Hi-MD 1GB blanks becoming rare?

[zardoz]

Yeah.

Was in at JB Hi-Fi in Eastland the other day picking up a Hi-MD blank for a recording I was going to do.

Looked on their media shelf. Found plenty of regular MDs (all with stickers now that says "works with Hi-MD" but no 1GB blanks. I managed to find one left buried in the back. I asked them whether they had any more and was told they were a deleted item and that they were no longer made ?!?!

anybody got any more info on this?

[sector001]

must just be your area. the 1 gb discs are available mostly online.........might be available in some stores in my area. but very limited.

[jaylen]

must just be your area.

Yeah, I think it's very dependent on your area. Over here, there's at least 2 major retail electronics stores that always have 1GB blanks on their shelves. The RH1 just came out this year so I doubt that JB salesperson is right about the 1GB blanks no longer being made. He/She probably got "not being stocked in the store anymore" confused with "out of production." Most electronics store workers, including SonyStyle people, don't know much, if anything, about MiniDisc or Hi-MD.

[RobA]

I've never seen 1GB discs in stores here. And as far as standard MDs, the only place that carries them here is WalMart. And a new walmart just opened that is much closer to my home, but it doesn't carry them at all.

[beefstew]

Yes all i see at Target is the regular MDs

i havent seen a 1GBMD anywhere!

[DATfan]

Yes all i see at Target is the regular MDs

i havent seen a 1GBMD anywhere!

I wouldn't doubt there's a supply bottleneck, as Sony is apparently the only manufacturer.

For example, on Friday Tape Warehouse contacted me that they can't fill my order for 10 Hi-MD blanks because they just ran out of stock and no ETA for a reorder. They are unable to guarantee delivery before Christmas.

In addition, they are blowing out all the Maxell cleaning MDs (=discontinued).

But I don't believe that Hi-MD blanks will be discontinued by Sony for years, yet.

[UMWOOFWOOFF]

Wal Mart discontinued regular minidiscs back in May. If you find a Wal Mart that still has them, the last clearance price was $3 for the Sony 5-pack.

Circuit City has also discontinued blank minidiscs. I just purchased my local store's last two packs of Memorex 20-pack MD's for THREE DOLLARS each! That's 3 dollars for 20 of them. They couldn't even give them away at that price.

Best Buy has also discontinued blank minidiscs. I bought the last Fuji 10 pack, which apparently was packaged by Fuji to get rid of old stock. It was SUPPOSED to be the dark black tinted transparent discs, but it was the colored discs like Fuji used to sell in the 15 pack in the 10 pack packaging. Fuji no longer sells minidiscs either. Best Buy still had 20 packs of 2002 Sony "Premium Gold" minidiscs in the packaging that they were originally sold in 2002...they have been on the shelves nearly 5 years; Sony changed the packaging of these back in 2004.

Radio Shack discontinued both regular minidiscs as well as the 1gb discs, which I only saw ONE of in 2004...it was on the shelf, all by its lonesome, and no one knew what the hell it was.

Remember back in the day (2004) when Wal Mart actually had a "Hi-MD 3-pack" spot on the wall for the 1gb discs for $9.99??? Wow. I can't even fathom that as an actual occurrence now; if I didn't see it with my own eyes back then I would swear it could have never happened. I just knew Sony was gonna F it up back then (when discs weren't readily available) and Wal Mart pulled the plug when Sony couldn't deliver the product.

Basically, you can't really get either blank MD's or Hi-MD's anywhere anymore except online. Target and Best Buy are still only selling unsold old stock; they are not ordering or carrying any more MD's. Neither is Sears.

[shione]

Yeah.

Was in at JB Hi-Fi in Eastland the other day picking up a Hi-MD blank for a recording I was going to do.

Looked on their media shelf. Found plenty of regular MDs (all with stickers now that says "works with Hi-MD" but no 1GB blanks. I managed to find one left buried in the back. I asked them whether they had any more and was told they were a deleted item and that they were no longer made ?!?!

anybody got any more info on this?

They told me the same thing when the RH1 hadn't even come out yet.

If you get really desperate mate, you can get it off sonystyle. If they start getting rid of it then I would be getting worried. I've had plenty of mis-information given to me from jb-hifi staff that I don't go there except for price matching.

[DATfan]

Gee I think I'm gonna start buying all the Hi-MD's I can...

I mean I've started archiving precious data on them too!

"The Hi-MD Panic of 2006"

Or is it ... ?

[ozpeter]

The market penetration of Hi-MD (if not plain MD) was never enough to guarantee that in "x" number of years time you'd still be able to get the media and the machines - unlike say DVD and CD and perhaps VHS (which will rapidly suffer from being a non-digital medium).

So, I'd regard any kind of MD medium as being for temporary storage, not for archive. I've got about 20 Hi-MD's (and hundreds of plain ones) and as I acquire new material I dump it to PC and/or CD or DVD if I think I'll want to keep it. Otherwise I just keep it until I've been round the circle of the 20 discs.

[mdmania]

The market penetration of Hi-MD (if not plain MD) was never enough to guarantee that in "x" number of years time you'd still be able to get the media and the machines - unlike say DVD and CD and perhaps VHS (which will rapidly suffer from being a non-digital medium).

So, I'd regard any kind of MD medium as being for temporary storage, not for archive. I've got about 20 Hi-MD's (and hundreds of plain ones) and as I acquire new material I dump it to PC and/or CD or DVD if I think I'll want to keep it. Otherwise I just keep it until I've been round the circle of the 20 discs.

Good point!!!

[rayzray]

The market penetration of Hi-MD (if not plain MD) was never enough to guarantee that in "x" number of years time you'd still be able to get the media and the machines - unlike say DVD and CD and perhaps VHS (which will rapidly suffer from being a non-digital medium).

So, I'd regard any kind of MD medium as being for temporary storage, not for archive. I've got about 20 Hi-MD's (and hundreds of plain ones) and as I acquire new material I dump it to PC and/or CD or DVD if I think I'll want to keep it. Otherwise I just keep it until I've been round the circle of the 20 discs.

i (rayzray) have successfully replaced my use for MD's with DVD's and CD's;; i have over 800 standard MD's with songs on them.. (and another 150 blank ones)

but,, since i have sooooo many MD decks;; i will leave that music on the standard MD's.

someday, i will start the long haul of transferring all that music to the PC/external storage; but, maybe something better in storage will come out.

do yous think there will be a better storage medium in the future?

thanks Sony soooo much for your support!!

Edited December 11, 2006 by rayzray

[King Ghidora]

I wouldn't count too much on CD's for storage media. I have had about 200 of them go bad on me after just about 3 years of shelf life. They can't be read at all now.

It ticked me off so bad that I got out of the computer industry completely. I could no longer recommend CDR's for much of anything important and that left nothing else really. DVD's are said to be better as far as life expectancy but they said CDR's would last 100 years too. In fact I called Verbatim, which all of my bad discs were, and they still claim that they should last 50 years even as I told them that I had 200 bad ones. They insisted I did something wrong.

Funny though none of the older CDR's I have went bad and I haven't had any go bad since. The only thing that changed was the brand of CDR I used. Trust me it was the discs that went bad.

Don't trust optical media of ANY kind to last forever and that includes MD. The plastic oxidizes and it's all she wrote. Go look in a dump at what old plastic looks like. It breaks down after a few years. That's what will happen to all optical media at some point.

Magnetic tape is a much more stable storage medium. I have cassettes that I recorded back in the 1970's that still work perfectly. I even have some 8 tracks that came from the late 60's that still work (yes I still have an 8 track player that works too ). Magnetic tape is a proven storage medium.

I store all my important work on minidv tapes now since I'm in the video business. I expect those to last quite a while. I sell DVD's to my customers but I will always have a backup for them if they need one.

Edited December 11, 2006 by King Ghidora

[himd_anxiety]

I live in Washington D.C. The Sony Store nearest me, in Pentagon City, Virginia, no longer carries them or anything that remotely resembles a MiniDisc, let alone a player.

[rayzray]

I wouldn't count too much on CD's for storage media. I have had about 200 of them go bad on me after just about 3 years of shelf life. They can't be read at all now.

It ticked me off so bad that I got out of the computer industry completely. I could no longer recommend CDR's for much of anything important and that left nothing else really. DVD's are said to be better as far as life expectancy but they said CDR's would last 100 years too. In fact I called Verbatim, which all of my bad discs were, and they still claim that they should last 50 years even as I told them that I had 200 bad ones. They insisted I did something wrong.

Funny though none of the older CDR's I have went bad and I haven't had any go bad since. The only thing that changed was the brand of CDR I used. Trust me it was the discs that went bad.

Don't trust optical media of ANY kind to last forever and that includes MD. The plastic oxidizes and it's all she wrote. Go look in a dump at what old plastic looks like. It breaks down after a few years. That's what will happen to all optical media at some point.

Magnetic tape is a much more stable storage medium. I have cassettes that I recorded back in the 1970's that still work perfectly. I even have some 8 tracks that came from the late 60's that still work (yes I still have an 8 track player that works too ). Magnetic tape is a proven storage medium.

I store all my important work on minidv tapes now since I'm in the video business. I expect those to last quite a while. I sell DVD's to my customers but I will always have a backup for them if they need one.

i have 9 Panasonic DVD recorders and they use DVD-RAMs;; i understand that these DVD-RAMS are great for storing video and AUDIO;; and should last a long long time..

so,, i started saving my important MUSIC and videos on them..

and they are easy to store and keep tract of..

they would be a bit pricey;; like 5 for $13.00;; but to me it is worth it.. when they go on sale,, i get a few boxes..

Edited December 11, 2006 by rayzray

[Sefu]

Dont believe a word the JB staff are telling you.

The Hi-MD blanks are plentiful at the moment, in the last year and a bit they were hard to get in retail because a particular store was buying them all out *hint, hint*

Now since Sony Au has raised the price to $11.95 per blank from $4.95 the sales have gone down therefore plenty of stock.

BTW, this particular store still has these blanks for $4.95 but will be raising the price to the new price in a few weeks once the stock is sold.

[Richard]

BTW, this particular store still has these blanks for $4.95 but will be raising the price to the new price in a few weeks once the stock is sold.

Are you going to be putting some of that stock up for sale via your eBay store for international buyers? *hint, hint*

[rayzray]

Watch out for scratches...

if you see the DVD-RAM surface;; it seems Very "scratch" resistance;; plus i treat ALL my "Bling Blings" like a new born baby;; even better;; i hold my bling blings a lot longer..

it's just that i read somewheres that these DVD-Rams were Great for storing data/music and gorgious women pics for long periods of time..

Edited December 12, 2006 by rayzray

[ZosoIV]

DVD-RAM is probably the best optical media of the CD/DVD family to store things on: tracks are written concentrically, discs are hard-sectored, and there is a very high level of error correction applied. They are pretty slow, however. Plus, the media is expensive and suffers from compatibility issues with many drives.

Just don't burn your stuff to Blu-Ray or HD-DVD....yet. Not until the market determines which one will win!

[DATfan]

Reminds me of when I upgraded from the LS-120 "Superdisk" to LS-240 (240MB Capacity).

Just like Hi-MD can use regular MDs at higher capacity, the LS-240 also formatted regular floppy disks to 32 MB capacity.

But it was too risky to use for backups. If the drive failed, I could not get another LS-240 anywhere. It seemed the internal drives were available for all of 6 months, then gone!

[Dr. Spankenstein]

I don't know if this is old new or not, but SonyStyle is selling the 5+1 HiMD kit for $35 USD and FREE SHIPPING!

*ala "The Warriors"* "CAN...YOU...DIG IT!!!"

Regards,

Bryan

[UMWOOFWOOFF]

They are closing out unsold stock. Get the Hi-MD discs while you can; they are only selling what has already been manufactured; production has ended.

[DATfan]

They are closing out unsold stock. Get the Hi-MD discs while you can; they are only selling what has already been manufactured; production has ended.

Source, please.

[ZosoIV]

I find it hard to believe that Sony would discontinue Hi-MD production considering that they still make Beta tapes, and elcassettes were being supported long after they were left for dead. Again, source please.......

[UMWOOFWOOFF]

Jonathan at Sony (tech line), 800-222-7669.

Elcaset wasn't supported very long at all; all production items were sold off to some small country in the Netherlands or somewhere. There was never a huge demand for that product, like Hi-MD.

Beta was HUGE for a LONG time; that's why tapes are still available, but not actually produced...there is a LARGE back supply.

Just like metal cassettes, Sony high bias cassettes died a quick death (and can be found NOWHERE...think of the millions of cassette decks sold) the quick disappearance of Hi-MD is not a surprise, since there was never really a presence of it in the market. You used to be able to buy Sony ES cassettes at Wal Mart as well as metal cassettes. Hi-MD (or MD for that matter) never attained a sliver of that market. Yet, the immediate death of anything besides a cheap voice normal bias tape was fast and complete. Why on earth would you think Hi-MD would survive longer than high end cassettes, once the machines were idled?

Sorry to be the harbinger of bad news.

[ZosoIV]

I wouldn't be surprised if Sony discontinued the discs (I mean, we are talking Sony here, I wouldn't put it past them), but the fact that they would be discontinued the same year as the RH1 came out baffles me. That's like a car company coming out with a new model and then yanking all production on parts a few months later.

If true, looks like I picked a good time to finally leave the MD world.......

[rayzray]

what about that Oink Hi-MD Deck that's out;; how are they gonna get their Hi-MD discs?? like someone somewheres will have to make them..

and will the Sony Professional division need them??

and what about Little Sally Sass in Watuchie;; won't she need a couple??

Love,, Rayzray

[GQ Smooth]

I have never purchased any from a shop( even through I know some shops in London do sell them) I always get mine through Amazon.co.uk

[garcou]

I have never purchased any from a shop( even through I know some shops in London do sell them) I always get mine through Amazon.co.uk

Recieved 20 1GB today from computerlines (luxembourg):5.03 euros/disc + 6 euros for shipping. Now the price has a little raised up:

http://www.computersupplies.lu/shopexd.asp?catalogid=592954

[DATfan]

I find it hard to believe that Sony would discontinue Hi-MD production considering that they still make Beta tapes, and elcassettes were being supported long after they were left for dead. Again, source please.......

EDIT:

Interesting Sony history of recording media here:

http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/media/history/

Does anyone remember 200MB HiFD?

Edited December 15, 2006 by DATfan

[UMWOOFWOOFF]

Regarding the post about an automobile manufacturer stopping production of parts the same year they produce the actual car, well, it IS happening.

One of my vehicles is a 2006 Chevrolet SSR. Parts for this vehicle are nearly non-existent. Any Chevy dealer will tell you, "It seems like Chevy wants to forget they ever made this truck." Common parts...bumpers, windshields, taillamps, tires, etc...all not available. So, this kind of stuff DOES happen when the manufacturer is in dire trouble (i.e., GM, Sony, etc.).

Regarding Onkyo, their 2007 product line in Japan consists of no Hi-MD products. This has been posted on this site before.

[DATfan]

Regarding Onkyo, their 2007 product line in Japan consists of no Hi-MD products. This has been posted on this site before.

Yes, IIRC you posted that.

Where did you find the Onkyo 2007 line-up?

I look here and still see the INTEC decks:

http://www.jp.onkyo.com/product/mini_compo/index.htm

[Richard]

Yes, IIRC you posted that.

Where did you find the Onkyo 2007 line-up?

I look here and still see the INTEC decks:

http://www.jp.onkyo.com/product/mini_compo/index.htm

Indeed Onkyo has not released any 2007 models yet. Mainly because it's not yet 2007.

[DATfan]

Indeed Onkyo has not released any 2007 models yet. Mainly because it's not yet 2007.

And yet I suspect there are PDFs of the 2007 lineup, especially Intec, somewhere.

[UMWOOFWOOFF]

Just came from Guitar Center...

Looks like Guitar Center carries NO minidisc equipment or blanks whatsoever anymore. They had no standard MD's, no data MD's, no Hi-MD's. They also have NO listing for either the RH-1, or the M200. They DID have a previous listing for the M100, but stated that was last one they even caried. Salesman showed me the computer...they only received ONE, and it was sold at half price. The guy at the counter stated, "You're the first person in years to ask me about minidisc, I haven't seen any of that stuff around here in ages."

Way to go Sony.

[ZosoIV]

How much you wanna bet that Sony will f**k up with Blu-Ray as well.......

[rayzray]

Just came from Guitar Center...

Looks like Guitar Center carries NO minidisc equipment or blanks whatsoever anymore. They had no standard MD's, no data MD's, no Hi-MD's. They also have NO listing for either the RH-1, or the M200. They DID have a previous listing for the M100, but stated that was last one they even caried. Salesman showed me the computer...they only received ONE, and it was sold at half price. The guy at the counter stated, "You're the first person in years to ask me about minidisc, I haven't seen any of that stuff around here in ages."

Way to go Sony.

i am semi-friends here with a sales person from Guitar Center and he/she is always trying to sell me their Hi-MD package;; (donno which one off the top of my head)..

he/she says me (rayzray) and him (the sales person) are the only ppl that talk about MD's or Hi-MD's..

i am SURE they have some blanks;; cause he always tries to sell them to me *as i recall*;; but at a premium price..

but,, then,, that was a few months ago..

oh,, by the way;; my secret saleperson was working the sound board at the Fleet Center in Boston with a Big Name band and happened to connect an MD (yes MD to the mixing board's line out..

i got a copy of the "Secret" band;; (reminds me of the Secret Garden;; don't it)..

moral of the story;;

that sales-not-woman and i are extreme audio recording freaks;; and we both use MD'zz and i (rayzray) Hi-MD;; but i would NEVER subject my Hi-MD900's to recording todays crappy live music;;

i'll stick with the classics or the birds and the bees in the back yard..

i am glad MD's are going out;; it will be a "Field Day" for me;; buying unwanted MD gear for the next few years;; kinda like fishing with a big net..

Thanks Sony;; way to go..

Edited December 16, 2006 by rayzray

[UMWOOFWOOFF]

I think what your Guitar Center is trying to sell you is old unsold stock. The Guitar Center in Miami last I was there still had "Basf" branded MD's...that's from about 1998.

A year or two ago I saw Steve Vai (the most boring concert I've ever witnessed) at the House of Blues in New Orleans before Katrina and they were recording the entire show on Hi-MD. This was just after Hi-MD debuted; I asked the soundman, and he said they record to Hi-MD as a backup to the individual tracks which they record to hard drive, but it often fails. I was just surprised to see someone in a professional application actually use Hi-MD, contrary to what most here tout as "Hi-MD is now marketed to professional or semi-professional use". If that were the case, Guitar Center (the biggest nationwide music store for semi and professional musicians and engineers) would at least HAVE A LISTING for the format.

[jaylen]

Looks like Guitar Center carries NO minidisc equipment or blanks whatsoever anymore. They had no standard MD's, no data MD's, no Hi-MD's. They also have NO listing for either the RH-1, or the M200.

If that were the case, Guitar Center (the biggest nationwide music store for semi and professional musicians and engineers) would at least HAVE A LISTING for the format.

Guitarcenter.com has 1GB and 74min blanks as well as the M200. They're all under the "Recording" section. If you're talking about having a separate "Minidisc" section, then that's wishful thinking. Not even AudioCubes has a separate MD section anymore; all MD units are now under "Recording Devices."

Don't spend so much time freaking out and instilling paranoia/hysteria on this forum because that's just less time spent enjoying the format and the music. You waste precious "fun" time mulling over the slow death of MD. Sure, blanks are getting harder to find, but they're not impossible to track down ... yet. Try to focus on the positive - there are still online e-tailers with blanks as well as eBay, we have the RH1, and forums like this are keeping the format exciting and going strong for now. No one likes a party pooper so come on, try to keep your chin up.

[UMWOOFWOOFF]

I'm a realist.

I report as I experience things, to keep everyone on the ball as to not hasten the slow death of MD that Sony has instilled upon us.

GuitarCenter.com is the same as Musician's Friend; they are the same company. While the same company of these two OWNS the Guitar Center national chain stores, they are completely separate entities. Just because GuitarCenter.com sells something, this has no bearing on what is in the actual stores that bear the same name. The online GuitarCenter.com store was kept since it originated before the merger of Musician's Friend and Guitar Center.

BTW...no one has made actual 74min MD's for YEARS. What is still for sale was repackaged old stock actually made years ago.