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Daniyar Nurgaliev has kindly made translations of several Sony technical papers on Minidisc: Sony's original paper on ATRAC Sony's original paper on the MiniDisc System Our FAQ on Sony's Hi-MD evolution of MiniDisc

Gasper Halipovich kindly translates the Sony Minidisc and ATRAC technical papers into Slovenian.

André Nieuwlaat kindly points out a substitute battery for the Aiwa AM-F65/70 to keep the machine going even though the original battery is no longer available.

Anja Skrba kindly translates the original Sony ATRAC article into Serbo-Croatian.

I am looking for a preferably UK based user of Minidisc to briefly comment on why they love using the technology today, as part of an article on old gadgets for a national UK newspaper. If you are interested, drop me a line at tmlvrz@gmail.com

From Slashdot: The BBC reports that Sony, the creators of the MiniDisc audio format, are to deliver their last MiniDisc stereo system in March (March 2013). Launched over 20 years ago in late 1992 as a would-be successor to the original audio cassette, MiniDisc outlasted Philips' rival Digital Compact Cassette format, but never enjoyed major success outside Japan. Other manufacturers will continue making MiniDisc players, but this is a sign that — over ten years after the first iPod — the MiniDisc now belongs to a bygone era." I think 20 years for an audio format is a pretty good run (Minidisc Walkman units ceased production in 2011). -Eric W.

Jimma Panik kindly sends in service manuals for the Kenwood KMD-671R (car MD) and Sony MDS-JB920 MDS-JB920 MDS-S38 MZ-DH10P MZ-E70 MZ-E710 MZ-G755 MZ-N910 MZ-NF520D MZ-R701 MZ-R910 and MZ-RH910. Did you know that the MDS-101 (Sony's first MD deck) had separate ATRAC chips for the left and right channels?

Many sources are reporting today that Sony will cease Minidisc production in September. The format has had a great 19 year run during which Sony sold over 22 million devices. Bookshelf HiFi systems and blank MD media will continue to be produced for another year.

Philippe Bergheaud kindly sends along the Sony DKR-700 digital still-image recorder's user operation manual (in French and English). This unit is industrial lab equipment that uses MD-DATA Minidiscs for storage.

Gerd Reichardt kindly sends in his scan of the English Panasonic SJ-MJ50 manual.

A reader kindly points out that 3 refurbished Sony MZ-M200 portable MD recorders with full warranty are available from Sony.

Make Magazine has an interesting article detailing Sony's history of working against their customer's efforts to do new things with Sony hardware. In Make's article they encourage sending a polite letter to Sony (using their press contact page) asking them to drop their lawsuit against George Holtz. Read the letter we sent: +++ Dear Sony, As longtime fans of Sony products and innovation, we ask that you find a way to embrace the work that enthusiastic explorers like George Hotz are putting into your products. We are sure that there is a natural synergy between the pioneering work that Sony does and the experimentation and discovery work of Sony's most avid users. Please drop your suit against George Hotz and find your way to encouraging this synergy rather than thwarting it. Thank you, Eric Woudenberg Minidisc.org

Carlos kindly sends in photos of his Marantz MD-19 deck

Happy New Year! We've updated the search box to use the Google site-search feature. Please let us know if you find any problems.

Darrin at PausePlayStop.com (n

Feeling like the old days: The Equipment Browser has been updated with entries for the Sony MZ-EH70 and MZ-EH50 portable Hi-MD players. Thanks kindly to Jan Sundström for pointing them out. (Any other gear we're missing?)

Mr. Fussy kindly points out the MZ-RH1 service manual

It's time to open the archives. We've found dozens of previously un-posted Sony service manuals and have added them to the Equipment Browser (entries in red have had a service manual added to them). We are also now allowing directory indexing on all our manuals directories. Better late than never.

Please welcome Phil Roberson of MinidiscAccess.com to the editorial staff. He will be adding news and eventually helping edit the equipment table entries as soon as they are made web-editable. (We also anticipate allowing others to edit equipment table entries through a quasi-public wikipedia-like structure).

We'd like to split the google revenue from this site with someone who is interested in Minidiscs and can maintain this page. (This is not an April fools joke! :-) Please contact us if you are interested. -E. Woudenberg

Hi, Thanks for the note. I plan to keep the Minidisc.org server online indefinitely, but your suggestion is a good one. Let me look into it. What do you think a fair price for such a DVD would be -- including postage? Eric

We've moved both the Forums.Minidisc.Org and Minidisc.Org sites to new servers (at Slicehost.com). Let us know if you find anything amiss. -Eric W. and Chris M.

Jorge Monteiro from Lisbon sends us a link to photos of his wide range of Minidisc portables. (Page text is Portugese).

Philippe Bergheaud kindly sends in the Service Manual for Sony's DCM-M1 Minidisc-based camcorder. But despite a plethora of wonderful diagrams, there seems to be nothing on the unit's diagnostic mode within it.

The Tascam DR-1 is a nifty looking Flash-memory based digital recorder that sports line and mic inputs as well as built-in microphones and records in stereo or mono .wav (up to 48khz/24bit) or .mp3 file formats (from 32kbps to 320kbps cbr) on SD and SDHC cards (the latter with capacities to 32GB). Uploading is via drag and drop (either from the unit via USB or from an SD/SDHC card reader). The LiIon battery recharges from AC or USB cable. And, there's a built-in FM radio, metronome, guitar tuner, and many special effects. Sound Professionals is accepting pre-orders for the Tascam DR-1 at $248 [with coupon code "nammdr1"] for the first 50 folks who respond (it will be available at the end of February).