UMWOOFWOOFF

Check Crutchfield, Musician's Friend, SonyStyle, etc...looks like the last minidisc component available from Sony for the USA is done. It was a good run. I will use MD until I die. Stock up on blanks and machines...

Oh yes....I've been here for years. I stopped posting a few years ago as my other names would get banned for speaking my mind ha ha...

Yes yes yes!! I know exactly what you're saying...you hit it on the money. I loved the innovation and crazy stylings of the earlier models...for me the more direct button control the better! I have yet to have any minidisc unit fail that wasn't due to trauma or shipping damage! Not one disc or machine. Ever.

I love the portables...but I truly never use them, so I never got into collecting them. I got my mom and brother and all my friends into minidisc, and gave them a bunch of portables back in the day... I still don't understand what is special about the 420 though! I always picked them up for nothing and gave them to friends so they could play discs I would copy for them on my W1. Jeff

Which ones are you talking about the 420's? Really? Why??? They seem the most barebones of the barebones...I thought I overpaid at $10 ha ha...

I love meeting others who use both minidisc and analog decks. I like the marriage of the two...I frequently use the analog decks for their color and when my ultimate mix is done, run through various equipment for fun, ultimately what I usually use to actually listen to the mix is minidisc. I haven't had a Tascam 38 but have heard good things about them...the 22-2 I have performs remarkably for what it is. Strange what Teac could accomplish with such a basic deck. What's this about feeding my ego????? I don't get it. I don't bite lol...and even though I owned Kiss' "Animalize" in the 80's (I know, I know) I haven't been to a zoo in years! Jeff

No, I have no Tandberg or Nakamichi decks (besides some car units). While I appreciate their reputation, I have no desire to constantly REPAIR decks from manufacturers that are pretty much extinct regarding their former selves. Unobtainium parts searches get old...even with the more "available" brands of the decks I own. But, aside from the glowing Tandberg and Nakamichi performance reviews, I constantly read about those decks being broken or requiring a plethora of costly maintenance. Back around 2001 I purchased a NIB unopened ZX-9 and it didn't work...the thing had never been opened. I've never experienced that from any other manufacturer...it was one of the only times I sent such a deck back. So, for me, you can keep the Nakamichi stuff...I'll stick with the brands and models that are reliable that have proven themselves to me to be GREAT performers. What is surprising is that at times such performers are NOT the decks that are as well-revered; there is a LOT of "gear snob-ery" that goes on. Some decks that are amazingly over-boasted in audio circles actually are quite lackluster (the Sony TC-KA3ES comes to mind...while the 5ES and 7ES are however unbelievable). I've acquired so many decks because I tend to buy a lot of the models that have PROVEN themselves to me...and most times they aren't the fanboy favorites, so they don't go for NEARLY as much money as the common gawkish decks. The most amazingly CONSISTENT performers that have PROVEN reliability and consistency over SEVERAL different decks of the same models? For minidisc, the MDS-JA333ES. For cassette, the JVC TD-V661/662. For reel, the Teac X-3 MK I (the non-reverse non-EE version). While the two analog decks I just listed are not as widely considered the cream of the crop, I can honestly say that these decks have proven themselves over time, with EVERY example that I own performing identically, NEVER breaking, NEVER needing adjustment of calibration, absolute near sonic perfection for ANY tape, and NO noisy input stages (that's what dooms the RT-701/707 from Pioneer from the top spot..they are prone to electrical maladies which exhibit as noise in the input stages and out-of-spec calibration even though they have a midrange fatness that is unequalled). The JVC and Teac have the ability to be calibrated easily to extrude the full potential out of ANY tape...something the more expensive decks simply do not do (a lot of the higher end reel to reel decks eliminated the ability to properly record on older "std" low noise tapes, a type of tape that provides amazing analog fatness coloration IF you have a deck that can be set-up to record properly on these older tapes). The JVC TD-V661/662 cassette deck is the LEAST finicky of ANY deck I've ever owned...some decks don't like tapes made on other machines. This deck simply plays ANY tape to full potential made on ANY properly set-up machine properly. The high end Sony and Teac decks, even when adjusted to spec, are picky when playing tapes made on some other machines. I can't recall all the hours I've spent ripping my hair out adjusting some of those decks...set up properly to spec, but playing SOME tapes horribly while playing others perfectly, even though the alignment was spot on both on the recording source deck AND the deck I was experiencing the faulty playback on. The V-8030S and the 5ES are notorious for this. The JVC NEVER does that...once set to spec, it will play back ANY tape recorded on another deck that was set-up to spec properly. The JVC calibrates and records well even on the most garbage of tapes...unlike some other decks, its calibration procedure is ACTUALLY ACCURATE. The Sony and Teac decks need to be set by EAR...if you set them up via the proper calibration set-up in the manual, they will perform HORRIBLY. I like competency and reliability. Virtues like that are what makes me decide what is TRULY a spectacular performer...consistency, lack of HEADACHES, and RELIABILITY. And that, is why, I don't own any Nakamichi or Tandberg home units any more.

My first love is reel to reel...I'm a reel to reel and high end cassette fanatic from way back...here are the decks I currently have: Reel to reel: Teac X-700R (several, both silver and black versions) Teac X-2000R (several both silver and black, including a NOS black unit) Teac X-1000R (several black and silver variations) Teac X-300 (several) Teac X-300R (3 units) Teac X-3 (several, including both EE and non-EE versions) Teac X-3R (2 units) Teac X-7R Tascam 22-2 Realistic TR-3000 (several) Akai GX-77 (black) Akai GX-4000D (several) Akai GX-4000DB (2 units, including black and silver versions) Akai 4000DB (several...one of the ONLY decks that does NOT have crosstalk from the other side of the tape) Akai 4000DB Mk II (NOS) Akai X-1800SD Akai 1710 (a few of these) Akai GX-747dbx (black and silver versions) Akai GX-747 (silver) Sony TC-580 (black) Sony TC-630 (several, plus one NIB NOS untouched) Sony TC-630D (several, including my father's 1st deck which I used at age 3) Pioneer RT-909 (a few) Pioneer RT-707 (several...one of the best reel to reel decks ever, but prone to noise in the input stages and electronic unreliability) Pioneer RT-701 (2 units) Sanyo MR 929 (my first deck at age 5) Tascam 388 Cassette: JVC TD-V661 (about 20...the best all around cassette deck EVER; the least finicky, most reliable, unbelievably CONSISTENT, plays ANY tape well) JVC TD-V662 (2) JVC TD-V66 (several) JVC TD-V1010 (2, both titanium) JVC TD-V721 (a few) JVC-TD-V621 JVC TD-W709 (several dual JVC decks...can't remember all the models) JVC TD-W718 JVC TD-W354 Denon DN-790R (NOS) Denon DRM-700 Marantz...some gold thing with DBX, can't remember the model Teac V-970X Teac V-8030S (several, including both gold and black models) Teac V-6030S (2 units, both gold) Teac Z-6000 (NOS) Teac Z-5000 Akai GX-95 Mk II Tascam 122 Mk II (a few) Pioneer CT-S55R (my first personal "good" cassette deck at age 12) Pioneer Elite CT-93 Pioneer Elite CT-91 Pioneer Elite CT-43 Pioneer Elite CT-41 Pioneer Elite CT-05D Pioneer CT-W606R w/Digital NR Sony TC-KA7ES (gold) Sony TC-KA5ES (2 units, both gold) Sony TC-KA3ES (2 units, both black) Sony TC-KA1ES Aiwa AD-F810U (3 units, all black) Aiwa AD-F1000 Onkyo Integra TA-6711 Onkyo Integra TA-207 Onkyo TA-6510 Realistic SCT-25 (the first cassette deck in my family in 1980) Tascam 688 8-track was both a pre-recorded and a recordable format. Cassettes were actually marketed first, but failed initially due to poor quality. The 8-track was predated by the 4-track cartridge...but oddly the manufacturers got behind 8-tracks in the early 70's. It wasn't until cassette gained fidelity in the late 70's that it became a viable alternative that the manufacturers could get behind to push. The last pre-recorded 8-tracks were able to be purchased until about 1989...but home decks/recorders were produced as well as a plethora of blank tapes. But, overall...a horrible overall medium. I love MD for the simple fact that it is the perfect home recording medium. I hate using a computer for music...and minidisc is the only format which you can get PERFECT studio quality edits. All the benefits...no skipping, no scratching of discs, re-recordable, Scale Factor Edit, having a hard copy of digital music that doesn't self destruct (ala CD'R's)...the list goes on and on. Old school Type-R SP minidisc is perfect for me. I want to hold a PHYSICAL MEDIUM of my recordings...nothing fits the bill like minidisc. True, I love reel to reel and high-end cassette...but for editing perfection and absolute ease of use, minidisc is my choice. And, I don't think Sony gives a damn about pissing off their clients. They will end MD for good once it isn't economically feasible for them to do so.

I get the sense that it's probably pointless to argue with you, but... You are correct in this assumption. What you do mean? It's not like there's any great shortage of minidiscs at the moment. Heck, even if I don't even try very hard, I could purchase a pack of MDs every month, and eventually have a thousand (not that I'd ever want to). Same goes for a year from now too. No rush. No impending doom. No sudden end to MDs. Sure, a gradual tapering of media availability, but that will take a long, long time. At the moment there are still hundreds of online stores selling MD stuff, and thousands of blank discs for sale on Ebay in any given month. No sudden end to MD's? I think it is pretty clear that most people were stunned at the relative quick dismissal of the RH1. I even thought it would be on the market for two or three times as long as it did. Regarding MD's at stores...I was literally stunned when seemingly overnight Best Buy, Wal Mart, Radio Shack, and Circuit City all dumped their stock around the same time...definitely a sudden end. Hundreds of online stores? Um ok. Hundreds. ...and since the rest of us have waited, it's now even cheaper for us to stockpile than it was two years ago when you stockpiled. Back then Minidisc stuff still was still competitive with MP3 players and more highly priced. Now it's going for peanuts and is a buyer's market. You have no idea what I paid for my md's and equipment. Suffice it to say I'm very frugal and very skilled in getting good deals as well as finding the rarest of the rare. I'd say Minidisc was about as popular as the 8-track tape player got in the 1970s. Both formats were around for about 12 years & had a small but steady share of the market. Well guess what? Ebay is FLUSH with new, unopened blank 8-track cassettes for dirt cheap - and they haven't made any of those decks for almost THIRTY years: If you think minidisc was ever ANYWHERE NEAR as popular as 8-tracks in the 1970's, you're delusional and having a worthwhile discussion/argument with you in regard to fact is nearly pointless. But I'm sure there was some guy in 1979 stockpiling all the blank 8-track cassettes he could find (when they were still $5 or more a pop) because he was sure they were going to be impossible to find by the year 2000. I've stockpiled some of the rarest of the rare minidiscs and machines...I only buy unique and desirable machines and discs. Sorry, I just don't get the "sky is falling" attitude. But it's your money, so have fun with it. Oh, I will. I am quite proud of what I've stockpiled for the pennies on the dollar that I've acquired the discs/machines for. Regarding money, it's not an issue. And, by the way...the sky fell a long time ago.

I was never into portables... I only have an MZ-S1, an RH-1, an MZ-R700, and a few 420's (or something like that) I think that I got in a lot of 3 or 4 for 10 dollars on eBay. Now CAR decks are another matter!!! I have enough MDX-C800Rec decks to last my lifetime...also WX-C88Rec double din recorders as well as a WX-800Rec, a gold Panasonic unit with dual VU meters, some NOS Eclipse double din units, a similar Alpine unit...the list goes on and on.

I collect them and I like them. Here's a partial list of what I currently have: Sony MDS-JA333ES (several, both black and gold versions) Sony MDS-JA555ES (several, gold versions) Sony MDS-JA20ES (4 units) Sony MDS-JA22ES (gold) Sony MDS-JA30ES (gold) Sony MDS-JB930 (5 units, gold, silver, and black) Sony MDS-JB980 (2 units, silver) Sony MDS-JA3ES (black) Sony MDS-JB940 (several units, both silver and 1 black) Sony MDS-JB920 (4 units, black) Sony MXD-D400 (2 units) Sony MXD-D3 Sony MDS-W1 direct ATRAC lossless dubbing decks (4 units, all black) Onkyo MD-133 HiMD decks (3 units, silver) Onkyo MD-2321 (4 units) Denon DMD-1000 (2 units, black) Denon DMD-M10 (gold) Denon DMD-1300 (gold) JVC XM-448 Kenwood MD-2070 (5 units, silver) Kenwood MD-1070 (black) Pioneer Elite MJ-7MD Teac MD-H300LP Teac MD-H500 Teac MD-10 Yamaha MDX-595 (2 units) Tascam MD-350 Tascam MD-CD1

Hmmmm.... I was the one warning of this up to over two YEARS ago...and I was summarily silenced on this board. I warned everyone of the end, yet it was ME who was labeled the "bad guy" and the harbinger of bad news as well as fear mongering. I correctly predicted that the RH1 was the final send-off to MD users...a way to get your recordings off of minidisc sounding the final death knell to the format in the marketplace. I was shut down...I was banned. I was also right. I told everyone to stockpile a LONG time ago...I've stockpiled about 1000 discs and about 50-60 decks. I advised others to do the same. I was told that I was being too negative. MD is with ME for life. Too bad more didn't follow my advice.

Maxell has also amazingly ended production of the XL-II cassette tape. Actually, it was discontinued quite many months ago. All remaining product in stores is just left-over production stock. Minidiscs and cassettes are completely dead.

Hi Ray... I'm like you! I collect decks as well...currently have too many to count (close to 50 or 60, not sure lol). I bought the MD-CD1 as a collector of sorts, but DID want an easy way to make exact CD copies editing-wise. But, it doesn't deliver on its most tauted purpose. Bad design. The MD and CD drives in these units are both Sony, however the control logic is by Tascam's incompetent children that probably design computer recording, not hands-on old school recording done WITHOUT a computer monitor. To answer your question, the Sony dubbers do NOT insert any glitches or gaps. You know what? On a related note...the Sony MDS-W1 dual minidisc dubber works SO well making direct lossless Atrac copies that the edit marks/track marks are IDENTICAL to the source disc. There is absolutely NO overlap. It not only clones the audio data, but the TOC data as well (no CD to MD dubbers do this in this manner). On the MDS-W1 you can even divide a track into 20 pieces, scattered throughout the disc (literally, not just the TOC data scattered), transfer all 20 pieces individually to the copy disc, and they will play seemlessly. This is one piece of machinery that Sony got PERFECT. I'm enamored at how well it perfectly clones discs with NO problems. Eliminating the SCMS "erasure of source disc" is simple via a 3 button service mode process, which is so simple it's almost as if Sony DESIGNED it to be bypassed so that you CAN save your original disc. I have three MDS-W1's, and wouldn't be caught dead without them. I use them while making discs to defragment recordings and gain maximum recording time on mix discs. And, I can actually copy lossless ATRAC perfectly edited discs for my friends with no Atrac generational loss and the resulting "flutter" sound. BTW...the perfect DUBBING deck? The Sony MXD-D400...has everything you could EVER want in ANY MD deck if you want total capability but don't require technically amazing (but probably can't hear) sonic specs. It's only drawback is that the analog input is a little noisy...but not moreso than any other non-ES Sony stand-alone deck (even the fabled 930, 940, and 980 have noisy analog to digital converters). The 400 has dig in's and out's, scale factor edit, full editing precision (regarding "divide"), a great full display, and copies CD's perfectly. A great deck. BTW...I have a couple Yamaha's. Great player decks. The older Atrac sounds bad to me for recording, which is a shame...the analog inputs are decent on this deck. I'd like to find out what Sony MD mechanism the Yamaha's have so that I can swap them out with a compatible unit that uses at least Atrac 4.5 or R. I've done this on a few older Sony decks (such as my MDS-W1's and 920's). A side note...regarding noisy analog inputs (the worst is the Pioneer Elite...unusable), the Sony ES decks in particular the MDS-JA555ES is untouchable. As quiet as digital to the ears. The 333ES is close behind. Great converters...I actually use these decks sometimes JUST to convert analog to digital for other projects to send a digital signal to the computer or what-have-you. But, another wolf in sheep's clothing regarding absolutely quiet analog to digital input converters is the Kenwood MD-2070. This deck is AMAZING for analog recording. Not quite the level of the highest of the high Sony's listed above, but a deck better than you would believe. It's in the top 5 for analog input noise. And, it's fader is seemless...the Sony's faders are "notchy" and you have to really tweak and test EVERY fraction of a second to hear one that sounds smooth to the ears before you settle on one. The Kenwood gets this right.

I reviewed the Tascam MD-CD1 on this site. It is nearly worthless as a dubber, as it inserts gaps between the songs regardless of how you dub or what speed you dub at. Here is a link to the review posting (since it has negative points in it I'm surprised it wasn't locked or removed from the site): http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=19099 If you don't want to cut and paste, here is a copy of the review itself: Hi there... I bought a new Tascam MD-CD1 off eBay for about half list price. The unit LOOKS nice, and feels decently built. It appears as a decent quality home deck with a rack adapter. I basically got the unit as it's probably going to be the last CD/MD deck ever made, as well as to augment my MXD-D400 deck when I need to do fast Atrac-R high speed digital dubs (I almost always record analog through a Carver tube CD player, but that takes a bit of time to do it to perfection). So, basically, the Tascam's point is to be a dubber; everything else is just lagniappe. However, there are some strange quirks with the unit, and one completely unforgivable idiotic JOKE of a design flaw disaster that makes the unit useless. The first thing you notice is that the manual is not clear nor specific regarding features such as record levels, why there are two ways to set the analog record level, why there are two ways to set the dubbing digital level, why high speed dubbing ignores these settings, etc. There is only ONE display on the unit; you have to toggle between the two sides to read the display for either the CD or the MD. Annoying. Same goes for the output; you have to select which one you want, even if you just hit "play" on the MD side. Annoying. The menus are not user friendly or intuitive to use in any way. When you adjust one parameter, you have to start from scratch and enter the menu every time you want to adjust something. And, the knob is ABOVE the display, so you can't read the display when you adjust the dial; you have to hold your arm consciously out of the way. Ergonomically, the deck looks good, but it's not user-friendly. The CD player side has its own playback volume adjustment buried in a menu, and it is performed in the digital domain. What they don't tell you however is that this changes the record volume on the MD side but only in regular speed dubbing. This, however, turns out to be a GREAT thing (see below), since when you DO wish to adjust the recording level when dubbing from CD to MD, you CAN adjust the record level under the MD menu, however you canNOT monitor the level in ANY way! There is NO record/pause function when dubbing that also allows you to enter the menu to even set the record level. Going by logical protocol, a user would enter the recording mode menu on the MD side, select "Rec Level" and be able to see the levels while in dubbing standby mode and adjust them accordingly. No can do. There is no way to send the CD player signal to the MD side and thus see the record levels if you do not have the recorder in "dubbing" mode. But, once you enter dubbing mode, you can't access the menu to adjust anything. If you adjust the record level beforehand, your recordings WILL reflect how you set that level, but there is no way to tell how to set them in this method, since you'd have to do as you would with a 2 head cassette deck and literally play back what you just recorded to see if the levels are clipped. BUT, with MD, you CANNOT SEE a clipped/over indication once recorded. Adjusting the dubbing record volume is seemingly hit-or-miss when set by the conventional method that most people would ever THINK to use. Absolutely useless design. This is ABSURD that this is designed by such idiots... Now, to the aforementioned CD side playback volume adjustment. Since this adjustment is in the digital domain, and this adjustment affects the level that the MD records at, the way around the ridiculous problem mentioned above is to simply adjust the CD playback volume as if you are adjusting record levels and leave the MD record level side at 0.0db. This way, before you dub, you can actually SEE the CD's actual levels while playing (the clipping/over indicator does work when adjusting the CD playback output) and your MD's will be recorded at the proper volume. I have no clue what complete idiot designed this thing. Tascam has truly lost it. The MD's analog input level control can be both controlled by the "Rec Level" adjustment in the menu and ALSO by the input knobs on the front panel. Makes no sense. If the input volume knobs are all the way down, you still get signal recorded. Idiotic. Why did they think they had to re-design and complicate such a simple thing as record level control? There are 5 ways to adjust it on this unit depending on what you are recording. And, the analog inputs are NOISY AS HELL. Not as bad as my Onkyo MD-133 deck (only the input monitoring stage works on that, the mechanism to play discs doesn't...thanks Craig's List ****) but nowhere near the quietness of Sony ES decks by ANY means. It's ok for casual recording, but I would NEVER use it to record anything of importance through it's own noisy analog circuits. The deck does have a neat gimmicky "key change" feature for CD playback, and in normal speed dubbing mode, however you set the "key" or the "pitch" of the CD is how the MD gets recorded. The pitch control could at least be useful in some cases, so I guess the unit has a plus. Now, for the clincher...NO MATTER HOW YOU DUB (NORMAL OR HIGH SPEED) THE *** UNIT INSERTS BLANK SPACES BETWEEN DUBBED TRACKS!!!?!??!?!?!?!!?!!!!!!!!!!!! There is NO setting to change this. I dubbed a few CD's both regular speed and high speed, and sure enough, this damn thing adds a second or so of SILENCE between songs!!! This has nothing to do with any Auto Cue settings, Auto Space settings, dubbing modes, or settings of ANY kind. ABSURD! AGAIN! IDIOTIC! AGAIN! I thought something might be wrong...then looked in the manual. This is NORMAL operation for this unit! The manual states to physically connect the CD digital output to the MD input with an optical cable to avoid this! WHY????? WTH????!?!?!?!?!?! If I'm going to do that, then WHY HAVE AN "ALL IN ONE" MD/CD UNIT??? If you connect the unit in this way as instructed by the manual, you lose ALL the benefits of a dubber...no high speed, no quick EASY dubs, no lack of hassle...this is the POINT of a dubber! To dub the EXACT CD as easily and quickly as possible! The fact that this unit inserts blank spaces basically makes this unit USELESS for anything unless you KNOW beforehand that the spaces will be acceptable on a particular CD that you may happen to be dubbing! Needless to say, I'm appalled by the absolute incompetence in designing this thing. Tascam, you're officially in a coma. The plug's about to be pulled. Your time has passed. Oh why oh why Sony did you have to abandon minidisc? NO ONE seems to know how to make these things work intuitively and sensibly as you once did...the Onkyo's leave out important features and editing precision, Tascam is run by a bunch of clueless designers who never USED a physical recording device in their lives, and everyone else gave up years ago. Sorry, everybody...but the last bastion of a decent quality near hi-end home MD deck/dubber turned out to be a major dud that's pretty much useless in its desired purpose. It always made me feel better about MD that "at least you can still get a hi-end quality deck from Tascam since Sony gave up" but I've sadly been ripped for a very expensive deck that doesn't properly do what it was designed for. But, it looks good. Oh well.