nothing aside from connect your sound card to your player. There IS a fancy little box with two lights on it (one red, one green) that the cord passes through on its way from your PC to your MD, but I'm pretty sure its only purpose is to look pretty.

My recommendation, just buy a 3.5mm plug to 3.5mm plug cable to connect your sound card to your player, and then use a program like Winamp or Windows Media Player to play whatever you want to record. You'll basically have the same setup at a much lower cost.

4 You Can Split Tracks!
I think the guy that talked about not being able to split tracks didn't read the manual that came with the MD player. You can split tracks, combine tracks, re-arrange the order of the tracks. I bought one and loved it. I have British Airways to thank for destroying it while it was in my luggage while I was flying (I hope you can sense the sarcasm). The only thing that was annoying was that it skipped sometimes. Other than that it's a great recorder. I did not have a chance to test the MP3 recording capability because I only had it for a week before British Airways destroyed it. In the future I may buy one that does not skip so easily.

5 Not Too Bad
This is not a bad machine, for the price. For someone just getting into MD sound, it's perfect. I don't care about all this stuff about is the MD here to stay, etc. This format is not going away. Yes, the earphones are nt the best, so get some new ones!

6 A PIECE OF JUNK!
Yes, it plays minidiscs, you can record to it and its cheap, but Sharp left out one little feature that every minidisc player should have. The ability to divide one track into two. If your like me and have a lot of music with no silent spots to mark the seperation of tracks, you wont like this product. The only way it knows a new track is comming is by a three second lapse in sound. The only way one could manualy mark tracks is to hit the record button at the EXACT TIME THE NEXT TRACK STARTS. I'm quite sure no one here has that kind of time and patience. Every other Sharp MD player/recorder has the ability to divide tracks, so if you dont want to live with annoying skips in your music, pay the extra 20 bucks and get the Sharp MDMS702 or MDMS772. You can divide tracks, and you have the nice remote that every other MD player has. ITS WORTH IT!

Note to those who bought this player with the Voquette media manager, DONT BOTHER. The hardware for the thing is just a fancy power adapter and standard audio cable. Their software is just a glorified MP3 player, that you can download for FREE! So save yourself the extra $ and get a audio cable and use the adapter supplied.

7 A Great Deal at a Great Price
I just bought one of these minidisc players made by Sharp, and it is so much better than a CD player. With it I am able to record my own minidiscs with songs from CD's and the net. But the best part is there are sites that you can download free music and you can take it with you wherever you go.

8 Great Player - But buy the one WITHOUT the Voquette add-on
I bought my player about two months ago, after having done a fair amount of research on mini disc players. What I didn't realize, however, was that they simply record MP3 files just like they would record from any sound source - there is no downloading of files involved, which I had thought was something "magical" that the Voquette add on would do for me. Yea, the Voquette power/sound cord thingie is convenient because the cords are all combined into one, but it is no way worth the extra money that I paid for it. The disc player has played well, I've found good battery life (I use Ni-MH batteries that I bought separately). Sound quality is good, the bass boost makes a big difference. The headphones that came with it completely suck - you'll need to buy some other ones to really appreciate the sound quality. You can also plug in your PC speakers and play through them.