Syndil

I hear ya. I was surprised to see how much these things were going for, and of course the shipping alone is pretty steep. I'll put it up on eBay in a week or two and let the market decide what it's really worth. Maybe it won't go for nearly that much. But of course there's still the shipping.

Based on what I have seen other tabletop stereos go for, and because this is complete in the original box with packaging, I'm thinking I should price it at $500 US plus shipping. Shipping is estimated to be about $141 US to Australia for a large 15lb box.

Pics and video of the Aiwa. Just picked it up from my mom's. Don't have any MDs with me to test. It's slightly dusty but not too bad. It's been stored in the original box and packaging for a very long time. PXL_20210207_011134365.mp4

Yes, all of them

I have it packed up in its original box and packaging right now so it should still be good. It's in my mom's basement so I'll have to go retrieve it. I'll be visiting her Saturday

I do still have the Aiwa CSD-MD5. Is that what you're referring to?

Late on the reply. But yes, still have them. Getting ready to sell everything now. My Sony MDX-C8970 HU will be going up on eBay shortly.

Hey thanks, I am glad that such a site exists. I will check it out. If you want more pictures for your collection, check out the Internet Archive's record of Minidisco.com. Lots and lots of pics of blank media as well as players, decks, etc. http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http://www.minidisco.com Minidisco is out of business so I don't think they will mind.

Here's my unopened blank collection. Please let me know if there's anything rare I would be better off selling than using. All of these came from Minidisco.com and have Japanese Kanji on the packaging (usually by the UPC code, if not on the front), if that means anything.

I have a DMD-1000 that occasionally misbehaves. Sometimes it will refuse to eject an MD, sometimes it will spit one back out after inserting it.

Curious to know if this was ever resolved.

DSO is Dynamic Soundstage Organizer. Basically it uses DSP trickery to fool your ears into thinking that, instead of listening to speakers in your doors, kick panels and front and rear decks, you are listening to a set of stereo speakers directly in front of you. It's different from listening position optimization, which my unit also has, which simply deals with delays to center the stereo sweet spot. DSO uses digital trickery to fool your ears into thinking you are sitting in a stereo listening room instead of a car. I assume it's the same sort of digital trickery Sony used in their MDR-DS5000 virtual Dolby surround headphones... Which I also own. In my HU, the 8 different DSO modes are: E-STD (e = enhanced, basically means DSO is turned on) E-Club E-Live E-Wide (places the virtual speakers farther away and farther apart for more stereo separation) EW-Club (EW-enhance, wide) EW-Live Live Club I generally keep mine on E-STD most of the time, but depending on the material I sometimes use E-Wide or EW-Live. Rockbox is definitely not as pretty and refined as the built-in GUI on my Gigabeat, but it gets the job done. Worth it for FLAC.

Thanks for the replies. Never been a member of the cult of Apple, but I do have a Toshiba Gigabeat F40 running Rockbox firmware with FLAC support. The only thing keeping me tied to my Sony Mobile ES HU is the superior DSP which has not been surpassed or even matched as far as I can tell. Hard to believe as old as it is. But, after Mobile ES, DSO got dumbed down to a single mode with only 3 levels, whereas my unit has 8 DSO modes with 5 level adjustments each. So that's essentially 40 DSO modes to fine tune the soundstage with, as opposed to 3. And Sony's newest generation of digital media receiver HUs lack DSO entirely. I simply cannot have a HU without DSO after having experienced what it can do. But seeing as how I'm not sitting on a mint here, I guess I'll just keep everything and burn a few more CDs to MD.

Hi everyone. Just moved recently, so I've been sorting through all the stuff I have in storage, deciding what to keep and what to bring back into service. I've already got most of my older, high-end stereo components back in service, but I am trying to decide what to do with all of my Minidisc stuff. Really the only place I use Minidisc on a regular basis is in my car, since I have a Sony ES Minidisc HU in there that is still superb, despite its age. But as I started getting to the MInidisc stuff in storage, nostalgia kicked in, and I'm thinking I might get back into it. I think the deciding factor for me might be the actual value of the equipment. In other words, the stuff might be worth more to me converted to cash than it would be to keep it. Just depends on how desirable the stuff is. Yes, I know how to go on eBay and look at what stuff is selling for, but it seems with MD stuff the prices vary wildly. What I would really like to know is more an assessment of the quality of the items, and how rare and in-demand this stuff would be to members of the MD community--you guys. If it's ho-hum average componentry, I might just hang on to it, but if it's something a real MD enthusiast would desire, then maybe I'll pass it along to someone who wants it more than I do. Note that I can be rather OCD about some things, so I have all the original packaging and manuals for everything, and everything is in like-new or nearly like-new condition. So, here's what I have: Sony MDX-C8970 Mobile ES head unit http://www.minidisc...._MDX-C8970.html Sony MZ-R37 portable MD recorder http://www.minidisc....ony_MZ-R37.html Aiwa CSD-MD5 personal stereo system with CD to MD recording http://www.minidisc.org/part_Aiwa_CSD-MD5.html Denon DMD-1000 full-size stereo component MD recorder/player http://www.minidisc....n_DMD-1000.html and about 40 to 60 blank MDs, various brands/types, unopened, most in multi-packs. So is this the type of stuff you guys really drool over and would chomp at the bit for a chance to own, or should I just put it back into service? I imagine the HU would be the most desirable, but it is also the one unit I am least willing to replace unless I can find something of equal or better quality to replace it with. I have not found such a HU yet.

MDX-C8970. Last Sony Mobile ES unit made, does include switchable amber/green illumination. The text illumination appears to be a white-ish OLED or fluorescent backlit job, but regular buttons and controls are all amber/green. It is not obnoxious looking like Sony's later X-Plod stuff. Looks high-end, as that's what it is. This unit cost $700 when new. http://www.minidisc.org/part_Sony_MDX-C8970.html Includes voice activated controls, 7-band EQ, 6-channel electronic crossover control, Dynamic Soundstage Organizer, and listening position optimization. The DSP functions on this unit are very impressive, and the reason I have not yet attempted to find a replacement for my own. I prefer a clean signal path at home, but in the car, the DSP provided by the MDX-C8970 can make an enormous improvement on the soundstage compared to listening to an unmolested signal, especially the DSO and the listening position optimization. Speakers in cars are usually in doors, kick panels, or firing up at the windshield or rear window. The DSO really does make it sound like the speakers are where they ought to be. On this unit, there are 8 DSO modes to choose from, but I usually stick with E-STD. Listening position optimization centers the stereo "sweet spot" on where you are. You can set it for front left, front right, front, rear, or all. If you're driving alone, you'll want front right, naturally. I believe this was in fact the best MD head unit made, and it does meet your wish of having amber illumination. Good luck finding one, however.