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Windows 10 installation (Net MD): 1) Download the files in description 2) Double click on "SS43_Ultimate.exe" and install the "SonicStage" program. 3) Go to Program Files (x86) -> Sony -> Personal Audio Drivers -> Sort by type -> Highlight all the ".inf" files, right click on one of them and hit install. 4) Unzip the second attached file "sony-net-md-drivers-win764.zip" and open up the folder "Sony Net MD Drivers". 5) Right click "NETMD760.inf" and hit install. 6) Go to Program Files (x86) -> Sony -> SonicStage-> Right click on "Omgjbox.exe -> Click on Compatibility -> Under the Compatibility tab, click the box and select "Windows XP (Service Pack 3)" Launch SonicStage, plug in your Walkman and a "NET MD" tab should show up in Sonic Stage. If the "NET MD" tab does not show up for you, then you need to find the correct driver for the individual Microdisc player You may receive an error when starting it, just click "next" and agree" and open it up a 2nd time without problems. Learning how to use SonicStage is very easy. SS43_ULTIMATE.exe sony-net-md-drivers-win764.zip

Since the "Ultimate" 4.3 version seems to have gained quite a popularity, and appears to be less glitchy than any previous one, I decided to build a second release. This is purely a cosmetic update. What's changed from the first release: 1. Updated Registry Information Setup is used now. This doesn't affect minidisc functionality in any way, but may add support for some newer ATRAC phones (you still need to provide the respective drivers). 2. The link to Minidisc Community Forums in the Help menu is replaced with a link to Sony Insider Forums. 3. Installation package extraction path is no longer saved to registry. 4. Windows Installer 2.0 distribution package is not included. The complete list of changes from the official VAIO version (including changes introduced in the first release): 1. System prerequisites from Microsoft (Windows Installer 2.0, DirectX 9.0c, Windows Media Format 9, Windows Media Format 9.5, Data Access Components 2.5) are not included. 2. OpenMG Secure Module version 5.0 with the respective Registry Information is used instead of the original patched version 4.7. 3. Sony CONNECT Store support is no longer installed. 4. SonicStage Security Update is installed automatically. 5. Latest Personal Audio Drivers for SONY devices are installed automatically. 6. The VAIO support link in the Help menu is replaced with a link to Sony Insider Forums. NOTE: If you have applied the experimental SonicStage patch 4.3.02 for Vista/Windows 7, you'll need to re-apply it after installation. Download links: SonicStage 4.3 "Ultimate" Release 2 for Windows 2000/XP/Vista (you must register at Sony Insider forums to download) Mini-mode skins Recommended PxEngine update

Hello everyone! I'm new to this forum, and let me say that I love to see the love and conversation about MiniDisc keep going on I'm popping in just to let you know that I've recently released an app for NetMD devices. I wrote the app mainly for myself, but I thought it might be useful for some of you too! So, and here's the link to use it -> https://stefano.brilli.me/webminidisc/ And here's a short demo of how app works Any feedback is welcome! Stefano

As promised in one of my previous posts, here is the trailer for 'The Field Recordist' which features some of the mini disc recorders, together with recorded tracks: UPDATED - HERE IS THE COMPLETE FILM: Best heard with headphones.

Hello! Just thought I'll report it here, if you're trying to create an account without a connection with an already existing account like Google or alike, it's simply impossible to do so, because of incorrectly loaded reCaptcha. To make this account I had to rewrite the part of the site responsible for the captcha. If anyone else is experiencing the same difficulties, here are the steps I used to create my account: Go to https://forums.sonyinsider.com/register/ In devtools, open the `head` tag and remove all the scripts that mention recaptcha Add a new script, with `src="https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api.js"` Execute the following JavaScript code: const captcha = document.querySelector("[data-ipscaptcha]"); const parent = captcha.parentElement; captcha.remove(); const newCaptcha = document.createElement("div"); parent.appendChild(newCaptcha); grecaptcha.ready(() => grecaptcha.render(newCaptcha, {sitekey: "6LdgERMTAAAAAC4kTmm7BH1laShX3teATAV_6FIY"})); After that, you should be able to click on the captcha and create your account by executing the following JS code (the submit button is broken): document.querySelector("form").submit();

Finally, my homebrew laser power meter is put together. It cost $3 worth of surface mount components, a used disc sacrificed for the shell, a piece of pcb, and some other stuff I found in the back of my drawer. Initially I tested it with my digital multimeter hooked on those test terminals, but then I found this neat little five-digit Volt-meter I bought some time ago on ebay, I think it was five bucks or so with free shipping from China. Without much fine tuning, I popped this little probe into all the decks I had at hand, and measured the laser power. From the mV readings and the nominal laser power values I calculated the mV-to-mW multipliers, and I took the average of a unit I trusted the most, a 940. Using this sole multiplier as the "calibration", I recalculated the measured mW figures and compared to the factory recommended range. Most of the other units were nicely within specification, but this 530 in question, that immediately popped out, being near 40% below the necessary values, i.e., 0,55 mW and 4,32 mW versus 0,9 mW and 7,0 mW respectively. Now, it might be that easy, but before changing anything, I want to check the IOP, to see, whether that meets the specs, and set the measured value for further adjustments. For this I will need that rig connecting to the drive, currently waiting for the special connector to arrive. So much for now, I will update the thread as I progress. Some photos attached below, just for fun.

I received a similar, albeit slightly smaller, mix of boxed and unboxed discs today too 🙂

Which sort of cases are you after? You used to be able to buy the basic hinged jewel cases from Amazon but I've not seen them on there for a few years now: If you're UK based Retro Style Media sell them: https://www.retrostylemedia.co.uk/product/clear-minidisc-case Price per case varies depending on how many you buy. Note that the quoted price is ex VAT so you'll need to factor that in as well. They also sell the larger cases that pre-recorded discs used to come in back in the 90s: They come in a variety of colours but are a lot more expensive. You can find them here: https://www.retrostylemedia.co.uk/shop/minidisc-cases That website also has templates to download for the inserts etc. There's a bit more info (and a video) here:

Don't worry about it - I got myself a Sony LAM for testing and ended up falling in love with the whole LAM series of devices. I have 3 now, so I use that functionality regularly 😆

Over the past couple of months, I've been bitten by the MD bug again. I hadn't visited this forum in a VERY long time. I've used one of my MZ-NH900s at my work desk on almost a daily basis for 10+ years. It sits it's original cradle, powered from the AC adapter because the battery long since gave up the ghost. I have about 20 disc's (a mix of Hi-MD and standard MD My other NH900 has been broken for years after it fell out of my pocket and a disc got jammed. Was able to get the disc out by disassembling the recorder but when I all went back together the buttons were no longer responsive... So I put it in a storage box with my other MD stuff that wasn't used anymore. FF 1month ago, I was digging thru some things and came across my box MD recorders. Pulled out the NH900 and took it apart again. Long story short, it's had been returned to service! While looking for info on repair, I came across this site and an intro to Reddit MD. My interest stoked again, burned some new disc's, reorganized some of my favorites, and am trying my hand at labeling. I've also managed to buy a couple of new Hi-MD blanks and some used standard MDs. It's always fun to go thru used disc's from someone else to see what's on them 🙂 My MD arsenal consists of: MZ-R500, MZ-N707 (eprom nodded), MZ-N920, IM-DR420, MZ-NH600D, 2-MZ-NH900s, 2-MZ-RH10s (both with bad displays), and a MZ-RH910. 150ish standard MDs and 15 Hi-MDs. Most of my standard disc's are Hi-MD formated and most of the music is burned in ATRAC3plus @256k. I simply LOVE this format!

Nice to see SIF back up. Why was it down? It was quite a long time. I think many people have given up on it. That http://www.minidisc.wiki has turned out pretty nice btw. Still has a ways to go, but it has data on some devices not found anywhere else in English.

I don't have a question, just wanted to post a brief homage to my Sony MZ-R90 which I got, unexpectedly, as a birthday present in 2000. It transformed portable audio for me, but unfortunately, six short months later, my MZ-R90 was stolen by an opportunistic thief. Not long after that, I moved on from MD to MP3 players, but just recently I've been reminiscing wistfully about that beautiful little piece of music technology. I had the black version, and I think the industrial design is really magnificent.

Back in 1997, long before MP3 was anything more than a concept, I was serving in the Air Force and frequently deployed overseas. Some guys on the squadron introduced me to a strange format for making music portable. MiniDisc. I soon got to learn that those tough little discs survived the rough-and-tumble of life in a kit-bag. We each bought portable players, and would ‘pool’ our discs together to make little music libraries, would trade discs with one another, and would copy CD’s for one another back home. No matter where we were in the world, AA batteries were easy to obtain, and just a handful of batteries would literally last weeks. It was a pocket-sized bit of luxury that we could carry with us, and I loved it. ......then, along came MP3 players and the ubiquitous ‘iPod’. Suddenly we could carry all of our music in a small space, and it seemed that the MiniDisc was dead. Within about 3 years everyone I knew had ditched the format and were literally giving away their discs and players, as were oil-rig workers, fishermen, and other locals who worked away from home for extended periods. I too, confined my MiniDisc collection to a box in the loft, and bought an iPod Classic. Fast-forward to 2005, and I deployed for a 4-month tour to Iraq. My iPod came with me, and I had the small luxury of my music collection to fall back on, OR SO I THOUGHT. By the second week I had the sickening ‘Sync Reset’ display (which of course was impossible without my PC) and in one fell swoop I lost my music. Other guys had problems with the portable power-generators cooking their wall-plug chargers, and soon quite a few of us had lost the use of our players, just when we would have appreciated them the most! Back home, and I was quickly falling out of love with my iPod. It seemed that whenever I updated my collection there would be issues with mixed/missing title-tracks and artwork. Any albums entitled ‘Greatest Hits’ would become an amalgamated mess, and whilst the battery-life seemed to get ever shorter, the demands for a ‘sync reset’ increased. The love was fading. I noticed something else, too. My listening habits were changing. My seemingly endless access to music made me a lazy listener, and I would frequently jump from album to album, track to track, and would often skip mid-way through a track. My days of listening to an album the way that the artist intended, had gone. This wasn’t music enjoyment. ....and so, by 2008 I was back to my MiniDisc, and what I revival it was! Equipment that had previously been prohibitively expensive was now dirt-cheap, and I was living the hobby like a millionaire! I soon had units for every occasion with Sony JA20ES and JA50ES decks for hifi use, numerous portable players, and a Pioneer MEH P9000 head-unit for the car. I could afford to be extravagant with discs, and my well used dozen or so swelled up to over 1,000. That was 10 years ago, and nothing much since then has changed. I still indulge in the childhood enjoyment of putting a ‘mixtape’ together in real-time, copying music from my CD’s and vinyl to Type-R SP to listen to in the car, or out walking the dog. Because space is at a premium my playlists are more carefully considered, and I listen to each track in full. My listening-habits are back to where they should be. In 20 years I can count on one hand the number of corrupted discs I’ve suffered, only ever having to re-copy one album. I keep discs and a spare player at work, in the summerhouse and in the car, and I have a physical, tangible connection with my music collection again. MiniDisc as a commercial format is dead, and I’m OK with that. It continues to live on in my household, and probably will do for years to come, maybe even for another decade or more. I continue to love the ‘forgotten format’, and those robust little discs give me everything I need.

Hi Folks, Long time no post, busy with child rearing. :-) I do stop by to read up on new posts and topics. I ran across this video on YouTube yesterday, sorry to post if everyone has already seen it but it was good to see and I wanted to share with all. Cheers!

It is currently admitted that the MZ-RH1 has the best DAC, ergo the best sound. I prefer however the sound of QS and ES Sony decks.

Hi all! So I've started a little project for myself. Minidisc never really caught on too well in canada so I won't be stmbling on any racks at the thrift shop anytime soon. I've been looking for storage solutions, haven't been a big fan of the wine box idea, generally I haven't seen anything that really caught my eye. For some reason it never dawned on me in the last year to 3D print some racks... I'm not sure why, I've been 3D printing everything else for years.... So I designed these up yesterday with some spare time. They're very rough still and very utilitarian. The larger one holds 10 discs and is meant to stack vertically (and has holes for nesting feet, and holes for screws). The smaller one to the right I haven't tested yet but I am thinking of a wall unit that makes the discs look like they are floating out of the wall. Edit wise I'm going to shrink the width by 2mm and perhaps put the discs at a slight downard angle rather than 90 degree so that if they were on an uneven surface, they'd still stay in the rack. What do you guys think? Feel free to toss any ideas my way! (also, for curiosity sake, the larger one took 8 hours to print! 3d printing is pretty cool but it's still a very slow process.) (The render) and printed

I got the drivers installed on my computer. I recommend watching this youtube video thats how i did it.

In case anyone is interested... I´ve written a review of the Sony MZ-R 50. http://marlene-d.blogspot.de/2013/07/the-legendary-sony-mz-r-50-review.html

I just wanted to say that it is nice to have some new members who are clearly MD lovers around to join in on the discussion and add new thoughts, ideas and opinions. Welcome all. :-)

Buy LIP-4 battery. First open all the cover of LIP-4. then you can small PCB. just remove the PCB using soldering iron or else. Do the same things with LIP-3 batteries. take the small PCB from LIP-3 and put to LIP-4 battery cell use soldering iron. Then cover you new battery, make sure it won't have electronics shortcuts. You'll have a new long lasting battery. It works on my MZ-N10.

I have a Sony MDS-JE780 for sale. It is silver and in mint condition as it has been hardly used. It is based in Wolverhampton so can be collected, or can be posted at additional cost. (I estimate about £7 with recorded delivery) £80 ono. Spec taken from the Sony website: Hybrid Pulse D/A Converter ATRAC DSP Type-S Long Time Recording and Playback (LP2, LP4) Pitch Control Scale Factor Edit NetMD Control A1 Keyboard Terminal 1 x Optical & 1 x Coaxial Input & 1 x Optical Output Available inblack and silverSee the link for more info.... http://www.sony.co.u...=TechnicalSpecs

MiniDisc is not useless; it's obsolete. There is a key difference. Nothing as multifaceted as a MiniDisc recorder can be said to be useless. That said, I think that even if Sony had marketed MiniDisc successfully, it would be obsolescent today because its competitors are more feature-rich. I have difficulty following some of the logic in this thread. MiniDisc and MP3 players both have shuffle functions. It's up to the user whether or not to use them, and absolutely nothing about an MP3 player compels one to do so. It SHOULD go without saying that either is just as capable of playing entire albums chronologically. You're arguing against your perceptions of MP3 users' supposed preferences, which are likely exaggerated and unfounded. The issue was the native functionality of the devices and which better suited the questioner. I still have my MiniDisc players, though I almost exclusively use my MP3 player (and never on shuffle). I may be returning to reporting soon and thus would use my MiniDisc to record, even though my MP3 player has a voice recorder. I also take out MiniDisc sometimes just for nostalgia. Whereas many of you are exalting album listening, I actually got into MiniDisc because it facilitated playlists, but now MP3 players do this better because the track need not be re-uploaded to form the playlist. Album listening has its advantages and purposes, but playlists demonstrate the user's creativity and make for great time travel. In my moments of nostalgia, I can call up playlists of the songs that defined eras I miss. It's a beautiful thing. One of you said you found MP3 players useless because they could not do all the things a MiniDisc player could. That depends on the MP3 player. (Further, it's a bogus statement because any mass storage device that plays music clearly has a twofold desirable purpose.) I actually can edit titles and move files on the go, but let's be honest: It is rare that such an act is of such pressing import that it can't wait until one gets home. My MP3 player is an Archos 5, which, like many MP3 players, has great sound quality, radio, a 250-gigabyte hard drive, a voice recorder, Wi-FI, Web radio and TV, DVR, picture display, and video. Useless because it's an MP3 player? Oh, brother. Much of this stems from your zeal to vindicate the MiniDisc, which I love. Another example is the citation of an intangible such as "cool factor," which lies in the eye of the beholder. Consider that being in the in-crowd like an Apple user can be said to be cool. Also, cool as in different just means anything opposed to the leading product, and that doesn't necessarily mean a MiniDisc. A lesser-known MP3 player can turn heads, but turning heads is not where the joy in product use lies. It is also flawed logic to assert that one likes MiniDisc because one prefers to carry around just a few albums. One can choose to listen to just a few on an MP3 player, first of all. The mere presence of all the other tracks you have neatly stored on the hard drive will not weigh heavily on the mind. Second, both MP3 players and MiniDiscs are mass storage devices. That's like one compulsive overeater defaming another because the other is even worse. That does not make you the icon of restraint; rather, you prefer a lesser example of excess. I do believe there still are real advantages to MiniDisc that relate to its native functionality. It's durable, sounds great, and records. It edges out MP3 in battery life, line-in recording, and usually voice recording. Actually, recording is where its greatest strength is now. Another strength is that different models are tailored to different uses; some have radio, some record and others have a digital amplifier, for instance. I love that my MP3 player works with Windows Media Player, which keeps track of the tracks you have and have not added to the device. Syncing automatically adds the new tracks. If I went back to MinDisc, I'd have to guess where I left off as I tried to upload all the music I have purchased since then to MiniDiscs. Also, I don't have to be bothered with SonicStage or ATRAC anymore, and I am glad. I don't have a second-generation Hi-MD player, so I can't put MP3s on them.

I have an N510 and a DN430. Both sound really good. I also have some S1's which, I know, are type R. They both sound excellent to me. I figured I'd take the (possible) slight noise quality hit and lack of remote for bombproof (especially in Orygun) performance of the S1. I can say those DN430's sound just fine. I think you can find that model with a radio too

I'm sat burning a new disc using Web MiniDisc Pro and an MZ-N910 whilst Googling @kgallen's new mixer. Always great to see you using the Pro decks for a show. Hope it all goes well!

Love his comments from c. 15.00 onwards. 😆

Just remembered this isn't the case as I bought an MDS-JE480 a few months back. No remote and a bit scruffy looking but I was only after the MDM-7S1A drive as a donor for an MDS-JB980 with a persistent C13 issue. Had an initial set back as the 480 threw up a C13 error and then refused to eject the disc I had put in it to test it worked but after a quick belt swap it seemed to be in good working order. A check in the service menus showed the 480 had far fewer "miles" on the clock than the 980 (21 rec/119 playback vs 108 rec/536 playback) so hopefully it'll have a fair bit of life left in it. Swapping the drive unit over was straightforward enough (had a bit of advice/moral support from @kgallen 👍) - almost a direct swap, although the drive in the 980 had an additional earth wire so I connected that to the donor drive as well, and I am now back up to a full complement of working 980s 🙂

I've not tried it but maybe Web MiniDisc or Platinum MD might be able to do it? Web MiniDisc: https://stefano.brilli.me/webminidisc/ / https://github.com/cybercase/webminidisc/wiki/Support-and-FAQ Platinum MD: https://platinum-md.app/ / https://github.com/gavinbenda/platinum-md#readme

Great news! Really glad you got it working again :-)

Hi, I'm new in the Minidisc world as i bought my first ever unit 2 days ago from the internet. The problem I have is that I cannot charge the flat battery(NH-10WN) of the MD. The adaptor is correct connected, and the battery is inserted correctly. I connect the adaptor to the plug of the MD and press the STOP/CANCEL/CRG button once and I get the display "Charging". After 2.5 hours I tried to play a disc but I was getting low battery, so I charged it for another 2.5 hours. That happened 4-5 times. The unit itself works ok when it"s connected to the adaptor. Am i doing something wrong or should i send the MD back to the place I bought it?

Disclaimer: I cannot be held responsible for whatever damage or loss, physical or mental, related to attempting to repeat something described in this post. It is provided for educational purposes only. Never disassemble electronic devices, especially batteries and battery packs, especially lithium ones, unless you have necessary proficiency and qualification in electronics. Recently I’ve acquired a Sony MZ-R30 Minidisc player. It’s a kinda fun format, but the fact that I had to use a 2AA case in order to enjoy my music was quite disappointing. After fiddling around with the dead LIP-12H that came with it, I came to a conclusion that it’s definitely a somehow packaged 18650 cell. Carefully prying it apart with a hard plastic spudger and an X-acto knife, here’s what I saw inside. Note: better pry in a direction outside the pack, as not to damage or short out anything And once you get the top case off... Sure thing, it’s a 18650 with a small protection/driver module. The battery turned out to be a Sony Energytec US18650S STG ICR Li-Ion cell. The voltage measured around 0.86V, so it’s definitely going to be discharged and then handed in at a battery recycling point, along with some others undercharged ones. To remove the battery, I cut the long positive zinc terminal behind the cell by bending it a bit outward, and carefully cutting the zinc stripe in half. Then I pulled hard on the cell and it detached from the bottom negative cell tab which was soldered directly on the protection circuit. Afterwards, pulling the remaining positive tab got it free. Don’t throw them away just yet, instead make them nice and flat (and cut off the “tail” of the positive one”). For easier working, I also cut the remainder of the positive tab’s tail that was still attached to the protection board so that it would just form a soldering pad on the board itself, instead of completely desoldering it. Now I had to find a replacement cell. I’ve done a big old laptop battery teardown this summer, and even though 2 of the salvaged ones were already undervolted, and 4 more were rendered useless by lending a 18650 powerbank to a classmate who let them down to 2.05, I couldn’t get myself to buying new cells, and that’s why I kept the tabs. It would be great if I had a Li-Ion cell welding machine, but so far, I just went on and soldered a piece of wire from an ATA (IDE) cable onto the remaining square pad, and the other end onto the remaining zinc tail on the positive input of the protection circuit. Then I picked a replacement cell, my choice was a Panasonic CGR18650C, because they seemed to be somewhat good looking and are what I had at hand (I have plenty of other Sony ones, but just 2 of these after the other 4 ones died, which doesn’t even make them a viable powerbank set :P). Finding datasheets for both original and replacement cells was a hard time, but, from what I could tell, the Panasonic ones can easily survive 1428mA charging current, and the original Sony one had a 1C rating, thus, a 1350mA maximum charging current. So, since 1428mA is less than 1350mA, we should be safe Afterwards I used some electrical tape to secure the pads to the cell, because as you should know by now, one should never ever solder directly to a Li-Ion cell, and I don’t have a cell welding tool. I made sure it’s as tight as possible so that the playback would not interrupt, and then secure the cell to the original casing. The top cover, however, decided not to fit onto such a strange construction, so… you might try and do better Yeah, that’s not something you would be fine with taking out at an airport or something Sliding it in also became a bit harder than it was originally, because of the changed size, plus one has to observe the wire so that it won’t get stuck in the way somewhere along the slide and short out onto the case (should’ve used more electrical tape, yeah). The player is now back to fully working order! Now I can enjoy my music without stretching my pockets due to the overweight external AA battery compartment size. Charging the battery inside the player right now with a Sony PSP 1.5A charger and the battery doesn’t seem to even get any hot, even though the battery gauge shows weird things, so I’d call it a success. Not the best way it could be done, but clearly a success. Let me know if it's helpful - Ak.

maybe a worn out or defect fuse on the PSU ? Do you hear a clicking relais when you try to power on ?

The 14650 was higher capacity - but this causes no problems - a side benefit is longer playtime. - Also battery was quoted as having protection built in - however, I didn't bypass the existing circuit in the empty case - just inserted the new battery.

hi bonbonneke, Sonic Stage 4.3 works fine on my Win 10 64 with MZ-RH1. Maybe it's the upgrade procedure that's causing an issue. I have installed my Windows 10 from scratch. Have you tried to make a clean re-installation of Sonic Stage?

From mininidisc.org browser, NH1 battery Your battery replace Sony NH-14WM, NH-10WM, NH-10WM B for Sony minidisc as said in the web page details. So if somebody can tell us want is the difference between Nh-10WM B and A. Thick size maybe ?

My future choices will be to get more decks. SP only with type R or MDLP type S decks. Mobile units : - to save your money, SP +/- MDLP units (Hi-MD are more expensive) - I prefer a SP than a MDLP recording (comptability, better quality) - old and solid units for listening with AA side battery if you can - one or two more recent units with type R for recording SP, or MDLP type S if you record and and listen to MDLP. - a large stock of MD blanks (more than 100) + storage

Nothing to hide. Here is a set of pictures taken right now, with different views of unit, package box, manuals, etc., as recommended by PhilippeC

Hi. Everyone. Recently. My Korean minidisc community have a great project about metal sticker. We want to make metal sticker using the minidisc logo. So, we make a vector picture file and order some company. And Today. I received it!! (^^*) It's really beautiful. In addition, it's really amazing price. We have ordered 4300 metal sticker, and It's price is just $350. How do you think about it? Isn't it great?(^^*) I'll use these stickers on the my RMP media..(^^*) I attach the gold on the front and silver on the back. In Korea, some users are really love and enjoy their minidisc life. And We love all of minidisc uesrs in the world..(^^*) Thank you.Thank you again. I really like this forum cause of many minidisc users are still using the minidisc.

A Love Letter To The Humble MiniDisc by Ian Hawkins 26 July 20132 Comments While it may never have the romance of vinyl, the news that Sony have stopped making Minidisc players is sad. Another fondly remembered technology bites the dust, so long old friend.... To look back on the past is to see the ocean we have travelled, pulled by tides and pushed by currents through storms and calm, and memories are buoys plotting our lives. These markers are songs, flavours, objects, and occasionally something unexpected: I couldn’t tell you what we were dancing to in the year 2000, but whatever it was, my summer soundtrack lived on a minidisc. The minidisc sits between the CD and the MP3. The early promise of the CD – Tomorrow’s World said they were unbreakable – was turning sour. CDs are many things, but incorruptible they are not, as anyone who has tried to change one mid-sex before wiping down their hands with a lint-free cloth will agree. The limitations of the CD became obvious when they tried to make the players portable: anyone who bought a Sony Discman soon tired of the jittery sound experience, the device falling into disuse even before the batteries had run down, which in those days was about when you reached the bottom of the driveway. The gentle glide with which portable CD players had to be coaxed from A to B at least popularised rollerblades (of which, sure enough I had a pair in 1998). The minidisc solved all this. Encased in plastic, the disc was protected from dust and KY jelly alike. It was smaller even than a cassette, you could name the tracks so they ticketed across a liquid crystal display, and the content could be ordered and shuffled much as on an MP3 player (though there was only an hour to play with rather than x thousand tracks). You could lend to a friend without having to enable their computer, delete unwanted tracks, and they even came in snazzy jewel cases to assure you that you were inhabiting the future: next up, the silver onesie and a flying car. What went wrong? Timing. My father drummed into me the importance of buying quality: brought up in the 50s, he liked things to be solid, reliable, lasting. When dad shattered his kneecap on his own home-made coffee table, he took the four subsequent operations as the ultimate compliment to his craftsmanship. Convalescing, he sat with his foot on the offending (and unharmed) table, his brain on Mogadon, watching movies on Betamax. Though I didn’t know it at the time, this was a scene loaded with symbolism. Sadly, the minidisc was an evolution in a revolutionary world. Pencil in hand, the designer sits at his desk and begins to construct from the component parts of celebrities, the perfect woman. Imagine his horror when, instead, off the production belt rolls an unholy portmanteau of his ex-wives. Such is the minidisc. Like the designer, my father makes the most of what is, rather than what could be: high fidelity was his mantra until he went deaf. His was an infinitely adjustable stack of equipment that could deliver only to the listener who gave this shrine of valves and turntables their rapt attention. Today, it’s a question of volume in an entirely different sense: so many songs in so small a unit. And the medium dictates the message: songs are produced to sound good under compression, and as teenagers play their songs through the gnat’s-chuff sized speakers of a smartphone, bass lines are inaudible. So sure enough, some recent releases have no bass line at all. Reproducing music used to be the responsibility of a piece of furniture; today, it’s another thing that your mobile does between calls. This is old news to the British Library who have amassed weird devices for extracting the sound from an even weirder collection of media. Wax discs and magnetic tape are at least analogue and easy to play; when it comes to digital media – CDs, minidiscs, MP3s – it’s not enough to read the zeroes and ones. They have to be decoded to make sense. Minidiscs are most secure data storage system ever to reach the mass market. Extracting that data decades hence may prove difficult. I accept that the minidisc is never going to have the romance of the vinyl record.Vinyl fans rhapsodise about the experience, physical and auditory, of gently nestling the needle into the crackling groove. Sliding a plastic square into a slot, so a hidden laser can read data doesn’t stimulate the senses in quite the same way. It’s a midnight campfire against a microwave oven. My minidiscs reside in a shoebox in the attic, immune to the ravages of time, awaiting conversion to MP3. And as the last song reaches the Cloud (or whatever we have by the time I get round to it), I shall box up my minidisc player, and deliver it to the British Library Sound Archive so that our descendent anthropologists can hear again with perfect clarity the sound of 2000. http://sabotagetimes.com/reportage/a-love-letter-to-the-humble-minidisc/

320mp3 does not sound better converted to sp. its the unit you play back the sp on that sounds better. sp does sound better straight from cd...

My thoughts exactly ... unless it's a Sony MZ-E730

Always fancied one of these myself. There is a possibility I even have one somewhere - I have so much stock stored away I have actually forgotten exactly what I do have! The only Denons I remember looking at had Sharp drive units, but this one looks to have a Sony drive that I don't recognise. The laser unit is certainly Sony, as is the ATRAC chip. But the rest of the electronics looks to be pure Denon? The drive may be a Denon unit using a Sony laser and overwrite head, of course. Those errors you are experiencing lead me to think you have a spindle motor error, probably the servo control for that motor. Are you in the UK? The unit is heavy I believe, but if you are willing to courier it over to me I am willing to take a look, so long as you realise it will not be a priority repair so may take some weeks. Jim

- one MZ-R55 from Holland - one MZ-N710 from France - one MZ-NH700 from UK - two deck remotes - maybe my JA555ES repaired this time Perhaps more !

I have a wall of discontinued formats. MD will go up there soon, next to DAT.

try to delete all your converted atrac files and then optimize the database.

Actually this is the best system I rip my music to FLAC -- all of it. Now when I want to transfer to MD I create a NERO image audio CD xxx.nrg Needs the Mega plugin pack to handle FLAC but freely available overthe Internet I then in a Windows XP virtual machine mount the audio CD I've created with ALCOHOL 52% - the FREE version as a "virtual CD". Simple burner picks it up immediately and I can transfer to MD straight away. If i've created a copy of an original CD simple burner will get the track info from Gracenote CDDB just like burning from a "Real" CD. Cheers -K

I agree that for all intents and purposes, MD is dead, but I still voted for it to be revived. Not just because of my love for the format, but there are some reasons that I think are viable. One, despite the fact that great strides have been made in solid state/flash memory players and recorders, we STILL have CDs, vinyl and even CASSETTES (though blanks) being sold. The latter two don't have a large following of people using them, but there are enough to justify them being put out on the market. I feel the same can be said for MD, particularly if one takes a look at the sales going on in sites like Ebay. Two, it's still a dependable format. From what I've seen, soild state versions of playing/recordable units are still prone to failure, either by units breaking down, and/or memory problems. Granted, this is improving, but considering that even to this day I can take a minidsc out of my player, throw it on the ground, pop it back in and it will still play, and they can last for a pretty long time in storage, and today's tech can't really match that, that says a lot. You have to be careful storing audio files in memory sticks, hard drives and such; one misstep and everything is gone. DVD and CD archiving are better, but they're still prone to scratching. This is the main reason why my albums and songs, as well as old lectures, interviews, and speeches I've recorded, are all backed up on minidisc. Three, the demand is still there. I'm not naive enough to think it's a huge demand, but there is enough of us out there to support a niche market. And considering how cheap it must be to churn out blanks, there is no reason to think Sony or another company stands to lose a whole lot of money... provided they market this correctly. That is, of course, the rub; they haven't done this well in the past. But if they are selling to a group of people who are already bought on the idea, and they do it right, it can make them some money. And word of mouth will attract a few more customers. I'm confidant in that last part, since I still turn heads whenever I pull one of my recorders out, and new people show up here from time to time. So the spark of interest is there, just waiting for someone competent to fan into flames. I'm not saying this could be easy to do... or that we have a chance in hell of ever seeing it happen. But it could be done.

Why I can`t download drivers for my SHARP IM-DR410 from "downloads"?

MDLP recordings (LP2/LP4) are transferred as-is, SP/MONO recordings are by default transcoded to Hi-SP, however you can choose to have them uploaded as PCM (recommended). You can choose to have uploads automatically converted to WAV, or manually do it afterward. The resulting WAV can of course be converted to your format of choice. P.S. The RH1 is essentially the same as the M200. The only difference is the price and the fact that the M200 comes with a bundled microphone. You will probably find an RH1 for a good bit less money.

You are not using the newest version.. The newest version is 1.00 beta 4 And the problem you're having is probably due to the bug in previous versions not handling mp3 tracks within oma file properlly.. In 0.54 and prior versions these types of tracks produced small files containing static. Just like you described. This was fixed in 1.00 beta 1 ... I recommend you try the LATEST 1.00 beta 4