by SoggyMD
Introduction:
I’ll come right out and say that the Sony MZ-N10 is one of the very best recorders that Sony ever produced. It’s robust, reliable, fully-featured, ergonomic, easy to operate, and one of the prettiest machines they made - all while remaining staggeringly compact and practical. For all of Sony’s sacrifices to make the MZ-E10 the thinnest portable player ever made, the N10 was kept a fully-functional workhorse that didn’t cut out any of the essentials. In many ways, I believe the N10 is the ultimate standalone MD unit for anyone who needs one unit to do it all.
Form factor:
The MZ-N10 is a thin square slab with rounded edges and a smooth finish resembling a high quality automotive paint. It’s a beautiful unit that feels at home in the hand or a pocket, and in my experience is rather tough to scratch or dent. The magnesium casing is thick and robust. At 13.8mm thick and a featherweight 84 grams, the N10 is (as far as I can tell) the thinnest and lightest MD recorder Sony would ever produce. Similarly to the E10, the unit is a celebration of Sony’s engineering prowess in the early 2000s and truly succeeds in that. Unlike the E10 though, the N10 doesn’t seem to compromise on its basic goal of being a fantastic unit in its own right. The controls are very well laid out, and easily operated in either hand. The transport and volume are operated by a textured joystick with raised edges to indicate the direction of fast forward and rewind, so it’s perfect for use without looking. Track mark and end search buttons are on the left side of the unit, and are stiffened to keep the possibility of accidental presses to a minimum. The screen is large and easily readable, with the scroll wheel off to the side making scrolling through tracks a breeze.
As compared to all of the other MD recorders I’ve owned and used, the N10 feels the most natural to operate. Despite the fact it’s a recorder and I tend to leave those at home, I’ve brought my N10 with me on many travels to act as a playback machine. I truly believe it’s hard to go wrong with the N10 for any use case one might have. Need a NetMD recorder? It’s as well-featured as those come. Need a reliable optical recorder? I haven’t even had to lubricate mine yet. Need a playback machine with a nice big screen and on-unit controls? I use my N10 in that manner all the time. Need one unit to do it all? As I said before, the N10 is the one for you... well, probably. This review has to remain at least somewhat objective, so I must admit that there are still some issues with the N10 that other units don’t struggle with.
Practicality:
"The main weakness of the N10 is its data/power connector, which is an obscure type used only by a few other devices; a few Walkman models, and only two other MD machines. (Specifically, the MZ-NH1, MZ-NH3D, MZ-DH10P) Luckily, USB-C cable adapters are available and quite good; I use them regularly, but it isn’t as convenient as a mini-USB and 3V barrel jack combo that units like the MZ-N910 feature. This also brings me to another iffy design choice, which is that the usual AA battery sidecar is replaced with a unit-specific sidecar that connects directly to the data/power port. While it does offer a direct DC in, OEM sidecars are hard and expensive to locate. You also can’t sync when one is connected, which is less than ideal. There are USB-C sidecars though, which offer both extra battery life and the ability to sync and charge. If you don’t want to use one of the two types of USB-C adapters, the best option is to locate an original dock - not cheap, but far less of a rarity than the E10’s plastic cradle. It’s also good that the N10 dock is solid, clipping the N10 firmly in place and allowing for both data connection (which requires a special cable again with same connector as you will see in next photo) and a barrel DC jack. Unfortunately, similarly to the E10, the power cable is another 6V adapter that is clearly meant to be L-shaped. (But in this case, you can at least awkwardly connect the more common straight tip.) In better news, the N10’s internal battery is incredibly easy to replace. All it takes is removing one screw, one ribbon cable connection, and about five minutes of your time. The new batteries are very strong and can keep their charge for months when the power switch is set to “off.”
Otherwise, the MZ-N10 operates just as any other NetMD recorder would. It has your usual mic and optical inputs, a 3.5mm AUX with remote connector, and wide compatibility with just about any remote you can throw at it. From my research for this review it appears to just be an earlier, thinner MZ-N910 with a better control layout. They are certainly very similar, and I am very fond of both. In fact, if you asked me which to get, my only inquiry would be whether or not you have any MD equipment already. If so, go for the N910 as sidecars from the era and the 3V DC jack should overlap. If not, then go for the N10 with a USB-C adapter and just use the cable you might already use with your phone.
Sound:
Like any Type-S NetMD recorder, the MZ-N10 will record about as well as other standard late-era MD machines. The N10 also scores very well on NetMD recording speed tests, being one of a handful of units capable of 4x SP speed. There really isn’t too much to say here, it’s just a very solid unit amongst others in the upper echelon of standard MD recorders. The output is also on-par with players of the era, being strong and perfectly capable of outputting great sound to most headphones or earbuds. Some very sensitive IEMs or powerful over-ears may not be too happy, but that’s the vast majority of standard MD units. It sounds virtually identical to the E10, which one might expect.
Conclusion:
Somehow, Sony managed to produce perhaps their single best and absolute worst units simultaneously. One, a tribute to engineering at the cost of reliability - and the other, a tribute to Sony’s dedication to quality and commitment to the future of MD development. Ultimately, the MZ-N10 is all things to just about all people. It’s hard to go wrong owning one, especially if you’re only looking to own one MD unit. It’s a great recorder, a great player, reliable, easy to use, and it’s one of the most impressive units Sony ever put out. It didn’t need to sacrifice everything the MZ-E10 did to achieve its particular goal, and instead ended up something of a masterpiece in Sony’s lineup. Unlike the E10, the N10 also seemed to sell rather well and they kept it mostly unchanged when it came time to release the N910, which simply removed some of the frills with an old-school design philosophy. In many ways, the N10 represents the zenith of Sony’s MiniDisc output - a near-perfect device for first time buyers, and one of the prettiest to boot. I intend to keep mine for as long as I can, which should be for many, many years to come.
–SoggyMD