What got you into Minidiscs

[Sammyboy]

I hope there's not already a topic on this somewhere (Looked but couldn't find one). Just wondering when and why you got into MiniDisc - I'm a 'late bloomer' and just getting into it now despite having MP3 players and and iPod all of which supposedly made the MD 'Obselete'.

What got me into it was oddly enough an article called Redundant Gadgets which included the Minidisc player. This article was originally posted on another forum, and reading the posts from people there disagreeing with the article and mentioning how MD was often of a higher audio quality than many MP3 players (despite the slightly restricting SS software) and still liked them. It got me thinking, I then bought one (well, four due to overzelous Ebay bidding!) and I'm starting my MD journey from here!

So, what's your story, where and when did you get into MiniDisc?

[greenmachine]

I got into MD (stationary deck, SP mode only) in the late 1990's, when burning CDs was less common and expensive, and did optical copies from CD mostly. I have used audio cassettes before and was amazed by the quality of the copies. A friend of mine got me into it. In 2003-2004 i got into live recording with a MDLP portable (never used the LP modes though) and soon thereafter HiMD. Never really used MD for portable playback.

Edited October 11, 2007 by greenmachine

[Sparky191]

My cassette walkman broke, and in looking for a replacement I noticed used MD's were very cheap.

Edited October 11, 2007 by Sparky191

[KJ_Palmer]

Back in 2000, I was looking for a recording medium that was more reliable and better sounding than cassette tapes. No CD-Rs then really, so I bought a Sharp CD-MD micro system. Soon afterwards bought an MZ-R500 (MDLP), a 'proper' deck (MDS-JE640) which is still going, and now have most of the Hi-MD recorders. Great medium, sadly looking like it's on the way out

[Strungup]

91/92 , Guitar student who worked in a small electronics shop the carried mostly Sony gear , Had his guitar lesson on his lunch break in the store .

So I came in , he was tripping out , practically dragging me to the audio section , asked me to sit down and play my guitar , with my eyes closed ..( I am thinking , ok last lesson for this guy .......) any way I did . Then he ( with the MD hiddden behind him) hits play , and out of a Pair of 1500 dollar Theater Speakers , comes my guitar , ....with no noise.

From the first , I was there when it began . MZ1 ...

Edited October 11, 2007 by Guitarfxr

[sfbp]

Played with reel to reel tape recorders from the age of 5 - introduction to music, listening to recorder of mom and others in Amateur Gilbert & Sullivan, and other musical comedy. Tapes going back 40 years, now.

Got one of the first CD-ROM drives from Microsoft (1988), and always fascinated by possibility of making CD's. Read (1999) that I could do so with digital sound card costing $20, and got it, started looking for MD deck with optical out. The guy who sold a JE-510 to me (second hand) on Ebay went on to become my Web Hoster for 5 years! At the time I got into minidisc recording 2 or three CD's was the most I could fit on the computer's hard disk, so the ability to get a bunch of MD's (SP of course) by recording from Tape Recorder, Cassette, vinyl (and latterly Internet) seemed the way to get music onto CD.

I never used a portable MD seriously. I had an (Aiwa cassette) walkman when they first came out in 1983, but wore it out and never replaced it). I bought the MZ-NE410 hoping to be able to upload by USB, second hand (factory refurbished) in 2005. No luck, and got an RH1 this year when the JE510 broke, not for the portable aspect but to upload things faster. I quickly added a pair of decks when I discovered the limitations of the RH1 (not that it isn't amazing for a bunch of purposes, including the first live recordings I have made for ages).

[BIGHMW]

My management, Len Enders http://www.myspace.com/dedenderz of Label Cove Entertainment (were you expecting my former high school classmate from Erikson Center http://www.sfvcmhc.org/html/erickson_center.html in 1983-84 and current hero, supermodel Cindy Margolis?), was the first in my area to get one of the MD Bundles (MDS-JE510 deck and an MZ-E40 Walkman) back ion 1998, and because of its overwhelming capabilities I got an MZ-R50, as I needed an alternative to the cassette and my old D-121 Discman which shook and skipped like hell, and I have been hooked on MD through MDLP, NetMD and now Hi-MD and currently own an MZ-E33, 2 NH700s, 2 RH710s and an RH1, as well as 2 MDX-C5970 car decks and MDX-65 changers, and also my MDS-JE520, MDS-JE480, and MXD-D3 decks as well as an MDS-E10 Pro deck which currently is stationed in my home studio,

HMW Studio One. "Where respect is earned, History is made, and Legendary status is reached on an everyday basis".

That's how I got into it, I will never give up the idea of having either MD or Hi-MD as part of my life, like I say....

ATRAC or DEATH!!! F*** iPods!!!

Edited October 11, 2007 by BIGHMW

[Sammyboy]

Some fascinating stories here! Think I'm definately a very late comer to the MD party, I just hope the format is supported for a bit longer - though I suspect I'm being overly optimistic for any more new MD systems to be released!

[Strungup]

Some fascinating stories here! Think I'm definately a very late comer to the MD party, I just hope the format is supported for a bit longer - though I suspect I'm being overly optimistic for any more new MD systems to be released!

Onkyo wil continue MD for awhile in the Bookshelf system format , Panasonic, Kenwood, Victor will have portables, Sharp, would probably be the best out of that group , Victor the worst ( Do NOT buy a Victor portable if you own a lot of Sony recorded MD's )

The Onkyo Bookshelf systems though , sound amazing for their size , I have listen to all of them , and will eventually get the Onkyo.

[walkdude]

I like interesting technology, and sony, and music.

MiniDiscs are like my favorite format, CD-RW.

and since I dislike carrying around a 12cm CD player in my pocket I looked for something smaller.

Which is why I chose MD over MP3

Edited October 18, 2007 by WalkDude

[MikeyV80]

I was pretty late when I got involved into MD: 2005! Altough I knew for a long time MD existed, I didn't see any pro's buying such. I'm a keyboard-player and sometimes I record something for family and friends. Until I bought my NH-600, I used my pc for recording my stuff. One friend of mine told me my recordings could get cleaner AND better if I should switch to MD.

I didn't believe him, until I went to his home-studio with my gear. Then he recorded my playing and imported those tracks into his pc. After comparing these tracks with previous recordings I made on a pc, I still wasn't convinced. Until I heard his recordings of my playing! Awesome!

So I bought myself a NH600, first for recording my own songs but secondly for bringing music with me whenever I'm roaming. January this year I bought a second-hand Yamaha MD8 multitrack-recorder for recording my own music-sessions as well as complete jam sessions with other musicians. And of course, the MD8 uses MiniDisc-technology. I still use the NH600 as a recorder, but only to record finalized sessions, just to keep the quality as high as possible. And I hardly need to perform editing the tracks on my pc, most of the time, I can put those immediately on cd.

[A440]

A journalist I know was using a red-and-black MZ-N707, the coolest-looking MD until the RH1, for interviews. He showed me how it could make track marks and said it sounded better than cassettes. I asked him how it was for recording concerts, and...

[theblueraja]

I started a thread similar to this one at the Audio T-Board, but I'll paste what I said here.

I actually cannot remember the first time I saw an MD. However, what is most significant is how I recall back when CD-burners just started to become affordable and popular, I had a friend in my neighborhood who also wrote music, and all his masters were on MD via an MZ-R37. I was using a Tascam 4-track recorder for my music (my band). At any rate, I wanted to 'rip' some of his songs to make a CD, so I borrowed the MZ-R37 to play back his songs into my PC in realtime (this was probably like 1996?). Anyway, I thought the little disc spinning in the window (how I wish all MD players had windows, by the way) was so COOL looking, and truly sounded incredible. I started thinking about what to buy for my master recording... the MD device, or a DAT machine. I was so torn because I thought the MD was SO COOL, however, my fear of compatability (demo-exchanging universality) took over, and I went for DAT, since it was more the "industry standard" for demos, etc... A few years later I felt so glad about my decision, since I really never saw MD again, anywhere.

Wow... I have such a TERRIBLE memory, because now I'm trying to remember how I came BACK to MD!! It was fall of 2004 that I went for HiMD I suppose after just surfing around for the idea of MD or something, and the rest is history... Perhaps the iPod craze was going around and I started looking into portable music options greater than my Sony Discman?

Darn it, I wish I could remember what drove me to discover hiMD...

Anyway, earlier THIS year I LEFT MD for a Sony Vaio (well, iPod for 2 days, then shipped it right back)... I thought it was time for the DAP world and I loved ATRAC so I thought I would be set... 6 months later I started playing around with my NH900 and it was love all over again.

[Strungup]

Hey Raj ...... your Fickle

[theblueraja]

Hey Raj ...... your Fickle

Yeah... I know What can I say?

[srizvi1]

Two things for me got me into the MD world.

I've been doing stand-up comedy since March 2002 (check out my YouTube channel youtube.com/R1i ) and after doing it a few times and wanting to start recording stand up. I asked around to other comedians and one of the suggestions was for using a minidisc. and I was just like.. hmm.. really?

Then, sometime later, I saw a post on Engadget (my fave tech blog) and there was a mention of the new Sony RH1 along with a jab about the "dead" Minidisc format. And then everyone in the comments section just started going off on the author of that post. And it caught my eye because in going off on the author, the commenters were saying how they were using their minidisc.

So I started this thread over here in June 2006:

http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=15910

and in March 2007, finally purchased the Sony MZ-RH1 along with the SP-BMC-2 Omnidirectional Stereo Microphones and the battery mic module SP-SPSB-2 (SOUND PROFESSIONALS SUPER MINI BATTERY MODULE).

A440 & Guitarfxr have been the big helpers to my questions, but the wizard of oz & DrDann have also chimed in.

[baturjan]

Learning languages:

The ability to enter/remove track marks, and the repeat function make the MD the ultimate language learning tool. In less than a minute you can hear the same word/phrase/sentence a bazillian times drilling it into your brain. I'll never forget the first phrase I did this with. I didn't understand the recording because it was spoken so fast. I input track marks to isolate the phrase that I didn't understand, selected the repeat track function, and listened to it for about 5 minutes. This was a revolutionary upgrade from using a cassette recorder with the manual numbers that turned as it played to know where you were on the tape!

Now that I have a M200, the bookmark feature enables you to only review the items that are bookmarked. So you can easily add/remove items from your bookmark list, which acts as your flash card deck so to speak. Then, set the random and repeat all functions.

I firmly believe, and am always recommending, that language learners should use an MD recorder. Sony or others should market as such. there are millions of people learning languages in universities all over the world. I'll soon be starting my 3rd language helped by an MD recorder.

[aafuss]

After reading the profile for the MZ-R700 on this site, I decided to get one (cost me $30).

So I began my interest with MiniDiscs 2 months ago-though I have known about the format for several years.

[sinus]

Got me a Sharp MD-MT180H when I returned a cheapish digital camera. That was 2002. Before, I only had cassette walkmen by AIWA or Panasonic.

Fell in love with it ^^ Gave it away to my brother.

2004 I got the NH900 - still the best 1st gen Hi-MD recorder I think. sold

Then I got the E10 player which had terrible sound ... sold that

MDS-JE780

Then the EH1 (black) --- my favourite unit to date

Then of course the MZ-RH1

rgrds

[deniz666uk]

i first bought my daughter a minidisc i think late 90s or maybe earlier it was a sharp sr75 she didnt want it so i kept it used it for a while then later someone bought me a sony mz-9510 then started to use mp3 but every 1 i had broke i have an ipod but use that only in the car i dug out my minidisc today cause wanted to put them onto pc which is why i found your site.. i still have both minidisc players and the sharp still works as good as new... i prefer them to mp3 players anytime

[srizvi1]

Learning languages:

The ability to enter/remove track marks, and the repeat function make the MD the ultimate language learning tool. In less than a minute you can hear the same word/phrase/sentence a bazillian times drilling it into your brain. I'll never forget the first phrase I did this with. I didn't understand the recording because it was spoken so fast. I input track marks to isolate the phrase that I didn't understand, selected the repeat track function, and listened to it for about 5 minutes. This was a revolutionary upgrade from using a cassette recorder with the manual numbers that turned as it played to know where you were on the tape!

Now that I have a M200, the bookmark feature enables you to only review the items that are bookmarked. So you can easily add/remove items from your bookmark list, which acts as your flash card deck so to speak. Then, set the random and repeat all functions.

I firmly believe, and am always recommending, that language learners should use an MD recorder. Sony or others should market as such. there are millions of people learning languages in universities all over the world. I'll soon be starting my 3rd language helped by an MD recorder.

wow, did not consider this. I might have to look into this. I took 2 and a half years of Japanese while in College and have been wanting to brush up on my Japanese lately. (Especially if I can take advantage of a mansfield fellowship to go to Japan one day - the Mansfield fellowship is for Federal Employees).