Anyone still use Minidisc, NetMD or Hi-MD???

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Chris_G, May 8, 2013.

  1. Chris_G

    Chris_G Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I still have an MZ-NF610 NetMD recorder. I just like the sound of ATRAC SP 292kbps recording from CDs. I recently purchased 5 pre-recorded minidisc albums (Footloose soundtrac, Eric Clapton Unplugged, Luther Vandross, Pearl Jam Ten, and I can't remember the other one). I'm going to see which of these MDs I want to keep, and the others I'll probably re-sell or trade. I really think that minidisc can sound better than some CDs because ATRAC will remove sounds you can not hear and will amplify the sounds you can hear. Anyone else into Minidisc???
     
  2. EddieT

    EddieT Forum Resident

    Location:
    London UK
    Yep. Still use my Aiwa minidisc hifi. Turntable plugged in the back and minidiscs in the front. CD player's long since given up but the MD player still works perfectly
     
    danielbravo likes this.
  3. Chris_G

    Chris_G Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    How do vinyl records sound when recorded to Minidisc?
     
  4. Clark V Kauffman

    Clark V Kauffman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Des Moines, Iowa
    Listening to Minidisc right now. I still have two working stereo-component MD recorders; plus a couple of portable players that are in regular use; plus two new, unboxed Sony portable players I purchased for $40 each back when Sony first started abandoning the format. (Those same new-old-stock players now go for $200 or so.) I also bought a ton of blanks as soon as they hit the clearance shelves at Target several years ago. (The five-packs of Sony discs were clearance-priced at $3.99!) Given all that, I expect to still be using Minidisc for several years, at least... I think it's a great, versatile format.
    photo.JPG GD MD.JPG
     
    kyouki, Scopitone, L.P. and 7 others like this.
  5. Chris_G

    Chris_G Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    How are you able to make those minidisc labels? Can you make labels so that they look like album artwork?
     
  6. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    I use my Sony R900 minidisc for live recordings.
     
    kevinsinnott likes this.
  7. Clark V Kauffman

    Clark V Kauffman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Des Moines, Iowa
    Fellowes used to make blank Minidisc labels for home printers. I bought a pile of them and a fellow forum member years ago hooked me up with an even bigger supply of them after they were discontinued. And, yes, you can use actual album artwork, but of course that's square -- so I usually use the original album artwork for the outer jewel case and use some related, but rectangular, artwork for the disc label itself.

    GH.JPG MT.JPG
     
    kyouki, jfeldt, jesterthejedi and 4 others like this.
  8. gillcup

    gillcup Senior Member

    Location:
    Raleigh, NC, USA
    I use a MZ-RH910 Hi-MD to do all my vinyl recordings. It records lossless and the results are very good IMO.
     
    drew phillips likes this.
  9. Chris_G

    Chris_G Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    But if you take the album artwork from a cassette album, which is rectangular, you can shrink it to fit in a Minidisc label.
     
    Andy A likes this.
  10. Chris_G

    Chris_G Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Yup, I use to own the MZ-RH1 but I only used for MP3 playback, so i decided to sell it and just get a regular Sony MP3 player.
     
  11. Sckott

    Sckott Hand Tighten Only.

    Location:
    South Plymouth, Ma
    Minidisc here. Still used lightly. Never a disappointing moment. I still have Pink Floyd The Wall and Tattoo You on MD (Sony). They are still neato to me.
     
  12. Thurenity

    Thurenity Listening to some tunes

    Nothing on my end, but I like the custom MD album art!
     
    clhboa likes this.
  13. Jim T

    Jim T Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mars
    Minidiscs to record some WABE-FM Atlanta. NPR radio programs with. That may change now that the format is officially dead. Discs soon to probably be unavailable. I could just use my Tascam DR-07 flash for that now and up the audio quality to redbook.
     
  14. tps

    tps Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    I was a big minidisc fan. I still have aSony JE520 hooked up sp I can digitally transfer to my Fostex UR2 CF recorder. I've got a Onkyo MD133 HiMD deck, but it does not have digital output, so I haven't used it for a while. I never recorded much on HiMD, anyway. I've got hundereds of recorded discs, mostly radio programs. Minidisc was good for it's time, and may still be a good archival format, but micro-SD cards are where it's at for portable music players...
     
  15. RichardG

    RichardG Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wales, UK
    I love MD, I use a Sony MDS-JB980 QS deck at home, but more often than not it's doing DAC duties for my Squeezebox Touch these days (make sure there's no disc in the tray, hit record and voila, it's a DAC! Limited to 48kHz tho, so no proper hi-res).

    I record some of my more precious vinyl and it's a like-for-like copy. It's got a keyboard socket as well, which makes titling and editing very easy.

    I've also got a portable MZ-R900 in a drawer somewhere...must dig that out

    :D
     
    ShallowMemory likes this.
  16. jbmcb

    jbmcb Forum Resident

    Location:
    Troy, MI, USA
    My wife got a Sony Minidisc player one year for Christmas that she hardly ever used. It sits on my rack of dead format gear, right above the Tascam tape deck.

    It's an interesting format, if for no other reason you can do fun things with the track layout. I have a MD from a weird electronic band called Gescom. The short tracks segue into each other seamlessly (taking advantage of gapless shuffle mode) and they play in random order every time you start the disc from the beginning.
     
  17. Chris_G

    Chris_G Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    What model number is the minidisc player that you don't use?
     
  18. jbmcb

    jbmcb Forum Resident

    Location:
    Troy, MI, USA
    Sony MZ-E40 - it's a portable unit. I still play around with it sometimes - but my wife hardly ever used it.
     
  19. Chris_G

    Chris_G Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Is this a 1990s model?
     
  20. jriems

    jriems Audio Ojiisan

    I still have my JVC FS-MD9000 that I use as my alarm clock daily:

    [​IMG]

    I dabbled in recording MD's with the 9000, but it was just easier for me to pop a CD in instead.
     
    rockindownthehighway likes this.
  21. Chris_G

    Chris_G Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    That is a nice MiniDisc stereo system. MiniDisc over vinyl records anyday, right guys?
     
  22. abescan

    abescan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Grafton,Ohio USA
    I bought a Sharp minidisc back when they first came out. I am on my 2nd newer Sharp and use it to record most of the concerts I go to . I run the minidisc through my equalizer and record to my cd recorder and the sound is great. The problem now is locating the blank disc which are not cheap if you can find them-I guess I could erase them and use them over but I'd rather not. I only use it for recording.
    What is the best and smallest type of recorder available to record live music in case I have to switch and how does the sound compare?
     
    PhilBiker likes this.
  23. Chris_G

    Chris_G Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    The last MiniDisc recorded made was the MZ-RH1, which sells on ebay for over $500. This was called the best designed MiniDisc recorder. With this unit you can upload your recordings to the computer and convert them to WAV files. Also, this unit will allow you to record in PCM (1440kbps, 44.1khz) with out compression. You can use standard MDs 74min or 80min on this unit and record in ATRAC SP or ATRAC3Plus 64kbps or 256kbps. Standard MDs and 1GB Hi-MDs can be found on ebay. But prepare to pay....
     
  24. PhilBiker

    PhilBiker sh.tv member number 666

    Location:
    Northern VA, USA
    I have an old MZ-R30 that I use for the same thing. I also have a zillion old minidiscs and still spin some stuff occasionally.

    There are newer portable digital recorders which completely smoke portable MiniDisc because they can record high resolution uncompressed PCM. But my trusty MZ-R30 and its external microphone still accompany me to most shows that I attend.
     
    MikeyP likes this.
  25. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    I rarely play minidiscs now, but I still love the format. My players are older ATRAC 4 models (Sony MDS-JB930 and Kenwood MD-2070). I have about 20 pre-recorded minidiscs and a handful of dubs. If I had a good portable player, I would probably use the format more.

    Are portable players still made?
     

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