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Sony Ericsson MMR-60 Review |
max_wedge
Joined: Aug 29, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Australia
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Quote:
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On 2006-02-15 18:26:59, etaab wrote:
When i had digital tv & radio installed in my home 3 years ago, the engineer told me digital signals need more power for the same reception as an analogue service, or you need to be closer to the transmitter.
Bah, who knows, its not like we'll see a digital MMR-60 anytime soon.
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Digital does need more power, but when it has enough power the signal suffers very little degradation. On digital you see that as pixelation, which is not noise but signal loss that doesn't survive error correction.
I get it occasionaly on my SD set top box.
A digital mmr, with adequate power output, would provide static free audio. However probably so would a mmr-60 with adequate power output  But the advantage of a digital transmitter would be better quality audio (for example the frequency response of digital radio is greater than analog radio)
We won't see one anytime soon, since most people still use analog.
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etaab
Joined: Jan 23, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: UK - South Yorkshire
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@ dgilmartin - so, you're in Dublin ?
Is your area pretty busy for radio traffic ? where i live, even the free channels have some background music or chat going on, its as if theres a station on almost every major frequency, so it doesnt help FM transmitters much. 
I wish someone would lend me a MMR-60, before i buy - but as it stands im just not taking the risk.
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max_wedge
Joined: Aug 29, 2004
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From: Australia
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etaab, I've definately found areas where the airwaves are quite full, in those instances range of the belkin is reduced and of the four available frequencies it's sometimes hard to find a perfect setting. A fully adjustable device like the mmr-60 should be more useful in that regard.
But when all the four postions are noisy, I find the belkin is noisy between songs, but when playing audio the noise recedes and is quite listenable. Listening to classical music, that has long periods of very quite music, would not be listenable however. Fortunantly I don't like classical music a great deal. In fact it drives me nuts if I listen to it too long - give me some doof doof or rock and roll anyday
WHEN the mmr-60's are reintroduced in Australia, I'm going to the store with a portable fm radio and I'm going to hammer the living christ out of the mmr-60 before I buy it. There is no way I'm going to buy it sight unseen.
One pleasing discovery I made, they are retailing in Oz for $69 (vodafone) which is about $50 US. I was expecting atleast AUD99 if not more.
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dgilmartin
Joined: Aug 20, 2004
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From: Dublin, Ireland Ph
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Quote:
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On 2006-02-17 19:05:24, etaab wrote:
@ dgilmartin - so, you're in Dublin ?
Is your area pretty busy for radio traffic ? where i live, even the free channels have some background music or chat going on, its as if theres a station on almost every major frequency, so it doesnt help FM transmitters much.
I wish someone would lend me a MMR-60, before i buy - but as it stands im just not taking the risk.
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There aren't many radio stations in my area so that could be a reason for the great reception. There are more in Dublin City, I'm going into town tomorrow so I'll let you know how I get on with interference. What you could do is buy the MMR-60 test it in your area and if you do experience a lot of interference, just put it back onto eBay and as they are still pretty rare and you'll definitely get your money back. 
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etaab
Joined: Jan 23, 2004
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From: UK - South Yorkshire
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Possibly, im still weighing up whether to do so or not in my head. 
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max_wedge
Joined: Aug 29, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Australia
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I'm still curious about the Brisbane recall of the mmr-60's - has anyone from anywhere else found that the mmr-60's have been recalled by SE?
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etaab
Joined: Jan 23, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: UK - South Yorkshire
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Why dont you try asking in the shops that sold them prior to the recall ?
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max_wedge
Joined: Aug 29, 2004
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From: Australia
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I did and they claim they have no info. So I'm quite curious. 1. Is it just Brisbane or is it wider spread and 2. Why the recall?
I could ring sydney stores and see if they have had the recall also, but I'm not ringing overseas - hence I'm asking the forum. Besides I expect other stores will give the same info as Brisbane stores - ie: don't know a thing about it.
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[ This Message was edited by: max_wedge on 2006-02-20 00:24 ] |
etaab
Joined: Jan 23, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: UK - South Yorkshire
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Are there no other phone shops in your city ? just the one ? 
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max_wedge
Joined: Aug 29, 2004
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From: Australia
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I tried the six stores in the CBD and only three had even seen the mmr-60. Of those three stores, all of them had had the mmr-60's recalled after the first week. No one could tell me why the recall. As far as they could, (or would) tell me SE requested they send all stock back, no reason given.
Those are only the city stores, I'll be trying the 'burbs later. Usually the city stores get product before the suburbs, so I don't expect the burbs to have even received mmr-60's yet.
It seems there has been a recall of all mmr-60 stock in Brisbane CBD, why? What was wrong - faulty stock? Faulty design? Global recall, national or just Brisbane?
I think those are fair questions, the answers which may help explain the high frequency of negative reports the mmr-60 has received (atleast 50% of reviewers here on esato have reported that their mmr-60's were unusable).
My guess is it that there have been batches of mmr-60's with an unacceptably high failure rate that have slipped through quality control somehow. The only other explanation imho is that SE are recalling the product completely. I really hope that's not the case, which is why I'm interested to know if the mmr-60 is not being recalled everywhere but only in localised areas.
Another thing the stores couldn't tell me was when the mmr-60 would be available again.
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etaab
Joined: Jan 23, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: UK - South Yorkshire
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Its all possible, but id hesitate that of all the people who have one and have poor usage from it, they're all as a result of poor QA.
I just do not trust FM transmitters anymore, if i ever did. I hoped the MMR-60 would be reliable being a SE, but it appears not to be the case.
SE might have scrapped the product entirely, because they've realised this. 
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max_wedge
Joined: Aug 29, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Australia
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Quote:
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On 2006-02-20 11:11:02, etaab wrote:
SE might have scrapped the product entirely, because they've realised this.
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That occurred to me too, but I'm hoping it's not true. Atleast the rob1 never actually made it into the shops before it was cancelled
It's a shame you've had such a bad experience with fm transmitter's; are you sure it's not just belkin you should be doubtful of, rather than fm transmitter overall? I've used several, and all have worked quite well for me, within given constraints. None are perfect, but they have certainly given me freedom to listen to my own choice of music on many opportunities.
Apple saw no reason to withdraw their unit, nor do several other major manufacturers out there producing transmitters.
Now I hope SE fix this thing so we can give etaab some hope back about fm transmitters
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etaab
Joined: Jan 23, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: UK - South Yorkshire
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My poor faith in FM transmitters comes from the heavy amount of reading ive done on the subject after i bought the Tunecast.
It would seem nobody has a good word to say about them in general.
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max_wedge
Joined: Aug 29, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Australia
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I've done a little but not much reading on the matter, since my experience has been positive I've not found a need to find out more.
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danjayh
Joined: Jul 04, 2004
Posts: 1
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Quick Review: Unless you absolutely want an FM modulator that's "cool", has no wires, and connects directly to your phone, don't get the MMR-60.
Long Review:
Well, I got my MMR-60 today, and I must say that it isn't the most powerful transmitter I've ever used. I have an iRiver AFT-100 transmitter, and it can produce excellent results (the best I've heard from an FM modulator) on several frequencies in my area (highly recommended, check out Amazon's reviews of this thing). I also have an XM Radio FM modulator (came with my roady), and although it's not nearly as good as the iRiver, it's still better than the MMR-60. That being said, the MMR-60 is a workable unit (barely). I tried several "free" frequencies in my area, and I was about to give up after getting nothing but poor, staticy results. However, I finally found a frequency that was not only clear, but had mostly clear (IE, too weak to listen to) frequencies on either side of it (105.1, in my case). I tuned both my car stereo and my MMR-60 to this station, and I was finally able to get acceptable results - although still not as good as my iRiver, it's very useable. When music is playing, the background noise is nothing more than a mere annoyance, and you probably wouldn't notice it on a stock audio system. In addition, at this frequency, the MMR-60 was able to successfully transmit from most of the inside of my car's cabin. Some notes:
(1) Turn off the !^@% flashing light. It produces a faint audible buzz when it moves through the middle brightness range. I'm guessing that SE uses a PWM system to drive the LED, and made the poor choice of selecting a frequency of less than 20kHz for the PWM wave (IE, something in the audible range), leading to interference with the audio signal.
(2) MAKE CERTAIN that your fastport connector is clean and has a good connection to the MMR-60. When I first clicked it on, it worked, but the sound quality was TERRIBLE. I scrubbed on my fastport a little and wiggled the MMR-60, got a better connection to the phone, and the signal improved. (I've also been having trouble with my handsfree and charger lately, though, so this one could just be my K750).
(3) If you're going to be using this thing in a car, and you're sure you'll always have access to a lighter or accessory port, don't buy the MMR-60. The only real advantage is that you don't need to have any wires, and honestly, it's not worth sacrificing the improved sound quality that can be had with a lighter-socket based transmitter.
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Posted: 2006-02-17 13:32
All the Way! Looking for a 
