MiniDisc text to CD text? via optical

[DaveNH700]

Hi,

I'm considering buying a Sony MDS-JE780 MiniDisc deck. I currently have a Sony RCD-W100 deck to deck CD copier. I would like to know if text (track names) from the MD would be transferred to the CD recorder if I record from the MD deck via the optical connection?

The the JE780 has a USB port for computer connection, is it possible to both download (to MD) and upload (to PC) tracks via this connection or is it download (to MD) only?

Has anyone any idea of the working life span (play/recording hours) of a MD deck?

Thanks,

Dave.

[UMWOOFWOOFF]

The RCD-W100 only transfers text from non-protected text CD's from its own internal cd drive to the recorder side.

Also, keep in mind any MD's you recorded digitally can't be copied to the RCD-W100 due to SCMS. Anything analog will copy to CD, but then that CD can't be re-copied.

The USB port on the 780 is for the obsolete NetMD format. You can download songs from your computer using SonicStage to the 780 in either LP2 or LP4 or fake SP (LP2 transcoded as SP). NetMD is pretty much useless.

BTW...why would you want to copy your MD's to CD's? CD's don't last, they aren't very portable...MD is the perfect portable PLAYBACK medium if you don't want a flash/hard drive system. MD is also the perfect HOME and CAR playback medium too. I don't get why everyone wants an RH1 to upload their legacy MD's to the computer...what's wrong with playing them as they are?????

[DaveNH700]

- thanks for your reply.

The reason I want to copy to CD is to make a permanent back-up copy onto a non-rewritable/editable medium. How come CDs don't last? - I've got CDs almost ten years old that still work fine.

As for them not being very portable, everyone I know has at least one CD player in their home and most in their car too but very few have MD players, so which is the more portable medium?

The master MD disc I use to transfer to CD has analogue recordings on it so transfering to CD digitally shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks,

Dave.

[The Low Volta]

How come CDs don't last? - I've got CDs almost ten years old that still work fine.

Factory pressed CD's do last for a very long time, but CDR/W's use a very thin silver (or gold or other sorts of metal) layer (which is actually the surface you write the title on with a soft-tip marker and hence the reason you need to use a soft-tip instrument and not a pencil).

This layer is know to degrade with time and I have had numerous discs of which the layer slowly came off. It starts by a bit of chipping at the edges (which often aren't used for data unless you use the whole capacity right up to the limit). This isn't noticed at first but:

1) it doesn't stop there and soon the rest of the layer starts flaking; and 2) it can ruin delicate instruments like CD-players as the flakes stick to things they shouldn't stick to...

I've had this happen with CDR's after only 6 years of infrequent use, while some others have lasted for 15 years already and have been played much more often. It seems to be a thing of built quailty (so brands/makes) more than age/use.

I do still use CDR, but not as a long living storage medium (so never as the only repository of irreplacable data/music) and I do check all my CDR's for flaking before I put them in any decent CD-player/CDROM-drive

[gaskelld]

- thanks for your reply.

How do MiniDiscs compare in terms of lifespan to CDs? Do MDs also have a layer of metal that can degrade and flake off over time? What's the typical life expectancy of audio recorded on a reputable brand MD?

Also, any idea how many working hours to expect from a MD player/recorder?

Thanks,

Dave.

[The Low Volta]

MD's are much more stable as a medium as far as I know... but the players/recorders on the other hand do not have infinite lifespans (far from it with certain models even) so I wouldn't really be afraid of the discs disintegrating or something, but if Sony at one time stops the production of MD-recorders/players your data/music could become ultimately safely 'stuck' on an inaccessible medium

[bluecrab]

Factory pressed CD's do last for a very long time, but CDR/W's use a very thin silver (or gold or other sorts of metal) layer (which is actually the surface you write the title on with a soft-tip marker and hence the reason you need to use a soft-tip instrument and not a pencil).

This layer is know to degrade with time and I have had numerous discs of which the layer slowly came off. It starts by a bit of chipping at the edges (which often aren't used for data unless you use the whole capacity right up to the limit). This isn't noticed at first but:

1) it doesn't stop there and soon the rest of the layer starts flaking; and 2) it can ruin delicate instruments like CD-players as the flakes stick to things they shouldn't stick to...

I've had this happen with CDR's after only 6 years of infrequent use, while some others have lasted for 15 years already and have been played much more often. It seems to be a thing of built quailty (so brands/makes) more than age/use.

I do still use CDR, but not as a long living storage medium (so never as the only repository of irreplacable data/music) and I do check all my CDR's for flaking before I put them in any decent CD-player/CDROM-drive

=======

I use both CD and MD for permanent recordings. I have been doing this for 6/7 years, no real problems yet with either. But I have heard that CD-Rs do indeed deteriorate. Exactly what do you look for? What is flaking and what does it look like? Are there actually flakes that come off the CD? There are various reasons why I use CDs, one of which is that I can copy them to either CD or MD at 4x (yeah, I'm still mainly using standalone gear), while MD > MD is strictly 1x.

[The Low Volta]

I'm not near my CD collection until this weekend, but I'll take some pics then... (I think I still have a disintegrated targa disc laying around somewhere)

the top layer (the metalish side where you write the title etc, not the shiny metal but covered in pastic side) consists of a very thin layer of an expensive metal and something to reinforce/cover that layer. With the CDR's I lost, very small bits of both the metal and the thin cover layer on the outer edges of the top surface actually let go of the clear plastic disc. This could be seen by holding the CD towards a lightsource and noticing that the edge (of the layer, not of the disc) wasn't smooth anymore. At a later stage, quite big 'flakes' a couple of mm's diameter could be chipped of easily with my fingernail (without applying pressure, just by 'touching' the CD with my nail where I suspected a weakness according to the other test)

further I have also found an imation disc that showed 'holes' in the top layers when held against the light (so unuseable) and a Sony 50 CDR spindle contained three discs that simply weren't covered with any top layers (just a couple of clear discs) which I had them switch of course

EDIT: Beware: these are only symptoms I noticed with my own discs! I do not dare to say that any disc will be safe as long as it doesn't show these signs ... only that a disc most certainly will be on the verge of being history if it does. I do not have a decent source (only speaking from personal experience here) but if you wan't more security/better early symptoms to recognize deteriorating before it gets dangerous for the data I'd recommend searching the web or asking the brands themselves or something. I do not take any responsibility for lost audio/data caused by 'waiting' for these (quite extreme) symptoms to pop up

Edited February 4, 2007 by The Low Volta

[The Low Volta]

found an affected CD and posted some pics in this thread

[ferzala]

Hello,

I do transfer from my MDS-JE530 to a Pionner CD Burner using CDR(W) via Optical in Synchro All function.

Music transfers perfectly but I can't transfer text

I agree with you on the following :

• CD does its function as backup (I don't really like the idea of filling my little studio with burned CDs but sometimes its necessary.
• Sometimes you want to share your stuff with somebody else, specially usefull when that someone is not into MD

I use CDRW's as a temporal storage media for rip as mp3 without using WinMD or transfering trough HiMD and then using SonicStage. I optically transfer onto CD and I enjoy listening while the transfer is on, for example, I have fixed some pitch on the MD but in order to keep it I transfer it on CD.

Best regards!

Fer

found an affected CD and posted some pics in this thread