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MiniDisc? You are living in the past!

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Matt C

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Hi folks,

I just want to thank you all for your replies. it all makes for very interesting reading. Your replies have been invaluable, as they have afforded a very different perspective to what i experienced 'growing up'.

The 'assignment' (such as it was) was to examine our relationship with material objects. My personal experience was that I placed a huge 'value' on my music collection, and as such, placed a huge value on my MiniDisc collection. Over the years, I feel I have attained greater 'value' from MiniDisc as the price has fallen over the years. My 'golden years' of using MiniDisc are those when i had the 'disposable income' to spend on the format. Now that I have various other commitments, it is reassuring that I can still afford to invest in the format (especially after having invested in MP3 and having it 'fail me' to a huge cost!)

It will be a year to the day (today) that Sony have abandoned the format. I think it is a shame, but I also recognise that it has been deemed obselete by 'superior' formats. For me it will always hold a 'special place' in my affections. From the replies I have received, it looks like I am not alone.

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The formats I prefer to use is and will be the minidisc format. I have the MP3 SanDisk and Apple iPod; but, the heart stays with minidisc. The biggest reason is the quality of the sound, storage and battery life (used AA batteries or the LIP battery supplied); whereas, the SanDisk and Apple internal battery fails the unit is at an end and storage as well.

Minidisc, you can swap storage easily!

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1. How old were you when you first 'bought into' the format?

17.

2. Do you still regularly use your very first player?
Not really…because it's had such heavy use in the early days it now has occasional problems with playback, so now it's purely used for NetMD track titling/arranging etc.

3. Do you regularly 'use' your items, or are some purely of interest as a 'collector'?
Use them every other week when I have time to sit down and listen. Used to have a massive collection, but eventually narrowed it down down to 3 HiMD, 3 LP, 2 SP, and 2 Decks.

4. Do you listen to 'new' music on your discs, or prefer to keep the format for music 'of the era'?
Any music!

5. Do you own more items than you can 'practically use'?
Yes and no...8 units and 2 decks is more than enough for me, but each has their own specific 'job'. The SP units for my SP MDs, LP units for LP2 mixes, HiMD for recording, and decks for playing on speakers.

6. Did you 'go away' from MiniDisc', only to return to it at a later date?
Yes. First unit started playing up after 4 years of solid service, so I caved in and got an MP3 player. 6 years later I bought an RH1 and before I could say "broken bank", I started raiding eBay for more units I missed out on from back in the day. Let's just say I missed the format…

7. Do you associate use of your player with 'fond memories', or is it a purely 'practical' consideration?
More for practical consideration. Saying that, I no longer take my portables outdoors for fear of damaging them (I realise how silly that might sound, but consider this: for every irreplaceable/unrepairable MD unit there are a squillion new MP3 players being churned out everyday!) so they stay at home for full, concentrated listening i.e not as background music. On my travels, I leave the incessant track skipping to my MP3 Walkman ;)

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  • 3 weeks later...

I am living the past on so many levels that my co-worker laughs at me for it. I buy physical books to read and don't use tablets for reading novels. I use and collect fountain pens and refill my highlighters. I still have 2 boxes vinyls and cassette tapes (originally belonged to my father) and about 6 shoe boxes of VHS tapes. I love "vintage" stuff. In fact, I use the old CD cartridge cases to carry some CDs. --the CD jewel cases used in the first CD Burners, they look like giant versions of minidiscs. What I really liked about recording off of minidiscs was that it made me feel like I was a music producer or editor. I envisioned myself in a booth and would record through my headphones and insert T-marks and type in the titles and artists. Even though these minidisc were for me. I never did record much from CDs, but I used the line in to record from my computer (had just discovered Napster in the late 90s). My first machine was a refurbished silver MZ-R50 my father bought me with about 6-9 74 minute discs. I had a few Music Jack discs and a few of the boring black/grey Sony "recordable minidisc Quick Random Access" discs. I would always be rearranging the tracks or discs for the ultimate listening experience. I don't consider myself a Hipster, but I get nostalgic. Now I will answer the questions after the trip down memory lane.

1. I was 12-13 when my father bought this for me so a surprise from a trip to Hong Kong.

2. I can't use my first player because it got lost in a move, but I now have another that was bundled together from an EBay purchase I made with a MZ-RH910. But the MZ-R50 was so long and using the 2 double AA battery compartment made it even worse. It was always in my bag as I walked to and from school with a ridiculously long headphone cord trailing.

3. I use the discs for music, podcasts, and audiobooks now and I do also collect. I prefer machines with the slide to open type instead of the squishy side plastic button opening.

4. I put anything on these discs.

5. I have about 20 portable machines. No decks. So yeah, more than I practically can use. Favorite is the MZ-NF810 - because sometimes I listen to public radio. To bad you couldn't record straight off the radio.

6. Went away when the iPod/Archos machines came out, but came back about a year ago when I found an old disc that wasn't lost. Found that machines like the N505 were relatively cheap. There begins the addiction.

7. I do associate with find memories. I only saw one other kids in my school with minidiscs. He had a better selection and to me it seemed a better machine to. I think it was a Sharp or Panasonic.

Sorry for the long post.

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