Disclaimer: This bad boy blew me away when my mate pulled it out back in Canada in 2000. Its predecessor blew me away in Sweden in 1999. It is gorgeous, half atavistic and half futuristic, and all 90s. It has a powerful amp, a great sound signature, and the F80’s LCD lights up. Take that, Sony! Its jog dial does volume, titling, and more, and the buttons on the unit are large and comfy to use.
If you’re up for it, the below video describes in livestream newbish why I both love an hate Aiwa MD players and recorders.
If you were Jonesing for an MZ-R55, stop and think. Apart from being a bit smaller, what has the R55 ever done for you? Dedicated line out? Okay, but apart from that, what has it done for you? Phenomenal remote? Right, but apart from that and dedicated line out, what has the R55 done for you? Honestly we could go on and on and on; and sadly, the F80/75 get sort of lost in the mix.
Aiwa remotes up until 2000 were balls. They were fiddly, awkwardly clipping like a knot onto a shirt or trouser, rather than in-line like Sony’s sticks. They were pretty pricey, and you couldn’t get ahold of them like you could Sony or Sharp units. But gosh if they didn’t feel, and work, like a step up from every other recorder. Want that original 11-hour battery life? There’s a solder project waiting for you. Even if you don’t want to do that, you can purchase a 3D-printed battery shunt and power the F80 with a modern 10440 li-ON midget. That combination will net you better battery life than a full-well R55. Older Aiwa quirks like the hidden battery door are gone. This bad boy is sleek as heck.
The singular hitch - and this is big - is how much more the F80 hisses through regular earphones and even portable headphones than the R55. Oh, and many if not most MD recorders from before it. In my experience, the only recorders that are more hissy are older Aiwa recorders (F5/7) and first-gen Sony units like the MZ1. Even with an in-line impedance adapter attached, the F80 hisses too much for modern earphones.
Sound-wise, it is a gem, if one you fight with as much as fight for. The R55 holds better signal quality under load, showing marginal jumps in THD (11%), and IMD (26%), when driving an Earsonics SM2. In the same benchmark, the F80 basically self immolates, THD and IMD rocketing up 201% and 910% respectively. The good news is that neither the Sony’s mild nor the Aiwa’s major jumps are audible. What is audible is the massive stereo suppression the Aiwa suffers when driving a modern, multi-driver earphone. It goes from -90,1dB to -49,1dB. Unloaded, the R55 does just -86,4dB but loaded falls a mere 23dB, to -61,4dB. Yes, the difference of ~11dB between the two is audible, but, which basic sound signature sounds better? About five years ago I began really digging devices whose stereo separation measured between 45dB and 70dB. Within that range, my favourite sounding devices measure at or around 55dB. Sure, on a bench, the Sony tests, and therefore supplies better sound quality, but to my ears, the Aiwa’s brilliant stereo spread, which puts equal detail into lows, mids, and highs, feels deeper and more detailed.
The F80 is both a gem and a lump. It is brilliant to handle, and it acts and reacts fast to user input. Its volume scale of 20 steps isn’t enough for its powerful amp. As a result, jumps from one step to another are larger than they should be. And it lacks a voltage-set line output. And it hisses a lot. But gosh, if you can undo or overcome any or all of those issues, it is one of if not my favourite sounding MD recorder out there. It’s just that I don’t much listen to it. Why? I’m an earphone guy. At home I prefer listening to speakers. On the road, or whilst cutting horrible hobby carpenter projects, I prefer to plug in something like the Audio Technica CK10 or Sony EX1000, and through the F80, both hiss too much for my liking. Love and hate, Aiwa, love and hate.
Relevant links:
RMAA: Shanling Q1 24-bit
RMAA: Cayin N6ii 24-bit
RMAA: Fujifilm X-T3 microphone pre-amp and headphone output 24-bit
RMAA and review: Aiwa AM-F70 Minidisc Recorder 16-bit
RMAA AND REVIEW: SHARP MD-DR7 1-BIT AUVI MINIDISC RECORDER 16-BIT
RMAA and review: Sony MZ-EH1 24-bit
Minidisc VLOG - 07: Sony MZ-RH1 Review
Minidisc VLOG - 05: Sony MZ-NH3D
RMAA and review: Sony MZ-DH10P 16-bit
RMAA: Astell & Kern SPM1000M 24-bit
RMAA: Cowon Plenue D2 24-bit
RMAA: Sony MZ-RH1 16-bit
RMAA: Sony MZ-NH3D 16-bit
RMAA: Sony MZ-B100 16-bit
RMAA: Panasonic SJ-MJ500 16-bit
RMAA: Kenwood DMC-S55 16-bit
RMAA: Sony MZ-E55 16-bit
RMAA: Sharp MD-DS8/9 16-bit
Source: Aiwa AM-F80
ADC: Lynx Studio HILO LT-TB
Computer: 2017 27" iMac Pro
Cables: 1,5m Hosa Pro 3,5mm stereo to dual 3-pin XLR (around 8$)
NL - no load
SM2 - Earsonics SM2
Parterre - FitEar Parterre
ES7 - Audio Technica ES7
DT880 - Beyerdynamic DT880/600
16-bit VOL (Full) @+0dB - all targets
16-bit VOL (Full) @+0dB - no load
16-bit VOL (Full) @+0dB - DSL profiles, no load
16-bit VOL (Full) @+0dB - VS R55 (unloaded and SM2)
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Do you see that MD logo? Man, there ain’t no one out there with a better one. Aiwa nailed the look, and if it weren’t for hiss, would have nailed the sound. Their navigation is top notch. The F80’s backlit screen… gosh, what a gem. And if you hadn’t the dosh for it, the F75, whose simplified remote and lightless screen, were easy compromises to make.