EnglishRob

Hi folks, This is a bit of a long shot but I wondered it if it was possible to buy replacement headphone sockets? I have an MZNH-600 which I rather stupidly plugged an old 3.5mm jack plug into which turned out to be a little too long and now the headphone socket doesn't work properly. It'll work on one side unless I wedge something between the headphones connector and the unit itself so it angles the connector. I'm just wondering if it's worth repairing or if I should just bite the bullet and try and pick up another recorder on eBay? Ta, Rob

I'd certainly buy an in-car HiMD unit. I think the ultimate in-car HiMD unit for me would be either a HiMD/MDLP version of the MDX-C670RDS or an Active Black version. The nearest I'm going to get to an in-car HiMD unit at the moment is using my portable HiMD recorder with one of those Connects2 Sony HD Walkman to Sony head unit adaptor. Come on Sony, do us a favor and release an in-car HiMD unit!!! Rob

Not sure if this is the right place to post this but... Are pre-recorded Minidiscs still avaliable? When I originally got my first MD player (MZ-E2) back in 1995 there were a couple of music stores that used to sell pre-recorded MiniDiscs which was handy since I didn't have a recorder at the time. I found a couple of my old pre-recorded Minidiscs the other day. I forgot how good the quality was. It got me thinking, are pre-recorded MiniDiscs still avaliable? Rob

Ahh great. Thanks for the info. So if I get a power supply around 1 amp then *hopefully* it should work. Would be interesting to see if it still does work. Must be about 11 years old now. Rob

I have 2 HiMD Minidiscs at the moment which I bought from the Sony Centre the day after buying my HiMD recorder. After checking out Discount Discs prices I think I'll get a couple more discs. I originally wanted to get the HiMD recorder mainly for USB data storage (which has come in handy with 1GB capacity) but now I mainly use it for music. I'm also hoping to get one of them Connects2 adapters for my old Sony MD headunit which the MD player no longer works. At least I should be able to still make use of it with the HiMD recorder. I've found at the moment, I can't find many CDs that I want to transfer on to MD. I've got a few 80min discs formatted to HiMD which I have some of my favorite music on. In total I now have around 20 74 & 80min MD's and about 3 pre-recorded MD's. Rob

Hi folks, Had an interesting gift this evening from a friend I hadn't seen in a while... he gave me a Sony MZ-E2 MiniDisc player! I actually think it is the same MD player that I lost about 8 years ago. It's in such good quality condition (only slight break on the battery compartment clip). Now the problem I've got now is no power supply or remote. I'm not overly fussed about the remote as I can live without that, but since the battery is flat on the MD and I don't have a charger, I can't try it out. I was wondering, does anyone know what the correct ampage is on these players? It says on the unit itself that it takes 6 volts DC however I don't want to get a universal power supply until I know what sort of ampage is required so I don't blow the thing up. Rob

I started using MD back in 95. I'd seen the adverts on TV (the one where a band record some music onto MD, take it to a music exec's office, he listens to it and then chucks the disc out of the window where someone picks it up and plays it!). I've been a fan of Sony kit since I was about 4 when my parents got a Sony Betamax video :-) Anyway... around 1995 (September ish) I'd started a proper job earning about £45 a week. I used to occasionally go in the local Sony Centre store. I saw the MD players and recorders in there and had a demonstration. I couldn't afford a recorder at the time, I think they were pretty expensive, around £300 or so, but they did have a player, the MZ-E2. I saved up for weeks until I could afford one. They had a special offer going at the time, they were selling the MZ-E2 for £149 which included 5 free pre-recorded discs (although you had to send off for them). I did have a problem when I bought the player, I couldn't find many pre-recorded discs. I managed to get Mariah Carey's Music Box album. Unfourtunately I lost the MZ-E2 about a year after buying it. After that I got an MD5 midi system. I thought it was great, being able to transfer my music CDs onto MD, edit the discs etc. I bought an MZ-E40 player (which I still have, although it doesn't work I don't think) to take my MD's out of the house with me. When I started learning how to drive, I biught a cheap old car. I then decided I wanted MD in the car too. I stumped up about £400 for an MDX-C650. The car was only worth £200! I got quite a bit of flack from my parents about it. I also still have the MDX-C650, again it doesn't work. I had to sell it a few years back, along with a Sony CD changer to pay for some car repairs. Funny thing is, my best mate bought it back from the guy I sold it to, and eventually gave it back to me. I did have a break from MD's up until about 2001 when I got a MZR-900 recorder for a wedding aniversary present. Since then I've built up my collection a bit more. Not sure how many discs I have in total now, must be a fair few. I bought an MZN-400 (I think) last year from a guy in the US from ebay. I really liked the idea of being able to transfer my music from the PC to MD, although I must admit, I couldn't stand the sonic stage software! I still have the MZN-400 somewhere. The kids tend to use it now as I have an MZ-NH600 HiMD recorder which I bought earlier on this year. I just wish Sony would release an in-car HiMD player now. I'm not really a fan of MP3 CD players, I find the CD's take far too much room for my liking. I guess the only alternative is getting a in-car stereo with line-inputs and using my portable HiMD? Rob

Ok, I was impatient, I got the MZ-NH600 last night for £79.95 from my local Currys store. I am very impressed with the unit, I wasn't expecting a line/optical in, or an external power supply connector which are both things I missed on my MZ-NE410. Okay, I'm not so keen on the Sonic Stage 2 software, I installed it on my girlfriend's PC, but I managed to copy some CDs into 64kbit Atrac format and transfer them (about 8 albums!) onto 1 74 min disc formatted in HiMD mode. I also bought 2 1GB discs today and a couple more 80min discs. Works lovely for data storage too, albeit a little slower than what I'm used to, but hey, I can live with that considering its cheap unlimited storage and smaller/more convenient than CDs & DVDs (of which I haven't got a writer for either at work). Rob

Hi folks, I'm looking to upgrade my NetMD Minidisc to something a bit more modern. I've been using the format since late '95 (from an old MZ-E2) up to my current MZ-NE410. I decided that rather than buy a portable hard drive based MP3 player (like the iPod etc) the Hi-MD would suit my uses more as I have a load of existing recorded and blank 80min MD media and a couple (although not many) pre-recorded MiniDiscs. I went down to my local Sony Centre today and checked out what they had in. The range was a bit limited, it consisted of 2 units which as far as I understand are the new models? They had in (I think) the MZ-RH10B @ £199 and the MZ-RH910B @ £169. Also in my local Dixons store they had the MZ-NH900 @ £139. Ideally I would like to use the Minidisc for both playing music, and also data storage between work/home/relatives etc. I'd rather do without the Sonic Stage software, although I hear that the MiniDisc still uses this software to transfer music regardless of if it is MP3/ATRAC/WMA/etc formats or not. Can anyone advise what these models are like? I'm leaning towards the MZ-RH910B at the moment, I'm not overly sure if its worth paying the extra £30 for the MZ-RH10B which could be spent on a couple of blank HI-MD discs. Rob