BearBoy

Ha, sorry @Jeff Massey, I did wonder why you were asking the question on here but (wrongly) assumed it was a more general question. Sadly, I would imagine the chances of an official MD release are pretty much zero. Not sure when the last proper pressed MDs were released but it must have been years ago. Some independent artists/labels do put out releases on standard blank recordable MDs with artwork (mainly electronic stuff) but I don't recall ever seeing any from major artists like Mike Oldfield. You never know though, bands have started releasing things on cassette again... There's a list of some the more recent independent releases here: https://www.minidisc.wiki//releases/start (that list does include a handful of commercially released MDs from the 90s/early 00s but is mainly the newer non-pressed stuff). The other alternative might be to make one yourself? Grab yourself an original style case from here: https://www.retrostylemedia.co.uk/product/full-size-minidisc-case-with-a-black-inner-tray, record to a blank disc and print up some inserts etc yourself 🙂 Probably not what you had in mind when asking the question though...

There's a 50th Anniversary Blu-ray Audio disc coming out with various Atmos / 5.1 / Quad mixes of Tubular Bells but I think it's now sold out: https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/mike-oldfield-tubular-bells-50th-anniversary-sde-exclusive-blu-ray/ The anniversary CD and vinyl editions look like they're coming out on the 26th of May: https://hmv.com/store/music/cd/tubular-bells-50th-anniversary-edition https://hmv.com/store/music/vinyl/tubular-bells-50th-anniversary-edition Is that what you meant or is the "Final 50th Anniversary Album" something different?

Another interesting curio, @Richard. Where do you find all these sets? I like the burgundy colour. Nicer than a lot of the brighter reds most of my coloured MDs came in. Is there any music on the MD or cassette? Just noticed the tracklisting on the cassette inlay (seem to be pastiches of Beatles songs?).

Saw a link to this website on the r/minidisc Reddit this morning: https://md543.jimdofree.com/ It's in Chinese (according to Google translate*) but there are some great photos and (Japanese) catalogue scans. The timeline seems to stop in 2004, so it doesn't have the very last generation of devices, but it's still an interesting place to while away some time 🙂 * Although it translated the caption for 2003 as "Nourishing Goose" so I'm not sure how accurate it is... 🤣

Funnily enough I was just doing the same and couldn't find one either. The receiver itself does have an inbuilt equaliser. Not sure if that might achieve what @N Gauge England -Synthematix- is looking for?

But I think you might need a tape monitor function on the receiver for that to work?

If your receiver has a pre-amp output then you can use that. Otherwise I think you need to connect the tape out of the amp to the input of the graphic equaliser and the output of the graphic equaliser to the tape in on the amp.

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:

That's remarkably cheap. Any idea if it ignores/strips SCMS? I'm guessing it more than likely does?

Ah, fair enough. Just saw the output on the back and thought it might be worth checking.

The STR-DB940 has an optical digital output for connecting a MiniDisc deck. Do you get the same low volume if you use that rather than the analogue outputs? What if you use the Tape analogue output rather than the MiniDisc one?

I was the opposite. All my titling back in the day was done using the remote that came with my MDS-JE500. I only discovered the joys of PS2 keyboards and computer based titling in the last few years. I don't remember using the remote being that much of a chore at the time but the later developments certainly made things much easier. I've also now got what I suppose is the deck equivalent of this: Control A1II between my CDP-XB740 and MDS-JB940.

New Techmoan MiniDisc video uploaded today: Anyone got an RK-TXT1 and compatible CD/MD machines?

Hi @Travis Gibson, welcome to the forum! Interesting information. Thanks for sharing. I don't have an MZ-E33 but just took a look at the Service Manual for my MZ-E30 and that does say that you need the hold button on the player to be ON to enter the test mode. I wonder if there was a later, corrected, revision of the MZ-E33 Service Manual?

Haha 😆

Here's a quick snap of my new MZ-E720: Richard's photo posts have inspired me to take some better pictures of my portables so I'll try to get some nicer photos together. Size wise, it's smaller than my MZ-E520 and MZ-E620 but a fraction larger than an MZ-E909.

I like the matching blank in the last picture 👍

Interesting. Do they use the same gumstick type batteries as the Sony players? I don't really remember seeing any JVC/Victor players in the UK back in the day, and they don't seem to come up very often on eBay UK either. Were they Japan only? Was a long time ago though so I might be misremembering.

The flashing lights sound like quite a cool feature. Don't suppose they do much for the battery life though 🤔. My new MZ-E720 only has a single light but you can disable this to prolong the battery life.

Other than those business dictaphone machines, I don't think I've ever seen a MiniDisc portable with a built in speaker. What's the sound quality like?

Yeah, that's a really nice colour. Is the casing metal or plastic?

Sure, will take a couple of pics tomorrow.

I've been away for a couple of days (tail end of the school Easter holidays here in the UK) but arrived home to a small package containing an MZ-E720. First impressions are good: all functional, nice and small, metal case. It's got the fairly standard specs for the later Sony portables (Type-S, HD Digital Amp, VPT Acoustic Engine etc). Like with the MZ-E620 I picked up a while back, I've only been able to find a Japanese manual but Google translate seems to have done a fairly decent job of rendering it comprehensible. Cosmetically it's in pretty good nick, just got some minor scuffing on the shiny silver swoosh thing on the front. Looking at pictures before I received it, I'd assumed this was clear plastic over a metallic looking base (so was intending to give it a buff with some of the Polywatch that @Richard recommended) but it's actually shiny silver plastic (I think). Not sure if the Polywatch would be a good idea for that?

I wasn’t that far off then 🤣

Looking at the user manual, the diagram would suggest the button should stay in when the deck is on?