Minidisc players

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How do they work ?
How much can you download into one disc ?
Can you play them on your home or car stero ?
Can you download MP3 tracks and CD tracks on the same discs ?
How sensitive are they to drops bumps etc
How is the sound quailty ?

anthony, Wednesday, 10 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

>How do they work ?

Like a computer floppy disk, and you can input track names. Requires its own hardware tho, unfortunately.

>How much can you download into one disc ?

Standard industry length of 74 minutes - just like a CD, tho' I've heard tell of long play discs now available

>Can you play them on your home or car stero ?

If you have a minidisc player

>Can you download MP3 tracks and CD tracks on the same discs ?

Absolutely, if you can record/send a signal out of your PC sound card and have the requisite RCA's/equipment to connect & record to. For digital sound you need a sound card that has a digital out, otherwise, it's analog all the way (which in my experience doesn't seem to make a difference)

How sensitive are they to drops bumps etc

No problems in my experience. Sony have 'anti-shock' cases etc etc. About the same as your portable CD player, probably better.

How is the sound quailty ?

It's digital! I'm no audiophile, so please correct me, but as good as CD to me!

Hope this helps. Anyone please feeel free to correct me!

Bill E, Wednesday, 10 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"requisite RCAs / equipment" = 1/4" stereo miniplug like the kind on your walkman headphones, but with a male on each end ;)

unless going into stereo 1st in which case two 1/4"-to-RCA (red and white thingies) (1 for out of computer to stereo, 1 for out of stereo to minidisc) (this gets a bit polymorphic)

Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 10 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

So when i go to buy the thing i need to buy a player, these cords, minidiscs and what else ?

anthony, Wednesday, 10 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

How do they work ? laser and magnetic feilds combine to write data How much can you download into one disc ? 74 min or 296min on long play ? I had a SONY mzr 70 last year. It worked for i year and 3 months, now it won't read discs and I need to get it repaired. But in fairness, I used it on the way to work, all day at work , and on the way home everyday.

Mike Hanle y, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i will get one !

anthony, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

excellent

Mike Hanle y, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

sony make a model with a usb cable so you can record digitally from your computer. they seem to jog less than a portable cd.

Ed, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

check out ebay for cheap deals

Mike Hanle y, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

ebay aint gonna work for me

anthony, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

what is a usb cable.

anthony, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Mainly used by bootleggers. No matter how hard the undustry tried, the minidisc will disappear. They are very handy for joggers as they are lightweight and can take a few knocks.

Helen Fordsdale, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

minidisc is very big in the UK, the favorite of bands, labels and hipsters everywhere.

usb is a type of computer cable often used to hook up printers and digital cameras to computers.

Ed, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Everything you need to know about Minidiscs is here.

Aaron, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

plus plus plus they record *live* which as far as i know no cd burner can do.

Tracer Hand, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

another convert. join us. JOIN UUUUSSSS...

Alan Trewartha, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I nice little Vivanco lapel mic clipped to your bag is good for recording gigs.

Madchen, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I love them. They are dinky and a lot more sexy than fiddling around with MP3s. I do most of my copying via analogue as I have no PC and my CD player has no optical output, but the sound seems good enough to me. I hanker after those new long play models that allow you to record 150 minutes at a barely discernible drop in quality or 300 mins if you're prepared to compromise.

Nick, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I love the format. Heaven knows, my Urgent and Key 28-postcodes-of- SE-London field-recording project would never have got off the ground if I'd had to rely on cassette or DAT. Nor, I dare say, would the Pinefox's immense song-cycles be quite so thoroughly and faithfully transcribed.

Has anyone mentioned their near-endless reusability yet? I'm not sure about this, but is it even possible to do on-the-fly MP3 encoding? In other words, are portable MP3 *recorders* possible? Perhaps they already exist and I'm living in the late 20th century. I could see how such a device (with easily swappable memory cards) might be even more appealing to the casual recordist.

Michael Jones, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I've had mine for a year and a half but for some reason the lithium ion battery is not charging up all the way..btw i got it on ebay pretty cheap (aiwa am-f70)

kevin enas, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Make sure you get an MDLP capable one, which allows you to do the long play modes Nick mentioned, and it does this with ordinary discs.

Graham, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

re: minidisc popularity ameica vs uk. the american guy in my flat in st petersburg got obsessed with my minidisc player - he had never seen one and coveted mine harshly, and ended up recording loads of blink 182's on some disc as a practice.....still got all that shit.

strange that its only really popular in europe. i asked this japanese guy about it and he said that hardly anyones got them in japan. momus? confirm?

to be honest i dont love them. they are small, but the quality isnt great (very tinny) and mine fucks up a lot - doesnt jog like a cd, but just sort of stops for a bit. also my discs are fucking up and becoming unusable, maybe thru overuse but then they dont seem to last long (just under a year).

ambrose, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

but the quality isnt great (very tinny)

Maybe this your headphones/rest of set up? I am no expert but copies I make on my midrange stereo sound virtually indistinguishable from the original. And Mike Jones is a serious audiophile and he loves 'em (see above)

Nick, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Mike Jones is a serious audiophile".

Please, Nick - I was acquitted of that. Just because I hang around outside KJ West One on New Cavendish Street doesn't mean I'm looking at the valves.

Michael Jones, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I can attest one of my sound teachers who was nominated for a grammy awar din classical music engineering said he was pleasantly suprised with minidisc sound quality

Mike Hanle y, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I recently bought (after long coveting) an MDLP one, we're still just checking each other out, if you get my drift. I've found that tinniness can be reduced by boosting the recording level beyond the industry recommended limit - it really booms them. The prospect of 4x80 mins length does my head in, 160 mins is potentially mind blowing as it is. You have to go for really long walks. The only problem is, I haven't got any MiniDisc chums, so I have to just record/erase/record my own CDs, which isn't really cricket. In fact, I've actually gone out and bought things just so I could record them and then listen to them. So if anyone would like to be my MiniDisc chum, I've got some very nice Oneness of Juju and some previously unreleasable tracks by The Band, not to mention New Jack Swing Mastercuts Volume 4. I haven't got an optical output either.

Peter Miller, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Peter: I'll be yr MD chum. I think I promised to be yr cassette pet at one point in the past, and then never sent a tape. Scary prospect (judging by last comp you sent me): coming up with stuff you've not heard of. I presume you're still at the same address...

I don't get this tinniness business. Whatever's lost through the perceptual coding data reduction, it ain't bass.

Michael Jones, Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

OK Mike, let's be MD chums. It's not that difficult to find things I haven't heard/got, I'm quite ignorant really. I don't know what address you've got, we're in Castelldefels now, have you got that one? I'm going to sort this tinniness business out. It might be the headphones. Time for a headphones thread perhaps.

Peter Miller, Friday, 12 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

WHo need s MD chums when there's Audio Galaxy?

Mike Hanle y, Friday, 12 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"WHo need s MD chums when there's Audio Galaxy?"

Those of us with crap modems? I think I was in the lav when the MP3 revolution happened, sorry.

Michael Jones, Friday, 12 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

hell i dont know, it just sounds kinda nicer when i play a record of something using the same headphonesthat i use to listen to a minidisc of the same thing. maybe its psychosomatic, in a way; people tell me its crap - i hear it cr

ambrose, Sunday, 14 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I often make minidiscs of records. it ssounds beautiful

Mike Hanle y, Sunday, 14 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

it's the levels, ambrose. if my ham-handed experience is any guide.

Tracer hand, Sunday, 14 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

one year passes...
Huh?

Sspeedy, Friday, 25 April 2003 18:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Time for an MD chums revival?

PJ Miller (PJ Miller), Friday, 25 April 2003 18:20 (twenty-two years ago)

If the new iPods, out on moday, are something amazing, someone kind buy my MD player.

Ed (dali), Friday, 25 April 2003 19:35 (twenty-two years ago)

I love md too. Have 3 players now. Portable for recording gigs, one as part of the midi system, one separate deck bought because the midi system doesn't have an optical output & which I use for copying md's. The deck has a keyboard input for speedy (relatively, its me who's typing remember) naming of tracks, etc.

I think I might be MD chums with PJM & Steady M already.

Mooro (Mooro), Friday, 25 April 2003 22:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Big Dave is my most prolific MD chum. The other day I listened to B&S Peel Acres on the bus and enjoyed it very much indeed. Steady M is my Christopher Cross-Eyed Cross supplier.

Big Dave has a teeetering tower of MD players/decks, typical of a frustrated fighter pilot. He gives himself orders and makes radio static noises when he's recording stuff. Probably.

PJ Miller (PJ Miller), Saturday, 26 April 2003 08:45 (twenty-two years ago)

I need to get a cheap MD with a mic input socket for my brother. Does anyone have any suggestions for which one to get? I picked one up in Good Guys the other day (a Sony MZ-N510CK Walkman) but I need to take it back as it doesn't have the mic input.

James Ball (James Ball), Saturday, 26 April 2003 12:19 (twenty-two years ago)

I just gave mind to my little bro, after I just found out I've won (!!!) an iPod.

Cozen (Cozen), Saturday, 26 April 2003 12:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Is there an easy way to transfer from MD -> computer, ideally to a Mac?

Chris P (Chris P), Saturday, 26 April 2003 16:17 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...
in: the minidisc

cºzen (Cozen), Friday, 31 December 2004 16:38 (twenty years ago)

eleven months pass...
I want to know too Chris!
I came across a huge stack of minidiscs I'd kept from my breakup with Ball-Head. (Instead of arguing over CD's, I recorded them onto minidiscs)

I can only listen to them on my minidisc player though obviously, through the hi-fi, but I'd dearly love to put them all onto CD.

Is this possible? (My md player doesn't have a usb port)

Rumpie (lil drummer girl parumpumpumpu), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 14:21 (nineteen years ago)

Right, short answer is: No.

Longer answer...

Some Sony minidisc players have a mini-usb port, this means you can download from a PC with the nice sony software, but it does not work 'the other way'.

Best option you have is to record realtime via soundcard, and use the timings on the minidisc to 'chop up' the long wave file into tracks. I just got a nice little prog that will record a pre-programmed length (e.g. 24 mins), which means you can go away for 24 mins (or longer), come back, and spend 5 mins 'chopping up' the individual tracks based on the track timing and wave formation in yer PC window.

mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 14:30 (nineteen years ago)

Ta for that. Just too much hassle though for someone with such little motivation. I'll just stick to cursing the swine everytime I play a minidisc.

Rumpie (lil drummer girl parumpumpumpu), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 14:40 (nineteen years ago)

"this means you can download from a PC with the nice sony fucking beyond awful alpha-quality practically useless for the purpose it was designed for I will never ever buy a Sony product again ... software"

login name (fandango), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 16:16 (nineteen years ago)

Ah true, but it is at least useful for titling the stuff on the disc without having to become an expert texter.

mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 16:17 (nineteen years ago)

I htink if you have an Apple then you can use the iMIC. (It works with other audio stuff, so I expect it'll work with a minidisc as well).

Nathalie (stevie nixed), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 16:18 (nineteen years ago)

"Expect"

It was designed to prevent uploading, as Sony seem to be against that sort of thing.

I very doubt it will 'work' with Apple iMIC.

mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 16:19 (nineteen years ago)

Sony are hell-pigs.

Rumpie (lil drummer girl parumpumpumpu), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 16:23 (nineteen years ago)

The biggest bugbear with my Sony portable MD was always the lack of digital out. I'm still a little bit tempted by the new Hi-MD range which have digital out and USB connection plus recording at 44.1 khz uncompressed. On the other hand there's the issue of the need for proprietary software for transferring files (seems antiquated and much too restrictive in this day and age - I want any device of this kind to behave like any other removable drive).

On the solid state/flash memory front there's the new M-Audio Microtrack which had me salivating when I first read about it. But too expensive in my opinion at around £250 to £300. It uses compact flash as well (I'd prefer SD) and its battery is inbuilt, iPod-style, which in itself is an instant deal-breaker for me (I will only use devices with removable batteries). Into the bargain it seems to have a number of issues, some of which have been addressed in firmware updates (but I'd prefer a product that was already pretty rock solid and not have to keep updating the firmware).

Oak (small items), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 16:29 (nineteen years ago)

Mooro to thread - he's transferred MD recordings of gigs to CDs, I'm sure.

Mädchen (Madchen), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 16:31 (nineteen years ago)

i have one of these, not an ipod.

Theorry Henry (Enrique), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 16:47 (nineteen years ago)

I can't find mine! Drat!

I have an MDF to listen to, from the Mooro stable.

I will have to have a good root round tonight.

PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 17:03 (nineteen years ago)

i'm guessing mooro does it the same way i rip all my vinyl and the way mark mentioned upthread - via the line out in real time. not ideal but you can always leave it and go and make tea, or watch tv or something.

(pj, self-imposed ilx exile over? welcome home)

koogs (koogs), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 17:25 (nineteen years ago)

I had to promote the Stephen Pastel group, so I thought I'd have a sniff round while I'm here.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/stephenpastel/

PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 17:30 (nineteen years ago)

I've transferred MD to CD lots of times but it's very definitely "taping" and not "ripping" - i.e. 1x. Analogue recording through the Darla soundcard and fixing up thereafter in Cool Edit = very good quality but obviously a long-winded pain in the arse.

Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 18:12 (nineteen years ago)

one year passes...

i r being so excited guyz, i am getting the mz-rh1!

http://www.mdcenter.nl/artikelen/mzrh1/index_en.php

this is the first MD to allow directly dragging files over to your mac with no need to "tape" it in real time (i believe).

now go on, tell me i'm investing in obsolete technology - i don't care!

Tracer Hand, Thursday, 27 September 2007 09:53 (seventeen years ago)

> this is the first MD to allow directly dragging files over to your mac with no need to "tape" it in real time (i believe).

there was md based computer storage as part of the first wave (http://www.minidisc.org/part_Sony_MDH-10.html). couldn't use the same disks for music though because, i think, they were formatted differently. there were also four tracks available for home recording which were, again, formatted differently - 4 tracks x 37 minutes rather than 74 minutes of stereo.

> now go on, tell me i'm investing in obsolete technology - i don't care!

i still use my MZR30 for recording the occasional gig. is there another reasonable option for this? my mp3 player(s) will record straight to mp3 but i think that's more for dictation.

http://www.minidisc.org/images/sony_mzr30_scan.jpg

koogs, Thursday, 27 September 2007 10:25 (seventeen years ago)

Blank MDs are getting pretty hard to find over here (Belgium) and I'm looking into getting something else for gigtaping as well. Probably the Edirol R-09 (about 400 Euro in Europe, 350 USD in the US (which is about 250 Euros right now) ) + maybe external mics and preamp (probably from thesoundprofessionals.com )

StanM, Thursday, 27 September 2007 10:34 (seventeen years ago)

Something <a href="
http://www.amazon.com/Edirol-R-09-WAVE-Recorder-Black/sim/B000FPQFKO/2/ref=pd_cp_e_sexpl/105-1608035-6718063";>like this beast, koogs?</a>

Alba, Thursday, 27 September 2007 10:38 (seventeen years ago)

Oh, you know what I mean.

Alba, Thursday, 27 September 2007 10:40 (seventeen years ago)

Fucking Sony: "Recordings made via the computer (i.e. via USB) cannot be uploaded because with such recordings the distinction cannot be made between legally transferred music or music which has been purchased for example via the Connect Music Store.". (From Tracer's link)

stet, Thursday, 27 September 2007 10:44 (seventeen years ago)

from what i can tell that means if you recorded a CD onto a standard old minidisc at some point in the past, using USB rather than line in, you can't quickly "upload" them onto another computer. this seems like such an obscure path i can't imagine it being an issue.

note that any Hi-MD recordings can be transferred over to your computer with no problem.

also note that mac users can dispense with sony's atrocious "sonicstage" software for these transfers: "On the Mac the Hi-MD importer app simply lists all the recordings an allows drag and drop to your Desktop or other folder."

Tracer Hand, Thursday, 27 September 2007 11:32 (seventeen years ago)

the main reason i got this over the zoom H4 or H2 is that from what i can tell, the sound quality is just better.

Tracer Hand, Thursday, 27 September 2007 11:33 (seventeen years ago)

well, that, and sony's decades of experience with physical interfaces. i love the big record button/knob thing!

Tracer Hand, Thursday, 27 September 2007 11:34 (seventeen years ago)

i use my minidisk primarily to tape interviews now, and its easy to upload them as WAV files to my laptop via sony's provided software, which i then dump into expressscribe and type away. i've also done this with the two (2) shows i've ever bootlegged. mine's an MZ-NH700, if that's any help?

stevie, Thursday, 27 September 2007 11:36 (seventeen years ago)

yes alba. am more familiar with (ie have heard of) the M-audio thing on the same page but it wasn't ideal (expensive, compact flash storage, not much use as portable player.)

sony also good at low power / long battery life. their proprietary formats stance is dreadful though.

koogs, Thursday, 27 September 2007 11:37 (seventeen years ago)

call me crazy, but it's never occurred to me to plug my minidisc player into my computer! why would i do that? can i turn, for example, old DJ mixes i've got on minidisc into mp3 or wav files? my (sony) minidisc player is like six years old.

CharlieNo4, Thursday, 27 September 2007 11:52 (seventeen years ago)

you could, but you'd have to record them onto your computer in "real time" i believe.

Tracer Hand, Thursday, 27 September 2007 11:55 (seventeen years ago)

yep, that's what i do, md line-out to pc line-in. wait 74 minutes, tidy up and normalise with audacity.

koogs, Thursday, 27 September 2007 11:58 (seventeen years ago)

excellent news. Tracer, can I borrow this to rip the big pile of MDs I found whilst clearing stuff out?

Ed, Thursday, 27 September 2007 12:03 (seventeen years ago)

yessiree. chip chop, lickety split!

Tracer Hand, Thursday, 27 September 2007 14:18 (seventeen years ago)


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