Sony MXD-D40 MiniDisc deck

I have bought an excellent Sony MXD-D40 CD/MiniDisc combo deck last week, paid for which is fully featured, except that it doesn't have AutoPause, but that's not really a big deal for me. I have already recorded my favorite Hank Williams singles I don't have on CD but I do have on the Original Singles Collection boxed set cassette version and the transfers have turned out pretty good so 1 deck will serve my Hank cravings perfectly.

 

http://www.sel.sony.com/SEL/consumer/ss5/home/homeaudio/minidiscdigitalrecorders/mxd-d40.shtml

Interesting machine, with a lot of features. I bought a SACD/CD combo Sony unit, and I was surprised how good the "redbook" sounds. Your's must sound good too.

 

Yes it does sound good. For MD fans who want to record some MDLP4 tracks, that version of MDLP sounds like crap for the most part although some MDLP4 transfers of Tennessee Ernie Ford material from the Rhino cassette I did turned out OK, and MDLP2 sounds much better. If you must use MDLP4, do not use it too many times.

An FAQ on MDLP is at http://www.minidisc.org/mdlpfaq.html

 

This goes to show that MD is not a dead format at all, just taking its time to catch on. The sound quality is definitely not "audiophile" grade but in many cases, it is excellent and has been improving over time.

 

BTW, I got introduced to the MD format at my work before I even worked for the company and had wanted a player for years but finally that dream came true. I recorded lots of Kenny Rogers & The First Edition tracks onto MD as well.

 

No mate; it's gone.

I'll concede that there is one area that Minidisc does succeed in - live recordings of concerts. Easy to smuggle in, and quite discrete. Reasonable sound.

Otherwise, it's hard to beat machines like the Alesis Masterlink. Burning CDs (and possibly DVDs) has killed Minidisc.

Regards,
Geoff

 

It's found a very happy home in the radio industry, finally killing off crappy portable cassette recorders. A lot of field reporting you hear on NPR is done on MD now, and you won't notice the difference from the pricey portable DAT decks they use.

I wish it had caught on in the US consumer market. CD burning is sort of a pain as you have to babysit the process (when recording from analog), MD you can mark tracks and shuffle at will. It's a cool format, but the timing was wrong I guess.

Typical bad luck for Sony. Beta bombed with consumers but had a good long life in the pro world.

Dan C

 

With MD, if you screw up, you can make the corrections and/or record it over, but not on CD-R. Both CD-R and MD have made their homes right here.

 

Thanks for the info Dan.

Regards,
Geoff

 

BTW, I will eventually come back with playlist of the songs on the MiniDisc and those MDLP4 transfers that ended up having bad sound when I first transferred them for the most part were transferred to MDLP2 with better results and I re-recorded 1 song using MDLP4, due to lack of space otherwise, with better results than the first transfer. It shows that with proper work involved, you can get decent results with MDLP4, but only use it if you must.

 

Not if you use a computer...

 

Grant is right that CD burning with a computer is the way to go when you use CD-Rs but they don't store as many songs on 1 disc as a MiniDisc can store, unless you burn the CD-R as MP3 data. I will still use my CD burner although I have an MD deck. The MD deck does have its own sleep timer as well.

 

Bradley, I'm also a fan of MD. I use it more for mono recordings. If you put the unit in the mono mode you get twice as much recording time. That would be good for you older recordings like Hank Williams. Of course your unit is MDLP compatable so maybe you don't have mono mode. If you do try it.

 

I do have mono mode and it is great for mono recordings. MD is perfect for mono as if you burn mono recordings onto CD-R, you can only store as much as the CD-R allows you to burn, not double the amount of music you can burn on.

 

At ABC News Radio we send our reporters out with MD kits - there may be one cassette recorder left but its got 'last one is a rotten egg' status.

 

I'm glad that MD has gotten its "professional" status and although cassette is an OK format until the tape wears out, MD is a much superior format and is very stable, unlike cassette tape.

 

You still do if you are recording from analog.

It should be pointed out that MD is often targeted as an alternative to MP3 players these days. They are very small, have great battery life (mine gets something like 40 hours on a single rechargeable AA), and can fit 160 minutes on a disc with sound better than 128 kbps MP3.

 

I don't. All I do is set the recording software, play the record, and come back around seventeen or twenty minutes later to turn the record or tape over and record the other side. Then, I can come back whenever I feel like it to turn off the software. I can edit and add track markers later or split up the files.

By "nursing" the analog recording, I take that to mean adding track markers while the recording is in progress, which is one must do if using a standalone burner if you want tracks. You don't need to do this with the computer method.

I still see minidisc recorders and players on the shelves, and lots of blanks, but I have not seen minidisc being marketed as mp3 storage, or I haven't paid any attention.

 

www.minidisct.com does have lots of people say that MD is great for MP3 storage as evidenced at http://www.minidisct.com/md_promote.html

My first MD playlist is:
MiniDisc playlist (Disc 1)
Tracks 1-30 are recorded by Hank Williams-encoded in mono
1. Never Again (Will You Knock On my Door)
2. My Love For You (Has Turned To Hate)
3. I Don't Care (If Tomorrow Never Comes)
4. Pan American
5. Honky Tonkin' (Sterling version)
6. (Last Night) I Heard You Crying In Your Sleep
7. On The Banks of The Old Ponchartrain
8. Fly Trouble
9. My Sweet Love Ain't Around
10. Rootie Tootie
11. Honky Tonkin' (MGM version)
12. I'll Be a Bachelor 'Til I Die
13. I'm a Long Gone Daddy
14. The Blues Come Around
15. Six More Miles (To The Graveyard)
16. I Can't Get You Off of My Mind
17. I've Just Told Mama Goodbye
18. There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight
19. May You Never Be Alone
20. A House Without Love
21. My Heart Would Know
22. I'd Still Want You
23. I Could Never Be Ashamed of You
24. With Tears In My Eyes
25. Alone and Forsaken
26. Someday You'll Call My Name
27. I Can't Escape From You
28. There's No Room In My Heart
29. At The First Fall of Snow
Tracks 30-35 are by Kenny Rogers & The First Edition-encoded in MDLP2
30. Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town
31. Mama's Waiting
32. Heed The Call
33. Reuben James
34. Love Woman
35. I Believe In Music
Tracks 36-50 are encoded in MDLP2
36. Ain't Necessarily So-Willie Nelson
37. Trainwreck of Emotion-Lorrie Morgan
38. Out of Your Shoes-Lorrie Morgan
39. He Talks To Me-Lorrie Morgan
40. Long Line of Love-Michael Martin Murphey
41. Red Rubber Ball-Cyrkle
42. Girls Ride Horses Too-Judy Rodman
43. Swing The Mood-Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers
44. Game of Love-Mindbenders
45. Liar, Liar-Castaways
46. California Sun-Rivieras
47. Atlanta Burned Again Last Night-Atlanta
48. Sweet Country Music-Atlanta
49. Marrakesh Express-CSN
50. Stack-O-Lee-Tennessee Ernie Ford
Tracks 51-53 are recorded by Tennessee Ernie Ford-encoded in mono
51. Mr. And Mississippi
52. Tailor Made Woman
53. I'm Hog-Tied Over You

 

Blanks are cheaper now' days. Funny how I bought some Kellogg's Corn Pops last week and it has a $1.00 coupon off of a pack of minidiscs.

Can't say they're a forgotten medium yet.

 

If you have no use for the coupon, please mail it to me. I am willing to give my address in a PM

 

MiniDisc certainly isn't dead around here--I've noticed more blank MDs in the larger stores (even at Target) now than I ever have. And in multiple colors.

It's a shame it never took off like it did. For portable use, it can't be beat IMHO. I can go walking, biking or do other things outdoors with my MD "walkman" where CD players are just large and cumbersome and have a tendency to skip (unless you get one of the more expensive "buffered" models). I can also slip two or three MDs in a pocket without needing to worry about jewel cases, along with a spare AA battery to power it. Since I'm driving a POS borrowed Buick right now, I can put the cassette adapter into the shabby Delco and at least play some of my favorites while I drive.

I burn CDs on the computer for all of my *serious* transfers. But for a knockabout portable, it's been the second portable I've ever been comfortable with. (I once had that Sony Walkman that was small enough to fit inside a cassette storage rack.) Nice thing is, I got both the MD portable and a home MD deck for under $200 at a Sony outlet nearby. But except for recording MDs for portable use, I rarely use the home MD deck at all.

 

what i like about minidisc! I eq record music with a boost at 31 hz. this provides the heavy bass sound to my v-6 sony headphones. a flat transfer to md results in a poor sounding bass in most portable md walkmans

 

My portable MD3 player has some bass boost built in, but it seems to get muddy on better headphones since it also boost mid-bass. I usually just digitally transfer CDs to MD, though, for portability.

 

the muddy bass problem can be greatly reduced by boosting the deep bass sounds in most music tracks.