[BIGHMW]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Albinoni /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just some questions here re MD players: 1. How do MD players work, are they the same as a CD player where it uses a laser to read the Disc or is it magnetic ? 2. If I want to transfer music over from my Toshiba laptop (which has a SPDIF) port can I use this to transfer music or do I need to use USB ? 3. How many songs can I store on one blank MD Disc ?

ANSWERS:

1. There are several types of MD players and/or recorders, but basically the magnetic head records onto the disc, while the optical laser reads (or plays back) the disc much like a CD player would do.

2. If you want ti transfer your fnished recordings you need just two thing IMO, a Sony MZ-RH1 or MZ-M200 (they are both the same with the bundled earphones and a mic supplied with the M200 being the ONLY difference between the two), as well as the primo (and proprietary) MD/Hi-MD software for it, SonicStage CP Version 4.2 (for Win XP users) or 4.3 (for Win Vista users).

3. As for storage onto a standard blank MiniDisc, it's up to 80 minutes in SP mode, 160 miniutes in SP mono, or for MDLP/NetMD, 160 minutes in LP2 stereo, and 320 minutes in LP4 stereo mode.

And then there is Hi-MD, in which all MD/NetMD/MDLP functions will work on, as well as Hi-MD discs, when using a Hi-MD disc, Linear PCM (uncompressed audio) can hold up to 93 minutes on a 1GB Hi-MD disc, up to 9-10 hours in Hi-SP mode, and up to 45 hours in Hi-LP mode (@48kbps, but I recommend running it @64kbps [for better SQ than 48k], which will still give you 34 hours on one, if using Hi-LP).

Also, becuase Hi-MD recorders/players are backwards-compatible with the older format MiniDiscs, they can also be re-formatted to Hi-MD use, allowing up to 13+ hours in Hi-LP mode on a Hi-MD formatted MiniDisc.

Hi-MD Walkmen also make great data drives as well, allowing up to 1GB of storage on a Hi-MD disc, and up to 305MB on a Hi-MD-formatted MiniDisc.

The possibilities are endless with MiniDisc and Hi-MD!!!

 

[Chef]

God, why? hahaha

Honestly, it's an outdated and ludicrous technology. It maximizes inconvenience, by making you both have to rip all music to them, but also forcing you to carry a few dozen with you whenever you want to listen to your music, which btw will mean you're flipping thru the silly things like it's 1999. At least with a normal CD player you wouldn't have to rip your CDs.

There is no inherent advantage to reading digital data off a minidisc over reading it off a flash or hard drive. In fact, it's probably worse since now you risk the play skipping from shock (though I think there's probably at least a few minutes of protection anyway on the last models to come out). In any case your DAC sees it all as zeros and ones, so it doesn't matter how it's stored.

I understand the appeal of something rustic... But you should know that's basically all you're getting, and the people around you aren't thinking 'wow that guys so cool fiddling with his decade old DAP.' Plus the guy with the CD player that doesn't even read mp3s is showing you up, and the guy with the cassette player is showing him up.

You've already got it, so I guess saying all this has been pointless, but seriously. You've been very silly

The only advantage I might be able to give MD is that they require the player to be bulky which means you'll probably have room for a bigger amplifier, which might give you the illusion of higher SQ since the volume goes higher. It's the only credit I give my old MD player anyway.

 

[BIGHMW]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chef /img/forum/go_quote.gif God, why? hahaha Honestly, it's an outdated and ludicrous technology. It maximizes inconvenience, by making you both have to rip all music to them, but also forcing you to carry a few dozen with you whenever you want to listen to your music, which btw will mean you're flipping thru the silly things like it's 1999. At least with a normal CD player you wouldn't have to rip your CDs.

I agree with the not having to rip CD's for a "normal" CD player, in certan circumstances. But, what if you want to make a custom mixdisc and want a CD of it (perhaps you like certain tracks/custom mixes/edits off different CD sources as opposed to others), that is where MD comes in pretty handy.

Also....

I've got news for you Chef, yes, you can make a CD of your finished custom MD mixdiscs, especially if you own studio-grade pro recorders, like I do. They are readily available at any pro gear shop like Musician's Friend or Guitar Center. I do burn CD-R's of them all the time as backups in case my master MDs ever gets (god forbid!) stolen or anything bad happens to it. As a matter of fact, I only use my MDs in either my vehicles (both VW's) or at home, or, I rip the MDs to SonicStage CP 4.2 so I can play them on any DAP (including your beloved iPod or even my 20GB NW-HD5 Walkman) using my MZ-RH1/MZ-M200 as a driver, so don't count out MD or Hi-MD when it comes to their versatility.

 

[Head_case]

Quote:

God, why? hahaha Honestly, it's an outdated and ludicrous technology. It maximizes inconvenience, by making you both have to rip all music to them, but also forcing you to carry a few dozen with you whenever you want to listen to your music, which btw will mean you're flipping thru the silly things like it's 1999. At least with a normal CD player you wouldn't have to rip your CDs. There is no inherent advantage to reading digital data off a minidisc over reading it off a flash or hard drive. In fact, it's probably worse since now you risk the play skipping from shock (though I think there's probably at least a few minutes of protection anyway on the last models to come out). In any case your DAC sees it all as zeros and ones, so it doesn't matter how it's stored. I understand the appeal of something rustic... But you should know that's basically all you're getting, and the people around you aren't thinking 'wow that guys so cool fiddling with his decade old DAP.' Plus the guy with the CD player that doesn't even read mp3s is showing you up, and the guy with the cassette player is showing him up. You've already got it, so I guess saying all this has been pointless, but seriously. You've been very silly The only advantage I might be able to give MD is that they require the player to be bulky which means you'll probably have room for a bigger amplifier, which might give you the illusion of higher SQ since the volume goes higher. It's the only credit I give my old MD player anyway.

LOL!!!!

What a backward and outdated post!!!

CDs scratch. CDs are bulky. Mini-discs are not. If they skip, your mini-disc is truly antiquated and doesn't have even 4MB buffering capability. Mini-disc players can rip digital from concert; from Spotify; from you computer 3.5mm jack output. Try doing that without a mini-disc and experience the true meaning of inconvenience (or paying for useless digital files!)

There are always those who diss technologies of the past, thinking that modern = the bestest! Sound quality from high quality digital Mini-Disc amps and 1411kbps rip rates - better than anything a hard drive prone to lifetime failure after 4-5 years any day!

 

[BIGHMW]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Head_case /img/forum/go_quote.gif LOL!!!! What a backward and outdated post!!! CDs scratch. CDs are bulky. Mini-discs are not. If they skip, your mini-disc is truly antiquated and doesn't have even 4MB buffering capability. Mini-disc players can rip digital from concert; from Spotify; from you computer 3.5mm jack output. Try doing that without a mini-disc and experience the true meaning of inconvenience (or paying for useless digital files!) There are always those who diss technologies of the past, thinking that modern = the bestest! Sound quality from high quality digital Mini-Disc amps and 1411kbps rip rates - better than anything a hard drive prone to lifetime failure after 4-5 years any day!

Good call dude.

There are still so many naive people (especially these 10-17-year-old mall rats) out there that think that the (so-called) "latest and greatest" is the greatest available when that statement is far from the truth. These are the same people who think that an iPod with its supplied iBuds outperforms an MD or Hi-MD player or any other DAP with a pair of $100.00 aftermarket earphones (like Yuin) or IEM's (like UE, Shure, Sennheiser or even my modded Sony MDR-EX90's).

I too, live and die by MD and Hi-MD, and only use my 20GB NW-HD5 (ATRAC-based) Network Walkman for on the go or for walks or for times when I need more, But for recording formats, MD (in SP Stereo mode) is king!!! Would you people rather I go back to cassette tape? You talk about backwards?!?!?!

All my master MD's from which my compilations/mixes are recorded onto are well stored and have also been transferred to both my HD5 DAP and onto Hi-MD for my Hi-MD Walkmen, thanks to my MZ-RH1.

MD dead? Not as long as they are readily available, maybe not in store but there are plenty out there, mainly on eBay as well as the web.

 

[OMG teh Jambands]

Good info there, BIGHMW. I do love my MDs as well to this day. I've got a pair of Sony MZ-n510s that I occasionally use for concert recording (as old-skool MD tapers will tell you, gotta use a pair because swapping discs takes too long!

). The headphone out on one of them is dead, but I use the other one as my portable player quite frequently, especially in the summer time when I'm biking around and stuff! I also had a Kenwood S55 for a little while, but truthfully, I never liked it much. I guess those Kenwoods were a bit sought after though, because I got a bit more than expected for it on eBay!

And of course, like I said before, I still use my Sharp SD-SG11 every damn day. My PC and Rio Karma dock are both hooked up to it. Sometimes just for fun, I throw a blank MD in there and set it to "Sync-REC" for a few days. It's fun to capture all the random sounds of music, youtube clips, etc that come out of my PC.

Anyway, just wanted to shoot the breeze a little with a fellow MD fan.

Albinoni, I must tell you honestly, it is a very weird time for someone to be getting into MD players, but they are quite fun to play with. I hope you enjoy yours. If you have any questions, or want to know where to buy blank MDs and stuff, I might know some stuff. Don't hesitate to ask.

It's so funny. I know it doesn't look that way from my post count, but I have actually been coming to this board off an on since around 2002 or '03. (Ok, my memory is fuzzy, and don't berate me if I've got this wrong, but...) when I first came here, THE latest and greatest in ultra-portable sources were the Sharp DR7 and DS8 MD players. HDD DAPs were really just starting to take off. Some people had Creative Nomads and iPods and such, but they weren't the norm, and nobody took flash-based DAPs seriously at all. My, how the times have changed.

 

[Head_case]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BIGHMW /img/forum/go_quote.gif Good call dude. There are still so many naive people (especially these 10-17-year-old mall rats) out there that think that the (so-called) "latest and greatest" is the greatest available when that statement is far from the truth. These are the same people who think that an iPod with its supplied iBuds outperforms an MD or Hi-MD player or any other DAP with a pair of $100.00 aftermarket earphones (like Yuin) or IEM's (like UE, Shure, Sennheiser or even my modded Sony MDR-EX90's). I too, live and die by MD and Hi-MD, and only use my 20GB NW-HD5 (ATRAC-based) Network Walkman for on the go or for walks or for times when I need more, But for recording formats, MD (in SP Stereo mode) is king!!! Would you people rather I go back to cassette tape? You talk about backwards?!?!?! All my master MD's from which my compilations/mixes are recorded onto are well stored and have also been transferred to both my HD5 DAP and onto Hi-MD for my Hi-MD Walkmen, thanks to my MZ-RH1. MD dead? Not as long as they are readily available, maybe not in store but there are plenty out there, mainly on eBay as well as the web.

That's true - I guess it's hard for the digitally naive not to be seduced by the next latest digital gadget - seduced into thinking that it has to be better sound quality than all the technologies which have come before it.

A work colleague grimaced at me when she saw my mini-discs - said that she remembered those from about 10 years ago and didn't think they existed. Listening to it in the car, she just belted up and enjoyed the music

Yes - I figured that having a mini-disc only in the car was a better bet than CD. No one has tried to steal it since!! That's the other nice thing about unrecognised greats in vintage technologies. I can still use an iPod adapter if I like, although the radio interference is too troublesome.

Lol - I still have a few cassette decks and cassette walkmans. The sound quality straight from the jack (unamped) is unimpeachable. If you get a quartz controlled anti-rolling cassette walkman, the quality is just incredibly warm and rich in the mid-tones. Just like mini-disc. They're so cheap nowadays it's fantastic to see the stream of manufacturers continue to supply them at 0.69 pounds per disc.

Quote:

It's so funny. I know it doesn't look that way from my post count, but I have actually been coming to this board off an on since around 2002 or '03. (Ok, my memory is fuzzy, and don't berate me if I've got this wrong, but...) when I first came here, THE latest and greatest in ultra-portable sources were the Sharp DR7 and DS8 MD players. HDD DAPs were really just starting to take off. Some people had Creative Nomads and iPods and such, but they weren't the norm, and nobody took flash-based DAPs seriously at all. My, how the times have changed.

Hi there - I guess you're just not a prolific poster

I remember those players although I came to the mini-disc format through the Sharp MD MT888H. Mine is working perfect after 10 years. You're right in needing one or two to record straight so there is no break in the music.

A dealer in audio hi-fi told me last week that he stocked mini-disc because it was popular with youth projects on council estates. The kids could make their own music and record live quality conveniently at very little cost. That way, they can be ripped latter onto digital files and the inferior copies from the master MD tapes circulated on low quality MP3 to satisfy all the iPod masses