DigitalSound

Hello to ALL. I'm evaluating a second hand Sony MDS JA30ES minidisc deck recorder and found that the tray does not closes fully. When i push OPEN it opens the tray naturally, i then put the MD disc, i push CLOSE, it starts to close then it stops almost when reachs the end. I can hear the motor and tray structure trying to close the tray, but after a while, it opens the tray again! It NEVERS closes it! This happens always, with pre-recorded and with recorded minidiscs, i tried several models of MD discs, several brands, always with the same results. NEVER WORKS! BUT... If i force a little the tray with my hand, it closes well !!! Can i easily repair the unit myself, regarding this trai anomaly?! How?! Thank you in advance. DigitalSound.

Well, i had a very bad experience with blank minidiscs from the Fnac brand (Fnac is a very well known business store that sells everything, is owned by the French). I had two of those discs failing without notice. What i can confirm is that those discs did not appeared a fake product, just a low quality, it semed that they were rejected from the quality control line on some factory and sold by Fnac, on a very low price, to anyone that wanted to try them. I was one of thos buyers... Best regards, DigitalSound.

Hello to ALL. Last week i went into a second hand shop (all kinds of items!) and i found one Sony MZ1 unit (first minidisc unit!) available to buy. The unit came with ALL original items and original box, like new, almost like it was back in 92/93 (it includes cables, battery, user manual and original 60 minutes recordable discs plus the two pre-recorded minidisc samplers!!!) The only problem i found is that the rubber keys are falling a part. The numbers are disappearing and the rubber is "melting" away slowly by contact with fingers and normal use. How can i stop this process or at least use a specific substance (chemical!?) to avoid this to go any further? I appreciate any ideas. Thank you in advance. PS: About this unit... It's fully functional, and the sound... Well, now that i tested it i would like to go back to 92/93 and "bang the head" of some audio critics... I NEVER had the chance to test this unit in the past, but i can assure everyone that the sound is good, NOT like most people (that adopted other formats at the time) said! I was really surprised because i was expecting a really "bad sound" both on recording and playback, not true at all. Best regards, DigitalSound

Thank you for your fast reply Barock. And in the future, if this link goes down, is there any other option to download the full install of SonicStage v4.3 software? Thank you in advance. Best regards, DigitalSound.

Hello to ALL, i would like to know where can i look and find for download SonicStage v4.3 in order to install it in Windows Vista. I've tried all the links provided my the minidisc community page here BUT they do not work. Even from the forum, i get an error from the Apache Server when i try to download SonicStage... I'm a registerated user... Thank you in advance for any help provided. Best regards, DigitalSound.

Hello to ALL. I received last week some bad news about Sony starting to drop ATRAC format on CONNECT Music Service. They say on the e-mail i received that now Sony will support: "MP3 or Windows Media-compatible format" ONLY!!!! For me, and regarding the past for other Sony formats, this means that MD is next and we will all only be informed on the last minute. It's sad for me because i use ATRAC on MD and on the car. The quality is SUPERB, it rivals any lossy and lossless audio formats. I do not understand Sony on this aspect. I think this it's just the end of an era, for the very small optical, read/write, MD disc we all like. I able many many dozens of pre-recorder titles, a HUGE collection of of recordable discs and it's really unfair... I waited for a good HI-MD deck to appear... But nothing happened Now, i just would like to receive some confirmations on Sony side about what's going to happen in the near future. In order for you to take your conclusions i post the e-mail test i received from Sony Bellow) and also a link to some "instructions" on what to do to migrate and forget ATRAC ( http://esupport.sony.com/EN/news/article215. ) Best regards, DigitalSound. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- August 30, 2007 Subject: Future of CONNECT Music Service To Our Valued Sony CONNECT Music Customers: Today Sony announced its intent to move to a Windows Media Technology platform for Walkman® products in the United States, Canada and Europe. We strongly believe that the decision to embrace a more open platform for these devices will enable us to provide you with a better overall experience. As a result of this change, we will be phasing out the CONNECT™ Music Service based on Sony's ATRAC audio format in North America and Europe. Specific timing will vary by region depending on market demand, but will not be before March 2008. We are fully committed to helping you through this important transition away from the CONNECT Music Service and providing you with the best possible guidance on how to successfully transfer your music library to an MP3 or Windows Media-compatible format, should you wish to do so. We recommend that you use any outstanding promotional codes, account credits or gift certificates available in your music account prior to March 2008, but even after the store closes you will continue to be able to play, manage, and transfer the music in your SonicStage library and on your existing ATRAC devices. If you obtain a new device, all of Sony’s new Walkman music and video players will support MP3 or Windows Media Audio format. In the coming months we will keep you informed of the status of the CONNECT Music Service phase out in your region. Periodic updates will be posted on the CONNECT music store and on the Sony Electronics customer service site, http://esupport.sony.com/EN/news/article215. Please note that the CONNECT e-book service for the Reader in the U.S. will not be affected. Thank you for your business and for your continued support as we work to complete this transition with as little disruption to you as possible. Sincerely, Sony CONNECT Music Team To login to your account, click here. Your username is this email account, but if you forgot your password, click here. Click here for frequently asked questions about this communication. You are receiving this email because you registered for an account with CONNECT Music. This email will not impact your status with regard to your email subscriptions. You may unsubscribe from receiving such future email notifications from CONNECT Music by clicking here. Please do not attempt to reply to this email message. This mailbox will not accept incoming messages. Written inquiries and requests to unsubscribe may be mailed to: Sony CONNECT Inc. c/o CONNECT Music (U.S.) Attn: Privacy Information Management Office 6080 Center Drive, 10th Floor Los Angeles, California 90045. For additional account inquiries, visit the help section on the CONNECT Music homepage. PRIVACY POLICY - YOUR CA PRIVACY RIGHTS TERMS OF SERVICE - UPDATED 10/10/06 © 2007 Sony CONNECT Inc. Sony and “CONNECT” are trademarks of Sony Corporation and Sony Corporation of America. All rights reserved.

Hello to ALL Minidisc users. I'm a daily Minidisc user since 1995. I only have from that date till today two models, MZ-R3 and my good "old" deck MDS JB 930 ! Now that Sony is "refreshing" the format i really would like to update this two components. All this intro to ask you all if anyone tested the linear PCM recording. What i'm going to say maybe "stupid" to most users but for me what metters the most is just the sound quality of recordings. I really DO NOT want to know or use Atrac inferior codecs or NetMD or upload/download capabilities via PC using USB interface. Can anyone guarantie, by personal experience/test/demonstration that using linear PCM means: "To be able to record music by using analog OR digital coaxial/SPIF cable connections from a CD/SACD/DAT/PC unit to a Minidisc unit" OR This is NOT quite correct AND we will have some limitations.... My upgrade depends on this important feature (to me the most important of all). If not, i still can record (to my personal use) good quality music on my present equipment. Thank you all in advance for your comments. Congratulations to Sony and to all users who have now new Hi MD units Lucky ones... Best regards, DigitalSound.

Thank you JadeClaw, this represents to me the best and most important news of them all! I'm sorry to all other users that really enjoy having: MDLP LP2 LP4 Net MD It's great to have all this functionalitiest but it's not, in my option, what metters the most. For me what metters is the possibility to have uncompressed music on such a small and portable format. It's also great to have the possibility to storage hundreds of MD's since It takes less space than CD/SACD/DVD-A ! Once again thank you for your explanation. Best regards, DigitalSound.

Hello to ALL minidisc users, I was VERY surprised and really happy to know that Sony did not abandon the MD format. The truth is that they "upgraded" several important specs to reach a much younger much enthusiastic target... Yes I’m talking about young people... I'm a user since 1995, I only own one portable and a deck MD player/recorder unit: MZ-R3 (portable) MDS JB-930 (deck) For me the beauty of the MD format was ALLWAYS the TRUE possibility to replace the cassette format (that I always hated) even knowing at the time that for me it was the only portable format available. Regarding sound quality and this is for me the most important aspect of all, I have to say to you all that after testing MDLP I never wanted such a thing. I prefer EXCELENT audio quality, the standard MD spec using ATRAC. Net MD for me does not matter, I really like to make excellent copies. Transfer rates and even higher compression does not apply to me... That’s why, after this huge introduction, I would like to know what it is "Linear PCM". Will we be able to RECORD one CD, using NO compression AT ALL on the new Hi-MD 1 Gb media? If so, I’m REALLY in ecstasy!!! I thing that on a 1Gb MD disc we will have almost 100 minutes available!!! If not, what does this spec really mean? Congratulations to Sony worldwide for believing in the users and supporting the format. Best regards, DigitalSound

Hello to all MD users. I have a Sony MD deck model MDS JB930. It works ok, good sound quality, for play and to record from any source, analog or digital. My request for your help goes to a functionality that i really don't know why it does not work... When i put a pre-recorded MD and select play, both MD Title and track names appear scrolling on the MD text screen. When i do that with an MD recorded by me in wicth i've put the MD Title and Track Names, using a PS2 Keyboard, it only scrolls automatically the MD Title, all Track names are stil, i have to select the button with the functionallyti "Scroll" in order to see the name for each track. My question is: Does this deck model works this way by default or can i change anu parameters in order to "fix" this. In the user manual i DO NOT see any info regarding this "problem" or who to fix it. Thank you all in advance for your kind help. Best regards, DigitalSound.