Is Sony Missing a Beat By Not Offering Hi-MD Options?

[Tiesto]

= ????

[franky712]

I would buy the pro ver .

[minidome]

What do you think of a hi-md deck with colors to see the cover of the record on the display?

[sallymae_hogsby]

What do you think of a hi-md deck with colors to see the cover of the record on the display?

I'll settle for any hi-md deck at all. I've had 3 MD decks over the past 12 years or so (original, MDLP, MDLP with optical out) and they all still work. I've had many portables, and only the two most recent still work without some kind of glitch. It might be because portables go thru more trauma, but the decks seems more durable.

[Eljay]

I hate to say it but the ship has sailed on using MD as a primary audio device. CD was effectively marketed many years ago and MD wasn't. There just isn't enough of a base to get MD players like we want. The technology has always been great and still is. But there are new technologies that are taking the markets away from MD that traditionally MD has owned. People who want to record live music are moving away from MD every day. The Edirol's are the current favorite of people doing live recording. Even a rock boxed iRiver is becoming more popular.

That all spells bad news for MD unfortunately. I've loved my MD recorders and players for many years now. I just bought one too so I haven't given up on it. But the writing is on the wall. MD is living on borrowed time. It's a terrible shame because the quality is there in so many ways.

I don't expect to see Sony get their heads out of their rears long enough to realize what they are letting slip away. I'm not even sure they could save MD if they addresssed all our complaints (SS free uploading and downloading etc.) and sold MD cheaper than the competition. Ipod's have taken the mobile market, CD's took the major market many years ago and now Edirol is taking the live recording market. That doesn't leave anything left for MD IMO.

I still think MD could be made into a top notch pro recording platform and sold as a cheaper alternative to other recorders. If Sony did that they could keep a big chunk of the live recording market. But without 24 bit sound, a better computer interface (as in connecting as a hard drive), larger HIMD capacity to avoid the problems with swapping discs in a concert and a few other things MD is going to lose almost all of this market.

What you say is probably true. I have a horrid feeling that the RH1 is Sony's last-ditch attempt at the MD market. It's clearly aimed at the professional and the radio/recording industry rather than the private individual, judging from both the non-user-friendly design, the hefty price tag (here in the UK, anyway!) and extremely limited availability. I think the only way that mini-disc can survive in the future is if Sony starts including it as an extra feature in its MP3 players, and markets it NOT as a 'mini-disc recorder' (which is alien to most people), but as 'AN MP3 PLAYER WITH BUILT-IN MINIDISC' - allowing users to save their MP3s and make line-in recordings onto the drive, with the option of then burning them onto disc. MD enthusiasts would also be able to record directly onto the discs in the usual way. Bingo - everyone's happy! I really think that's the way forward for mini-disc - they need to start appealing to the 'MP3 kid' generation, as well as the professionals and MD enthusiasts, in order to survive.

What's Edirol? I've never heard of it... As far as I know, mini-disc (despite the increasing lack of availability) is still the norm in the radio industry - especially for recording interviews and 'vox pops' on-location! What other format is portable enough for doing that?!

Edited October 22, 2006 by Eljay

[jrussellc]

I have been a user of minidiscs since I first purchased and used the MZ-R55. But lets' face the facts:

• Sony products have gone down in quality the last few years.
• Technology that uses rotating media and moving lasers is prone to breakdown.
• Flash memory is getting cheaper.

It is time to start considering the real future of portable audio (including CDs and DVDs). Flash memory will soon be priced within the range of some the currently used media. (Anyone care to compare the price of a 1GB HI-MD disc with a 1GB SD card?)

Give me portable audio playback and recording using SD cards instead of a disc-based solution and I can avoid the quality problems of Sony and minidiscs.

[exe]

I think you should add the option of home HI MD deck. Something along the lines of the JB980 would be what I would want. I think anything too expensive would rule out most of the people using minidisc.

Yes I second that, even if I would buy a "pro deck" at max 400 usd...

I will actually buy a Sony mds-je530 after Christmas, that was almost never used, as a backup or replacement to my je500 for 50 usd ;-)

Yes I know I can't play any HiMD on that one, but if my RH1 brake down and are too expensive to repair, can I anyhow play my current music collection.

[boojum]

I have an RH1 and would there for have no need for either a car or home player. I just upload, burn to CD-RW and the deed is done with the hardware I have. Why would I want more to end up with no greater functionality??

Edited December 24, 2006 by boojum

[mdmania]

I have an RH1 and would there for have no need for either a car or home player. I just upload, burn to CD-RW and the deed is done with the hardware I have. Why would I want more to end up with no greater functionality??

You are absolutely right, Sony is probably thinking the same way as you are. There is probably not much demand

for Hi-MD so a deck unfortunately is the least to be considered about. Don't get me wrong I would love to have a Hi-MD deck myself

for a work horse editing purposes but Sony RH1 can now be uploaded, and edit it from there.

[Richard]

You are absolutely right, Sony is probably thinking the same way as you are. There is probably not much demand

for Hi-MD so a deck unfortunately is the least to be considered about. Don't get me wrong I would love to have a Hi-MD deck myself

for a work horse editing purposes but Sony RH1 can now be uploaded, and edit it from there.

I think this sums it up nicely, and that after 9 months this thread has pretty much run it's course. Thanks to all those who participated in the poll

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