JMay

I joined a couple of months ago, it's a pretty nice group, they answer all sorts of MD questions.

It'll be fun just to look at the different designs on these blank minidiscs - they're absolutely pretty! Now the pre-recorded ones, they're kind of plain by comparison, but looking at the different colors and designs will be enough to make you want to try to collect them all.

From what I could find, if you're looking for MD equipment that is PACKED with features (such as my hi-fi), the best bet is the japanese auctions (by using the auction deputy services). If you do try that, be mindful of the shipping cost because that can be quite high at times.

There's a lot more out there, that's for sure - Kain_ I'll have some pics of my unit asap - I've been busy lately.

As many of you know already, MiniDisc was at its most popular in Japan, in fact music in that format (Pre-recorded MDs) have been released and sold there as recent as 2010 (!) So not surprisingly, Japan has PLENTY of nice units that play and record MDs. I've been a regular user of an auction deputy service that allows you to bid on Japanese auction sites (most commonly Yahoo!). Recently I have won a bookshelf MD Unit made by Aiwa in 2003 - and I am in LOVE with it! Take a look: Here are some of its awesome features: the display changes colors (511 according to its manual!) Its FM covers the world spectrum (76-108), though the AM tuning is in japanese steps (9 khz starting from 531 - I don't use AM) You can record in different ways - from Radio to MD,CD, or Cassette, from AUX to MD,CD, or cassette, From CD to MD or Cassette, From Cassette to MD or CD The bass on this (called i-bass) is UNBELIEVABLE and comes in two modes, iBass1 or iBass2. The Cassette deck is right on the top of the unit (that little slot at the top) This thing also has a mode where it will tell you what day it is when you turn it on - it notes important birthdays as well as Japanese holidays. On a humorous note, yesterday, it mentioned that it was Greenery Day, though that was actually changed to Showa Day in 2007 (this thing was made in 2003). More about Greenery Day in Japan (it's like our Earth Day): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenery_Day Minidisc.org has a little section on this unit here: http://www.minidisc.org/part_Aiwa_XR-MJ1.html So this is a pretty sweet unit, and the sound is just awesome. It was also cheaper than I thought. When I won it at an auction, it was about 6000 Yen (around 60 bucks or so), though the shipping (from Japan, remember)...yikes. So, have any of you thought about getting any MD units from Japan? Have there been a few you've been drooling over, like I did over this one? If you did manage to get one, please show it off here!

I was fortunate to discover a Sony Mz-R50 in Orange the other day. According to the guy who sold it, this color was only available in Japanese models. It's pretty, that's for sure. I like black and white, but I really like to have a device that's in a more distinctive color. What is your preferred color of MD player and why?

I love the Sharp MD portables a lot, especially the MD-MT877, it's just a nice looking unit and it has MDLP capability. On good headphones or earbuds the bass is really nice.

In my case, I'm perfectly happy with taking the WAVs, and converting them to MP3 with Audacity (it's free, btw).

I haven't tried LP4 yet, but I have used LP2 for recording some radio shows, one broadcast in mono and one in stereo. I really don't hear any real difference, but just like Arr-Nine-Hundred (LOL, cool name!), I've been used to MP3 for a long time, though I've also dabbled in OGG.

In total, how much would that be for the whole thing (BEAUTIFUL looking collection)? I can only imagine the music on those discs!

1. How old were you when you first 'bought into' the format? That would be my current age, only looked into it this summer thanks to a guy who had a nice collection of J-pop on a bunch of minidiscs, and he had a player to go with it.. When it was more common, the gear for it was well out of my price range (i.e. I didn't have a job). 2. Do you still regularly use your very first player? That would be the MZ-RH1 and I'm using it right now. 3. Do you regularly 'use' your items, or are some purely of interest as a 'collector'? Both, if I collect gear, I want it to actually work. 4. Do you listen to 'new' music on your discs, or prefer to keep the format for music 'of the era'? Again, that japanese guy and his mix MDs are as much of 'the era' as I have now, mainly stuff from the late 90s. What I add to it is a bit of old and current stuff. 5. Do you own more items than you can 'practically use'? Maybe so, but only because a lot of these were in lots that were pretty damn cheap, haha. 6. Did you 'go away' from MiniDisc', only to return to it at a later date? See my answer to Question 1. 7. Do you associate use of your player with 'fond memories', or is it a purely 'practical' consideration? Since I never owned one back in the day, I can't really say it's for fond memories. Most of my music is either MP3 or CD. As much as I like using Mp3s on my smartphone or MP3 player, I am sick of having to go through constant players with irreplaceable batteries or with the worry that the music I have can be lost if the cloud goes down. I missed touching the music I own, but I've been so busy with the job I have MP3s saved time. But last night, I made a mix MD for the very first time. It was a painstaking process titling every song (made somewhat easier by the jogwheel on the MZ R50 I also own), but yet I enjoyed every minute. Hearing the finished product was pretty great too. I used to make mix tapes all the time before I got busy with other things, so it felt great to try it on Minidisc for the first time. Hope my answers are helpful to you..

LOL, that's a nice looking home, though. Seriously, if the purple version isn't that rare, how come the silver one is pretty common on places like eBay or even Amazon and the purple ones pop up once in a blue moon (if even that often?)

Actually you didn't 'break a dream' at all, haha. I was just researching this one and the silver ones are the most common and I just thought the purple ones were one of those 'prototype models' they just show in ads. I was surprised to find one in an auction at all. I just thought it was better looking in purple, anyway. Maybe since I got it from Japan, the purple ones were exclusively Japanese models?

I use a deputy service to buy stuff from overseas, usually Japan. A couple months ago I made a bid on an MZ-R37 through that service on a Japanese auction - and it turned out to be the only bid. It just happened to be the Purple version of the MZ-R37. I heard it here and there was rare, but there isn't much info about it. Is it really THAT rare? One guy said it was "the rarest one on the planet". Is that true? FYI, it came with a pair of headphones and a remote and works perfectly. It's in very good physical shape too - one thing about Japanese second-hand stuff from my experience, nine times out of ten it looks and acts like new (with a few minor marks here and there).

A little vinegar on a Q-Tip or toothbrush usually does the trick. I had one machine that had corrosion, and didn't work with the battery I had, but once I cleaned it it was working just fine. A LOT of people have no idea that battery corrosion usually isn't so difficult to clean

I was busy with coursework, so I finally installed Sonicstage Ultimate (from this forum, of course) along with the NetMD driver (again, from this forum). Both installed with no problem. I had an RH1 with a regular MD that had some stuff on it, so I tested the software off. I should tell you that I was doing this on a laptop with Windows 7 Home Premium (which was notoriously not working with SonicStage according to some). Long story short, I managed to get the stuff off of the MD into my Library, then did the WAV conversion and saved it on my desktop. One trip to Audacity later, I got it on my smartphone. So, for those of you who were too nervous to try SonicStage on your Windows 7 Home Premium (64 Bit), I'm here to tell you that as long as you got it from this forum, it'll work just fine - no compatibility mode, no tinkering. It'll work out of the box. You should install the Net MD driver if you want to transfer stuff from standard MiniDiscs. It's really painless. Thanks to whoever fixed up SonicStage so that it could survive into 2013 - big ups. And thanks to all of you who assured me that this would not break my computer, I feel a lot better now. What sort of cool Minidisc tricks should I try now that I got everything set up?

Hi, everybody. I'll keep my profile short and sweet. I like most people have a smartphone and an MP3 player...until the battery becomes crap and you remember that you can't remove it, and the warranty is long expired. Last summer I got something interesting from Japan - A small Minidisc player with some minidiscs with J-Pop on it. I've loved J-Pop for years, but I was never really into Minidisc. I guess because for most of its run I couldn't afford the gear. Lately I really miss having my music on something physical with a battery that I can replace after a quick trip to the corner store. So, looking at some of those discs, a couple of them had some stuff I didn't care for. Now that I have a job, I just decided to try to go into minidiscs to see what I can do with them. I must say, it has been really fun being able to record and re-record on these. As "Obsolete" as these are, they are really good for me, because they don't a lot of space, and I'm strangely reassured when I hear those discs jangling in my bag going to work. Since I've started I have a few recorders, such as the Sony MZR30 and R50, but also (Hope it's okay to mention other brands) the Sharp MD-MT77, which is really tiny but is really good. The first and most expensive one I have is the MZ-M200 (RH1). It works well, but I can't really get into it like I want because the battery for that is crapped out. DO you guys have any suggestions on alternatives or any other MD tips? I have Windows 7 64 Bit Home Premium and I want to try SonicStage, but I love my computer so I'm nervous, reading the various posts about its errors. I have already downloaded it from the 'downloads' section, do I need to download anything else?