gmoss:
#yamaha_mcr_040 I wish I could rate this unit separately based on sound quality and functionality. Sound quality would be a definite five star, but a tad of a design/functionality flaw I'd rate it 3.
The sound quality of the unit is absolutely amazing! Such a tiny thing producing such awsome sound! One of the nice things about it is that you can move the speakers away from the unit. This way the stereo sound is even more enjoyable, and more pronounced. It has a very nice, deep bass, and clear highs. However, you can customize it to your liking, because it has adjustable, bass, treble, and balance controls. You can also dim the display panel - if you wish.
It stores 30 FM preset radio stations. Comes with an FM wire antenna that you can conveniently plug in at the back of the unit. It does not have AM reception - in case you wonder.
As you prolly read from the details by now, it plays MP3 and WMA sounds/music from CD-R/CD-RW discs, USB flash drives, iPhone/iTouch/iPods, and from an external/portable source. Unfortunately it does not read songs/MP3s stored on DVDs only CD-R/CD-RWs. If you plug in an iTouch/iPod, you can navigate it via the remote control. Eg, you can scroll the songs up/down, you can navigate outside/inside to a different folder/category/play list etc. The LCD display can display the playing time, remaining time, artist name, song name, album name.
It does have an alarm that you can set to wake up to your iPod/iPhone/iTouch, CD, radio or USB drive. It also have a sleep function.
Now here is the bad part, or should I say, inconvenient part. When you turn the unit off, it does not display ANYTHING on its display panel. It means that if you have set an alarm you will not know it because you'll be staring at a blank display. If you have an alarm set and the unit is ON, it will display an indicator that you have a timer set. Also, if the unit is off, it does not display the time either. As a matter of fact, even if the unit is on, it only displays the time when you hold the "DISPLAY" button on the remote for 2 seconds, and even then, the time will be displayed for only a second or two, and then it will switch back to display info about the currently playing media. So this is a disappointing reality.
I think this is the only thing about this unit that is annoying. If the unit incorporates a wake up timer and a sleep timer function (not to mention a clock), why on earth I am not able to see it or have it displayed when the unit is off!? This design flaw is a definite three star (or less)!
(Also just as a comment, you can use it only on one voltage setting. Eg, if you bought it in the states (110V) but plan to move or use it in Europe for whatever reason (220V) it won't work.)
Otherwise it's a great little unit that provides very good sound quality.
Jul 6, 10
