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DHC-MD555

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General reviews on Sony DHC-MD555 5CD/5MD bookshelf system.

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Average Reviewer Rating:

Number of DHC-MD555 Reviews: 2

Great bedroom system

Reviewer: Anonymous from New York City December 22, 2000

You have to keep this unit's purpose in mind. It is a mini-system, not a true stereo system. I use minidisc exclusively for portable and bedroom listening. Minidiscs will never replace CDs in sound quality, it was meant to replace the cassette which I have purged myself of completely. I have a serious audio system which also contains an ES minidisc recorder for the living room.

To sum up the MD555, it's a great unit. The sound is robust with more than sufficient frequency range and volume. The 5MD/5CD capacity is perfect. I also did not want a unit with a cassette deck which almost all new Sony units include, WHY? You either like or dislike the features but the bottom line is the really decent sound and disc capacity. I also use it as my every day "alarm clock" to wake up with either radio or the music I prefer. It can be set to go on anytime, but more importantly it can be set to go off at anytime and not just one hour later.

Finally, I got it from Crutchfield for a great price, $350.00 plus $10 shipping. I heartly recommend it over the newer models.

Great bookshelf system, but needs some improvements

Reviewer: Anonymous from Boston, MA November 28, 2000

About 7 months ago, my Kenwood SE-5MD bookshelf system broke down on me and I was forced to buy a new system. After a little researching, I bought a Sony DHC-MD555 from Planet MiniDisc for $600 shipped from CA to MA.

Ability wise, DHC-MD555 is definitely a powerful bookshelf. The unit comes with 50W+50W output and bass boost (although I would say that there is a difference in sound quality between MD555 and my classic Kenwood SE-5MD) that can rock your entire house. Its 5CD and 5MD continuous playback and recording, along with various recording functions such as "Select Sync" (select the desired CD to MD), "Seamless" (powerful 5CD to 5MD recording), "Hit Parade" (record the first song of every single CD onto a MD ... kinda useless), and "Rec it" (recording the CD track that's currently playing onto MD ... very handy when you want to do some spontaneous recording from CDs) makes it one of the most versatile bookshelfs out there. On top of that, users can do analog record directly from their Sony MiniDisc recorder/player through the supplied MD-Walkman link.

Design wise, DHC-MD555 has a very aggressive and futuristic all-silver look. It has 2 large jog dials for fast editing and titling (although a keyboard socket would make titling even easier). The remote, however, is a little bit too big and too long, which defeat the whole idea of being compact and futuristic.

Although this unit has a AUX in, it doesn't have an optic in or out. It, however, has additional Tape In/Out that allow users to hook up more than one audio devices onto this unit. For example, my PC, Keyboard, and Klipsch home system are all connected onto my DHC-MD555. Essentially it serves as an audio loop in which enables me to do tricks like producing sounds from the keyboard through my Klipsch home system.

Another feature that should be included is MD to MD recording. Although users can do 5MD continuous playback, they cannot record songs from 1 MD to the next.

Overall this is a great unit for teenagers/young adults who like to blast music away. However, this is probably not the unit for you if listening to music is a serious thing. I do believe that DHC-MD555 is better than its new redesigned model DHC-ZX50MD, which only has 5CD, 1MD, and 2 cassettes(?!). Cassette players?! We live in 21st century now, not the stone-age. What were you thinking Sony?

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