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The MiniDiscTM
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| accesses since 1995. |
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What are MiniDiscs?MiniDiscs were announced in 1991 by Sony as a disc based digital medium for recording and distributing consumer audio that is ``near CD'' in quality. In 1993 Sony announced MD Data, a version of the MiniDisc for storing computer data.There are two physically distinct types of discs: Premastered MDs, similar to CDs in operation and manufacture, and Recordable MDs, which can be recorded on repeatedly and employ magneto-optical technology. The disc itself is enclosed in a small (7cm x 7cm), convenient, cartridge. |
Past News: Recent, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996.
What's New?
| Our contact Email addresses have changed due to the torrent of spam/virus messages. Please prefix your email address for us with "md-", e.g. "md-webmaster". Apologies! | ||
| 11/11: | We've kept quiet
too long -- Sony's Digital Rights Mania finally lands them in
court: Slashdot reports that a class action suit against Sony in California alleges that
Sony's copy-protected audio CDs violate several California statutes,
including the "Consumer Legal Remedies Act" and the "Consumer
Protection against Computer Spyware Act," which prohibits -- among
other things -- software that takes control over the user's computer
or misrepresents the user's ability or right to uninstall the program.
Earlier, Mark Russinovich investigated Sony's self-installing CD protection
software and found it to be akin to spyware, intentionally hiding
itself and providing no means of removal. Sony later released an
uninstaller, but Mark has has looked at it and finds "Without exaggeration I
can say I've analyzed virulent forms of spyware/adware that provide
more straightforward means of uninstall". Attention Sony Electronics -- would anything bad actually happen if you just jettisoned Sony Entertainment? (Discuss...) | |
| 10/26: | Inqoo posts good photos of the Onkyo FR-N9 bookshelf system. The ¥88,000 ($800) HiMD/std-MD compatible unit has digital optical I/O (but sadly no USB port). Onkyo's FR-N9 Japanese page and mech. trans. | |
| 10/22: | Jake Hazelip points out a site selling refurbished Sony MZ-NE410s (with some cheeky commentary) for $45 w/shipping. | |
| 10/20: | It's Fall, new gear season: Peter Ravn discovers Sony's 40GB HD based NAS-M7HD "NetJuke" (mech. trans) CD/std-MD/MemoryStick/MP3/AM/FM/USB bookshelf HiFi system. The unit can record to HD from a variety of sources, including CD (8x) and MD (realtime, analog). // Christopher Clark points out further NetJuke info at Engadget (in English). The write: ``Sony seems intent on trying our patience recently with gadgets that offer cool hardware but are hopelessly hamstrung by DRM and own-brand lockins. Latest of the bunch is the NAS-A1 NetJuke stereo it's launching as part of the Any Music joint venture .... | |
| 10/13: | Several readers point out coverage of Sony's MZ-EH70 MZ-EH50 Hi-MD players (mech. trans). The ¥19,000 and ¥17,000 (resp.) units feature a maximum battery life (AA+NiMH) exceeding 80 hours and incorporate PCM and ATRAC/ATRAC3/ATRAC3plus codecs, but lack support for MP3 playback. Further coverage at AkihabaraNews and AVWatch (mech. trans). (Discuss...) | |
| 10/12: | Sony announces the pro-use PCM-D1 solid-state recorder at AES. The handsome unit features built-in microphones, analog (!) meters, 4 hour battery life on 4AA cells and 96KHz/24bit recording to 4GB internal memory (with a memory stick slot as well). Available in December for $2000. (Courtesy Boris Bengin) // Also from AES, a respected journalist in the audio field reports: I was told [by Sony's pro-audio division] that new Hi-MD models are being developed and that Sony had no intention of killing the format. ... They kept assuring everyone that Hi-MD in the pro market will continue. | |
| 9/25: | A CanadaEast News article reports on Sony's announced restructuring, stating "Sony also fell behind Apple Computer Inc.'s IPod in what should have been its forte - portable music players - clinging to CD and minidisc formats and its own proprietary but unpopular format for digital music files. The IPod models are a big hit in Japan, where Apple began its ITunes store in August to rave reviews." | |
| 9/23: | Strap points out a C|NET article laying out the Tough choices ahead for Sony. From the article: Stephen Baker, an analyst at The NPD Group, suggested Sony should cut out some of the low-visibility categories, including non-MP3 portable music players, clock radios and car stereos. "These midtier categories, ones where Sony has a history and where they may have a large but not a dominant share, are the logical ones to cut." // Todd Snyder contributes detailed plans for adding optical output to an MDS-JE480 MD deck. Todd notes that the MDS-JE480 is still available from Crutchfield and is the only MD deck currently available on the US market. // Minidisc Access is selling new blue 1GB Hi-MD blanks for $6.50 each until Oct 1. | |
| 9/22: | The Washington Post reports that Sony will cut 10,000 jobs in a restructuring operation to "catch up with rivals such as ... Apple Computer and its popular iPod player in the portable music industry". What's in store for Minidisc? | |
| 9/18: | Mark Bausch points
out an informative LA Times article covering Sony's attempts to get its
electronics and entertainment divisions pulling in the same
direction. From the article: Through the late 1980s and 1990s, Sony's electronics and entertainment divisions coexisted in an uneasy peace. [...] The electronics units agreed to hobble new devices with technologies that limited copying and deterred piracy, but the entertainment divisions gave lukewarm support at best to the new formats Sony's engineers developed. The whole was clearly less than the sum of its parts.Recommended reading for those trying to fathom why Sony would intentionally cripple its Minidisc. | |
| 9/16: | Minidisco donating 5% to Hurricane Katrina relief Minidisco will donate 5% of every order placed between now and Sept. 20th directly to the American Red Cross to support the Katrina Relief efforts. | |
| 9/11: | Sonic Stage R.I.P. Sony announces "Connect Player", a drag and drop oriented audio management tool. (Discuss...) | |
| 8/24: | Dale Greer nicely covers Hi-MD Minidisc to Macintosh transfers, finding them quick and easy. (Discuss...) // Daijobu puts together a Standalone Sonic Stage 3.2 installer enabling installation to be done without a connection to the Internet. // Speaking of Macintosh support, Minidisco is now carrying the Sony MZ-M100 ($400) and MZ-M10 ($300) portable Hi-MD recorders. | |
| 8/12: | Sony won't play on iTunes? Strap points out a Business week article mentioning that despite Sony's non-participation in iTunes Japan, some Sony artists have definately put their tracks there anyway. Strap's comments: The article is talking about how the iTunes launch in Japan is a raging success and how Sony musicians are trying to get their music onto iTunes even though Sony hasn't reached an agreement with Apple. It's certainly food for thought, all of us minidisc junkies have seen how Sony's recording business has influenced the way that they design their players/recorders. Now they don't want to feed the iPod monster because they want a bigger piece of the pie for their own personal audio solutions but they don't want to hurt their recording business by not letting their artists sell music on the hottest thing going either. A house divided against itself cannot stand and Sony, in spite of it's new management's declared policy of breaking down the barriers between divisions, is one divided house right now for sure. I hope that they sort it out. I wouldn't mind seeing them dump their music and movie studios and get back to doing what they used to do better than anyone, making the most innovative electronic equipment in the world. (Discuss...) // Kurisu points out several nice reviews from the forums: A black MZ-DH10P pictorial, an MZ-RH10 review and MZ-RH10 vs. MZ-NH900 pictorial, from Christian Klukas (WinNMD creator) review on a silver MZ-DH10P with supplemental pics, and a DH710 review + pictorial. | |
| 8/8: | kcSteve kindly points out a CNet article on the best sounding MP3 players. They have rated Sony's NW-HD5 hard disk audio player "the cream of the crop". | |
| 8/6: | Sony offers free MZ-RH10 titling repair. As anyone who has hand titled on an MZ-RH10 unit knows, the characters K, L, M, X, Y, Z, k, l, m, x, y, and z are missing from the input screen. Sony has agreed to pay for the repair as well as round-trip shipping charges. (Discuss...) | |
| 8/5: |
Kurisu offers a review roundup! Ishiyoshi has gracefully constructed a
plethora of Minidisc equipment pictorials: Blue Sony
MZ-RH10, Black Sharp
MD-DS70, Blue Sony
MZ-E900, Gold Sony
MZ-E10, Silver Sony
MZ-E710, Red Sony
MZ-R900, and finally Blue Sony
MZ-N910. Mikami has made a Sony DS-HMD1
Pictorial/Review. Check out the many other topics in our Product
Reviews/Pictorials section that were not mentioned here, and you can
add to the growing list - Register
for free to participate in the #1 discussion board for Minidisc! Free
registration includes access to our growing gallery, downloads, and
user-submitted live recording archive!
| |
| 8/1: | Armando Ortiz points out a discussion on Engadget about the "Worst gadget flops of all time". Several posts mentioned Minidisc in passing, but many more came to the format's defense. | |
| 7/28: | Sony (finally!) comes to their senses, allowing unlimited uploads of your own recordings from Minidisc to PC in Sonic Stage 3.2. Remember NetMD with its silly 3-download limit? How far they have come! (Discuss...) | |
| 7/14: | Sony adds Macintosh Hi-MD uploading support! Kurisu finds Sony Business Products pages for the MZ-M100 (MZ-RH10 clone) and MZ-M10 (MZ-RH910 clone) portable Hi-MD recorders. They appear identical in every way to their RH brethren but also support upload of PCM linear recordings (only) to a Mac using Sony's Hi-MD WAV Importer software. (Discuss...) | |
| 6/16: | Christian Klukas has re-released WinNMD, a Windows software package for realtime, unattended uploading of MD recordings to a PC using any NetMD capable Minidisc device. The €14 utility will record each MD track to its own, titled, MP3 file on the PC and can directly burn audio CDs from audio uploaded from MDs. | |
| 6/14: | Tired of waiting for Sony to introduce Neige Hi-MD blanks? Mr. Dirtweed has decided to make his own from some std-MD blanks and a bit of scotch tape. Next project? Hello Kitty meets Hi-MD. | |
| 6/2: | Amid Choueiri points out a thoughtful article on Sony's Hi-MD technology at DigitalMediaThoughts. // Minidisco.com has the Sony MZ-DH10P in stock but they note some incorrect details on Sony's site: Unit has no Mic input, no Line input, no AC input on the unit - AC adapter plugs into the charging cradle only, no external AA battery case - can be used only with the removable LiIon rechargeable battery, the AC adapter is 6V not 3V. | |
| 6/1: | MinidiscAccess extends their Memorial Day special until June 10th: $5 off on the Zen-48 MD organizer. | |
| 5/7: | Minidisco has secured Sony's remaining new stock of its MZ-NHF800. This is Sony's only Hi-MD with a built in tuner. | |
| 4/30: | Cracking the euro-MZ-RH10 restrictions: After some experimentation, forum members crack the european model MZ-RH10 restriction codes, allowing it to run at full headphone power (5mw+5mw) and restoring the custom equalizer settings. // MiniDisc Canada is offering 3 free std-MD blanks with orders that include a donation to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. | |
| 4/23: | Planet Minidisc is offering the Sony MZ-RH10 Hi-MD recorder for US$260 plus shipping. | |
| 4/21: | Chris MacManus brings this month's Forum Focus: The big news for registered Forums users is the addition of an active Gallery for sharing equipment photos and live recording samples with the world, as well as a fully functional Downloads area for all of your Hi-MD and NetMD needs. As for keen threads, check out the nice selection of Sony 2nd Generation Hi-MD reviews and pictorials composed by our forum members and others. On the news front, one surprise is that Hi-MD isn't doing too well in Australia - Sony 2nd generation units may not arrive there till 2006. And finally, check out our newly created Trading Forum; hook up with others in the community and trade discs! There's plenty of other interesting threads as well, so please drop by! [click here to register -- it's free and takes under a minute] | |
| 4/20: | Peter Ravn spots a Japanese press release for the Sony CMT-AH10 Hi-MD bookshelf system (mech. trans). Due the end of May, the ¥53,000 unit offers high speed CD->MD dubbing (Hi-LP=8X, Hi-SP=6X, PCM=4X, std-MD=2X), USB uploading, and can be used as a PC data drive as well. Akin to last year's Hi-MD portables, the unit records in Hi-MD and std-MD modes (SP, LP2, LP4) but does not support MP3 directly. Further coverage at AV-Watch (Japan) including a larger photo. | |
| 4/15: | Emma Stratton's Minidisc essay in The Morning News captures the aura and optimism of Minidisc's early days. (Courtesy Joel Dueck) (Discuss...) | |
| 4/14: | Sony announces a Hi-MD based data drive. The USB-powered DS-HDM1 (mech. trans.) offers peak write speeds of 9.8 Mbps (1GB media) and 4.4Mbps (reformatted 305MB std-MD media), that's 7X and 3X (respectively) the CD data rate. AV-Watch has further photos and coverage. (Discuss...) // Ed Barlow points out a ZDNet (UK) article on avoiding obsolete storage hell. The author recommends staying away from many companies and their proprietary media, including "the Minidisc music format that seems designed by lawyers" | |
| 4/13: | Hi-MD Macintosh support? Several readers point out Japanese news of the Buffalo MD-HUSB portable downloader (further coverage at Gizmodo and AV-Watch (mech. trans.)). The unit is a near clone of the Sony MZ-NH600D except that it supports native MP3 playback (as do the 2005 Sony Hi-MD units) and uses the BeatJam software package for audio transfer -- a package that would appear to have a Macintosh incarnation. Buffalo Buffalo, Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo? (Discuss...) | |
| 4/12: | MP3 storage format reverse-engineered on Sony NW-S23 Network Walkman: Waider has figured out the MP3 file obfuscation algorithm on Sony's NW-S23 Network Walkman sufficiently that he can read and write files from the device. Is there similar hope for MP3 files on Hi-MD media? (Discuss...) | |
| 4/7: | Sony 2005 Hi-MD portables in stock! Minidisco has the MZ-RH10 and MZ-RH910 in stock. The MZ-DH10P is due late May, the MZ-DH710 late April. | |
| 4/6: | Ishii has made a nice translation of the interview with Sony's MZ-DH10P developers. Did you know the camera was originally slated to be 3 megapixels, but was scaled back to reduce the unit's overall size? (Discuss...) // Minidisco is accepting 2005 Hi-MD pre-orders, for delivery in mid to late April. They've also updated their Minidisc comparison chart. | |
| 4/1: | This year's April Fools Joke is that there isn't one. But since today's Hi-MD Minidisc portables with USB storage functions and native MP3 recording follow logically from MP3 ideas of past spoofs, perhaps Sony's 2005 Hi-MD units that have all the ingredients to be great MP3 players yet are still encumbered by a silly DRM scheme will qualify. // Ed Barlow points out signs of a possible truce between the Blu-Ray and HD DVD camps. The article discusses the impetus for settling this war before sales commence and mentions Minidisc as one of Sony's "technically-superior products that failed in the marketplace." // MDcenter.nl posts the first picture of the Sony MZ-RH10 with its Euro/NA remote (scroll to bottom of page). Small and pretty, but no LCD. // MiniDiscAccess has empty MD flip cases back in stock for US$10 a 20-pack. They've also got some cool leather pouches, armbands and cases. | |
| 3/28: | Marck of MDcenter.nl points out a Japanese Sony MZ-DH10P review (mech. trans.). The review is quite detailed and includes photos taken with the unit. Their opinions: Pro: It's cool, it sounds great. Con: Short battery life in photo mode, low image resolution, long cycle time between shots (6 seconds). // Minidisco is having a week long Hi-MD blank sale, offering them for $4.95 each in any quanitity. | |
| 3/24: | Minidisc Canada is taking orders for the Sony MZ-RH10 (CAN$350, US$276) and will begin shipping them on April 14th. | |
| 3/17: | Kurisu spots c|net video (Flash) coverage of the Sony MZ-RH910 and MZ-DH10P portable MD units. They're touting the native MP3 capabilities and it is nice to see the units in action. (Discuss...) | |
| 3/14: | Bryce Ly points out a New York Times article stating Samsung is now what Sony once was. Relevant quote: When Sony was caught flat-footed with a late introduction of an Internet version of its 25-year-old Walkman, its profits from world audio sales fell a cataclysmic 48 percent in the final quarter of last year. Once again, Sony had coasted on an old technology, while competitors invested in new ones. | |
| 3/12: | AV Land (UK) has high-res photos of Sony's MZ-DH10P MD downloader/camera. Shades of Blade Runner: The shiny buttons in the 5.6megapixel photo reveal the photographer's apparatus. // Minidisc Canada has plenty of 2004 Hi-MD gear still in stock, including the Sony MZ-NH700 for US$209 w/shipping. The MZ-NH700 is a Hi-MD recorder available in Canada and Europe that is essentially an MZ-NHF800 without the AM/FM/TV radio. // Minidisc Access is offering the industry's first 48-Minidisc organizer binder for US$29 plus shipping. | |
| 3/6: | Big Shakeup at Sony: Various news sources report that CEO Nobuyuki Idei will likely be replaced by Howard Stringer. A Wall Street Journal piece adds this Minidisc related commentary: The Walkman group has suffered from a split between those who believe Sony should make its gadgets compatible with a wide range of popular services and technologies -- like the MP3 music-encoding system -- and those who push Sony's proprietary technology -- such as Minidiscs and the Atrac music-encoding system. (Discuss...) // The Sound Professionals is offering their standard binaural microphones for $30, 67% off their normal price. | |
| 3/2: | Forums administrator Kurisu finds a plethora of Sony Hi-MD equipment pictures and specifications, including Sony's Hi-MD Photo page, MZ-DH10 and MZ-RH10 battery life specs, and photos of the MZ-EH930 Hi-MD player. | |
| 3/1: |  You (Again)SonySony Minidisc Finally Plays MP3s! | |
| 2/27: | Daryl Kobayashi points out MD gear on clearance at Crutchfield, including an MZ-NH1 for $300. | |
| 2/20: | Minidisc.org has moved to a new server. We think you'll find the site a bit faster now. | |
| 2/16: | Sony headed for AAC support on Connect? Ed Barlow points out an interesting Register article (UK) indicating that an upcoming Sony Ericsson mobile handset will be able to carry 6 to 10 CDs worth of MP3 or AAC format audio, and that tracks can be purchased for it from Sony's Connect music store. | |
| 2/15: | Christopher McManus presents this month's Forum Focus: The second edition of Minidisc Community Forum Focus shall begin with a zinger for you European Sony Hi-MD folk; a user by the name of himdman has figured how to lift the volume limitation enforced by French litigation - which allows all models [except NH1, which isn't 'capped] to enjoy a full 5mW output! Further analysis of this experiment is also found within a very informative thread by moderator dex Otaku. Changing subject, please feel free to visit our newly created Software Support/FAQ's forum for all of your Sonicstage woes, and also check out the latest version of Simple Burner 2 with PCM support. Live recording enthusiasts, we need you! Delve into our live recording forum to find out the current tricks of the trade. And lastly, read an interesting interview with the developers of ATRAC3plus. With 6,000 registered users and 100 users on at mostly any time, be sure to join us for insightful MD discussion. | |
| 2/8: | MDcenter.nl posts good photos of Hi-MD blanks. Their jacket seems a bit like a small pre-recorded case. | |
| 2/5: | Capturing Toddler's Speech on Minidisc: John Guest points out a method for recording children's speech on TalkBank.org that uses a Sony MZ-N10 recorder, lapel microphone, and a toddler harness. | |
| 1/30: | Sony Online Music Store, Take II? A reader spots a brief BrandRepublic article (London) indicating that Sony will start a music download service targeted towards the PlayStation Portable. | |
| 1/28: | Hi-MD spreads beyond Sony's bounds: Marck points out Onkyo's announcement (mech. trans.) of their MD-133 Hi-MD deck. AV-Watch has further coverage (mech. trans.) Oddly, the unit appears to be lacking both USB and digital output connections. (Discuss...) // Christopher MacManus finds a Sharp technical paper (in Japanese with English abstract) describing their work to produce an integrated optical pickup that handles both Hi-MD and Std-MD media (full paper) | |
| 1/21: | A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds: Mark Bausch points out stories in the Chicago Tribune (cached) and Forbes in which Sony finally admits that its near-religious adherence to ATRAC and an overly proprietary atitiude about music and entertainment content has been a mistake that has cost them sales. They do vow to finally "grow up" however. And MacWorld has the same story from a slightly different perspective. // For Dutch readers, MDcenter.nl is having a contest offering Sony MCMD-R1 Hi-MD cardreaders. The first contest ends shortly, the second begins on January 24. | |
| 1/12: | Kohn Liu of Minidisc T-Station gets honorable mention in a New York Times article covering his shop AudioCubes (Courtesy Ed Barlow). | |
| 1/9: | Paul Riismandel posts an in-depth Sony MZ-NH1 review at Epinions.com that nicely situates Hi-MD in its historical context. | |
| 1/6: | ForumMaster Kurisu transitions the MDCP Forums to an Invision Power Board. | |
| 1/5: | Hi-MD blanks finally rolling out: Minidisco reports they are stocking 3000 Hi-MD blanks in prices ranging from $6 to $7. | |
| 1/3: | Sony's Connect/SonicStage disaster finally gets upper management attention: Mazli points out an IDG article reporting Sony's decision to create a "Virtual Company" within itself to focus on the digital media market. Improving SonicStage will be a priority, and to that end it will get assistance from a San Jose based software group. | |
| 1/1: | Happy New Year! | |
| 12/18: | Minidisc Community Forums administrator Christopher MacManus introduces the first edition of Forum Focus: This column intends to highlight active and interesting topics and bring Minidisc.org's readership into closer contact with the forums. For openers, are you interested in something with more sparkle than the stock backgrounds in Sonicstage 2.x? We've made some new ones and have links to instructions for making your own. In our increasingly popular Live Recording forum there is an insightful discussion about an MZ-NH900 concert recording with a fantastic result that could help many with their first recording experiences. The Hi-MD forum has an informative discussion contemplating the usefulness of a 128kbps ATRAC3plus bitrate for Hi-MD . And lastly, if it's been a while since you've employed Marcnet's Hi-MD Renderer program [allowing you convert those recordings made by Hi-MD to *.wav], he's up to version 0.31 and it includes some fantastic updates. By the way, Sonicstage 1.5, 2.1, and 2.2 users can upgrade to Sonicstage 2.3 . Do join us for daily discussion of all and sundry Minidisc topics, registration is quick and easy! | |
| 12/16: | Minidisc gear for Christmas? Barlow and MDcenter.nl point out a Lawrence Journal-World article (Kansas) on Christmas shopping for audio equipment that covers Minidisc gear (and mentions us). | |
| 12/10: | Marck finds a positive MZ-NH1 piece in Australian IT, stating that in terms of sound quality at least, Sony's Hi-MD portables are indeed iPod-killers. // And an AudioGoGo article asks does the iPod have a future? They write however "I have to smile when I see Sony mentioned as a possible usurper of the iPod. This is the company that has limited the power of the MiniDisc format to protect its music businesses. Sony designers serve too many masters to come up with a product so much greater than the iPod to change the cultural currents. And lets face it the "Walkman" brand is years stale, compared to the iPod." | |
| 12/9: | Barlow finds an interesting Forbes piece on Sony's NW-HD1 "the digital audio player we all love to hate". | |
| 12/2: | Ipod Studio reports that Meier Audio has given them a limited number of Porta Coard MkII headphone amplifiers to sell at ~half-price (90€/US$120). | |
| 12/1: | IDG News and The Register cover Sony's MP3 conversion -- apparently Sony will allow NW-HD1/2 owners to upgrade their firmware to play MP3s directly. | |
| 11/30: | Sony's conversion to the MP3 religion: Peter Ravn points out Sony's Japanese page for their NW-HD3 and NW-E99 fully ATRAC3plus/MP3 compatible 20GB HD and 1GB Flash walkmans (mech. trans). A new version of Sonic Stage (v2.3) ships with the units. Could an MP3 blessed Hi-MD unit be in the works? // The NW-HD3 (above) comes none too soon. As TrustedReviews NW-HD1 review points out, the earlier unit's inability to play MP3 files, coupled with Sonic Stage (download manager) buggyness conspire to create an unfriendly (and unSony-like) user experience. | |
| 11/13: | Barlow finds articles in The Miami New Times and The Harvard Crimson about the band Animal Collective that mention their use of Minidisc for collecting field recordings. | |
| 11/2: | Sony (finally!) garners their Hi-MD customers' votes: Clay reports that Sony has released their Wav Conversion Tool that converts uploaded Hi-MD recordings into Windows ".wav" format audio files. From there they may be easily converted to MP3 or burned to CD. (Discuss...) | |
| 10/26: | Ganesh and de Pablos point out the new Panasonic SJ-MR50 MDLP recorder, a sleek unit with a built-in microphone and speaker as well as a wealth of good old front-panel buttons. (Additional coverage at Gizmodo). | |
| 10/25: | Peter le Roux points out a News.com story reporting that Sony has launched two native MP3-playing Network Walkmans in Europe. A US version is due in November. // David Robinson finds Hi-MD blanks in stock at DiscountDiscs.co.uk for £9 each. // Jonathan Saltzman points out the ADS Tech "Instant Music", a US$60 USB soundcard with analog and digital I/Os. // Minidisc plays a role in an ethical breach at Asahi.com (search "minidisc"). | |
| 10/23: | The Dutch MD Center has a competition for a Sony MZ-NH700. Simply verify 13 statements about Hi-MD before 3 Nov to be in with a chance. // MDCenter.nl also has some pictures of the MCMD-R1 card reader for Hi-MD recorders. | |
| 10/22: | Kent, Daryl, Robert & Jonathan all spot Sony's Japanese announcement for their MCMD-R1 Hi-MD memory card reader. Don't get too excited - this US$100 device attaches to your exisiting Hi-MD portable recorded and simply allows image files on a solid-state memory card to be transfered to the Hi-MD disc in the recorder. A low-cost dump for image files from your camera. See also US SonyStyle page, Gizmodo's page and Mobile2Day's German announcement. // Ed Barlow, via News Target spots a PC World Staff Writer's Blog discussing Sony's rumoured move to native MP3 support. (Discuss...) | |
| 10/19: | Warning to SonicStage users: A Windows 2000 Hotfix (KB840987) conflicts with Omgjbox.exe - if you are experiencing problems and do not need the functionality of the Hotfix, rollback the fix. | |
| 10/15: | Minidisco have just received large stock of MZ-NH1 and MZ-NH900 HiMD machines. // Last week the International Bluegrass Music Association's Instrumental Album of The Year Award was given to Tom Adams & Mike Cleveland for a live banjo recording captured entirely on a Sharp MiniDisc recorder. "Live at the Ragged Edge" is published by Rounder Records. | |
| 10/3: | UK consumer group Which? surveyed online vs. high-street prices for its Best Buys and found the largest savings to be made with Minidisc players - typical prices being 33% lower on the web. // Marck at the Dutch MD Center points out that TMPGEnc (see 10/3), in common with all DirectShow based importers/converters, is limited to 1 minute of audio output (the rest is silence). The Hi-MD Renderer (see 10/2) circumvents this limitation. | |
| 10/3: | Assistant Editor Nick Perry takes the reins for 3 weeks. //Further Hi-MD WAV exporting John Gordon points out TmpGenc (free 30 day trial), an audio/video conversion program that will convert OMA files that are shorter than 60 seconds, to .WAV. (Instructions: open program, browse to OMA file, select "linear PCM" output, click "ok"). // Luis Villanueva-Rivera has made a Digital Froglogger from a microcontroller and Minidisc recorder that he uses for capturing frog choruses. | |
| 10/2: | Homemade Hi-MD wave convertor beats Sony to the punch: Hi-MD users tired of waiting for Sony's "wave-convertor" to export their Hi-MD recordings to WAV can try Marcnet's Hi-MD Renderer (local himdrenderer007.zip). Although still in beta, and requiring SonicStage 2.2, users are reporting success with it. | |
| 10/1: | Ultimate Uploader? Boris and Qukza point out the lovely Edirol R-1, a handheld solid-state recorder. The US$440 unit (street price) includes two electret mics, a 64MB Compact Flash card, an optical-output jack, and 9 recording modes from 64kbps MP3 to 24-bit linear WAV. Harmony Central finds it can transfer a max-resolution 60 minute recording (908MB) to a PC over USB 2 in 3 minutes. (Available in late November, US$550 list). (Discuss...) | |
| 9/22: | Sony moving to support MP3!? Lee, Ferreira, and Patel point out a CNET article stating that Sony is contemplating native MP3 support for their portable music players. Engadget has further coverage. Please include Minidisc in your enlightenment Sony! (Discuss...) | |
| 9/17: | Kenwood's conversion to domestic MD production bouys profits: An Asahi Shimbun article relates that Kenwood's 18-month old experiment in moving Minidisc equipment production from Malaysia to Yamagata Japan has indeed been profitable. Courtesy Ed Barlow. // Bryan Adams tripped up by old Sony End-Search botch? The Age reports that Bryan Adams had once lost two years of work on Minidisc by hitting the wrong buttons. (Search for "minidisc") | |
| 9/14: | Oliver Richter has made one of the most impressive MD blank galleries on the web. | |
| 9/11: | Sound Professionals offers the SP-ECM-MS907 self-powered Stereo Microphone, a $100 alternative to the (you guessed it) Sony ECM-MS907. // Hi-MD Rebates in Canada: David Ing points out Sony rebates from $20 to $50 (until Sep. 30) for Hi-MD purchases from Sony Canada authorized retailers. | |
| 9/8: | New std-MD gear: Sharp's battery powered SD-FX20 MD Boombox (mech. trans.) features 4X CD->MD copying, 1-bit digital amp, and a world-band FM tuner. Sony's MZ-E630 and MZ-E730 portable MD players (mech. trans.) sport (E630): digital-amp, white stick-controller remote (E730): HD digital-amp, VPT acoustic engine and (both): 6-band equalizer, digital pitch control. (Discuss...) (Courtesy Ravn and de Pablos) | |
| 9/4: | iTunes for Minidisc? Ed Barlow points out an ITWorld article inidicating that Steve Jobs offered Sony chairman Idei the opportunity to have Sony gear interoperate with iTunes. (Discuss...) | |
| 9/3: | Peter Ravn updates our FAQ: Inserting a Hi-MD formatted blank in a std-MD machine causes it to display "Hi-MD Disc" (but it's unplayable of course). | |
| 8/28: | Weekend special at Sound Professionals: the Sony MZ-NHF800 and MZ-NH700 for $20 off including a free stereo microphone. | |
| 8/27: | Canadians can join a Sony/MuchMusic contest to win an MZ-NH1 Hi-MD recorder, a Sony VAIO PCGK23, or 500 Connect downloads. (Courtesy David West) | |
| 8/24: | Peter Ravn makes a photo review of the Sony MZ-NHF800 Hi-MD recorder. | |
| 8/23: | Christopher MacManus points out the Sony MZ-NH900 and MZ-NH700 Japanese Export editions, equipped with the MZ-NH1's 3-line remote. (Discuss...). // Forget the endless iPod vs. MD arguments, a friend points out a comparison of iPod vs. Cassette. // Chris finds another interesting item: an FCC Public Notice indicating that Sony intends to use Hi-MD for Video recording. | |
| 8/14: | Sound Professionals has the Sony MZ-NH700 and MZ-NHF800 available. // Minidisco is giving away a gold Sony MZ-NH1 on Sept. 3rd (all you have to do is join their mailing list). // Peter Ravn's Hi-MD space calculator has been updated for all remaining bitrates (132,105,66 and 48kbps). | |
| 8/12: | More USA Hi-MD units appear: Minidisco has the AM/FM/Hi-MD MZ-NHF800 with line and mic inputs and SonyStyle.com has the MZ-NH900 in stock (a reader called them to verify it). | |
| 8/10: | First dedicated Hi-MD walkman peripheral: Spanish MD page Quesabesde points out the Sony MCMD-R1 (mech. trans.), a Hi-MD recorder peripheral for transferring digital camera memory contents to Hi-MD media. The unit accepts Memory Stick (normal, PRO, duo, PRO duo), XD, Compact Flash, Smart Media, SD, mini SD and Multimedia memories and connects via USB to any recording Hi-MD walkman. Running on 4 AAA cells it will power (but not charge) the Hi-MD unit to which it is attached. (Price appears to be under €100) | |
| 8/9: | Sony MZ-NH900 available in UK: AVLand posts zoomable MZ-NH900 snapshots but states "It isn't as solidly built as Sony's previous 9xx series machines. Its bottom half is plastic and the bulkiness makes it rather more like the 7xx series." | |
| 8/3: | Hi-MD Blanks in stock at Crutchfield: Brian Rost told us (and we called and checked), Crutchfield has 13 Hi-MD blanks in stock for $7/each with a lifetime warranty. Minidiscs again rare and expensive -- just like the old days! // A Wall Street Journal review of the Sony NW-HD1 hard-disk player does not speak well of Sony's challenge to the iPod. Their verdict: While the new Sony is smaller than the iPod and has much better battery life, it is markedly inferior overall. It has a confusing, complex user interface that makes it hard to use; weak software for the PC; an oddball music format that makes loading it with songs tedious; and a companion music download service that offers less than Apple's. The iPod wins this round, and remains champion. A long Sony discussion thread on Slashdot mentions Minidisc and is similarly negative (sample post: "I think the MiniDisc format had great potential, but Sony's insistence on idiotic copyright meaures just make it way too inconvenient to gain wide acceptance. I use it mainly because (A) I already invested in it and (B) it's easy to cart around, but the format is so needlessly crippled as to be sad.") | |
| 7/30: | Sony MZ-NHF800 and MZ-NH700 beginning to appear: Ken Welsh points out the J&R MZ-NHF800 page, indicating it "usually ships in 1-2 days", and AV-Land (UK) has the Sony MZ-NH700 in stock. Finally, Olaf van Ginkel spots the MZ-NH600D and MZ-NH700 at MediaMarkt in Amsterdam. | |
| 7/25: | David West finds a Toronto Star article on the 25th anniversary of the Sony Walkman. | |
| 7/24: | Allon Bar points out a surprisingly detailed Sony NW-HD1 brochure (pdf) for their "World's smallest, thinnest lightest" 20GB HD player with 30 hour battery life. The unit has a unique zero-g detector that retracts the heads during free-fall (will it play music in space?). If only it handled native MP3 playback. // Sergio de Pablos (of Quesabesde) points out two items from JVC: (1) The RC-G1MD MD/CD boombox (mech. trans) featuring 4X CD->MD recording and a fancy front panel illumination scheme and (2) The SP-A200 Pouch Speaker (mech. trans). It's designed to both carry an MD player and be connected to it as a speaker. // Nicolas Roughol has kindly scanned several French magazine Minidisc reviews from the late 90's. They include a review of the Sony MDS-JA20ES (the first ATRAC Type-R deck) stating that it finally gives to the Minidisc its letters of nobility. | |
| 7/22: | Skytherx posts a full featured MZ-NH3D review (an upmarket downloader available in Japan), with photos. | |
| 7/21: | Joe Edwards notes that Duke University is giving away iPods to their students. | |
| 7/20: | One step forward one step back: Bangraman posts a comprehensive comparison of the Sony MZ-NH1 vs the iPod Mini. Though the review points up the pros and cons of both machines, it reveals a debilitating limitation of Sony's SonicStage based Hi-MD upload function: audio upload is only possible into DRM-locked files or ATRAC3 CDs!. Fortunately Sony has stated that a standalone Wave Converter application will be available in autumn that will allow Hi-MD mic and line input recordings to be uploaded and exported to open .wav files, as they promised. (Read further...) // Richard Prinsloo finds a good Sony manuals website stocked with a surprising collection of manuals (and from whence we found, e.g. the Sony MZ-R910 user manual). // Did you know Alpine has an iPod compatible car stereo due this fall? (Courtesy Dale Greer) | |
| 7/11: | More of Sony's 2004 Hi-MD line-up begins to appear: Japan-Direct (Osaka) now stocks Sony's MZ-NH1 recorder and MZ-EH1 player. Hi-MD media are reportedly still hard to find though. // John Brady finds the MZ-NH1, MZ-NH900, MZ-NHF800, as well as the MZ-NH600D are all available at Sonystyle.com. Update: all except the MZ-NH600 are still "pre-order" only. Sony contacts report the MZ-NH800 due in two weeks, the MZ-NH900 closer to August and the MZ-NH1 in August. | |
| 7/5: | The won't-be iPod killer: Mark Bausch points out Forbes coverage of Sony's NW-HD1, which they find underwhelming, stating (of its MP3 incompatability): "This is similar to other Sony players that use Sony-only technologies like the Minidisc and the Memory Stick. This strategy is, we think, doomed." Even Sony execs don't seem to know which end is up when it comes to portable audio gear. See further coverage at SFGate.com, Gizmodo, c|net and Engadget -- the user commentary is damning, nearly all agreeing that lack of MP3 playback is a fatal blunder. (Discuss...) // Hi-MD operation manuals appear: Duane Galensky and Jeff point out manuals for Sony's MZ-NH1, MZ-NH900, MZ-NHF800, MZ-NH700 and MZ-NH600D Hi-MD portables on Sony's documentation site. Sony has a special note there concerning recording power consumption when using Hi-MD media. (Discuss...) // Duane makes some observations on battery life for folks doing Hi-MD field recording. // Cassette House owner Art Munson has several dozen pre-recorded MDs on close-out sale for under $10 with shipping. | |
| 7/1: | Ravn and Mcarthy point out the Sony NW-HD1 20GB hard disk based ATRAC3 player (English coverage at The Register and EuroraPress). Due for August release in Europe (and holiday shopping season in the US), the sleek unit incorporates a 1.8" hard drive and sports a 30 hour max. battery life. (Prices not yet available) | |
| 6/25: | Matthew Lomax finds an interesting Hi-MD feature page that includes a section entitled Why go Hi-MD and not HDD?. At Amazon.com, of all places. What fun to hear them tout Hi-MD's ability to share songs with your friends -- all that check-in/check-out nonsense conveniently forgotten! (Discuss...) | |
| 6/24: | First Hi-MD user manual! David O'Heare kindly sends along the Sony MZ-NH600D user manual (3.5MB pdf). The documentation also covers the unit's PC download/upload software and includes this unusual comment: "We do not ensure trouble-free operation on all computers that satisfy the system requirements." (Discuss...) | |
| 6/22: | First Hi-MD review! Ed Barlow points out a Sony MZ-NH600 review by Australian IT. They cover the Euro edition that has line and optical inputs -- unlike the MZ-NH600D which does not. // A Liverpool Daily Post article says that a reporter's MD kit was broken by Jennifer Ellison's boyfriend. Police are investigating. | |
| 6/17: | A New York Times article (cached) discusses Minidisc and the upcoming Hi-MD (and quotes us kvetching about Sony botching it as usual). | |
| 6/16: | Gadgets Online HK (old MD comrade) is offering the Rio Riot 20GB HDD player for $150 w/shipping and the Rio 600 64MB mp3 player for $44 w/shipping. Though not MD, the prices are compelling. | |
| 6/15: | Outward Sound has the Sharp MD-DR77 portable recorder in stock for $320. Is the MD-DR77 the first portable with a recording-start function on the remote? (Discuss...) | |
| 6/10: | Reactive Sounds introduces their Auris series microphones (pdf brochure) that feature internal shock mounting so that handling noise is reduced. They're available in mono ($60) and stereo ($120) configurations. | |
| 6/8: | Sony didn't really invent the Walkman? Kurisu finds word that ``Sony is paying several million Euros to Andreas Pavel, a German inventor who in 1977 patented and prototyped a wearable stereo called the "Stereobelt."'' | |
| 6/7: | Hi-MD entrée: Sony's MZ-NH600D Hi-MD portable is now available from Minidisco, Minidisc-Canada, Yahoo's shops, and OneCall (among others). This is the North American model, lacking line, optical, and microphone inputs. | |
| 6/6: | Digital amplifier low-down: Kurisu (MDCP forums admin) has posted a commentary on digital amplifiers found in Minidisc units. // The online music service only a mother could love? Ed Barlow points out yet another lackluster review of Sony's Connect. | |
| 6/2: | RIAA planning to limit CD burning: Slashdot points out a C|Net article discussing Recording Industry plans to restrict the number of times CDs can be copied. Sadly, details are sketchy. // New std-MD bookshelf systems: Spanish MD site Quesabesde points out the JVC UX-Q1 CD/MD bookshelf system (trans) sporting 5X CD->MD copying, as well as the Denon D-AZ03 CD/MD bookshelf system (trans), with bright colors. Both feature world-band FM tuners. | |
| 5/29: | It's finally in the open -- Sony itself says that executive paranoia over music piracy is hobbling innovation: Clay Schneider points out a revealing Bloomberg News article on Sony's missteps in the digital age that have cost them $100 billion in market value. Howard Stringer (head of Sony's US divisions) is quoted as saying "Executives were so concerned about music piracy that they couldn't agree with designers on the kind of player to create. We didn't get there, and by that time, Steve Jobs was there." (Discuss...) // With a dash of schizophrenia then? PC World has further coverage of Sony's HMP-A1, the 20GB hard-disk audio player announced this week that supports native-MP3 audio but neither Sony's Connect online music store nor the ATRAC3/plus audio format. This unit is not to be confused with the 20GB Sony VGF-AP1 hard-disk player introduced last week that does support ATRAC3/plus and Connect, but not MP3-audio playback. // A few pieces we missed: A Tech Japan article on Sony's MZ-NH1 & etc. product page (mech. trans.) points out that the MZ-NH1 and MZ-NH600D cradle is no longer slated to provide USB connectivity, and that the units will be available in additional colors. (Courtesy MDcenter.nl) | |
| 5/27: | Sony introduces a hard-disk based MP3 player that does not support ATRAC3 and ATRAC3plus: Peter Ravn finds Sony Japan's HMP-A1 press release (mech. trans., English coverage at The Register). The 250 gram, ¥63,000 ($560) unit sports a 20GB hard drive and will play MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 video files as well as native MP3 audio (with a battery life of 4, 6 and 8 hrs respectively). The unit is slated to ship with MusicMatch Jukebox. (Discuss...) | |
| 5/26: | Peter Ravn points out Sony Japan's MZ-NH1/NH3D/EH1 & LAM-Z1 page (mech. trans.). Apparently the units will ship with SonicStage2.1 and provide better battery life than originally indicated. Did you know that SonicStage 2.1 is stated to allow Linear PCM downloads, and that the LAM-Z1 will do CD->MD transfers at up to 6X realtime? (Discuss...) // Due August 11: Erik Pinter finds the MZ-NH1 at PixMania for €291 (£190). | |
| 5/24: | ATRAC3 slammed in blind listening tests: Aaron Ximm finds that in subjective listening tests against Vorbis, LAME MP3, iTunes AAC, etc., ATRAC3/132kbps almost always came in last. (ATRAC3plus was not tested) | |
| 5/23: | Richard Prinsloo discovers Information Technology courses at Zhongxing University in Taiwan on physics and optical storage. The latter includes a well detailed, 41 page technical chapter on Minidisc (pdf) (cached). // Hi-MD for sale at SonyStyle US: Bob Scott finds the MZ-NH600D for $200. | |
| 5/22: | UK MZ-NH1 slated for August!? Lee Sainsbury finds the Hi-MD page at Amazon UK (search "hi-md") showing its arrival on August 5, 2004. | |
| 5/20: | Hi-MD media to intro at US$3.30: Jason Howlin discovers that his local Wal-Mart (Endicott, MD) will sell Hi-MD blanks for $10 a 3-pack. We called and confirmed it. | |
| 5/18: | Hi-MD recorders -- now you can go out and buy one: Kurisu points out good Hi-MD snapshots taken by Ryzer, who bought a Sony MZ-NH600D at Target. | |
| 5/16: | Sony Canada's (so-far scanty) Hi-MD lineup: Neo Anderson spots Sony Canada's MZ-NH600D page showing an arrival date of May 27. // Nineteen hundred dollars and not Hi-MD!? Dave finds hi-res images of Sony's Qualia 017. Granted, the remote looks cool. | |
| 5/14: | Sony's official SonicStage 2.0 upgrade is available for download from their restyled Digital Network Audio support-page. (Courtesy MDcenter.nl) // Reuters reports Sony has inked a deal with Wippit to distribute music online in Europe. | |
| 5/13: | Sony apparently not connecting with the critics: A USA Today article finds Connect "a shockingly un-slick maiden voyage into the music downloading business by a company with the track record and resources to expect better". // More factory installed in-dash Minidisc gear: David West discovers Jaguar offers a Minidisc player as an option in their new XJ sedan (see p. 4). | |
| 5/11: | Sony's Connect still sagging: A TechNews article finds the service underwhelming and "an embarrassment to the company that gave the world the Walkman". // That $1900 std-MD player: Time magazine briefly mentions the Sony Qualia Minidisc player. Did you know the case is carved from solid brass? // Factory in-dash Minidisc players: You can find them in Honda's F Aero Premium 660cc 4-seater and the Mazda RX-8. // A Christian Science Monitor article discusses A Break in the Road, a flash site that teaches audio production basics, giving the author a simulated Minidisc recorder to capture street sounds with. | |
| 5/10: | Sony introduces portable hard-disk player in Japan: A MacWorld article covers Sony's Vaio Pocket VGF-AP1 (mech. trans.). Scheduled for release in Japan in June, the USB2.0, 20GB unit plays ATRAC3 and ATRAC3plus encoded audio for 20 hours on a single charge and uses SonicStage 2.0 for loading its audio. The unit also comes with "Music Move" software that apparently converts MP3, Wav and WMA files to ATRAC3 or ATRAC3plus on the fly during transfer to the device. (Might this be made available for Minidisc equipment as well?) Courtesy MDcenter.nl (Discuss...) | |
| 5/8: | High-end Hi-MD gear slated for high-summer: Sony advises its retailers: "As you may be aware, we just started shipping our first HiMD model, the MZNH600D. We were planning on shipping initial quantities of the MZNH800 very shortly, and unfortunately have been advised by the factory that these units have been delayed until mid to late July. In addition, the MZNH900 and MZNH1, which we intended to have available in June, are now also going to be delayed until the end of July." (Discuss...) // Hi-MD media to be in short supply? A Sony bulletin concerning Hi-MD media sales states "A limited supply of single Hi-MD discs will be available during the launch of Hi-MD to support an on-line sales strategy through key retailer web sites and sonystyle.com." (However a Hi-MD blank will be included with every Hi-MD portable) // Finally, someone singing Connect's praises: Rebecca Reich points out an informative (and favorable) C|NET review of Sony's Connect and the coming Hi-MD equipment. // Continuing the Connect Critique: A Tech News World article discusses Sony's entry into the crowded field of pay-per-tune services and mentions the "messy state" of today's multiple DRM formats, quoting Rio marketing manager Bullwinkle to say "People are stealing music because that's the easy way. If I get something from Morpheus or Kazaa or one of those places, it will work anywhere. And that's what consumers expect." // What's Russian for Connect? The Sydney Morning Herald, The Register, and Museekster cover AllOfMp3.com, a unique Russian online music retailer offering a wide selection of mainstream music at a penny a megabyte (in user selectable encodings and bitrates). It's allegedly legal, through a loophole in Russian copyright law. (Slashdot discussion) | |
| 5/6: | Sony's Connect: An interesting c|net article reports on Connect and the coming clash of Sony and Apple in the portable audio realm. // A New York Times article (free reg. req.) does not report very favorably on Connect: "Unless you have a Sony player, ATRAC may as well be 8-track". // A PC World article covering Connect quotes a doubtful industry analyst: "I give this store very little chance of being successful, given Sony's poor history in this space, the proprietary nature of store's technology and the entrenched competition it will face." // Our take on all this? How long before Sony comes to grips with the fact that portable MD gear will need to support MP3 playback just like every other portable audio player on the market? (Discuss...) | |
| 5/4: | From Slashdot: Sony launches Connect, a music download service intended for Sony's ATRAC based music players. Sadly, it's currently Windows-only, and a USA Today article isn't particularly bullish on its prospects given the already crowded field. There are more details at The Register and The Age. (Discuss...) | |
| 5/2: | The ipod studio (don't let the name fool you) is a new site dedicated to the seemingly impossible - achieving audiophile quality from portable equipment - including MD. // Sony's SonicStage v2.0 is available to coincide with the launch of Hi-MD. | |
| 4/28: | MiniDisc:UK are discontinuing their MiniDisc Titler PC-based hardware/software combo. They have a few copies of v2.0 for sale while stocks last (GB£21.50/US$45.00) // Geek.com reports the average consumer requirement for a portable music device is 1000 songs. (Courtesy Ed Barlow) // ctnow.com reviews 'The Girl in the Other Room' by Diana Krall. The music on this CD was composed on the road and recorded to MiniDisc. (registration required)... // ... also the same story as told by Ice magazine (courtesy David West) | |
| 4/26: | The Quad-Cities Times reviews a stand-up act, who used a home-built minidisc system for on-demand sound-effects and noises. (Courtesy Ed Barlow). | |
| 4/22: | The new Sony Qualia brand is fleshed-out via global and US websites. Qualia is Sony's 'premium' brand and includes a range of existing electronic products re-dsigned for the top-end of the consumer market. // A US Press Release explains the brand less obtusely and puts a US$1900 (yes, that's four digits) price tag on the Qualia 017 MD player mentioned yesterday. // Eric Cameron wonders if the new 'Sony digital Walkman' that Sheryl Crow will launch on 4 May, along with the Sony Connect music download site, is the anticipated Hi-MD units? See the last para of this MSN article. | |
| 4/21: | Herlad Tribune reports on Sony's forthcoming Connect Online music store, pitching it as a serious challenge to Apple's iTunes Music Store. // PC Magazine reviews the Sony MZ-NF610 Net-MD and highlights its quirks. (Courtesy Aaron Ximm) // A number of our regular readers spot the new Sony Qualia 017 - a sleek, slim variant of the MZ-E10. | |
| 4/19: | NY Times quotes Steve Jobs: "[minidisc] might work in Japan but not here". The full article requires registration. (Courtesy of Mark Bausch) // Peter Ravn notes an Optical Data Storage conference in San Carlos today. | |
| 4/17: | BBC Radio Four broadcast a programme celebrating the humble Walkman, in this, the 25th year since Sony introduced the first Walkman in 1979: Walking With Headphones (Real Audio). // Our principal sponsor, Minidisco now has all the forthcoming Hi-MD (and new NetMD) units on its site and is accepting pre-orders. Stock is expectied mid May (US). // One user from our forums points out some detailed pics of the new MZ-NH1 Hi-MD. The same site contains over 200 pics of new Sony devices apparently taken yesterday, at a Japanese exibition. | |
| 4/16: | Reuters reports Sony collaboration on an optical disk made of paper! (courtesy Ed Barlow.) | |
| 4/15: | Ed Barlow notes a new release of Wave Corrector, a US$45 application for "repairing" digitized vinyl and tape recordings. // Rodrigo Relleria notices some sensible reorganization of Sony's ATRAC info plus some, apparently new info at the Sony Global ATRAC site. // Sergi spots another new unit: this time a multiformat (DVD/CD/MD) bookshelf/mini in the shape of the Panasonic PM900DVD. (Discuss...) | |
| 4/14: | A couple of readers who preregistered for Sony Connect SonicStage 2 Beta program have received notification to say the program has started. // Lee Sainsbury's local UK Sony Centre have given him a Jun 04 Hi-MD release date. // Sergi of the Spanish Minidisc Page spots a new Sharp MD-DR77 (Japanese site). (Discuss...) | |
| 4/11: | Edward Barlow points out PlayFair, an open-source project which alleges to remove the DRM (Digital Rights Management) features from Apple's FairPlay audio files, potentially allowing files from Apple's iTunes Music Store to be downloaded to non iTunes/iPod devices - in contravention of the licence terms, of course. Discuss... | |
| 4/6: | Zachary Hemmelgarn spots Hi-MD portables at J&R.com available for pre-order. No shipping date in sight though, and they seem a bit confused about the MZ-NH900, incorrectly stating it includes an AM/FM remote. Discuss... | |
| 4/5: | The end of battery drugery? Ed Barlow points out a Bloomberg News article (search "mini") stating: "NEC Corp [...] has come up with a rechargeable battery that can operate a mini disc player for 80 hours after just 30 seconds of charging." NEC Press Release Discuss... // Public participation requested for ATRAC3plus listening tests: David Pieron is organizing listening tests (in French) to help acertain the relative standing of ATRAC3plus and other audio encoders (Discuss). // Pascal Charbonneau reports that the US$450 Rode NT4 condensor mic (Aus) is getting rave reviews and works well with Minidisc. // The folks at TeamDigital.net (Singapore) have a few Sharp MD portable specials: IM-DR80 @US$300, IM-DR420 @US$215, MD-MT270 @US$140 plus a Sony ECM-MS907 mic @US$67. Shipping is about $25 to the US. // David Maguire finds the Sony MZ-NF610 at uBid for ~$75, and Joe Gallagher spots the Sony MZ-NE410 at Sam's Club for under $70. | |
| 4/3: | Minidisc Online (HK) is now Gadgets Online and they're offering a Sharp MD-ST770 player for US$124, including shipping to the US or Australia. // Ron points out new hi-res Hi-MD photos at mp3-player.de. // German Hi-MD brochure: MDfr.com's forum has 1 2 pages of Sony's Hi-MD brochure from CeBit. (Courtesy Kouby) | |
| 4/2: | New heights in battery life complexity: With help from MDcenter.nl, we have a Sony Hi-MD portable spec chart. | |
| 3/30: | Hi-MD battery life figures emerge: From MDcenter.nl's specs table we update the MZ-NH1, MZ-NH900, MZ-NHF800, and MZ-NH700 battery life info. // French website mdfr.com has posted the Hi-MD FAQ en Français. | |
| 3/28: | Japanese Minidisc clones? A reader points out the Muji MD Player, which might be a Sharp MD-ST700 variant. And Peter Ravn finds the minimalist +/-0 design house offering an MD deck and portable MD player. | |
| 3/26: | Sergi de Pablos points out a Sanyo Hi-MD laser driver chip slated for 500K unit/mo production in 2004Q3 (PDF mech trans). This IC provides DC or pulsed solid state laser drive power, the latter a requirement for Hi-MD's DWDD laser strobe magnetic field modulation. | |
| 3/24: | Would you like a song with that? The Chicago Tribune reports on a Sony/McDonalds music pact wherein McDonalds plans to give customers free songs from Sony's Connect online music service when they buy certain menu items. // MacDailyNews has their own spin on the Sony/McDonalds partnership of course, and some commentators think chances are slim that Sony's Connect will make a splash since it offers music only in ATRAC3 format. | |
| 3/23: | First Hi-MD hands-on: MDcenter.nl visits Sony Netherlands to try out a pre-release MZ-NH1 and returns with answers to many Hi-MD questions. Discuss... // Outward Sound is offering a Sony MZ-N10 MD with ECM-DS70P microphone bundle for $300. | |
| 3/22: | Ed Barlow points out further coverage of Sony's CeBit Hi-MD showings from ZDNet Australia. // Sony's Connect online music service will reportedly offer more than 300,000 songs. You can view a Flash-demo of the interface on Sony Europe's Connect website. // An interesting Alaska.com article discusses the music and portable players (including Minidisc) favored by dog team mushers. // A SonicStage2 build is available for experimenters that is reported to work properly with existing NetMD devices. // A Silicon.com article (UK) puts into perspective their previous article stating that the UK Office of National Statistics has dropped Minidisc players during their annual update of its consumer "shopping basket". (Courtesy Ed Barlow) | |
| 3/17: | Sony-Europe Hi-MD blitz: Roughol and Evans point out Sony Europe's Hi-MD site, offering Hi-MD coverage from Norway to Spain. // MDcenter.nl posts the Hi-MD snapshots they made during a Sony NL dealer show. | |
| 3/15: | Upscale downloading: John Rappold finds Sony's MZ-NF520D portable downloader, a $150 std-NetMD unit sporting a backlit AM/FM tuner remote. // Peter Ravn spots a Sonic Studio press release announcing their n-code ATRAC3plus encoding tool. This US$2000 production-oriented application runs on Mac OSX and Windows XP platforms and provides batch encoding (with DRM support) to ATRAC3plus files for use by online music vending sites. The software's included hardware dongle prevents use on more than one PC at a time. // Peter Ravn updates his Hi-MD space planning calculator to work with a user specified capacity (either in MB, or time in a particular recording mode). | |
| 3/14: | James Bloom finds Sony UK's entries for the MZ-NH1, MZ-NH900, MZ-NHF800, MZ-NH700, and MZ-NH600 Hi-MD portables. Only a single figure is being given for battery life(!?) MZ-NH1: 17hr, MZ-NH900: 37hr, MZ-NH800/NH700/NH600: 27hr. // CDDB via i-Mode cellphone, 6X CD->MD dubbing: Sergi de Pablos (Spanish MD site Quesabesde host) points out Panasonic's Japanese pages for their PM700MD bookshelf 5CD/MD system. This interesting device copies CDs to LP4 mode Minidiscs at up to 6X realtime; a single button press will compile 5 one hour CDs into a single MD in under an hour. A new group is made for each CD, with titling information taken from the unit's CD title memory. Furthermore, CD titling information can be downloaded into the unit using an infrared link to a cellphone with iApli (iMode-based) access to a CDDB-like track name database. (Java-based iApli program download cost: ¥200) // Sergi also spots the JVC KD-M525 in-dash MDLP receiver. // Yves Le Page hears "June 10th" from Sony Belgium for the MZ-NH1 Hi-MD portable. // Timothy Stockman finds refurbed Sony MZ-NE410 portable MD downloaders at eCost for $60 plus shipping. | |
| 3/9: | Made in Japan (again): Ed Barlow points out a Straits Times article (Singapore) describing how Kenwood, citing lower costs and higher efficiencies, has moved MD player production from Malaysia back to Yamagata Japan. // A friend sends along 1 2 3 pages of Hi-MD equipment from Sony Europe's dealer catalog. All their Hi-MD gear is slated for June arrival (and we've heard rumors to that effect even for the US). Discuss... | |
| 3/6: | Sony's 4.7GB Minidiscs: Research teams from Sony and Sony/Canon have demonstrated recording at 15 Gbit/in2 on Minidiscs using DWDD coupled with DVD-like optical systems (cf DVD at 3.5 Gbit/in2) Discuss... // Martin Mueller finds a T-Board posting pointing out the Sharp IM-DR580 manual on the Sharp UK website. // Ed Barlow spots a review of the AudioBug FM-Transmitter, useful for playing your walkman through an FM radio. | |
| 3/5: | MDcenter.nl has a special offer for Dutch and Belgian customers through March 16th: Europe's lowest MD prices plus 5 Sony blanks. // Guitar-driven pop rock with polished harmonies: MiniDisc Access.com (in partnership with BMG Records) is giving away a Vertical Horizon sampler CD with every purchase. | |
| 3/3: | Sony showing Hi-MD by appointment in Germany: Peter Ravn points out a Sony CeBIT application form (German) with which up to 10 visitors an hour will be given personal tours of Sony's CeBIT booth. We'd be happy to receive photos and first impressions of Hi-MD gear, should you attend. | |
| 3/2: | David Ing finds a page describing Chris Lydon's recording equipment and his use of Minidisc gear. | |
| 3/1: | Ed Barlow finds that Sony COO Ando will present the keynote speech at CeBIT, where Sony's Hi-MD units will be introduced. // MP3 format to get DRM-enhancements: Slashdot mentions a c|net article reporting that Thomson/Fraunhofer (MP3 license-holders) are promulgating a DRM standard for MP3 files so they can be used in secure (read: copy-prohibited) online music retailing. // Not Psyc-ed in Canada? Dyson and MacManus point out Sony Canada's MZ-N420D page, the unit is styled quite differently than the US edition. | |
| 2/28: | New Hi-MD portable recorder? MDcenter.nl posts fresh Sony Hi-MD equipment photos showing that in lieu of the US model MZ-NH600D, Europe apparently receives the MZ-NH600 -- a proper recorder with a remote and audio inputs. Discuss... | |
| 2/27: | Sony's 2004 mystery NetMD downloader appears: Brian Masters finds Sony's Psyc line MZ-N420D announcement and photos. Due in April, the sub-$100 portable's packaging was originally spotted at CES by Minidisc-Canada. | |
| 2/26: | A look at Sony's High Capacity Minidisc research: Christopher MacManus points out a 2001 Sony DWDD-MD research paper (cached) in the Japanese Journal of Applied Physics (free registration required) that used MD-DATA2 optics to store 2GB on a Minidisc. Apparently an experimental forerunner of the upcoming Hi-MD system Discuss... // Ravn and de Pablos spot Sharp's photos and Japanese info for their MD-ST500 portable player (page 2, mech. trans). Due in March, the unit sports backlit remote, 155 hr battery life (NiMH+AA) and a new "+/- power supply audio circuit". // We open a Research Desk of collected Minidisc technical papers. | |
| 2/25: | Brian Rost spots the Sony MDX-F5800 at Crutchfield. This $380, 52Wx4 in-dash MDLP receiver is due at the end of March. // Looming Hi-MD arrival causing std-MD blowout? Crutchfield has lowered their MD portable prices: MZ-NE410 $100->$80, MZ-S1 $150->$130, MZ-NF610 $180->$150 and MZ-NF810CK $280->$250. | |
| 2/24: | Ed Barlow points out a Wired article on a radio show called Walkman Busting that investigates what the man-in-the-street is listening to. They get their music-bites by jacking an MD recorder into the headphone output of citizens' personal audio players. | |
| 2/22: | Christopher Hoult has written a technical paper comparing Minidisc's ATRAC (SP) and MPEG-1 Layer 3. Minidisc fares well in the comparison. // Knight International has an article about Radio Training in South Africa (pdf) that mentions the introduction of Minidisc as a reporting tool. // Bryan Mo points out a Best Buy Canada sale page that shows a sandwich (the kind with lettuce) made from a Sony NetMD player. // Speaking of Best Buy, Gilberto Zambrano reports that the one in Toronto (and perhaps all in Canada) are selling the Sony CMT-M333NT bookshelf NetMD system for CAN$350. | |
| 2/19: | Ed Barlow points out a News.com interview with Hideki Komiyama (head of US-based Sony Electronics) discussing the challenges Sony faces in the consumer electronics market. He mentions the good prospects for Hi-MD and portable hard disk based audio players. // We welcome Christopher MacManus, joining us as the MDCP Forum-Master. // My-minidisc.com posts news of the upcoming [std-MD] Sony MDX-F5800 in-dash MDLP player. Unfortunately Sony's crack styling team has lost the volume control knob. | |
| 2/16: | Quesabesde has coverage of the Hi-MD format and equipment in Spanish. // James Nolan discovers that the US$70 Mironics PC titling system for Sony portable recorders now supports recording of Winamp 5 playlists and silence detection based track marking for PC uploading. | |
| 2/14: | The Plano 3730 storage box is available again the UK. This fishing tackle box is perfect storage for 150+ bare Minidiscs, or about 75 in cases. They're the best way to store and carry Minidiscs while travelling, DJing, etc. About 8 quid, with delivery. -Sam Gibbard | |
| 2/13: | Peter Ravn points out an interesting Stereophile article on the DarkNoise/ SunnComm Q-Spoiler system, a copy protection technique that purports to plug the Analog Hole. They reportedly add an inaudible signal that becomes audible once the file is compressed. // Matthew Fremont finds Xitel's MD-Port tips page that references several useful free software packages: MP3Trim, a simple MP3 editor that prevents quality loss by editing directly in the MP3 domain; Mp32Minidisc, a conversion tool that adds silence to tracks, allows you to remove pauses, and includes a timing calculator for staying within an LP2 or LP4 disc's capacity; and MP3 TrackMaker, for splitting MP3s into multiple tracks, or combining many tracks into a single one. // Speaking of timing calculators, Peter Ravn updates his Hi-MD space planning calculator with all the available Hi-MD bitrates. Now all we need are Hi-MD discs to do some planning with. | |
| 2/11: | Hit me with music! A reader sends along word of an MP3 player built into an AK-47 ammo clip. The AK-MP3 Jukebox website (PG13 advisory) has further info on the 20GB, US$350 player. // Did you know that Sony as a NetMD bundle in Australia that includes a NetMD Backpack? (Courtesy Scott Hoffman). | |
| 2/9: | Peter Ravn finds Sony's Hi-MD site in English. | |
| 2/8: | Sony's CES booth one item short? A Hi-MD blank appeared on ebay for a Buy It Now price of US$400. Seems an absurd price for an item that will become commonplace in a few months and is otherwise useless until then! // Christopher has made photo galleries of the Sony MZ-E7W (ca. 2000 MD player with wireless remote), Sharp MD-DS8 (modern MD player) and TDK bit club blanks (which we must admit do look cool). // MinidiscAccess has put together a $300 recording bundle based upon the Sharp MD-DR480. // Pre-recordeds: not quite dead! Gary Cantwell points out UK supplier 101cd.com's pre-recorded Minidiscs. But fifteen quid each!? // Minidisc-Canada to the rescue: their remaining pre-recorded MDs are on closeout for US$12 each. (They also stock the previously mentioned Axia Happy Color blanks) // Robert reports that the German consumer electronics retailers Minimaniax.de and Brinkmann.de have closed. | |
| 2/4: | A friend sends along Sony's preliminary Minidisc walkman specs for 2004 (pdf). Of note: SonicStage 2.0 allows unlimited checkouts, only the MZ-NH1 has a date-time stamp function, and battery life figures are curiously still absent. Discuss... | |
| 1/30: | New non-Hi-MD portables: Wang and Ravn point out Sony's Japanese pages for their MZ-E520 (AVWatch photos) and MZ-N920 (AVWatch) units. | |
| 1/29: | Seamus Dunphy spots a New Scientist article (UK -- free registration required [cached]) covering Sony's Hi-MD DWDD technology. | |
| 1/28: | Minidisc-canada.com went to CES and got a photo of the MZ-NH900 in its packaging. // Sergi de Pablos points out Axia's "Happy Colors" MD blanks. | |
| 1/26: | Sony seeking "Connect" Beta testers: Jason Howlin spots a Beta Registration form on Connect.com, the Sony Online Music site slated to open this Spring. Those selected will receive a free copy of SonicStage2. | |
| 1/23: | Hi-MD Back-compatability Bummer: Sony sources have confirmed that Hi-MD equipment will not upload analog-source recordings made with existing Minidisc recorders. Is it time for another petition? Discuss... | |
| 1/20: | Want to listen to ATRAC3plus @256kbps before Hi-MD arrives? Peter Ravn points out Japanese info for Sony's D-NE10 CD/MP3/ATRAC3plus player (and Audiocubes imports the D-NE10 and its brethren, the D-NE900 and D-NE800). All of these can handle ATRAC3plus encoded audio @256kbps. | |
| 1/17: | The Guardian (UK) has a thoughtful article reflecting on the 20th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Betamax decision. (From Slashdot) | |
| 1/15: | Calle Soderberg spots a new MZ-NH900 photo at News Online (Sweden). The unit has an iPod (or is it Sharp MD-MS722?)-inspired jog-dial on the front face, and the hi-res photo shows all the LCD elements. // Aiwa (aka Sony) has released a set of USB-audio portables that include a nicely styled 2GB HDD mp3 player that is business card-sized. // Peter Ravn has created a Hi-MD planning calculator. | |
| 1/10: | We have the beginnings of a Hi-MD FAQ. // Now there are eight! AVLand (UK) has photos of Sony's MZ-NH700 Hi-MD recorder. // Word from CES: Sony booth staffers state that Hi-MD microphone and line-input recordings are eligible for high-speed uploading to PC. // MDFr.com offers Sony's Hi-MD announcement en Français. | |
| 1/9: | Did you know the Sony LAM-X1 Hi-MD bookshelf system will do high-speed CD->MD copying in all Hi-MD (PCM, Hi-SP, Hi-LP) and original MD (SP, LP2, LP4) modes? // Curious about Hi-MD's Domain Wall Displacement Detection Technology? Canon has a clear DWDD explanation with Flash animation that shows how the technology reads-out magnetic domains smaller than the laser spot. // MDcenter.nl has Hi-MD information in Dutch. | |
| 1/8: | Sony hits a grand slam! Announcing Hi-MD (spec) a new Minidisc format based upon a 1GB MD medium and existing MD media reformatted to 300MB. Hi-MD equipment features uploading to PC for analog-input recordings (yay!), and built-in linear PCM (16bit/44.1khz) and ATRAC3plus recording (at 256 and 64kbps). Hi-MD recorders also function as USB data drives. Available in April, recording equipment prices will be $200 (MZ-NH600D), $250 (MZ-NHF800), $300 (MZ-NH900) and $400 (MZ-NH1) with Hi-MD blanks costing about $7. Discuss... // More Hi-MD Gear! Peter Ravn points out Sony's Japanese announcement for their MZ-NH1, MZ-NH3D, MZ-EH1 portables and LAM-X1 bookshelf system. // Sony's Japanese Hi-MD website has plenty of Flash animation and clarifies that the native recording modes for Hi-MD portables are Linear PCM, Hi-SP (ATRAC3plus@256kbps), and Hi-LP (ATRAC3plus@64kbps). ATRAC3 is available only through PC downloading, and there is no mention of the original ATRAC recording mode. // Peter Ravn finds further Japanese Hi-MD info at AV Watch (they have equipment photos that include a "Concept" Hi-MD Camera). | |
| 1/7: | A reader points out a Sydney Morning Herald article confirming Sony's Hi-MD release (they reference a Nikkei Shimbun article [English soup] that is innacurate because it mentions a 30x capacity increase). Sony's full announcement is scheduled for tomorrow. | |
| 1/5: |
 Sony introduces Hi-MD Audio Minidisc format; new media holds 1GB,
storing nearly 8
hours of SP mode audio on a single disk.
Discuss...
//
Barney Kahn points out Sony digital images for new Hi-MD
portables:
MZ-NH1 (top of the line)
MZ-NH600D (downloader)
MZ-NH900 (upscale, w/o remote)
MZ-NHF800 (AM/FM unit).
//
Did you know Sony has a Luella Bartley Runway gallery where
she totes around NetMD items as fashion accessories?
| |
| 1/1: | Happy New Year! (And only one more week until Winter CES 2004!) | |
| 12/31: | G. Zambrano points out Ken Tidwell's excellent Macintosh/Minidisc page, which has been updated to cover using iTunes to record to Minidisc. | |
| 12/29: | Martin Mueller scans in the English section of the Sharp IM-DR80 user manual. | |
| 12/28: | Jason Howlin finds that Sound Forge 7.0a (a recent Sony acquisition) now supports export to NetMD. Jason reports that the function works well, but can only create LP2 tracks. // Connects2 (UK) offers car audio adapters that allow e.g. using existing steering column stalk remotes with new in-dash equipment, or adding MD/CD or MP3 changers to existing factory head units. Courtesy Brice Mallard // MinidiscAccess has a limited quantity of 80' collector blanks from Japan. | |
| 12/25: | Merry Christmas! | |
| 12/23: | Brian Briggs has a review of digital music stores at BBSpot.com | |
| 12/18: | Christopher posts a good Kenwood DMC-S55 review to the Minidisc T-Station. // My-minidisc.com has the silver Sharp IM-DR580 in stock for €350 and is taking orders for the red and black units. // Zambrano finds a Minidisc among Matrix themed icons at Iconfactory.com. | |
| 12/13: | Boulianne and Barlow point out a Globe and Mail article covering the Copyright Board of Canada's decision to freeze media levies. Although the 77 cent tax on Minidiscs won't change, the board did add new levies on hard disk digital audio players and recorders -- those with capacities above 10GB will receive a C$25 levy. The Canadian music industry had requested a tax hike that would have subjected 20GB hard drive based players to a $125 tax! // Barlow finds an interesting SFGate article about a US college student taking a Minidisc recorder into Afghanistan. // UK readers can enter to win an MZ-N510 Minidisc recorder at Megastar. // Minidisc is being suggested as a holiday gift, from Anchorage to Oregon. | |
| 12/7: | Catching up with Kohn's, we add entries for the Kenwood DMC-S9Net, Aiwa AM-PX3, JVC XM-S5 & XM-C3 (with nearly two weeks battery life!), Denon DMD-201SA, Marantz MD110, Sony MDS-SE9 & LAM-Z03 and Sharp SD-CX9. // Cassette House is offering Samsung 74' blanks for US$4.45/5 pack plus shipping. // Audiocubes has Minidisc imports for sale: The Kenwood DMC-S9Net recorder, DMC-S77 player, Panasonic SJ-MJ18 player, and Sony CMT-SE7 bookshelf system. | |
| 12/6: | Narliest uploading portable recorder ever? Steve Jess spots the Aaton Cantar-X (brochure), a rugged 6 track HDD field recorder with a firewire interface, digital and analog inputs (to 24bit/96khz), and a 15 hour battery life. Not cool enough? It can be remote controlled from a Bluetooth PDA and will also burn CDs and DVDs (price est. $15,000!) Wherefore art thou Sony? // Did you know there is a Russian Minidisc FAQ translation? // The Minidisc Zone (fan page) is back in action, featuring pages on recent Sony portable recorders. | |
| 12/3: | Prerecorded Minidiscs no longer being made! Rob points out information from n5MD (the music group that released albums only on Minidisc) stating that Sony DADC has told them they "don't make Minidisc anymore." Given the Minidisc's wonderfully versatile recording capabilities, prerecorded MDs always seemed a bit of an oddity. Discuss... | |
| 11/30: | GrepLaw has an interview with Jim Griffin on the Future of Music. Mr. Griffin makes a good case for a system of free content sharing, with artist's royalties recovered through a broad-based network-usage tax or fee. // Ed Barlow finds a Wired article discussing the Golden Age of Gadgets. In it, this wonderful quote: "Why didn't consumer electronics firms compromise on standards for interoperability? Because they're jerks." // Francisco Gaytan opens a Minidisc discussion forum En Español. | |
| 11/27: | Happy Thanksgiving! // XiaoQuan finds the new AM-PX3 MD player from Aiwa. The unit features a unique remote into which the headphone cord retracts. // Peter Ravn points out two Sony MD decks: The MDS-DAV1, a Minidisc unit intended to accompany Sony's DAV-S880/S550 DVD/SACD systems, and the NetMD MDS-S500, both with optical I/O. The MDS-DAV1 blurb indicates that ATRAC DSP Type-S lowers ATRAC3 playback noise 6dB, depending upon material. It is the first hard spec we have seen for its improvement over the Type-R chip. // TeamDigital.net has freshened up their shopping pages to show shipping rates and options. They are also offering the Sharp MD-DR420 for US$230 and the Sharp MD-MT200 for US$170. Finally, for customers willing to pay the slightly higher shipping fees, TeamDigital will provide Sony's exclusive WalkMan Tote-bags with the purchase of NetMD units. | |
| 11/21: | Alex Tan writes a handsome review of the Sharp MD-DS70 Minidisc player. | |
| 11/17: | Did you know that Tori Amos sends Minidisc messages to Robert Plant!? // Ed Barlow points out an IHT article with a brief rundown on audio codec names. Their historical ordering is incorrect however, ATRAC predates MPEG 1 Layer 3. | |
| 11/12: | User manual festival: Jonathan Saltzman and Dave Walker kindly send in scanned PDF manuals for the Sony MDS-JB980 (English and French) and Panasonic SC-PM37MD units. | |
| 11/11: | Kevin points out a scathing Forbes article detailing Sony's recent financial stumble. // Dave discovers a very helpful Sony user manual site, from whence we have added an additional 56 manuals (we're still missing 74 however). Now if only the other manufacturers would follow suit. And we have someone named Pam to thank for the vintage MDS-101 manual! | |
| 11/10: | Barlow notes a CP article reporting that a coalition of retailers and technology companies has made a submission to the Commons committee on Canadian heritage asserting that the levy on recordable storage media is unfair and obsolete. The Canadian model of taxing storage media to compensate for (and permit) free music downloading is one promising possibility for ending the Recording Industry's Copy-prohibition nonsense. It is interesting that the coalition (which includes Apple and Sony) states that the levy "is a disincentive to the music industry from adopting innovative technologies to protect and manage their content". Yes, that's precisely the point! // Speaking of copy protection: Mark Bausch finds a New York Times article (cached) stating that Sony is starting trials in Germany of CDs that prevent users from copying songs to file-sharing sites but allows them to make copies for personal use on Sony music players. It appears the CDs will include a second copy of each track in ATRAC3 format. | |
| 11/8: | Deputy Barlow points out a Guardian (UK) article on current portable music offerings that places Minidisc favorably among the pack, despite the author's confusion about MP3s being stored on Minidisc in the LP modes. | |
| 11/6: | Ed Barlow finds a Christian Science Monitor article on the Telling Lives project of the American History Workshop which is recording people's stories for posterity. For those unable to come in the project will offer StoryKits for recording personal histories that include a minidisc recorder, microphone, headphones, and instructions. // Paul has written an extensive review of the Sharp SD-NX10. | |
| 11/5: | Mark Bausch points out a Reuters article reporting that Sony will indeed release an iPod competitor in the form of a portable game machine next year. The Register has photos of the concept-design. // Ben Timberlake spots an uploader we missed: the Sonifex Courier is a professional, $2500, PCMCIA-harddisk recorder with selectable bit-rates and USB uploading to PC. Radio Magazine has a review of the device. // Ed Barlow finds a Guardian article discussing the virtues and nostalgia of cassettes and homemade mix-tapes, with passing mention of Minidisc. | |
| 10/30: | AustralianIT reviews the Sony CD Walkman with ATRAC support. // Eugeni Bobrov spots Gemini - a combination SMCS "Copybit" killer and Toslink/Coax switch from Individual Computers of Germany (they have international distributors too). | |
| 10/28: | The BBC reports that Sony plans to cut 20 000 jobs worldwide. // John Schmidt points out that Sonic Foundry's (recently purchased by Sony Pictures Digital) Sound Forge 7.0a, a high-end digital audio editing package, now supports export to NetMD - NB that's still DOWNLOAD only! // Edward Barlow notes a snippet from Telecom.paper on a joint Sharp/Sony/Kenwood/Pioneer venture for non-computer based music download to MD or other digital audio devices. | |
| 10/24: | Apple finally releases an update for Dockable iPods which officially adds the ability to record mono "voice notes" in mono. // T-Board users note a new portable player from Panasonic. The SJ-MR97 lays claim to be the 'smallest' (though not thinnest), lightest player on the market. | |
| 10/15: | Tim has a some modification and technical tips for a few Sony models on his Technical MD website. REMEMBER - hardware mods should only be attempted if you know what you are doing! // Art notes the Sharp SD-SG11 bookshelf mentioned last week, is on offer at $110 at buy.com. | |
| 10/9: | The folks at MiniDisc Access have some of those natty 'tape cassette' style flip cases for MDs. // Matt notes that Sharp have a new bookshelf with high-speed CD to MD dubbing - SD-SG11 | |
| 10/6: | Minidisc Australia post more pictures of the Sharp IM-DR80. // Roland points out discussion of the Sony MZ-E720 on T-station which suggests the new model is not just the E620 with "Virtual Phone Technology". It appears to lack ATRAC Type-S. | |
| 10/2: | Several readers point out iRivers new iHP-100 series hard-disc MP3 recorders with live recording and music upload capabilities. Though one readers' experiences of the iHP-100, at least (inability to deal with some file types, lack of recording level control, hard disk noise pickup) suggest there are some design wrinkles to iron out. | |
| 9/30: | Onyx Audio of The Netherlands announces a new pro ENG/reporter MD unit: RepoDisc priced at €695 (ex VAT). | |
| 9/25: | my-mindisc.de put a couple of Aiwa NetMD manuals on their site: AM-NX1 and AM-NX9 (both English PDF). // Jeff Hatch notes a link on the www.gizmodo.com gadget weblog to a PC Magazine review of Sony's new MZ-N510CK NetMD | |
| 9/23: | Outward Sound reckon they're among the first to stock Sharp's new NetMD, the IM-DR80, in the US at a cent under $350. // Remember if you have any news let us know at webmaster(a)minidisc.org | |
| 9/20: | Associate Editor Nick Perry takes the MDCP reins for 6 weeks. | |
| 9/18: | A Summer Bumper Crop of MD Players: Edzo, Wang and T-Station's Tiger5 point out eight new machines: Kenwood's DMC-S77/S55, DMC-S33 and DMC-Q35; Sharp's MD-DS70 and MD-DS30; and Sony's MZ-E620 and MZ-E720. The top Kenwoods have a mind-blowing 230 hour max battery life. To bench test such performance in all 3 modes and battery combinations with a single machine would take 44 days of continuous running! Discuss... // A Toronto Globe and Mail article discusses the RIAA's folly vis-a-vis Canadian law; it seems Canadians already pay a media tax to offset losses to copying, thereby weakening the case against it. // Ed Barlow points out an Australian IT article discussing CD's future and making some comments about MD along the way (they get the LP4 compression factor wrong however -- 8x?). // Sony has SonicStage Updates available for download (versions 1.5.50 and 1.5.53 -- you'll need both). They improve startup time and fix several bugs. // SoundProfessionals now offers a $70 preamplified microphone (ideal for line input-only hard disk recorders) and $100 stealth binocular microphone. // En Español: My-minidisc.com points out Sony's Spanish manuals for NetMD portables. | |
| 9/14: | Michael Conner shows a high speed path for getting audio from Rhapsody to a NetMD machine (cached) using the $12 TotalRecorder program. | |
| 9/11: | Ed Barlow points out a Telegraph (UK) article on an unusual stage performance born of Minidisc recordings (cached). // Mark Bausch finds interesting Slate coverage of the RIAA suits. | |
| 9/9: | Dadgum It! The RIAA sues its clientele, but offers amnesty to those not yet in their maw. (Thanks to Keith Bauer ) | |
| 9/7: | We sadly misreport: The upcoming Sharp IM-DR80/DR580 will not feature digital output. Mis-info from Sharp Europe IFA staffer? | |
| 9/5: | The my-minidisc folks launch mp3-player.de (auf Deutsche), a shop devoted to all manner of mp3 players, even the hard drive-based units. // Nihongo ga dekiru hito: Howard Chu finds Sony Minidisc research papers in Japanese. | |
| 9/2: | Sharp shows some spunk! My-minidisc.com sends news of the Sharp IM-DR580 portable NetMD recorder shown in prototype form at IFA Berlin; it's due in January and sports a nifty docking cradle with optical output! (finally!). Sharp's IM-DR410 and DR420 NetMD recorders will appear shortly and feature 50x downloading plus manual and auto recording level control (yay!). Discuss... | |
| 9/1: | MZ-N710 Hacking: French hacker Globox shows how to add MZ-N10/N910 features to an MZ-N710. Discuss... | |
| 8/30: | Fresh manuals: Prinsloo and SharkyMark find Sony MZ-N910 (English) and Sharp MD-MT877 (updated) user manuals. | |
| 8/29: | Anderson and Thomas alert us to Sony's Summer of Fun TV ad campaign. The Athens Beach commercial aired during the MTV Video Music Awards. Given the cost of such TV airtime, Sony is showing some faith in Minidisc's future. | |
| 8/27: | Watch your flank Sony! The sleek, $400 iRiver iHP-100 portable hard disk recorder's optical I/O, PCM/MP3 support, and PC/Mac uploading capabilities are sure to engender wistful longing among Minidisc users. Its limitations? No microphone jack or on-the-fly recording level control. Discuss... | |
| 8/25: | Remember the Burton Analog Clone snowboarding suit with built-in MD player? Ed Barlow points out a NYT article (cached) on the company's founder, Jake Burton. | |
| 8/24: | Keeping up with Kohn's: World's fastest: Panasonic's RX-MDX81 boombox can copy CD->MD at 6X realtime, but it lacks the MP3-CD support found on the RX-MDX61, its predecessor. World's fanciest: Panasonic's SJ-MJ18 player comes in 30 different faceplates. // Panasonic's SJ-MR200 service manual makes the scene. Its block diagrams (p. 3) indicates their [ca. 2000] ATRAC chip uses an external shock-proof memory. // Minidisc T-Station reports new JVC blank designs. | |
| 8/22: | Back to ``World's Thinnest, Smallest, Lightest!'' but this time for HDD players: John Pariseu points out photos and Japanese info for the MSRP ¥50,000 (US$425) Toshiba Gigabeat G20 MP3 player (English coverage from The Register). The MD player-shaped unit sports a 20GB 1.8" hard drive, backlit main LCD display, and a playing time of 11 hours on its LiIon cell. (See bigger photos at AV-Watch Japan). Discuss... // The ever cheaper Sharp SD-NX10: DYao finds the unit at DarrinsDealDepot for $180 (free shipping). | |
| 8/20: | Stop the presses: Paul points out cheaper Sharp SD-NX10s at Buy.com (and a $10 off coupon for new customers). Total: $180 (w/free shipping). // More Sharp SD-NX10's: Bob points out another 11 Sharp MDLP bookshelf systems on eBay. Shipping fees have increased, bringing the total to $230 w/shipping & insurance. | |
| 8/19: | Minidisc T-Station hosts a solid MD-DR7 review by Koen Lageveen. | |
| 8/18: | A friend sends in Panasonic service manuals with block diagrams for the SJ-MR220 and SJ-MJ50 portables. | |
| 8/16: | Raji finds a detailed Sony MZ-E10 review at HardwareZone.com // Sold out: B. Chapman points out 12 Sharp SD-NX10 bookshelf systems with one day to go on ebay for $222 new (w/shipping). Standard manufacturer's warranty. | |
| 8/13: | Zach Zaletel spots the JVC MX-WMD90 bookshelf system new for $250 at Overstock.com (with 17 in stock, reportedly). This unusual pre-MDLP machine (ca. early 2000) has a 3CD and 3MD changer, plus a second MD drive, allowing MD to MD copies. No warranty apparently, although Overstock has a 30 day return policy (and 15% restocking fee) | |
| 8/12: | Jack Nouws finds the M-Audio transit, a $100 bidirection analog/digital USB audio adapter that will run at up to 24bit/96khz into PCs or Macs. | |
| 8/11: | So Minidisc was a flop? Mercer Management Consulting's Economics' Gift to Marketing (full paper) describes a scientific method for predicting product popularity. They consider Minidisc, Iridium satellite phones, and the Apple Newton to be exemplary failures. Discuss... // Ed Barlow leads us to HHB, which is developing the PortaDrive, an 8 channel, 24-bit/96kHz portable hard drive recorder. Price is apparently still top-secret. // Team Digital (Singapore) has the Sharp MD-MT190 ($160), MD-DR480 ($245) and Sony MZ-N910 ($285) in stock. All come with additional blanks (and the Sharps with USB PC-Link kits for realtime audio downloads). | |
| 8/7: | A functioning toy Minidisc player? For five dollars!? Zac Travis finds a Kid's Mini Disc Player Set from ABC Distributing that comes with 4 discs of tunes such as "Polly Wolly Doodle" and "Old MacDonald". We called the retailer and found out that it is indeed a toy and won't play real Minidiscs. Discuss... | |
| 8/6: | Sony has been distributing a cute, flash-based MD label creator (1.7MB zip) on a business card-size CD-ROM. | |
| 8/5: | The Sony MDS-B5 service manual appears. This pro-use MD deck (ca. 1997) is unusual in that it has two (2) ATRAC chips (see p. 51). | |
| 8/3: | A friend sends in service manuals for the Panasonic SJ-MJ55, SJ-MJ75, SJ-MJ88 and SJ-MR230 units. Sadly, Panasonic manuals lack the elaborate schematic and logic diagrams of Sony's service documentation. | |
| 8/2: | Michael Horvath kindly updates the Sony portable MD recorder chart to include the MZ-N1/N707/N505/R910 and R909 machines. | |
| 8/1: | ATRAC3plus details from Sony: Peter Ravn discovers Sony's updated ATRAC3 site. Did you know ATRAC3plus uses a giant 92ms transform window and splits the input signal into 16 equal frequency bands before doing the FFT? (FAQ entry) | |
| 7/31: | Richard Prinsloo points out the Sharp MD-DR470 user manual. The manual mentions no charging cradle, does the MD-DR470 differ from the MD-DR7 in this respect? Discuss... // Gary Bingner responds to Stephen Williams' explanation of his views on the Sony MZ-E10. | |
| 7/29: | Stephen Williams claims he has no Sony MZ-E10 attitude problem (search "minidisc"). Courtesy Ed Barlow | |
| 7/28: | Ed Barlow finds an interesting NewObserver article covering concert tapers, the trading scene and their recording equipment (including Minidisc -- which the hardcore crowd still shuns!). Discuss... | |
| 7/25: | Jeremy Fraser points out photos and Japanese info for the Sharp SD-VH9/90/CX9 (mech. trans), featuring MD/DVD/CD/SACD playback and 4X CD->MD dubbing. // Upon Chris Benson's suggestion we incorporate Rio17's updates that allow adding MZ-N1 features to Sony MZ-N707 and N505 units. // Matt Charman's fine tutorial on MP3<->Minidisc transfers is fished from the Wayback Machine (what a wonderful invention, eh?). | |
| 7/24: | Christian Catchpole describes his simultaneous use of MD recorders to achieve multi-track recording. Discuss... // Ravn sends in an IEEE trans. on Consumer Electronics paper from the University of Genoa detailing their implementation of Minidisc's ACIRC error correction (a variation on the CD's CIRC ["Cross-Interleave Reed-Solomon Code"]). | |
| 7/23: | Hebert and Ravn spot news of Iomega's DCT platform, a 1.5GB read/write magnetic disc in a 30mm stainless steel cartridge, intended for camcorders and portable video players (The Register is skeptical of how well yet another medium will be embraced). // Daniel Stearman notices refurbed Sony MZ-R500PCs for $67 from eCost (free shipping, 90 day parts and labor warranty, includes Xitel MDPort-AN1). | |
| 7/22: | Charles Alcocer finds a Tech-TV review of the Sony MZ-NF610. They incorrectly state that it can record from a microphone however. | |
| 7/15: | Deputy Barlow points out an Australian IT article that still finds virtue (read: low costs) in cassette recorders for mobile recording. Has anyone else heard of the Minidisc overheating problem mentioned for cheaper units? Discuss... // Dave scans in the user manual for the Sony MXD-D400 CD/MD deck. This unit will record MP3-CDs to MD, but only via an analog, realtime link. | |
| 7/14: | Ed Barlow snoops out some Minidisc tidbits: An article in TheAge.com (AU) talks about the coming age of hard disk and broadband audio and the corresponding drop in portable MD and CD units to be caused by MP3 players. But MD portables already compete quite well with MP3 players! // A BBC news article by Stuart Hughes (who was maimed by a landmine in Iraq) discusses the trials of being a war journalist. His audio equipment (Minidisc included) was a trivially small package compared to all the requisite protective gear. // Only seven-thousand prerecordeds sold since January!? An interesting Reuters article details the sorry state of the music industry (year-to-date sales are down 8% over last year). At the end of the article it mentions that only 7,000 pre-recorded MDs have been sold so far this year. // Ben Garland points out Memorex 80' blanks for US$13 a 10 pack at Circuit City (free shipping). This works out to 65 cents an album (in LP2 mode), which may explain what has happened to the pre-recorded market! | |
| 7/12: | Ed Barlow finds an article on the Digitalization of Tri-State Radio, describing how their reporters make interviews to Minidisc and subsequently transfer them to the station's digital equipment. (They don't mention how much they enjoy being saddled with realtime-only transfers however) | |
| 7/5: | With Cosmopolitans and veggie spring rolls: Ed Barlow points out a Newsday article unhappy with the Sony MZ-E10 because it doesn't record. // Ed also spots the Xitel press release for their MD-Port I/O, a USB audio adapter with analog input and analog and digital output. // Minidisc contest for Dutchmen and Belgians: MDCenter.nl is holding a contest with a Sony MZ-N10 as grand prize. // John Rappold finds the Sony MZ-NF810 at Circuit City for US$280. | |
| 7/4: | Sony HK posts a breakdance themed NetMD commercial (local copy) on their MD page as noted by Minidisc T-Station. The advertisement takes a few liberties with NetMD download alacrity in the name of artistic license. The narrator finishes with "64X high-speed transferring" in Chinese (courtesy Wai Hung Fung) // Bengin and Chan point out Detour, a US$10 Macintosh program for selectively redirecting audio output to a USB audio adapter, enabling e.g. flawless recording of iTunes to Minidisc while random sounds and alerts play through the Mac's built-in speakers. Is there a PC program to do the same thing? Windows users can at least set their machines to shut-up. // James Nolan notes that Mironics (makers of PC parallel-port based controller hardware and software for Sony MDs) has improved their analog uploading feature to automatically adjust recording levels and cut uploaded audio into separate files based upon silent gaps of user-settable level and duration. He also reports that promotion code MDSMDT03 is still valid for purchases on the site. | |
| 6/29: | New ATRAC Type-R details in Sony's AV-Catalog allow us to take an educated guess about what differentiates it from previous versions. Discuss... // Thomas Rådén sends in the Sony MZ-N10 service manual. | |
| 6/28: | Patrick Sinco finds a detailed article on nature sound recording in the April Electronic Musician magazine that surveys current recording gear, including Minidisc. // Edward Barlow spots an interesting Newsday piece on Praveen Chaudhari the new Brookhaven National Lab director. It reports that he did seminal work in amorphous magnetic materials, which were subsequently employed in Sony's Minidisc system. (search "minidisc"). // 80' blanks under $1: Cassette House is offering sleeveless 80' SAVIT blanks for ~$5 a 5-pack (through July 5, while supplies last). // Clay Schneider points out iRiver's English page for the previously mentioned iHP-100 10GB MP3 recorder. The unit is due in July sporting USB 2.0 and S/PDIF optical I/O. // Paul Czajka notes that Apple's recently announced G5 system offers S/PDIF optical I/Os // The page top session-counter has been restored and now runs locally. (Anyone remember the value before it was summarily deleted by digits.com?) | |
| 6/27: | Last of the battery powered MD boomboxes: David Fincher points out several Yahoo retailers still carrying the [non-MDLP] Casio ZD-1 boombox, some for as little as US$85. (At EverythingOnline you can use coupon code "Fourth" until July 7 for 10% off. Shipping is ~US$10.) // We've always agreed Sony made tasteful Minidisc gear, now Sony Belgium claims that MD portables are tasty as well. (Courtesy Jon Deutsch) | |
| 6/26: | Minidisc Australia has made a lovely MZ-N910 photo gallery. // Apple disses Sony's disc: Several readers point out Apple Japan's Hello iPod. Goodbye, MD campaign running in Japan. A related Apple press release touts the 5 million tracks and 1 million iPods they've sold to date. // Inflatable speakers? Ed Barlow finds the Ellula HotAirSubwoofer and speakers that are inflatable and well-suited for use with portable MD and MP3 players (search "minidisc"). // Bob Megling notes that the US$250 Behringer Ultramatch Pro will do sample rate conversion, DAC and ADC duties, and casually set SCMS flags to your liking. // Danny Lopez spots a cute Sony MD armband case; the $20 accessory is available at B&H Photo (NYC) and, he reports, at Best Buy. | |
| 6/25: | Sony refreshes their CD/MD deck: Dave points out Sony's MXD-D400 5CD/MDLP unit; similar in function to the 3 year old MXD-D5C. // Cubic Alkaline cells arriving: Dave Edney finds further mention of Duracell LP1 cells, sized to fit portables accepting NiMH "gumpack" batteries. | |
| 6/20: | Sony media blitz? Articles in the New York Times, Mercury News and Australian IT tout the virtues of the Minidisc format, one calling it the "Wave of the present". (Courtesy Barlow, Sinco, Hutton and Wang). // OutwardSound appears to be the first US retailer importing the Sony MZ-NE810 portable downloader/player. // Brian Rost finds Sony blanks at Radio Shack, they apparently no long carry the "Emtec" brand. | |
| 6/17: | A reader finds an interesting Transom Tools article discussing Minidisc use in radio journalism (a reporter's Sony MZ-B100 made into combat in Iraq and continues to function). Included are recommendations on the pro's and con's of Sony vs. Sharp units. // George Kwok points out Japanese coverage of Sharp's MD-F350 CD/MDLP boombox : 4X CD->MD recording, cell-phone style titling, 3 timer modes, and Karaoke mic mixing jack compete for surprise-factor on this handsomely styled unit. // USB digital I/O adapter: Doyle and Wahl discover Creative's SoundBlaster MP3+ USB audio adapter; the US$60 unit sports S/PDIF optical as well as analog I/O jacks (including microphone and headphones). | |
| 6/13: | OutwardSound opens shop, providing equipment for portable audio recording to Minidisc and beyond. // Richard Prinsloo points out Sound Professional's tips for Sony recorders lacking a microphone sensitivity switch. // Youthful enthusiasm: Paul Pival finds a DesignTechnica Talkback column extolling the virtues of Minidisc. It garnered a considerable message board response. // Tor Skude spots new Bit-Club blank designs from TDK. // Christopher shoots a set of Sony MZ-E505 snapshots. // Doug Graham discovers decent prices for Sony in-dash gear at Refurb Depot (search "minidisc"): the MDX-CA680X MDLP receiver for $240 and the MDX-66XLP 6-MD changer for $286. (90-day warranty only, caveat emptor) | |
| 6/12: | High quality audio uploading from portables: Minidisc Access and Minidisco now offer the Xitel MD-Port I/O. This ~$70 USB peripheral will make high quality [albeit realtime] uploads from a portable MD to a PC. Included software simplifies the process by automating the recording-level step. (Macintosh users already have the Griffen iMic, which serves similar purposes.) | |
| 6/9: | Perestroika's promise? Dariusza finds Sony Poland's Minidisc Site. // The Minidiscussion remix project is now looking for moderators. Are you interested? | |
| 6/8: | The Minidiscussion poll is now in the final round. The 2 choices: clean it up, or shut it down. Your vote counts! // Theodore Shusterman discovers the user operation manual (15MB) for the Sony MDM-X4, their 1996 four-track MD recorder based around the MD-Data disk. // Ed Barlow finds Minidisc mention in a Washington Post article covering performing arts in the DC region. The Japanese pop-punk band Byokie uses Minidisc for backing tracks on stage (search "minidisc"). | |
| 6/7: | Heavy Armor in High Fidelity: Ed Barlow finds a Napa News article on the continuing Psy-Ops work in Iraq. Soldiers are reportedly using Sony Minidisc portables with "custom mix" discs that include commands in Arabic as well as helicopter and tank sounds. // A New York Times editorial delivers a riposte to the Recording Industry (cached) on their inept response to online music. | |
| 6/6: | Remember the Minidiscussion boards? Board member Andrew has contacted Eric Whitney (its original webmaster) and started a user poll to determine its fate. // Minidisc Access reports price cuts on all their MD storage systems. // Minidisco has a Minidisc waist-belt ($20) and powered Sony travel speakers ($50) in their Father's Day flyer. // Wayne Starick finds TDK's nifty I'm-a-speaker. The $30 unit is an audio carrying case with built-in AA-cell powered speakers that is intended for use with portable audio gear. // Solving the dusty deck problem: Michael Croaker makes a lovely scan of his Sony MDS-302 MD deck manual (2.7MB). | |
| 6/5: | Gerald Tomyn (Audio Computer/Minidisc website editor) sends in a lovely Minidisc Timeline from Sony Hong Kong. // Ed Barlow finds µ the inquirer coverage of Sony UK's announcement of the CMT-M333NT and CMT-C7NT NetMD systems. // Ed also spots favorable mention of the Sony MZ-B100 portable "business" recorder at The Age (Aus.). // Susan La Rose notes good prices (~$1.50 ea.) on Fuji 80' blanks (sans sleeves) at Best Buy in San Bernardino, Ca. | |
| 6/4: | Bob finds the Tascam MD-350 Pro MD Deck for $470 at Sweetwater.com. //Ed Barlow spots the Sony MZ-NE410 mentioned as a gadget-season item in the San Jose Mercury News. // Tiny Hard Drives -- Take 2 Fabian LaMaestra points out a c|net article on 1.5GB hard drives from Cornice; similar in form-factor to the 1-inch IBM Microdrive, the unit spares parts (RAM, etc) to enable use in low cost embedded devices such as an upcoming portable video camera from Samsung. | |
| 6/2: | John Jerabek points out Sony Czech's portable and in-dash Minidisc units. // Core-Sound's PDAudio (a 24-bit/192KHz DAT replacement) gets a lengthly review in Electronic Design News. // Speaking of EDN, technical editor Brian Dipert has written an article on lossy audio compression (pdf) that goes into considerable detail. | |
| 6/1: | No mic input for Mexico? A reader points out Sony Mexico's NetMD page where only the MZ-N510 and MZ-NE410 portables are available (the latter also in "CK" [car kit] garb however). The site does show Sony Mexico's NetMD TV commercial, a variant of the original Sony Australia version. // Minidisc Access is offering an MD rack called "The Globe"; it holds MDs in place with a crystal ball and a bit of gravity. // Rinaldi Wibowo finds Subaru has an in-dash MDLP unit available for the Legacy (mech. trans). // Ed Barlow spots a Seattle Post-Intelligencer colunm indicating RealAudio is starting an $0.80/track download service called Rhapsody (from their partnership with Listen.com). And Michael Conner finds a Wired article on the topic. // Ed also discovers a QRS Music press release for one of the oddist audio setups ever: One can use a QRS Psalmist and its specially designed "electronic fingers" to mechanically play a Hammond B3 organ. The odd part is that the fingering control codes can be stored on one audio channel of a CD or MD, leaving the second channel free for storing pre-recorded music (e.g. vocal material). | |
| 5/28: | A reader comes across the Japanese page for the iRiver iHP-100 (mech trans), a 10GB Hard Disk based MP3 recorder/player with USB 2.0 connectivity, line and optical S/PDIF audio I/O, and an FM tuner to boot. // While on the topic of audio equipment unstifled by corporate agenda: Paul Cook points out the US$300 Fostex MR-8, a battery powered, non-compressing solid-state 8-track recorder (sadly USB 1.0 however). The included 128MB CF card will store a 3 minute song in 8-track format. Half-rate sampling and larger cards allow longer takes (capacities of up to 1GB being available). | |
| 5/26: | Team Digital (Singapore) offers the following [world model] portable MD recorders: the Sony MZ-N910 (US$285), the MZ-NF810 (US$270) and the Sharp MD-MT190 (US$160). The Sonys include 10 free blanks, the Sharp includes a Sharp AD-USB1 analog USB->MD link and a few 80' blanks (all require~$20 shipping to the US). // Brian Rost finds the MDS-JE480 deck for $150 at SonyStyle.com (search for "je480"). // MD Humor? Eric Brown spots Minidisc mention on a website [desperately] trying to make the most of airline safety placards. // Brian also notes that Crutchfield has Sony 80' blanks for under $1.70 each (in packs of 15) and 74' blanks singly for $1.50. | |
| 5/22: | Edward Barlow points out NZ press coverage of the war between the Labels and equipment makers. // Edward also spots an SFB Guardian article on Nate Denver's Neck, mentioning that he uses Minidisc as a drum machine and sampler during performances. | |
| 5/19: | Minidisc Access is stocking several 12 and 24 MD organizer cases as well as an unusual 3-ring zipper pouch for carrying a portable and several MDs in a looseleaf notebook. | |
| 5/16: | Xitel USB input device headed to USA: Xitel reports that their MD-Port I/O will be available from Minidisco, Planet Minidisc and XitelDirect sometime this month for about US$70. The brochure states that it will come with recording software that automatically sets levels and uses silence to record tracks into multiple files. Coupling this with Win NMD [further info] may yield interesting possibilities. // Arthur Aiguzhinov points out 1 2 photos of Sony's UMD ("Universal Media Device") that is slated for introduction late next year with their Playstation portable. (Maybe it's a read-only medium?) | |
| 5/15: | Art department working overtime at Panasonic: Delarue and Pan point out Panasonic's SJ-MJ17 & SJ-MJ18 portable MD players, featuring 23 front panel variations in all. // Sound Professionals (microphone makers and equipment suppliers) has opened a Discussion Forum to help folks looking for gear. | |
| 5/14: | Next Generation Minidisc? Joey Lie points out IGN coverage of Sony's Playstation Portable (PSP), scheduled for Q4 2004 release. The impressive gaming machine will sport a Universal Media Device (UMD) that holds 1.8GB on a 60mm optical disk (cf. Minidisc's 64mm diameter) and uses ATRAC encoding for music. (CNNMoney coverage) Discuss... // NetMD contest en Español: Rafael Teran points out a contest giving away 2 NetMD portables at Atomix (Mexico). | |
| 5/13: | JapanVisitor.com writes a nice introduction to Minidisc for gaijin overwhelmed by their ubiquity in Japan. // Did you know Xitel makes a USB device that handles realtime audio input? Minidisc Australia now carries the Xitel MD-Port I/O, a AU$130 device that provides analog and digital output and analog input (i.e. MD->PC transfers). // Prerecorded MDs on the wane: Zambrano and others report that HMV, CDPlus, Borders, and CDNow have dropped their titles in Minidisc format. | |
| 5/11: | Sony introduces the MZ-NE810 portable, their second NetMD downloader after the MZ-NE410. Due June 10th, the unit is the first with a "Download" button; pressing it initiates CD-ripping, CDDB labelling and NetMD downloading without further ado. (Courtesy Rainier Siows) Discuss... // Christian Steffen notices a Sony MZ-R70 in a photo of Clay Aiken being interviewed in Washington (he's an American Idol contestant). | |
| 5/9: | Sony's corny Minidisc wrappers: Carlson and Barlow spot an AP article on bio-degradable corn products that mentions Sony's use of the material in Minidisc packaging. // Christophe Delarue points out further car audio gear from Japan: Sony's WX-5900MD double-DIN CD/MDLP receiver and MDX-66XLPRF; the latter a standalone 6-MD changer that couples through the existing stereo's antenna lead. | |
| 5/7: | The Apple iPod joins the uploader club! Several readers report the discovery of hardware recording capability in the new iPods. (Courtesy iPoding.com) // Jan Sundstr�m points out Pioneer Europe's MJ-L11 MD deck; it appears to be an MDLP version of the MJ-L77. // Mike Jovanovic discovers that The Wiggles use Minidisc for backing audio during their concerts. // Paul Perry spots a Sonic Foundry press release indicating that Sony Pictures will buy Sound Forge. Could a native ATRAC editor be in the cards? | |
| 5/5: | Minidisc car-audio heaven happening in Japan: Christophe Delarue points out recent Pioneer in-dash MD gear, the single DIN MEH-P005, MEH-P007, MEH-P515, MEH-P717 and MEH-P919 units, plus the 2-DIN FH-P005 that handles MDs and MP3-CDs in the same unit. // Our favorite, for its offbeat, retro, cool-factor however is the Panasonic CQ-VX5500D; this in-dash unit has analog VU meters and is reminiscent of old Crown and Marantz gear styling. | |
| 5/4: | Hunter Wright describes how he modified a Sony MDS-JE470 to give it a digital optical output jack. // Eric Campbell spots the Sony MZ-NF610 for US$178 at OnlineMinistore (including shipping). | |
| 5/3: | Nagaldinn and Pham point out a reasonably detailed Sony MZ-E10 review with good photos at HardwareZone.com (Singapore). // Minidisco is offering Sharp's MD-F230 CD/MDLP table boombox (with world-band FM) for $300. // The ninety-cent blank: Cassette House is selling Samsung blanks for $4.50 a five pack (shipping not included). The sale ends 5/10. | |
| 5/1: | Minidisc Australia posts a gallery of Sharp MD-DR480 photos. | |
| 4/30: | When 4 gig barely lasts an hour: Core Sound adds news about their PDAudioCF digital input card. The $200 unit is a CF form-factor S/PDIF input adapter (optical or coax) handling audio sampled at up to 192KHz/24bits, thus allowing PDAs (e.g. iPAQs) to be used as raw PCM digital recorders (but have a high capacity CompactFlash storage card and external A/D handy!). // Or maybe just skip the A/D: Peter Rice points out a National semiconductor overview and technical sheet for their digital microphone. It's a normal electret microphone with an IC in the capsule that outputs a digital bitstream. Format conversion to S/PDIF would still be needed. // Sam Gibbard finds suppliers for the Plano 3730 tackle box; ideal for storing up to 150 MDs, and only US$6. // New Sony portables spotted on US retail shelves: MZ-NF610 @ $200 (Target) MZ-N510 @ $170 (WalMart) MZ-NE410 @ $130 (Circuit City). Courtesy Brian Rost | |
| 4/29: | Apple announces an online music distribution service, selling song downloads for a dollar. They're also offering a new iPod to go with it -- up to 30GB of storage in a new, sleeker package. // Geoffrey Heffernan discovers that his Sony WX-7700MDX in-dash MD unit and XT-XM1 satellite radio work splendidly together, even displaying the satellite radio track names on the head unit via its Unilink inputs. | |
| 4/28: | German vendors My-Minidisc.com now have stock of the blue Sony MZ-N910 (€335) as first reported on 16 March. | |
| 4/23: | Clint Mers updates his SimplerMD application for simplyfying the Nero/SimpleBurner method of creating NetMDs. It should now work with the latest version of Sony's SimpleBurner. // The Sound Professionals have a couple of new single-point omnidirectional stereo mics. The SPSM-12 and SPSM-13. | |
| 4/21: | Gary Bingner tells us the MD clearance offers at Target (first reported on 9th) extend to St. Louis Park, Minnesota where the Sony MZ-R505 in gold is $90 and MZ-R707 in blue is $139. | |
| 4/18: | And others are not inhibited by Minidisc: Ed Barlow finds a Guardian (UK) article mentioning a Funk & Kozak album made from Minidisc recordings of their romps in the bedroom. | |
| 4/16: | My-minidisc.com (Germany) posts hi-res shots of Sony's MZ-B10, MZ-R410 (blue), MZ-N510 and MZ-E310 (blue). // Joseph Jupin finds nicely made Minidisc Icons at Xicons.com. | |
| 4/15: | Rockbox, the group of hackers that reverse-engineered the Archos Jukebox and authored an open-source version of the firmware, has just released Version 2.0. It is so far ahead of what Archos offers in terms of feature-set, speed, stability, and support that there is simply no reason not to run it. | |
| 4/14: | Yet another group of musicians fettered by Sony's Minidisc: Mr. Hadwahnos points out Outlet, a band with a cool recording setup involving a Yamaha MD-8 multitracker that they quite like, but "since the technology is based on Minidisc, we have to transfer it to CD with a CD burner". // George Kwok spots the Sony CMT-M33NT NetMD bookshelf system. The ~¥30,000 unit's attractive and understated styling hides a significant set of features (alas, a world-band FM tuner is not among them). // Minidisc T-Station partner Audio Cubes is having an anniversary sale on the Sharp MD-DR7 ($240), a 10-pack of Sony Neige blanks ($10), and the Sony RM-MC11ELS remote ($40) (sans shipping). | |
| 4/12: | George Kwok points out Sharp's Japanese page for their MD-ST660 MDLP player (mech. trans. [details]). The unit sports a simplified design, acrylic fiber top surface, and 155 hour (max.) battery life. | |
| 4/10: | (Just when the topic was poised to scroll away:) Philips readies their 15GB HDD100 MP3 recorder, touting the 167 gram unit as the world's smallest recording jukebox (cf. MZ-R55 @190g w/batt). They are also running a contest to become a beta tester. Discuss... // PDA users can now sync-up a daily dose of Minidisc Community news from MobileMDNews.html. (Thanks to Andrew Thomas for the suggestion) | |
| 4/9: | Jean-Pierre Chartrand describes how to create Minidisc based Audio Cue Cards as a study aid. // Phil Porteus suggests using Minidisc for listening to Audio Books. // Yuriy Borokhov points out Japanese info for the Panasonic CQ-DMR993D, a ¥120,000 (~US$1200) single-DIN in-dash CD/CD-MP3/MDLP/DVD player with flip-up, HDD aspect-ratio viewing screen (you will likely need an FM-band convertor to use it outside of Japan). // Ed Porras reports that his Gainesville, FL Target store had Sony MZ-N505s for $90 and MZ-N707s for $135, on clearance. Further sightings appreciated. | |
| 4/8: | Clint Mers develops SimplerMD, a Windows program that scripts together Sony's SimpleBurner and Nero to provide one-shot downloading of a full MD's worth of MP3 audio. Discussion/Support | |
| 4/7: | Michael Hall finds the entry level Sony MZ-R501 (non-NetMD) portable MD recorder for CDN$150 at SonyStyle Canada until April 21. // When you've got the hang of Hangul: MDMan (Korea) points out Yewon, Korea's hottest Minidisc repair shop. | |
| 4/6: | Back to Baghdad (and Minidisc): Scott Lynch finds an AP Photo of a Minidisc Iraqi fighters claim to have taken from a U.S. tank. // Trevor Bommersbach points out an Impress Watch (Japan) page covering Kenwood MDU-PC NetMD drives (mech. trans.) found in Japanese electronics surplus shops. Suitable for mounting in 5" drive bays, the units are being sold with no accompanying driver softare for ¥5800 (~US$50). // Minidisc T-Station is having a graphic design contest entitled "Ride the Waves with Minidisc" (discussion thread). // The uploaders find their home at the bottom of the accessories browser. | |
| 4/5: | Into the Abyss: We add equipment browser entries for portable, uploadable, recording devices. We'd appreciate help finding ones we've missed. Discuss... | |
| 4/4: | Minidisc UK has freshened their website and now offers Minidisc Titler v2.0. The US$40 adapter (reviewed in HiFi World) connects a portable Sony MD recorder (models MZ-R90 through MZ-R900) to a parallel port for PC based titling and control functions. // TeamDigital.net (Singapore) offers Sharp's MD-MT190 for US$160 and MD-DR480 (aka DR7) for US$245 plus several other MD goodies (shipping: US$20). // Sony US 2003 MD portables: Kham finds 2003 model Sony portables (MZ-NE410, MZ-N510, MZ-NF610, MZ-NF810) in stock at Goodguys.com (search for "minidisc"). // John Shumate spots Sony's latest at Crutchfield (MZ-NE410, MZ-NF610, MZ-NF810CK, MZ-N10) and Circuit City (MZ-NF610) // Edward Barlow notes that a band called The Fight has used MD in their promotion (serach for "minidisc" within the article). // Dariusza in Gdansk points out Polish BestMedia MD blanks (follow links: produkty -> Minidisc). // More blanks: Bruce Yarbor finds 10 packs of Memorex 80m blanks for $15 at his local Best Buy (Oklahoma City). | |
| 4/2: | Thomas Reed points out plans for a low cost microphone preamp, useful for low end MD and hard disk recorders with only LINE level inputs. // Archos (of all places!) sells a preamplified microphone for US$50, specifically for their recorders with LINE level input. This would likely work with Minidisc portables such as the MZ-R500 and MZ-N505 that have LINE inputs but no microphone jacks. | |
| 4/1: | We give up on Minidisc!; give site over to support of Hard Disk based audio devices. Discuss... (Sorry folks -- April Fools!) // An Audiophile article discusses the benefits of upgrading the stock Archos hard drive with the latest from IBM. | |
| 3/30: | End of the external battery case? Ed Barlow points out Duracell's announcement of Alkaline batteries in a "gumpack" form factor (photo, Duracell page, cf. Duracell AA cell specs) . They apparently have 80% the volume of AA cells and correspondingly less capacity, but their 1500mAh rating tops the 1400mAh of NiMH cells. // Ed also finds an article on Elson Trinidad, a musician who uses Minidisc for sampling exotic sounds (search for "minidisc"). | |
| 3/29: | From the Breakfast table to the Battlefield: Dane Miller finds a Sony NetMD offer on the back of his cereal box, and an article in The Guardian (UK) tells how the military is using Minidisc on the ground to blast out messages in Arabic over PA speakers. Do you reckon they've titled the tracks with notes such as "Surrender!", "Lay down your arms!", etc. ? Discuss... // John Yockachonis points out TOC cloning instructions for Sharp MD-MT15 class machines. Wherefore TOC cloning? | |
| 3/28: | Minidisc over Iraq: John Salomone spots an MD recorder in an MSNBC TV segment on the US Air Force plane flying over Iraq that is broadcasting in Arabic on local civilian radio bands exhorting the Iraqi army not to fight (aka psy-ops). The footage distinctly shows a close-up of the playback source on the plane: a blue Sony MZ-N707. // Craig Bennett finds a CNET news article discussing the problems Flash memory will be facing ca. 2005. // Francesco points out AVWatch (Japan) photos of the Aiwa AM-NX1 NetMD downloader (mech. trans). | |
| 3/25: | Andy finds Sony user manuals at SonyStyle.com for the MZ-NE410, MZ-N510CK, MZ-NF610, MZ-NF810CK, and MZ-N10 portables. // Cassette House is having a sale on Samsung blanks; they're $5.75 a 5-pack with another 20% off before March 31 (use coupon code "samc24"). | |
| 3/23: | Babylon Minidisc: Edward Barlow points out a Sunday Herald article (Scotland) mentioning a Royal Scots Guard Lt. Colonel in the war who received a Minidisc of Verdi's Nabucco (an opera based upon the story of the 5th century BC Babylonian King). Search for "minidisc". // Minidisc Australia posts a detailed gallery of MZ-N510 photos. // Planet Minidisc has the entire line of Sony US 2003 portables on their site, with the MZ-NE410 and MZ-N510CK in stock. // Hannes Sehestedt finds the Sony US model MZ-N10 at Crutchfield. | |
| 3/17: | Message to the Whitehouse: It's not yet too late! But first, load this (hi-band) onto the staff's Minidisc players (lo-band, text). // MDCenter (NL) has clear photos (but as yet little else) for the Aiwa AM-NX9 NetMD Recorders (scroll down the page). // Minidisc Australia assembles a good gallery of MZ-N710 photos. // Jeremy Fraser finds a Kenwood Japanese press release for the Avino SL-3MD bookshelf system. The unit features a digital equalizer with presets, MDLP, and group mode support. | |
| 3/16: | Peter Rice finds word in a New Scientist article of Sony's D-NE510 ATRAC3/MP3/CD player (the unit will be available in mid-April). The article also mentions a portable DVD MP3 player from Philips. // Suzanne Woodbury finds the Sony MZ-B10 available for $300 from Sony Style USA. | |
| 3/13: | Vishal Patel finds the Sony MZ-NE410 for $75 at Ubid.com (in an auction lot of 700 new units ending 8:30PM EST). | |
| 3/10: | Read manufacturer's instructions before immersing any electronic item! Gary Bingner spots a Shape magazine photo of a Sony MZ-S1 in extreme conditions (fullsize). // George Kwok finds a photo and Japanese info for Sharp's MD-ST600 player. The unit sports an acrylic fiber front face and max 155 hr battery life (AA + NiMH). | |
| 3/9: | Rob Spalding spots the [non-MDLP] JVC MX-WMD90 available from Electronics eMall for $250. This double-MD unit will dub MDs (in realtime, over an analog link). | |
| 3/6: | Peter Ravn finds a Sony Deutschland page with hi-res photos of the 2003 recorders. | |
| 3/3: | Michael Robbins spots Sony's two-page Minidisc spread in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue (full size). // Gary Morgan finds an interesting article by John Dawson, chairman of Arcam Audio (UK). In it he discusses the problems CD protection is creating for equipment manufacturers. | |
| 2/28: | Anton & Odinecs find a brief CNET sheet covering Sony USA's 2003 MD portable lineup. // A quick MZ-NE410 search in Google reveals that the unit is widely available now (even CompUSA has them in their stores). | |
| 2/26: | NetMD recording for well under $100: Cornelis de Groot finds the Sony MZ-N505 NetMD recorder for under $82 at the Ubid Superstore, shipping included (this is Ubid's "Buy it now" store, not their auction site). | |
| 2/24: | Back to 1998: Florian Haller points out one we missed: the Sony DPA-300, a digital video still recorder based on MD-Data. It's still available from places like Telcor for as little as US$225. We've also gathered a few more details on Sony's earlier, high-end DKR-700 digital still recorder. | |
| 2/22: | Like an Edsel!? A reader points out a bit of Minidisc market ignorance in the first paragraph of an ESPN sports story. // Joe Chellman restores Morton's external mic-input level control plans (we also keep a copy). // And you can appreciate their superior sound after a spliff: Minidisc T-Station posts photos of Maxell's glow-in-the-dark blanks (Japanese press release). // Convert your portable MD unit into a boombox: MiniDisc Access carries the US$25 Boom-Boom Multi-box: a set of speakers and an AA cell powered 2W+2W amp in a water-resistant case that has room for an MD portable. // Barry Choi reminds us that HMV.com (Canada) stocks some 564 pre-recorded Minidisc titles (click "Minidisc" under "Specialty Items" in the left hand column). | |
| 2/20: | Core Sound is developing PDAudio-CF, an S/PDIF adapter in a Compact Flash form factor that, when coupled with an A/D and a PC or PDA, will allow 24 bit recording at up to 192kHz. Price is slated to be under $1000 for a complete, portable, hi-resolution audio recording system. A portable, 24bit, 96kHz mic preamp/A-to-D will be introduced with it. Third party development is encouraged and the Linux/Windows drivers will be open-source. // Yves Le Page adds photos to his auto-track-mark timer circuit construction project for Sony MD decks (en Français). | |
| 2/18: | Reg Smith points out the MSRP¥50,000 Sanyo CDF-MS11 and MSRP¥60,000 CDF-MC2 in-dash CD/MDLP units. They employ the JVC KD-MX2900 technique of using a single slot for both CD and MD playback. The 'MS11 is 1DIN, the 'MC2 is 2DIN and handles cassette as well. Both are Japanese FM band only, so you'll need a car radio frequency converter to use one abroad. How to get the Sanyo? Japan-Direct and Melting-Pot will generally purchase and ship any Japanese gear you're shopping for. // François Demont adds comparisons with a Sony ECM-MS907 microphone to his Sony microphone evaluations (en Français). Surprisingly he prefers the cheaper, ECM-MS717. | |
| 2/13: | my-minidisc.com (Ger) offers the Sharp MD-DR470 (Euro MD-DR7 [high-res]) for 280€; they also stock the Sharp MD-MT270 and are taking preorders for its big brother, the MD-MT290, equipped with non-LCD remote and microphone input jack. // Do you notice yourself thinking about microphone enlargement? Sound Professionals is offering a Rode NT4 Stereo XY condenser microphone in a package with the Sharp MD-MT190 for $100; total cost: $550. // Richard Prinsloo sent along images from a Sony Minidisc 10th Anniversary CD-ROM to update our Sony portable equipment entries (did you know Sony made a special Boss Coffee MZ-E7W model for a Suntory canned drink campaign?). Minidisc images from the CD provide a gallery of Sony blanks ca. 1992-2002 (notice this 74' beauty from 1993; MSRP $17!). // NetMD Titling under Linux/Unix: Pete Ryland's gnetmd is a freeware source package (in development) that runs as a GNOME 2.0 desktop app and can be used for titling on NetMD equipment (see its screenshot). | |
| 2/11: | Listening to 3 Sony microphones: François Demont shows what interesting work can be done with some careful technique and a few expensive reference microphones. His calibrated recordings through 3 Sony microphones (en Français) show clear differences in audio quality. If you only have a moment, listen to this short pair of recordings contrasting the self-noise of a $100 Sony ECM-TS125 and an $1800 Schoeps microphone. Other interesting tidbits are a pair of recordings made with and without the Sharp MD-MT888 microphone preamp. Needless to say, listening to all these through headphones is practically de rigueur. // MinidiscAccess.com offers the Goldies MDS-12 Traveler for $17; the padded pouch holds 12 MDs and a portable and is modeled after the discontinued CaseLogic MDC-12. // Minidisco has Sharp MD-MT190s in stock for $200. // NetMD for $100: Ara Hagopian finds a $30 mail-in rebate at Circuit City, bringing the final price of a Sony MZ-N505 to $100. // Brian Donovan spots the [non-MDLP] Blaupunkt New Orleans in-dash MD receiver for $200 at Crutchfield. // James Nakashima notes a Sony Canada offer for an extra, upgraded set of headphones with their MZ-N10, MZ-NE410 and MZ-N510 units. // Would you like a Minidisc with that? Bonnie Nicholas finds a contest at Popeyes chicken and biscuits to win a Sony MZ-S1 portable MD recorder. | |
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| 2/6: | Prerecordeds make a retreat: MinidiscMusic.com is leaving the market and having a 50% off sale on all Prerecorded MDs. Use the coupon code "MD50off" at checkout. // AVLand (UK) takes a high-res snapshot of the Blue MZ-N510. // my-minidisc.com has Sony's MZ-E10 player in stock, along with a good high-res shot of it. | |
| 2/5: | Madsen and Vicco point out Japanese pages for Sharp's MD-DS5 MD player (press release). The second player (after the MD-DS8) in their "Auvi" one-bit amp line, it offers a stunning 200 hour maximum battery life. | |
| 2/2: | Seven Spacemen fall to Earth ... // In other news: Nicolas Vicco finds Japanese info on Sony's MZ-E810, MZ-E610, and MZ-B10 portables (the latter is their latest "business" recorder). // Minidisc obsolete? Randy Wong finds a Slate/MSN article by Brendan Koerner that doubts recordable DVD will last long, though perhaps not as briefly as MD. Don't look now Brendan, but Minidisc just crested 10 years and is showing no signs of slowing. // And yet ... John Peters points out the US$400 Neuros MP3 recorder/player (specs). Due out Feb. 10, the unit sports a backpackable 20GB hard drive, realtime MP3 encoding of LINE level inputs, and wireless playback though any FM radio. Most interestingly, the manufacturer offers it as an open music platform, and encourages software development for the unit. Lossless recording and Ogg Vorbis support are reportedly in the works. Now if they could only add a microphone input jack ... | |
| 1/31: | AVLand (UK) posts details on Sony's MZ-E310, MZ-E510, and MZ-E10 portable players, including a good side-by-side photo of the MZ-E10 and MZ-2P (Sony's first portable MD player). // my-minidisc.com (Ger) has information on the Sony MDX-CA790X in-dash MD unit, including a hi-res shot of its faceplate. // Sas-Seb updates his French Sharp MD-DS8 review with photos of the accessories (look for animated "New" icon). | |
| 1/29: | AVLand (UK) and my-minidisc.com (Ger) supply high-res photos and specs to help sort out Sony's hailstorm of new portables. These are natural pairings: MZ-N10/N910 (battery and knob differences), MZ-NF810/N710 (w/tuner and w/o), MZ-NF610/N510 (likewise, but lacking mic input and NiMH cell as well). The MZ-R410 is nearly a non-NetMD N510. | |
| 1/28: | Kindly re-revolutionize it one more time. Sony has a explanatory NetMD video on their SonyStyle site wherein they surprisingly state: "Sony is re-revolutionizing digital music one more time with the NetMD, a technology that allows you to take music with you, create your playlists, and store it directly on your computer". Even Sony seems a little confused about the direction NetMD audio travels! // Mike Lastucka finds the Sony MZ-R510CK available for pre-order at SonyStyle Canada. | |
| 1/25: | François has made a lovely Sharp MD-MT888 review (en Français) with many good clear photos. // More Minidisc Tricks and Tips: Unattended radio recording, Copying audio lectures, Recording study material, Digital CD recording from a Playstation 2, and as a Lie detector. // Einars Odinecs has a Tripod page full of MZ-N505 photos. | |
| 1/24: | Why Sony Cannot Upload: Andrew Madsen points out Wired's coverage of the Civil War Inside Sony that details why the consumer electronics giant can no longer bow to their customers. Discuss... // John Jerabek finds a Sony CD/NetMD gear brochure (pdf). | |
| 1/22: | Good for quiet listening: AVLand (UK) has the Sony MZ-R410, MZ-N510, and MZ-N710 in stock. The Euro edition of the last two have reduced power, 2.5mW and 1.2mW(!) headphone amplifiers. | |
| 1/21: | Sharp's turn: Andrew Madsen points out the Sharp UK's MD-MT270 portable recorder (large). AVLand (UK) has coverage of the the unit and the MD-MT290, its remote equipped big brother. | |
| 1/20: | Uncle! Sony introduces another new portable recorder: AVLand (UK) has preliminary information on the Sony MZ-R410. | |
| 1/19: | Japan-Direct posts a Sony MZ-E10 photo gallery. | |
| 1/18: | Sony adds two more NetMD recorders and two new players: Olaf Bodecker points out the MZ-N910 and MZ-N710, preorderable at my-minidisc.com, where they also list the MZ-E510 and MZ-E310 players. It does quite look like the year of the Minidisc! | |
| 1/17: | Minidisc front and center: Doc Lloyd finds an MZ-N707 NetMD portable prominently displayed at www.Sony.com. // A friend points out AV Watch (Japan) coverage of Sony's new desktop Vaio (mech. trans, Sony product page). The unit sports a built-in NetMD drive. | |
| 1/15: | Andy finds the Sony MZ-N707 at uBid.com for US$143 w/shipping. // The ninety-two cent MD blank: Cassette House is having a sale on Samsung 74' blanks, they're $5.75 a 5 pack, with 20% off if you enter "sama15" in the coupon code (ground shipping: $7.70). // Phish K. finds electronics equipment owners manuals for sale from RMS (either via download or CD-ROM). | |
| 1/12: | Roland points out a Sony Music Store (on eBay!) featuring over four hundred prerecorded Minidisc titles from $7 to $27. // NetMD hacking update: Marcus Brinkmann's FreeMD software has not yet been released, but his NetMD protocol documentation gives the gory details of many NetMD USB transactions. Cracking the cryptography of audio downloading remains elusive however. // AVWatch (Japan) points out the JVC NS-X77WMD (mech. trans) double MD boombox. The ¥43,000 unit features 2X MD->MD copying and psychedelic display illumination (36 light patterns in all). // Looking at Sony's publicity photos, will the US model MZ-N10 remote have a single line of text instead of the 2 line display on the Japanese model? | |
| 1/10: | Sony introduces 4 portable recorders: the MZ-NE410, MZ-N510, MZ-NF610 and MZ-NF810. Discuss... // USB connectable and — fully read/write? Sony introduces GigaVault, a $300 40GB portable hard drive (photo). Any bets on whether its audio contents appears as a normal desktop volume (à la Archos) when PC-connected?. Discuss... // Howard Stanbury points out Sony's announcement of MP3 and ATRAC3plus playing CD players. | |
| 1/9: | Flurry of new Minidisc gear at CES: Kean and Flia point out AV Watch (Japan) mention of Aiwa's new logo and NetMD units (mech. trans) as well as Sony's MZ-N510 and MZ-NF810 NetMD recorders (mech. trans) (the latter includes an AM/FM radio). Sony's English press release for the units gives further details. | |
| 1/8: | Under the RIAA's radar — for now: Ciaran Lalor reopens MLabels.topcities.com; currently with 320 MD-sized CD covers. | |
| 1/5: | Arnþór Helgason reports on a visually impaired journalist's use of Minidisc. Discuss... // Minidisc.org steps out of the Precambrian age, employing our first bit of Javascript: Equipment table entries (e.g. the MZ-R90's) now contain dynamically generated links to reviews cataloged at eCoustics.com (they're always the final entries in the Reviews section). Let us know if this causes you any trouble! | |
| 1/4: | Leon made a Sharp MD-DS8 photo review back in October. Sas-Seb has an MD-DS8 review en Français, with several good photos of the unit. // DocNetForYou offers printed and bound PDFs from Minidisc.org for 10 cents per page, plus $6 per book (any number of PDFs can be put in a book) plus $9.50 overnight shipping. Bear in mind that retail copy services often accept email with PDFs for printing (e.g. in the US Kinkos charges 9 cents a page plus $4-$5 a book, depending upon the binding). // John notes a uInquirer article mentioning a Dolby Virtual Speaker chip from Analog Devices slated for use in Minidisc systems. // Tor Skude finds further TDK Bit Club blank designs at Audio Cubes. | |
| 1/2: | Doctor Seven Day: Tina and Okinawa Joe post a favorable photo-review of the Sharp MD-DR7 portable MD recorder. Mike Sloan has photos of the Blue MD-DR7. And Minidisco offers it for US$290 plus shipping. Discuss... // Tina and Joe also have a closer look at Sony's MZ-S1 sports MD portable recorder. // Howard Chu finds a Sony press release announcing an alliance with Nichia for production of blue-violet laser diodes. Such LEDs are intended for the upcoming 120mm Blu-ray disc, whose 27GB capacity in Minidisc's 64mm formfactor would yield a 5.8GB storage medium (i.e. 45 hours of SP mode audio). Discuss... // MinidiscMusic.com (prerecorded MD candy-shop) now carries MD portables and blanks. // Did you know Minidisco has made a text-only translation of the Sony MZ-N10 manual? // Mario Jaramillo points out Yahoo MD retailer 123 Digital. // Tor Skude spots new TDK Bit Club blank designs in 74' and 80' capacities. |
Past News: Recent, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996.
What's Coming?
| Dec 99: | Someone sends in a spy shot of a Sony 5 MD changer home deck, shown in mockup form at IFA in August. |
What's Cool?
| June 00: | Sony fights back the tide of budget priced discs with their JPY2800 ``Flagship'' Dual-layer MD2000 discs (machine translation to English). ITPower.net has Chinese coverage of the discs. |
| Feb 00: | Sony Austria has a short explanation of their Aroma-round CD packaging technology. No plans yet for a MiniDisc au Marmalade. |
| Dec 99: | Detailed English information is found covering the Digicube MD Kiosk trial, set to debut at 40 locations in Japan. Update 23 April 2000: Music Press On Demand, another MD vending machine, will begins service in Japan. (Don't miss the MPOD FAQ, available on their top page) |
| Mar 99: | The Music Press On Demand is an MD Kiosk that allows a person to create custom MDs in Japanese music shops. |
| Mar 99: | As announced, Sony, Axia, and TDK have released 80-minute MD blanks. (David Jansen has several shots of a range of 80-minute blanks.) |
| Jan 99: | Eighty minute MD blanks are to be made by Sony, TDK, and Maxell. There were created by reducing track pitch to 1.5um (the standard's minimum). |
| 14 Feb 97: | EDL in Britain makes a MiniDisc Audio Transfer system that decompresses ATRAC and stores it on a PC hard drive at 5 times realtime. |
What's Broken?
| 29 Mar 97: | Sony doesn't offer extended warranty coverage on MiniDisc units. News Flash: They do now offer it in the U.K. on MD decks, it's called the ``Sony Extend Ultimate Cover Scheme''. In Canada any and all Sony products can have extended warranties (up to 3 years). |
| 16 Mar 97: | Many Sony D-265, D-365, and D-465 portable CD players do not emit track marks on their digital outputs. News Flash: D-465 units manufactured after March 1997 have been reported to work properly. |
MiniDisc Products
All major Japanese audio companies are now selling Minidisc products. They are (with links to their MD home pages where available) Sony, Sharp (Canada, USA), Aiwa, Denon, Marantz, Onkyo, Sansui, Sanyo, JVC, Panasonic, Alpine, Clarion, Kenwood, Yamaha, Pioneer and Tascam (Teac).MiniDisc Equipment Browser
The MiniDisc Equipment Browser provides convenient access to information and links for specific MD units. The equipment browser is automatically built from these full equipment tables for:
- Portable Recorders
- Portable Players
- Decks
- CD/MD Decks
- Bookshelf Systems
- Boomboxes
- Car Audio Units
- Professional and Industrial use machines
- Multitrack recorders
- Data products
- Accessories
- Blanks
Additional resources:
- MiniDisc Switzerland maintains a database of user reported equipment problems. They also have a DB generated top-10 lists (e.g. lightest, cheapest, etc.) of MD equipment.
- Nic Boyde's MD Portables Photos
- MiniDiscussion has a page listing CD players with optical out.
Where to buy:
- An extensive set of links exist for suppliers of
- Justin Woo has started his own MD equipment price watch.
- Aaron Satz maintains an MD merchant price comparison guide.
- Roscoe Mittleman's MD supplier rating page is based upon customer input.
- Hardeep's MD Gallery Page carries images of a wide range of MD equipment.
- Wolfgang Hees maintains a chart and graph of worldwide MD blank prices.
- A price survey of blank MiniDiscs gives further [dated] info on MD blank suppliers and prices, world wide.
- Chris McClave's CostFinder site searches selected on-line stores for the equipment you are looking for.
- CNNfn's Power Shopper has Minidisc product listings for various electronics suppliers.
- Gen Li gives some advice about shopping for MD gear in NYC.
- A few individuals have also contributed information about purchasing MD equipment while traveling in Hong Kong and Japan.
- Can't make up your mind?
- Ecoustics.com has a great MD unit database allowing direct comparisons between different MD units.
- The Active Buyer's Guide has a system for helping you decide on a Minidisc unit.
- Not sure which blank MiniDisc brand to get? You might want to read Gary Bingner's opinions of the differences between brands.
- Sony's Tourist Model information page provides detailed information for taking Sony equipment abroad, including service locations world wide.
- Bj�rn Blomberg's Best Buy & Hifi Tip website gives advice on purchasing several different MD units.
Read the MiniDisc FAQ and join the MiniDisc mailing-list.
MiniDisc Technology
The creation of the MiniDisc system began in 1986 and required the refinement of several technologies (reflected in a host of patents). Sony discusses the technical challenges and how they were overcome in an IEEE technical report on the rewritable MiniDisc system.A single MD holds the same amount of music as a CD (up to 80 minutes in "SP" recording mode) but does so in one fifth as many bits by using an audio compression method Sony calls ATRAC (Adaptive TRansform Acoustic Coding). ATRAC is a form of perceptual coding, a data reduction technique that attempts to encode only the information audible to the human perceptual system. Sony describes the details of their ATRAC system in an Audio Engineering Society technical report. A (translated) interview that appeared in MJ Audio Technology Magazine with the creators of Sony's top of the line MD-JA3ES deck also helps explain the MiniDisc signal compression technology. ATRAC is the basis of Sony's SDDS cinema digital audio system.
Perceptual coding, based upon the masking effect, is also the principle behind the MPEG, Dolby Labs AC-3, and Bell Labs PAC (Perceptual Audio Coding) compression algorithms.
Recordable MiniDiscs use a variation on conventional magneto- optical methods that Sony calls "Magnetic Field Modulation", in which data is recorded using a 4.5mW semiconductor laser together with a magnetic head. As the disc sweeps past the laser, a tiny area on the MD's magnetic recording layer is heated to its Curie temperature* while the field of the magnetic head in contact with the other side of the disc is switched back and forth to write a data pattern. When the area the head has magnetized moves away from the laser spot it cools below the Curie point to become cast in a string of N and S magnetized regions on the disc, spaced 60 millionths of a centimeter apart, and corresponding to the stream of bits being recorded.
Playback is accomplished using the same laser at about 1/10th power, and makes use of a phenomenon known as the Faraday effect in which a light beam's plane of polarization is rotated when it passes through a magnetic field. The readout laser beam is aimed at, and reflects from, the previously recorded magnetic regions; the optical pickup detects the polarization differences corresponding to beam reflection from N or S magnetized regions in order to reconstruct the recorded bit stream. (*The Curie temperature is the point at which a magnetic material loses coercivity, allowing it to be magnetized by a very weak field. For the MD recording layer [a compound of Terbium, Iron, and Cobalt], this temperature is 180°C).
MiniDisc manufacturing is an exacting process that involves the use of vacuum sputtering machines in a clean room environment. Interviews with Drs. Gassmann and Voser of Balzers Process Systems in Liechtenstein (which makes the Sprinter, Sprinter 750, and Multi Sprinter for MD manufacturing), and a page describing the BPS Sprinter machine give more details about the MD manufacturing process. Sony DADC's MiniDisc Handbook (in PDF format) gives a technical guide to pre-recorded MD production. Sony Disc Manufacturing's website has a good deal of technical information for artists producing MiniDiscs. The MiniDisc (and Compact Disc) substrate itself is made from a plastic called Makrolon, developed by Bayer in Germany. It is a surprisingly resilient material, try bending a CD sometime.
Sony describes the Magneto-Optical (MO) recording technology used for MDs in a technical paper on their HS MO system. Sony Singapore has some good diagrams explaining MD technology. Sony Japan also has some colorful, mildly technical MD coverage, as well as a simple MD technology animation for kids, in English. The 1394 (a.k.a Firwire) Trade Association documentation page contains information on the AV/C Disk Media Type Specification MD - audio (.PDF) with many technical details about the MD-clip format.
MiniDisc in the Press and Technical Journals
General
- 07/01 USA Today article pitching the MD format against solid state devices.
- 06/01 A USA Today article covers Minidisc's comeback.
- 06/01 The Toronto Star mentions Minidisc in its annual Achievement Awards ``Best audio recording technology: MiniDisc, due to its editing capabilities and portability.'' (See the entire article [2MB PDF]).
- 04/01 The South China Morning Post (HK) carries a positive Minidisc article that quotes us. (We make several comments on the article.)
- 01/01:A Wired article briefly mentions MiniDisc MDLP as it sizes up the latest audio and video products.
- 11/00: A CNET.com article talks of different digital audio technologies offered today, including MiniDisc.
- 7/00: A Stereophile article states that, aside from computer based recording, MD is the leading digital recording format in the US.
- 3/00: Terence Chea, Wired writer, grudgingly accepts that MiniDisc is the best recording format in today's consumer digital audio marketplace.
- 3/00: An E-Media article finds the MiniDisc to be a useful and valuable audio format after all these years.
- 7/99: Both Telegraph (UK) and TDK Japan talk of MD's success and acceptance in the world.
- 6/99: Bill Sturrock points out a relatively objective Gadget News article on MD and the Sony MZ-E40.
- 2/99: Journalist Gus Silber, alerts Johannesburg to the dawn of MiniDisc.
- 2/99: Stereophile advocated MD on its convenience & quality.
- 12/98: Lee Chin has written a USC term paper on MD.
- 7/98: Top (Tower Records Magazine UK) wrote enthusiastically about Pre-recorded MD in an article last year.
- 7/98: EE Times article with a bit of inside information and discussing Sony's MD strategy.
- 5/98: A favorable Telegraph (UK) article about MiniDisc has links to several short equipment reviews.
- 2/98: T3 magazine had an interesting interview with Sony and Philips PR folks in which they discussed where they think audio formats are headed.
- 11/97: Time Magazine article about A New World at Sony comments on how Idei is adapting Sony to the networked, digital era. (Not directly MD related).
- 11/97: Rolling Stone article a few MD comments.
- 10/97: Singapore airlines inflight magazine had an article covering MD.
- 8/97: German Stereo magazine discusses the current status of MD in Europe (alternate translation).
- 5/97: A review of an article from the Nikkei Business Weekly sheds light on how Sony's MZ-E50 MD player was created.
- 4/97: On the cover of their April issue, the German Stereo Magazine wrote ``MD now definitely better than DAT'', they discuss the relative standing of both formats in their review of Sony's top of the line MDS-JA50ES MD deck.
- 4/97: In these excerpts of John Borwick's Grammaphone review of the MDS-JE500 he states that he finds MD and CD to be virtually indistinguishable.
- 4/97: In a Sound On Sound interview with one of the Sony MDM-X4 designers, mention is made of possibly using ATRAC on the internet.
- 6/96: Excerpts of German Stereo Magazine about Sony's ATRAC 4.
- 1992: An article from Audio magazine gives a good general introduction to the technology employed in MiniDisc.
Professional Use
- 2/99: An EQ article by Craig Anderton suggests a few interesting ways for musicians to make good use of normal (2-channel) Minidisc.
- Art Chimes considers the use of Minidisc in Radio Journalism.
- Radio College has an array of pro audio recording technical topics for the aspiring radio journalist.
- David Cohen describes his success using MiniDisc for theatre special effects.
- Mike Ward contributes an interesting article about MiniDisc use in radio news reporting.
- A page has been found talking of one person's 'conversion' to Minidisk [sic] for dance-calling.
- An EQ Magazine article discusses MD's usefulness for musicians.
- A Studio Sound article describes how a commercial CD was made from a recording session mastered on MD.
Self Reference
- 9/01 Gannett News extols the virtues of Minidisc (quoting us in the process).
- The South China Morning Post (HK) carries a positive Minidisc article that quotes us. We make several comments on the South China Morning Post MD article.
- A Home Recording Magazine article on MiniDiscs mentions both MiniDisc.org and MiniDiscussion.com.
- The Wire (UK) mentions the MDCP.
- We find ourselves rated by Planetclick.com as the "most techy site."
- An October '97Hi-Fi World article says kind words about the MDCP. (Thank you Mr. Price!).
- A Washington Post story talks about MiniDisc's Second Coming, mentioning its Internet presence as well.
- The MDCP gets passing mention in the WSJ.
Myths
- Sony has their own MiniDisc troubleshooting FAQ? The trouble is, it is woefully misinformed in places.
- Sound on Sound makes an argument for sonic differences among blank discs (upshot: "better" sound only occurs in MD equipment with marginal analog sections).
- Two What HiFi articles describe how it is that MD blanks can sound different. (We've added some commentary within the article).
- A HiFi World talks about the subtle quality differences between MD Blanks.
- A TDK listening test reports that their pro blanks have increased "depth and richness".
Media and Artwork
- The T-station held a pixel contest where budding artists can help promote MD. The results of the contest can be found on their site.
- Gary Binger's collection of unique MiniDisc blanks is on display at The T-Station.
- James Meister's MiniDisc unit icons offer a wide selection of MD-related icons for Mac OS.
- A collection of user-made MD artwork can be found at the MD T-Station.
- More exotic MD blank designs available from Beyond HiFi: "Alien Rock", "Out Of This World", and "Brainstorm".
- Sony's Flash-enhanced MDLP promotion page has an Ad Gallery where you can view still image advertisements and also watch a 30-second MDLP commercial (Quicktime .MOV format).
- For those in Australia, you can subscribe to Pulse (Sony's half-magazine, half-catalog publication) for free.
- Beyond HiFi has a photo collection of some of TDK's latest designer blank MDs: Ministry Girotondo and Bow wow styles.
- Gerrit Dijkstra has handcrafted images of the Sony MD logo in .gif and .eps formats.
- Marco Rossen passes along a closeup of Sony's new Walkman logo, found on the MZ-E800. According to Sony it emphasizes the new Sony network era.
- Beyond HiFi points out a set of 3 designer MD blanks being marketed by TDK Europe and currently offers the Happy Cyclop (1st of the series).
- A PG-13 rated MD ``Dream'' advert (2.7MB .avi) was produced for Sony UK that they declined to air.
- MD screensaver for Windows95 (Sony Music Europe).
Humor
- The story of Ancient MiniDiscs.
- A Zits MiniDisc Cartoon from the SF Examiner.
- Sony's PG-13
rated MD ``Dream'' advert (2.7MB .avi)
April 1st entries: - 2002: Russian hackers reverse engineer Sony MZ-N1, adding MP3 capability. Exclusive interview with Sasha Breginski
- 2001: Sony takes the merging of different electronic devices one step further, with the release of their MZ-TST1 dual MD drive recorder/bread toaster.
- 2000: The Sony MZ-R110/120 PDA, which even fooled TapWeekly.
- 2000: Sony S-core transformer.
- 1999: Sony gives up on MD! Pushes MD-CC instead.
- An IDG article states that 9% of geeks own Minidisc players.
Marketing
- 8/2001: Sony's advertising campaign placing big red stickers on a Toronto street as part of a treasure hunt.
- 8/2001: A BBC News article mentioning that pre-recorded Minidisc sales have fallen off.
- 12/2000: A Sony Hong Kong page describes Sony's MDLP promotional event in Asia.
- Brandon Seong-Shin Hong's detailed economics class paper on MiniDisc discusses the marketing of the format and its future prospects.
- A Sony press release outlines plans to license the ATRAC3 LSI. Update: Sony and IBM have struck a deal to master and distribute secure ATRAC3. IDG has a story covering Sony's online music retailing venture.
- A Headwize page discusses the psychological content of a Sony MiniDisc advertisement.
- In a May 99 press release from Sony's European Business Products Group they mention that the MiniDisc market is expected to exceed 20 million units worldwide in the year 2001.
- Articles from ABC News and Apple cover Minidisco, our sponsor. The MD Cave has also conducted an interview with Minidisco.
- Sharp will be the first to produce portable MiniDisc recorders outside Japan when it begins production of the MD-MT20 and MD-MT15 series in Malaysia in May 1999.
- Samsung UK (XIOD, T:0181-2323235, F:0181-2323227) are seeking UK distributors for their blank MD media, contact Ning Ning for further information.
- PR Central gives an unusual inside look at how marketeers go about positioning Sony's MiniDisc as a hot product.
- A December '98 Stereophile article on MD's growth reports that the number of US retail outlets selling blanks has grown to about 9000!
- An August '98 Herald Tribune article on MiniDisc states that MD is eclipsing the cassette.
- An October '98 Washingon Post article states that MiniDisc is alive and well in the US.
- The MD Push '98, articles:
- from Sony's press release.
- from TWICE, August '98.
- The Robb Report wrote briefly about Minidisc's Revival in Feb '98.
- from U.S. News & World Report by Leonard Wiener.
- from Stereo Review.
- from Webnoize, this one though holds to the old misconception that MD is intended to replace CD.
- from The Arizona Daily Star discussing MD's reemergence.
- from a PR Newswire clip, and a RealVideo clip of one of Sony's MD TV commercials.
- from TWICE, regarding Maxell and the coming MD ``boomlet''.
- from The Good Guys store, along with a brief bit of historical context.
- A June '98 Forbes article states that in Japan, portable MiniDisc players have outsold portable CD players for the first time ever.
- A Jan/98 Popular Mechanics article muses about why MD is popular in Japan but not in the US.
- An Oct/98 MD intro article from Popular Mechanics mildly praises the format.
- An article from the October issue of Audio Video International discusses Sony's recent US MD marketing campaign.
- In a Washington Post article about Sony's recent profitability they note that MiniDisc sales have soared.
- In a brief interview with Sony that appeared in What HiFi? magazine, we hear that 1997 is to be the year of the MD in the UK.
- In a March 1997 article on the recording industry Forbes Magazine mentions that MiniDisc is starting to catch on, showing a chart indicating that worldwide sales of MiniDisc hardware tripled last year.
- An April 1997 Nikkei article states that a surge in MD player demand is expected.
- Press clippings from the Wall Street Journal and the Oregonian about Sony's re-intro of the MD to North America.
- A Jan. '97 Home Furnishing Network article covers Sony's recent MD marketing push.
- Audio World briefly reports on a Frost & Sullivan study indicating that the market share for professional MiniDisc will increase.
- An audio clip of Sony's North American MD commercial has micro-snippets of a few cool tunes.
- A TWICE article states that Sony's MD promos are building momentum.
- BPS' Layers magazine special edition on optical storage has articles about MiniDisc's bright future and how MD growth represents opportunites for disc manufacturers.
- An article in Time Magazine mentions MiniDisc (Time's Tech Watch section carries it too).
- A 1996 Austin Chronicle article discusses MD's success in Sony's test markets.
Intro, Fluff
- Etown offers newbie tips for getting the most from your MD.
- A MiniDisc intro piece from Ziff-Davis unfortunately exhibits a few misunderstandings.
- An newbie article in The New Paper from Singapore gives MD coverage.
- A January 99 article in the Chicago Sun-Times talks about CDs in the presence of upstarts like MD.
Politics, Legal issues
- A WSJ article states that Microsoft and others aim to render MP3 obsolete.
- A Scientific American article mentions MiniDiscs in its discussion of copyright management in today's digital world.
- Copyright Board Canada issues a press release outlining a new levy being imposed on various recording media, including MiniDisc. Neil Herber explains the effects of the levy.
- The RIAA recently wrote email clarifying the legality of home audio recording, stating that consumers are free to copy CDs to MD.
- Cornell University's Legal Information Institute has the complete US Copyright Code concerning digital audio recording devices and media (see Subchapter D, which prohibits copyright suits against consumers making non-commercial digital recordings).
- In an interesting LA Times interview, Geffen Records' Jim Griffin discusses intellectual property rights, and surprisingly feels copy protection would be ``a tragic mistake.'' (original version, for those with good eyesight)
- Articles in Wired and The Lousville Cardinal discuss the recording industry's campaign against MP3 on the net.
- October '98 articles in Stereophile and Wired discuss the RIAA vs. Diamond suit (wherein the RIAA tries to prevent a portable MP3 player from coming to market).
Copy Protection
- New Scientist articles on copy-prohibited CDs, including mention of SCMS protected CDs in Germany.
- A Stereophile article details Macrovision's method of making CD's un-rippable.
- A New York Times report shows how the RIAA kept an SDMI cracking technical paper from being presented. (Fortunately Felton's SDMI cracking paper itself made it onto the web, safe for all.)
- The perils of industrially imposed copy protection are covered by John Gilmore, of EFF fame.
- Macrovision Safe-Audio:
- New Scientist criticism of a the Cactus system.
Dissent
- 10/00: A grumbling article found on ZDNet talks about Sony fumbling the ball with MiniDisc.
- 7/99: A MacWEEK article claims that MD missed the boat.
- Ken Pohlmann's Signals article in Stereo Review does not smack of MD boosterism (included after the article is a rebuttal). Update 4/01: Pohlmann writes a positive MiniDisc article on HiFiBuys' site.
- 3/97: Ken Polmann's March 1997 Stereo Review article rates the audio quality of Dolby S above Minidisc, though he rates both equivalent to CD for casual listening. Included in the article are spectrograms of a snippet of music reproduced from CD, Cassette, and MD.
- 10/98: In a summary of Ken Pohlmann's Stereo Review article, he seems to have warmed towards the format slightly.
- 2/98: A droopy article by Stereophile on Sony's MD relaunch brings replies from Jon Deutsch and Reg Smith.
- 2/98: A Wired Magazine Hype List predicts MD's meme is not long for this world.
- 3/98: Jon Deutsch made favorable MD commentary in Stereophile's Soapbox column, but, predictably their readers were still grumpy about MD.
- A Japanese anti-MD site (brief English section, machine translation into English) claims that ``it is blasphemy ... to throw out cassette tape as garbage!''
Historical
- A Gamespot.com article briefly mentions MiniDiscs in talking about incompatibilities between various audio, video, and game console media.
- 3/93: A 1993 Studio Sound and Broadcast Engineering article discusses the fledgling MD, DCC nascent CD-E formats.
- 6/91: A mid-1991 article from a Seybold publication talks about what MiniDisc Data could become [read: might have been].
- MPO's French pages (circa 1994) concerning MD manufacture and Sharp's second try with MD-Data.
- 6/93: A Popular Science article shows an MD unit for Ford's 1994 model year (apparently it never really flew).
Technical
- MD Tech, a website managed by Glen Wintringham, has several detailed MD-related essays that investigate both preamplifier and ATRAC issues.
- An April 2000 HiFi Choice article carefully compares MP3 vs. ATRAC Type-R.
- Pioneer describes their ``Advanced Parameter Processing'' in ATRAC, indicating that they've done some of their own development of the codec.
- Included in a Sony Super Audio CD brochure is an explanation of the Delta-Sigma 1-Bit analog to digital conversion process.
- We take a closer look at the MiniDisc's User Table of Contents.
- Clover Systems has good information on the CD (and hence MD) standard's error correction methods.
- Sound on Sound has a good article on audio coding (data reduction) that covers the binaural masking level difference phenomenon.
- Guy Churchill submits the results of his serious listening test comparsion of CD, MD, MP3, VQF and RealAudio.
- Technical Report Summary: ATRAC2 Encoder/Decoder LSI by Watanabe et al.
- Technical Report Summary: One-chip LSI for MiniDisc by Sasaki et al.
- Technical Report Summary: Sanyo researchers pack 48 hours of voice on an MD.
- AMSYS has a brief news story mentioning the Sony 650 MB MD, the same story also appears on TechWire.
- A short article with informative graphs from the Swedish Electronic World Magazine show distortion with respect to ATRAC generation.
- A technical paper from the June 1996 Design Automation Conference discusses the methods used to create Sharp's ATRAC LSIs.
Minidisc User Manuals
Notes:
- Links in green are PDF files.
- Some PDF files (ones from Sony!) will not open with Acrobat Reader 5.0. For these files please download Acrobat Reader 4.0
- Some PDF files do not open properly from within a Web browser (reporting "Object label badly formatted"). Adobe describes this as a web server problem. One option is to download them to your hard disk (right-click on the link and chose "Save target as ..."). After downloading, double-click on the file to open it directly with Acrobat Reader (i.e. not from within your browser).
- Sony New Zealand offers manuals by email (for recent New Zealand models only). Naturally we would be delighted to receive copies of ones we're missing!
- Sony's manuals website offers PDF manuals for most of their exported equipment.
- A Sony (Europe?) manuals website offers PDF manuals for a good deal of their equipment available in Europe.
- The Sharp UK user manual page has PDF manuals for much of their equipment.
Minidisc Service Manuals
Service manuals are provided for educational purposes only. Please refer all servicing to qualified personel. (Several readers have unintentionally disabled their equipment using service mode).
The MD FAQ section on service manuals gives information for ordering paper copies.
(You can make a significant contribution to the MD community by typing or scanning your user (or non-Sony service) manual and sending it in).
Other Manuals
- MiniDisc Handbook from Sony DADC. Gives MD specifics for artists producing pre-recorded MiniDiscs (format details, exact cover art dimensions, etc).
- RS232 manual (interface for the Sony MDS-E11/E52).
Why should I buy a MiniDisc recorder/player?
Why indeed? This is a deep and important question about the wisdom of participating in the consumerism of our modern age, and whether cultivating a life of voluntary simplicity would not ultimately bring greater happiness. However, if you are only asking whether you should not buy some other gadget instead, read on.Sony intended the format as a replacement for the Compact Cassette. It provides a relatively low cost solution to making high quality recordings, and compared to Recordable CDs, it is smaller, cheaper, re-writable and allows non-linear editing. Compared to all forms of tape, it provides random access, meaning that you can quickly select songs with the touch of a button.
Although the format has been slow to catch on in the US, MiniDisc continues to thrive in Japan. Sales in the US were hurt by high prices and a format war with Philips Digital Compact Cassette (DCC). DCC has since been taken out of production (both Philips and Matsushita (DCC's Japanese backer) have now begun offering MD products). This fact, combined with the lower prices of current MD equipment, has helped MiniDisc begin catching on in Sony's US test markets.
The only drawbacks to MD are the fact that you cannot make a perfect digital copy of one (there is generational loss in every decompress/compress cycle) and the price of MD equipment (MD units costs at least US$200, though Sony's 1998 Bundle5 provides a home recorder and portable player for about $300). Blank prices have dropped 4 or 5 fold since the format's introduction and one can find 74' blanks in Japan for about $2 and in the US for $3 to $4. Blank prices are dropping in other countries too as MDs gain acceptance.
An unabashed Minidisc fan argues the MD case (vs. DAT). And it seems that people who actually sit down and spend a little time with MiniDisc, giving it an honest hearing with their own ears, become quite fond of the format.
Cool things people are doing with MiniDiscs
See also the Collected MiniDisc Tricks and Tips from users.- Music, Art and Entertainment
- Marillion is a band that uses Minidisc extensively in their work (see 2nd section ``How does it work?'').
- An interview with Martin Stephenson, who has released a CD recorded entirely with a Sony MZ-R70.
- Dave LaDelfa has made limited edition disc of experimental music using an "orchestra of eight MZ-R50s looping specially prepared discs in shuffle-play mode".
- Ted Rees discusses MD use in performance art.
- Square Dance callers find the MD format provides an easy way to have unlimited length patter tunes.
- Public Address
- Chris Stanley encounters MD based audio tours at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology.
- A page devoted to the USAF Thunderbirds theme music that is played during airshows; in it the Minidisc equipment they use is mentioned. (Gonzalo Duque).
- Simon Mackay recommends MiniDisc for bus and boat tours.
- Radio
- Ed Cole reports his success using Minidisc at a radio station.
- Some members of the UK Radio mailing list recently commented on the use of MD in radio broadcasting.
- Allen Scofield describes his use of MD for radio voice-over work.
- Field Recording
- Trent Nelson (chief photographer of the Salt Lake Tribune) has put together several multimedia slideshows that use audio recorded in the field with a Sony MZ-R90.
- John Smith details the use of Minidisc equipment for ethnographic recording of Scots and Gaelic.
- Ken Wheeler finds mention of MiniDisc use in recording ghosts' voices.
- Aaron Thieme has created interesting auditory collages from MD field recordings he made during travels in Vietnam.
- Doug Von Gausig has made an interesting page of field recordings using his MZ-R30
- A blind person interviewed on Norwegian radio uses MiniDisc as an audio ``camera'' when traveling.
- Education
- Richard Reid tells about using MiniDisc in college.
- Lawrence Borden extolls the remarkable fidelity of an MD portable and binuaral mics used for teaching music.
- Eikaiwa Visa has information about the use of MiniDisc in the classroom.
- Science and Technology
- A Wired report notes the New York Times has placed a Minidisc player in a time capsule, to be opened in the year 3000 (search within the article for "mini disc").
- NASA is using two portable MD recorders in their Ground-Based Sensors for the SR-71 Sonic Boom Propagation Experiment.
- Robby uses MiniDisc to record polar orbiting weather satellites.
- An IASA bulletin has good hard coverage of MD as it applies to the archivist (search for "MiniDisc" after the page is fully loaded).
- Reg Smith uses MiniDisc equipment as an aid in restoring Antique Music Boxes.
- Medicine
- The University of Wisconsin uses Minidisc in their Communicative Disorders Clinic.
- Dr. Tuna describes how Minidisc was used to create a gallery of heart sounds that includes the sounds of mechanical heart valves.
- Format Conversion
- Tim Stockman says a few words about recording vinyl LPs to MD.
- Paul Collins describes his efforts to transfer over 8,000 titles of ethnic dance music from various audio formats to MiniDisc. Included on the page are reader feedback comments.
MiniDisc Tales
We are trying to collect a few interesting MD tales and war stories. If you have anything you would like to contribute, please send us mail!Several readers have written with techniques for jogging with an MD portable. There are interesting stories of:
- Torture testing MDs in ovens and boiling water, among other things. (German)
- Leaving MDs in a hot car in the sun.
- A 120Kph torture test for MDs .
- Wash and wear MDs.
- Blank MDs with more than 74 minutes 59 seconds free space.
- A fellow who feels the only thing needed to break the MiniDisc revolution loose is a few well placed hammer blows.
- The Russian MD scene.
- Folks who have had experiences with MDs accidentally being drowned in champagne or wine.
- A person who says he can hear Sharp ATRAC artifacts.
- Ancient MiniDiscs.
- BBC's Emergency MiniDiscs
- Old MD blanks in which pin-prick size holes have appeared.
- The error of showing MD to your kids.
- an entire MiniDisc collection surviving a flood, 97% intact.
- Accidents
- Eddie tells a bone jarring tale of MD's skip resistance.
- John Rose has a story about snowboarding with MD gear.
- Lawrence Brown tells the story of how his MD player survived a car crash.
- Jared Carey and others found that Minidisc allowed them to enjoy skip-free music while totalling their cars.
- Guido Gabriele explains how his MD portable survived being dropped from a balcony.
- And there are further shocking tales ...
MiniDisc Hacking
For those interested in going beyond the normal "user-mode" of their MiniDisc equipment, we have these tidbits:- ATRAC problem signals We're collecting signals that trip up ATRAC, have you got a contribution?
- Recording volume control Morten has a page for making a recording volume control, useful even if your portable already has an online-adjustable recording level.
- Apparent MD glitches:
- Jonathan Irwin investigates the Sony MD deck Monaural Mode Error.
- A track splitting/recombining problem on the MZ-R3.
- Problems editing monaural audio. Jonathan Irwin discusses his further findings on this problem.
- Sony's MDM-X4 units have a glitch that causes track delete to frequently malfunction.
The Guts
- Sharp MD-MS200 insides Photos and commentary by Duncan Chisholm.
- Sharp MD-MS701 disassembly Ian Horsey illustrates the disassembly procedure.
- Sony MDS-JA3ES optical assembly snapshots (Graham Baker).
- Sony MDS-JE500 circuit board snapshot (Christoph Gommel).
- See also the Repair Tips section for more gory details.
Portable's Remote Control Interface
- Aiwa AM-F65 remote control signalling (James Ward).
- Sony MZ-R2's remote control signalling (Chris Iffland).
- Sony MZ-R3's remote control display interface signalling (Havard Torring).
- Sony MZ-R3/R30's remote control signalling (Andy James).
- Sony MZ-R30's remote control signalling (Leon Woestenberg).
Deck IR Remote Interface
- MDS-JE500 IR Remote Codes (Shawn Lin).
- Kenwood 1050 IR remote codes (Mark Corner).
- Sony RM-D10P IR remote codes.
- Linux IR remote control The LIRC page describes an IR remote control interface for Linux.
MD Table of Contents (Directory) Hacking
- TOC data structures With the help of an MD Data drive, the MD TOC data structures are explained (and C versions are shown) .
- Cancelling TOC updates Dirk has found a ``Super Undo'' function available on modern Sony decks that cancels a pending TOC update.
- Sony TOC cloning David Tamkin has written extensively about TOC cloning procedures on the Sony MDS-JE520 (applies to other modern Sony decks).
- Sharp TOC cloning (for MD-MSxxx slot-in units). Helge Böhme shows a removable Sharp TOC-cloning clamp for portables, based upon his earlier work with carefully placed adhesive tape.
- TOC cloning on Sharp MD-MT15 class machines (cached).
- Emergency TOC procedures for an MDS-303 Martin Borus describes a procedure for older Sony MD decks. These are useful if you need to undo an edit, or recover a recording where power failed part way through.
- TOC tricks For those with equipment capable of TOC cloning, Peter Ravn describes several TOC tricks, including a way of defeating SCMS by faking an analog recording.
- Faking out SCMS with TOC cloning. Martin Borus has an interesting method of preventing SCMS by making a digital recording look like an analog one.
- TOC cloning to increase disc capacity R. M. Morriën shows how to make 60' MDs longer with a TOC cloned from a 74' disc and Peter Ravn has a page describing how to clone a 74' disc into an 80' one.
- TOC cloning to increase disc capacity Tom Daniels gives a pictoral description of how to add 4 minutes capacity to a 74' blank.
- Examining TOC details Various TOC minutia such as a track's absolute disc address, SCMS status, and recording mode flags can be examined with modern Sony decks using Retry Cause Display Mode.
- Wolfgang's MiniDisc Analyzer provides a peek into the Audio MiniDisc Table of Contents. He also reveals some enigmatic MD Secrets, discussing the ability to create virtual MD tracks (allowing you to permanently mark your favorite MD tracks for playback), and showing how to pack up to 80m16s of audio on an MD.
- MD on disc data structures Some scanty (and partially incorrect) information has been cleaned from The MiniDisc Book by Jan Maes.
Service Mode ***Before entering service mode, beware of the possible risks***
- Kenwood 1050MD deck Entering service mode.
- Sharp MD-M?701/721/821 EEPROM settings (Florian Rist)
- Sharp MD-MS701 EEPROM settings (Bull).
- Sharp MD-MS702 EEPROM settings (Hannes Rohde)
- Sharp MD-MT15 Entering service mode. Michael Conner shares his experience of adjusting the bass boost.
- Sharp MD-MT20 Entering service mode (Remko van der Vossen)
- Sharp MD-SR60 Entering service mode (Shiv Naimpally)
- Sharp MS100 and MS200 Entering service mode (Dirk and Andrew Tonner)
- Sony MDS-302/S30, '303/S35, '503, 'JA3ES, and other modern decks Entering service mode. Modern units have a few more diagnostic functions.
- Sony MDS-501 Entering service mode.
- Sony MDS-JE500/S37 Key check mode.
- Sony MDX-C150 Adjusting the focus bias.
- Sony MZ-R1 Entering service mode. This allows you to reinitialize MDs to blank if for some reason the normal procedures don't work.
- Sony MZ-R2 Entering service mode. Once there, you may need the MZ-R2 EEPROM settings.
- Sony MZ-R30's Entering service mode (Leon Woestenberg). Once there, Ico Doornekamp shows how to use the MZ-R30 as a thermometer. Matthew Dolan has a page covering the MZ-R30/35's test mode in detail.
- Sony MZ-R90/R91 service mode entry procedures.
- Sony bookshelf systems Entering service mode.
Labeling, Filing
- Covers4MD.com (in both English and French) maintains a growing collection of Microsoft Word MD covers for music albums.
- DMX web pages into text file conversion for titling purposes (John VanderWerf).
- Lotus Approach database for keeping track of MDs (Lars Petter Larsen).
- MD-Cover software for Deja MD Cover (Stefan Zimmer).
- Mini Disc Labels -- download MD labels or email them in. (Ciaran Lalor)
- Microsoft Access has allowed Bob Harding to catalog and organize his MiniDisc collection. You can download his Access database.
- Microsoft Word Techniques:
- Print text directly on Memorex MD labels (Ross Miller).
- MD label template (Mike Reilly).
- MD label template which fits 18 MD labels on one page, useful for when printing on a full sheet of sticker paper (Dave Law).
- MD label template for the English and Japanese versions of Word 2000. (Gakushuu Hasegawa)
- Postscript MD edge label for various brands of MD blanks (Jeff LaPort).
- Song compilation software Freeware program also helps optimize media usage (Heber Acquafreda).
- Sven's MiniDisc Labels Page explains how to make your own MD labels in three easy steps.
- TapEdit (Windows 95 shareware) helps you label MDs (also available at geocities and tripod).
- Visual Basic database, for cataloging Vinyl onto MD (Matt Black).
MD Control via Infrared Interface
- Ultra-simple IR remote plans and software for controlling Sony decks with an LED attached to the serial port. (Local copy available)
- USB ZephIR is a Mac scriptable learning infrared device designed to contol MD decks (as well as other electronics).
- MD Titler, a piece of Palm software that allows you to use your PDA to control your Sony MD deck (Paul Ellams). A Palmgear page outlines the program in detail.
- Computer-connectable infrared MD titler (scroll down in page for English description) offered by ue-consult, a German electronics company.
- CIR (Computerized Infrared Remote) a parallel port to IR TX/RX interface you can build (Earle Philhower).
- EasyTitle, adapter for using PC keyboards to do MD titling (see entry in accessory table for details).
- HP100/200LX MD IR remote titling for Sony MDS-303 (and more modern) decks (Luk Van Loock's modification of Diomidis Spinellis' work).
- HP100/200LX MD database and IR control program (Helmut Lucke). Mike Daniels rewrote it for improved speed.
- HP48 IR remote titling for Sony MD decks (Frederic).
- Kenwood MD titling program (Mark Corner) that uses the $180 Slinke-e box (see below).
- Psion based IR MD deck control (Jim Pollock)
- Slink-e IR interface from Nirvis Fully featured RS232 to IR TX/RX hardware interface.
- Virtual Remote and EasyText free software for MD control and titling via the CIR IR interface (Mark van Rossum).
- WinRemote Titling Package (see entry in accessory table for details).
MD Control via Electrical Interface
- For Sony Portables
- Computer titling interface for Sony portables. This has now been commercialized into the Mironics titler. (Bruce Miranda)
- MiniDisc Control Center, a freeware (but closed source) titling program for Sony MD portables. (Tim Pitman)
- Home-brew PC titling solution for Sony portables (English version). (Bernhard Meyer).
- MD COM, DIY PC titling solution for Sony MD portables. (Lionel Pawlowski)
- Radio controlled record button for Sony portables (Brian Houghton).
- Sony MZ-R37/55/90/91 PC Link via Parallel Port Allows control, titling and song transfer from PC. Free plans or $60 finished product available. Includes free Winamp Titling plug-in. (Barry Carter).
- Sony MZ-R50 infrared remote control How to build an IR remote interface for a Sony MZ-R50 (Terje Lassen).
- Sony infrared remote. Detailed plans for construction, PCB masks, firmware, etc. (Gabriele Bellini)
- MZ-R37 remote control, available on eBay is a good source of the remote jack plug necessary for Sony remote control projects.
- For Sony Decks
- MP3 to Sony MD deck transfer and titling (source code and detailed plans) via home-brew RS232 to control-A1 interface (Peter Spindler).
- RIP MDS-PC3 (v0.4b), a free alternative to Sony's M-Crew software that offers improved MP3 file handling. (George Styles)
- Freeware MP3 to MDS-PC2 recording program that uses the Control-A1 interface to title and mark tracks (Simon Taylor).
- MiniDisc Manager Software Freeware program for PC control of Sony S-Link equipped MD decks, uses the Nirvis S-Link adapter (below). The latest version includes a WinAmp Playlist Recorder function that fully automates the titling and recording of MP3s and CDs onto Sony MD decks (William Hollingworth).
- Listing of S-Link Commands for controlling Sony MD Decks (William Hollingworth's).
- Nirvis Slink-e Serial port to Sony S-link A1/Control-S/IR interface adapter.
- Open S-link Project Dedicated to making ``computer S-link controlled automation a wide and openly available option for everybody''.
- Slink CAV-1 interface details: A website describes hacking Sony's Slink CAV-1 interface, felt to be similar to the MDS-PC2's CAV-50C.
- Sony S-Link Resource center
- Sony CDP-CX200 (CD Jukebox) Interface project Seeks to build a PC interface to the device, making use of Sony's Control-A1 signalling (Rudy Moore).
- Sony PC-Link Homepage (in Japanese). Features a cool Shockwave demo of their MD Editor program (hit the "demo" button, then start boning up on your Japanese).
- Sony S-link to PC RS232 interface Available fully assembled ($65) or as a kit ($45) (Tim Trolinger).
- For Sharp Portables
- TitleAid: Sharp MD-MS70x PC Link via Parallel Port Describes how to build an interface which allows titling (mostly) from PC (you must still press a few buttons on the unit for each title). (Thomas Meier).
- English and German TitleAid/Labelaid/Testaid website (using Meier's basic design) for titling on Sharp MD-MT15, MD-MS7xx and Sony MZ-R90/91 units and making MD labels. (Trucki)
- Sharp MD titling freeware that uses Meier's computer interface to Sharp portables (above) (Eric Georgeaux).
- QBasic titling program for Sharp portables (Trucki).
- Aiwa AM-F5 Remote Control Timer (Doug Rice).
Construction Projects
- Creating a cheap optical plug is described. (Cornelis van Rensburg).
- Modify Sony MDS-JE330 to add a coax or optical digital output (Robert Meyer-Piening).
- Modify Sony MDS-JE440 to add digital optical output for about $10 in parts (Darren Tulk).
- Modify Sony MDS-JE470 to add digital optical output (Hunter Wright).
- Creating an optical output signal from a standard CD-ROM drive (Thomas de Bruijn).
- How to create a CD player with optical output from a CD-ROM drive (HeadCase Electronics, UK)
- Professional balanced audio I/Os and remote fader start conversion kits for MD decks (PASS).
- CD-ROM drive to MD adapter available for $50 (Mathic).
- Modify Diamond MX300 for TOSLink output DIY instructions.
- Modify Sony CDP-CX200 CD Jukebox to provide TOSlink optical output (Lawrence Gough).
- Modify Sound Blaster Live Value card for optical digital I/O (John Balint).
- Modify Teac SP-D1260 5 disc CD changer to provide TOS-link optical output (Joe Tymecki).
- Modifying CD-ROM for Digital Recording DIY instructions (Shawn Lin).
- Adding digital output to a CD-ROM drive (David Williams)
- Optical miniplug cable made from a TOSLink cable and BIC pen cartridge (Denis Dubuisson)
- SBLive Value optical I/O daughter board DIY instructions (Kenneth Lee).
- SBLive to MiniDisc for 250 Rubles or less (Alexey Lavrovsky).
- TOSLink cable made using bulk optical fiber and TOS-Link dust plugs. (Mark Brooke).
-
Modify Sony MDS-JE510 to add
digital coax input (A.J. Aylestock).
Digital Format Conversion
- Coax to Optical S/PDIF converter, with instructional diagrams and photos. (Roberto Barrios)
- Digital format conversion from a simple circuit. (Alain Brenzikofer)
- Digital Coax-to-Optical converter. Page contains detailed photos, schematics and instructions for building a complete device. (Nikhil Choudhary)
- Cheap S/PDIF coax to optical converter circuit using an IR LED (George Sopko).
- Coax to optical miniplug made using an LED and BIC pen cartridge (Chris Kuethe).
- S/PDIF coax to optical converter. (Leon Woestenberg)
- TTL<->S/PDIF converter schematics (Heiko's DAT Page).
- Converting an S/PDIF coax digital audio signal to optical (Shawn Lin).
- Kit (item # E970031) for building an optical to coaxial digital signal converter. (CI-Electronics in Holland -- they also sell the TOSLink transmitter and receiver modules separately. However, to build the kit you need the Elektor magazine article as well).
- The previous projects employ Fiber Optic Transmitters and
Receivers, see the Accesories
Table for suppliers.
Serial Copy Management System
- Defeat the SCMS on your MZ-R900 by following Brian Youn's step-by-step directions.
- Elektor/Stippler SCMS Copybit killer
- Ordering kit and EEPROM (Stippler Electronics).
- Schematics (Dito).
- Assembly description (Derek Streeter).
- Schematics scans (Bob Willcox).
- SCMS effects of an Elektor Stripper examined with Sharp a MS702 in service mode. (John Manson).
- SCMS killer DIY project for about US$50 in parts (Leon Woestenberg).
- Sony MZ-R50 prior to EEPROM Ver 1.40 hidden SCMS defeat mode. Streeter's modification to the AVLS switch for SCMS control on these models. (Derek Streeter and others)
- SCMS situation when copying from MD to DCC-951 (Ralf Kuchenhart).
- Sony MDS-302/303/503
units have a glitch where SCMS fails to operate properly (Martin
Borus).
Microphones
- In-ear microphones take binaural recording to its logical extreme (Mike Harman).
- Mid-side microphones, plans and kit.
- Jim Coon's ``Famous'' "T"-Microphone plans.
- Mono integrated plug/microphone, 2 versions. DIY plans (Niels Linneberg).
- The Microphone Do-It-Yourselfer's page has good mic battery box plans.
- Homebuilt
binaural microphones for about $20 in parts. (Tidmarsh Major).
- Comments on building Tidmarsh's mics (Doug Brown, Steve Smith and others).
Microphone Related
- Simple Microphone Preamp plans, with PCB layout (photos) (Glen).
- Velcro microphone
cable strain relief for MD portables (Christoph Cech).
Power Conversion
- 5 volt regulator circuit for running Sharp portables. (Renard Dellafave).
- Inexpensive 120VAC to 100VAC
conversion for running Japanese MD gear in the US using a 24V
doorbell transformer.
Optical Connectors
- Homebuilt optical miniplug. (Erhard Schreck)
- Simple home made optical
miniplug. (Chris Kuethe).
Other Construction Projects
- Smart NiMH/NiCd battery charger plans (Roberto Barrios).
- Headphone amplifier plans to give portables all the headphone oomph they need (Stephen Lafferty).
- Auto-track-mark timer circuit (en Français) Modify Sony MD decks to insert track marks every 3 minutes while recording (Yves Le Page).
Adding Digital I/Os
Links related to MD:
- Sony, innovators of the MiniDisc, their US Minidisc page, Hong Kong MD page, German MD page, Netherlands MD page (with an MD Commercial on it), Sony France and Sony Italy's MD pages, Sony Europe's MD pages (including a virtual MD player) and Professional Audio Division's MD technical overview, Singaporian MD and Customer Support pages. Sony customer support can also be reached by email at [email protected]. An excerpt from Sony's 1995 annual report gives a business view of Sony's audio technology and discusses the success of MiniDisc. Their 1996 Annual report says a few more warm and fuzzy words about the format. Sony Europe's page has a virtual MD player (requires Shockwave).
- Sharp Japan's English MD pages contain interesting information, including the ``Sharp MD Story'' and their entire MD product lineup that includes their new MD-X3 system. The Sharp USA MD page lists the MD gear they sell in the US (you can call 1-800-BE-SHARP to find a dealer near you). Sharp Deutschland's MD pages give specs (including ATRAC versions) of much of their equipment.
- Yamaha's Multirack MD Pages.
- Alpine Japan.
- Sony has a handy glossary of HiFi terms on their website.
- A book covering MiniDisc, has been written by Jan Maes and Roger Verlinden of Sony Europe's Technical Support staff.
- MD technology borrows heavily from the Compact Disc.
- This paper, A Fundamental Introduction to the Compact Disc Player, provides a good introduction to the digital audio theory and practice in CD devices.
- Philips also has some excellent technical information about Audio CDs and Optical Disc Technology.
- The CD-ROM Meta-FAQ has good deal of information describing just what a CD-ROM is.
- Andy McFadden's CD-R FAQ is a good source of general CD-R information.
- Finally, a nice into to CD technology was written by Andy Poggio.
- Sevo Stille has written a good introduction to Microphone terminology and setups.
- Cross reference table of commercial audio formats. Allows comparisons at a glance. (Tampere Univ. Finland)
- Historical events related to digital audio (Tampere Univ. Finland).
- In The Principles of Digital Audio by Ken Pohlmann there is a chapter devoted to MiniDisc.
- The Art of Digital Audio (2nd Edition) by John Watkins has sections covering the technology used in MiniDisc.
- The Pro Audio FAQ is a good source of information about digital recording formats, equipment, and theory. It contains good explanations of digital jitter and digital vs. analog recording quality.
- MD recorders digitally connect to other equipment (CD players, PC sound cards, etc.) using S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface Format), Tomi Engdahl has written a detailed description of its signalling. Peter Knight provides additional information on the S/PDIF C channel coding.
- Tutorial on digital audio for the layman, including an interactive, Java-based Fourier transform demonstration.
- A set of EBU SQAM recordings represent particularly difficult audio signals for perceptual coders (you can torture-test your MD with these).
- LAME, an open-source patch, can create a high quality MP3 encoder from the original reference code.
- The IIS MPEG Audio Layer 3 site has public domain MPEG software and also an MPEG Audio Layer-3 FAQ that, along with the Usenet Compression FAQ's Introduction to MPEG, the MPEG Information Page, and these Audio Compression References give further information about MPEG Audio compression, Layer I of which is nearly identical to the PASC system used by Philips.
- Yamaha's new TwinVQ audio compression format (based upon work at NTT), is said to give near CD quality audio at 20:1 compression ratios.
- Jari Yli-Hietanen has a summary page highlighting modern audio coder technical points, he includes info on PAC and ATRAC.
- Esin Darici Haritaoglu has written a nice paper on Wideband Speech and Audio Coding that touches on the fundamentals of all audio coding, including ATRAC.
- HomeRecording.com has some useful tidbits for the home recordist.
- The DAT-heads mailing list Home Page and the DAT-Heads FAQ contain information pertinent to digital and live recording, some of which applies to MiniDisc.
- The Sound Professionals points out a clear and comprehensive description of how microphones work.
- The Microphone FAQ is hosted by Harmony Central (text version) and MJJM in Holland (html version).
- The Candian Copyright Board imposes a 60 cent tax on every MD blank sold in Canada (as of 12 Dec 99). More information is outlined in an article by the National Post.
- The Home Recording Rights Coalition works to preserve your rights to purchase and use recording gear.
- Frank Beacham made a formal statement before congress in 1992 lobbying against the Audio Home Recording Act. He has some thoughts about the real motivations for introducing MiniDisc. A more recent article discusses the use of MiniDisc and the MZ-B3 portable for radio journalism, and a follow up article discusses the use of the MZ-R30 and MZ-B3 portables in this field.
- Martin Clinton notes an interesting ZDNet article on Lithium Ion Polymer Batteries, the ``builtin'' rechargeable cell used in the Sony MZ-E95 player.
- Howard Jow revisits NiMH battery life after a year of use.
- Batteries are a critical component of MD portables. You can learn more about modern rechargeables on this page about batteries as well as on a Motorola page on LiIon Cells and Battery Management Techniques. There is also a comprehensive battery information FAQ that is worth reading. A new battery type, the Ray-O-Vac Alkaline Renewal (rechargeable) cells, use technology developed by BTI. Sony also offers information about LiION batteries.
- Howard Jow compares the Sony NH-9WM and 14WM battery packs.
- Lytron has a high tech battery charging system for getting extra life from NiCad, NiMH, LiIon, and Pb cells.
- The Cadex battery chargers and analyzers site has interesting details about battery maintenance and excerpts from a battery book.
- Pete De Bonte has a detailed MD portables battery page.
- In Comparison to Minidisc
- 5/01: A Minidisc T-station comparison gives 87 views of Minidisc's superiority to MP3 players.
- 4/01: A Tech-Report.com MZ-R70 article judges MD favorably in comparison to MP3 players.
- 4/01: An IDC report on the compressed audio player marketplace believes that an "increasing number of vendors and consumers alike are turning to cheaper alternative media to transport their music."
- 4/01: A New York Times article predicts a "Digital Storage Format Shakeout," mentioning Dataplay and other media.
- 3/01: An interesting article on Twice.com tells how portable MP3 and MD players outsold CD-R related sales for the first three quarters of 2000.
- 3/01: David Hogan's Advice for Aspiring Tapers article on a Pearl Jam site concludes that MiniDisc is the best bet for the cost-aware taper.
- 12/00: The MiniDisc T-Station posts an article discussing the battle between MiniDisc, CD, and MP3 audio players.
- 7/00: A CNet article states CDs, MiniDiscs still reign over MP3s; the article mentions that MD holds 40 percent of the digital audio recorder market, ahead of CD recorders with over 30 percent.
- Jamshid Afshar has written a reasonably balanced FAQ sheet about MD vs. alternative recording media.
- An evenhanded MaximumPC article compares CD-R and MiniDisc.
- Compare.net does a CD/MD/DAT format comparison.
- GadgetSquad's article on MiniDisc vs. MP3 emphasizes MD as still keeping competitive.
- A Cnet article compares CD, MD and MP3.
- MP3
- Tao Pan finds an EETimes article covering the SoundsGood MP3 module add-on for the Handspring Visor. It is also usable as a standalone portable digital audio player.
- Howard Chui tells why he picks MD over MP3
- A CNN article concludes that Portable MP3 is not ready for prime time.
- MP3's dire threat to Minidisc (Etown).
- CNN has an interesting article covering RIAA's rival to the MP3.
- A DigitalMASS article talks about Fraunhofer's MP3 licensing and the rise of Ogg Vorbis, a free software alternative.
- Sony Memory Stick Walkman and MusicClip Player
- Sony's newest cell phones now have Memory Stick readers built into them (such as the CMD-MZ5). A Japanese product page describes one cell phone that even has recording capabilities via analog and digital inputs. Another Japanese news page has lots of pictures of the cell phone.
- The Sony CLIE PEG-N700C (see original Japanese press release or English PalmInfoCenter article) is the latest of Sony's PDAs which can be used as a portable Memory Stick player (complete with wired remote).
- Sony's NW-E3 MusicClip Player, NW-E5 MusicClip Player, and NW-MS9 Memory Stick Walkman appear on Sony's Japanese SonyStyle page. Further good photos of the NW-E3 have also been found at the site.
- The MC-HP1 & MC-PW11 ``Vaio Music Clip'' players (machine translation), the former is a headphone unit only, the latter is arm-band mounted and weather and water resistant. Each unit handles both ATRAC3 and MP3 coded audio.
- Tim Russell takes a close look at Sony's solid state Music Clip player and its SDMI constraints. His recommendation: stick with MiniDisc. Robert Jung clarifies Sony Music Clip's MP3 capabilities. Further detail on the Music Clip's use of ATRAC3 is found on Sony's site.
- CNN reports on Sony's announcement of the Memory Stick Walkman.
- Sony's ATRAC3 page talks about the technical function of the unit (you can also register to get an encoder at this site).
- Sony's official NW-MSY Memory Stick Walkman press release (also available in English) talks of the unit's use of 32 & 64MB memory sticks. A second Japanese press release gives further information.
- A Japanese news coverage sige has news of several Sony mockups of future Memory Stick Walkmans (pictures: 1 2 3 4).
- Snapshots at CEBIT '99 and Comdex that show the Sony MemoryStick Walkmen.
- An article talks about a Sony tie-up with RealNetworks, providing ATRAC3 audio delivery over the Net.
- Reviews of the Memory Stick Walkman have been done by ZDnet and GadgetSquad.
- Sony has a Club Memory Stick page.
- InTechZone has info and some pictures of Sony's Memory Stick portable audio player. GLOBAL-DVC.ORG shows Sony headphones incorporating a memorystick player (scroll to the bottom of the page).
- Memorystick.org offers information for developers, and is loaded with promotional material and information urging more companies to support the format (the site, not surprisingly, is run by Sony).
- The Rio
- A comparison is made between the Sharp MD-MS702 MiniDisc player and Rio MP3 player in which the Rio suffers, principally for its sound quality.
- A Macopinion review favors MD over Rio/MP3, so does a review in 3Dhardware.
- In a Fastgraphics MD, MPMAN and Rio comparison, MD shows its merit.
- Daniel Currie argues the benefits of Rio vs MD.
- Photos and Japanese information covering what's inside a Rio MP3 player show that it is not exactly jam packed.
- Other Solid State Portables
- The Marantz PMD680 professional-level solid-state recorder uses a PCMCIA type III slot for audio recording.
- Teac has a line of PC-card recording units which accept PCMCIA type II ATA standard Flash memory cards.
- Michael Stouffs notes a review of the Casio WMP-1V wrist watch MP3 player.
- Professional solid state MPEG recorder: Developed jointly by Digigram and Nagra, the RCX220 allows up to 3.25 hours of MP2 stereo recording on a 192MB (!) flash card, with USB transfers to PC.
- Recorder: PASS gives brief coverage of the Denon DN-F20R, a Flash Memory based portable recorder. Intended for professional use, it includes an uncompressed recording mode.
- Recorder: Aiwa's photo and Japanese announcement of their MM-FX500 shows the world's first portable MP3 encoder/player. Aiwa has English coverage for this unit. With 32MB of memory, it records music (analog input) at 128kbps/44.1khz or voice memo (builtin mono mic input) at 8kbps/16khz. Battery life on AA x 1, rec: 5h, play: 10h. Dim: 65 x 90 x 18.5mm, 80g. MSRP: JPY 39,800
- C@MP's portable MP3 player, being sold at Supreme Video, can be inserted into a regular cassette deck for playback.
- Solid State audio gets coverage in a newspaper clipping of the Solid Audio Player from NTT and Kobe Steel, due to debut in Japan for $250. (More information on SoliAudio can be found at AudioExplosion.com.)
- Chris Dom spots Erikson's combined MP3 player and cell phone, no wireless downloading however.
- Casio announces their MP3 player wristwatch (Japanese product info page). Due out in April, the unit holds 32MB of audio and can be loaded via USB port (each 4 minute track taking 70 seconds). Casio also has an English page for their WMP-1V MP3 wristwatch, capable of holding as much as 66 minutes of audio (at FM radio quality).
- A Japanese press release and product page describe the Toshiba MM-300 SmartMedia player. The SDMI compliant JPY29,800 unit plays MP3 as well as Twin-VQ formats. Specs: 86x52x10mm, 54g, 5.5hr battery life.
- Sharp announces their new headphone-shaped ATRAC3 player. Incorporating an SDMI compliant 64MB Sony Memory Stick, two hour playing times (at 66kbps) are possible. Battery life: 4 hours, MSRP: JPY48,000.
- eDigital's Internet Music Player handles ATRAC3 coding as well as MP3, EPAC, Liquid Audio and others.
- Panasonic releases pictures and Japanese info on its SV-SD70 solid state player. Due out in July for JPY49,800, the AAC (not MP3) based unit uses SD flash memory cards and plays 4 hours on a single AAA cell. Unequipped with an audio data input jack, its SD cards are docked to the PC with a USB or PCMCIA adapter for downloading. Its SDMI compliant software converts CD and MP3 (but not .WAV) tracks to AAC. Larger capacity cards are due in 2001 (256MB) and 2003 (1GB).
- Samsung's Yepp, a portable MP3 player with an optional base unit, allows direct recording from CD and connection to a HiFi system. More information indicates that one model provides speech recording capability.
- CD-R
- Sony's USB-equipped ``Digital Relay'' CRX10U/A2 portable CD-RW drive ($399) doubles as a portable audio/MP3 CD player.
- The Philips Magnavox Expanium portable CD/MP3 player is reviewd byMP3.com.
- Aiwa releases the CDC-MP3, an in-dash CD and CD-R/RW MP3 player.
- The CD-R FAQ has very thorough coverage of writeable CD technology.
- Ricoh's CD-R handbook has a good description of how CD-R recording works.
- An article in CD-ROM Professional gives a detailed look at the CD-E (CD-RW) format's technology, problems, and chances for success.
- A TWICE article states that the music industry isn't too fond of the CD-RW format.
- SRTL's preliminary product info on the Philips CDR870 CD-RW recorder indicates that only erase last track and erase all editing operations are possible.
- A portable MP3 CD-R player is being developed.
- Tagram's Mambo-X P300 portable MP3 CD/CD-RW player. Available in December, it also plays regular CDs and runs for 14 hours on two AA cells (price: $175).
- Arzeno Fabrice has made a brief page covering Philips 3 new CD recorders.
- Kenwood's 919 series car audio components (Japanese and (brief) English information available) play MP3 CD-R/RW discs as well as normal CDs.
- The Goodman GDMP330 Portable CD Player, available in Europe in July for 150 Euros, will also play MP3 CD-R discs.
- Terrac's MP3 HiFi component plays MP3 CDs as well as normal ones and can be fitted with a hard drive for amassing huge music collections.
- Zdnet takes a look at the MPTrip portable MP3-CD player (available for ~$110 at easybuy). The unit even has a [very low quality] audio recording mode.
- A Korean company has produced a custom CD vending machine.
- 8cm CD Players
- Philips has an 8cm CD-R portable MP3 player available.
- Digit Life's 8cm CD article notes three MP3 players using the format.
- The MET 8cm CD/MP3 player, though not tiny (98x93x23mm), nor particuarly long playing (4 hours battery life), does offer 3-6 hours of MP3 audio capacity on cheap mini-CD media. Unit does not record.
- Review of the MPzip (first mini-CD MP3 player). The near-CD player bulk and poor battery life (~1-2 hr) are unfortunate, however the easy, unimpeded computer access to its media is a plus.
- Michael Hoffman is keeping track of mini-CD/MP3 players and DataPlay untis.
- Other Moving Media based Equipment
- The ARCHOS Jukebox Recorder 20 MP3-recorder does real-time MP3 recording to a 20GB hard drive from microphone, line-in or digital sources and is USB 2.0 connectable for drag-and-drop PC file transfer flexibility.
- The Compro PDS-AV portable MP3 player doubles as a portable digital media storage device with the use of a 3.5" drive slot compatible with both regular floppies and 120MB SuperDisks.
- Zapmedia'sZapStation is a home audio/video unit capable of playing CDs, DVDs, MP3s and MPEG videos.
- The Nomad Jukebox portable player ($400) by Creative Labs contains a 6GB hard drive which handles both MP3 and Windows Media format audio.
- RCA's Lyra MP3 portable player will accept CompactFlash or an IBM 340MB Microdrive.
- The Compaq/HanGo Personal Jukebox, a hard disk based portable MP3 player with 80 hour music capacity and 10 hour battery life, is due out in December for about $800. (MP3FactoryDirect has a few further details).
- The Mp3mobile is a little Lunix PC with hard disc that provides 35 hours of MP3 music in your car and sells for under US$1K.
- New Media
- Sony's OpenMG Light & ATRAC3 to be adopted by NTT DoCoMo's PHS-Compatible "M-stage music", opening the way for high quality, copy-prohibited music downloads to mobile phones in Japan.
- Sony's double density CD-ROM/RW is announced in this July 2000 press release.
- HitClips MicroMusic is an inexpensive product for pre-teens that stores a single minute of audio on a chip.
- A New York Times article discusses MP3 player developments. The latest trend? Coupling moving mass storage (40MB Clik, 340MB IBM Microdrive, 500MB Dataplay) with them to overcome mass market appeal limiting flash-memory costs. A ZDNet article also mentions the DataPlay disc.
- Sensory Science has announced the Rave:MP2300, an MP3 player that uses Iomega Clik discs. The $10 discs store 40MB on 2" magnetic media (cf. MD's $3, 160MB, 2.5" MO disc).
- Iomega's HipZip player utilizes PocketZip disks (previously known as Clik! discs). Note: If the comparison table also included Minidisc (e.g. recorder@$300, 20 blanks@$3/each) it would beat the HipZip by $300 and best it in audio quality as well.
- A Wired article covers the DataPlay Disc, a tiny 500MB write-once medium designed to hold music, books, games and photos. An ETown article states a DataPlay equipped Rio MP3 player could be on the market by June 2001. A CNN Sci-tech article discusses DataPlay's problems and possibilities in the portable audio marketplace. An ABC News article observes Dataplay's uphill battle.
- C-3D has announced a technology they have developed that can store 140GB on a CD-size carrier, using multiple storage layers.
- A Sony announcement and a Sharp announcement both outline the development of a 50mm 1GB MO disc (with 2GB and 4GB versions possible) that looks surprisingly similar to the Sanyo/Olympus/Hitachi 730MB, 50mm mini-MO. Both are slated for use in digital cameras.
- DVD
- Pioneer's announcement of the first home DVD recorder, bringing MD-like editing features to video recordings. (Does it have an audio-only mode?).
- A Ziff-Davis article discusses DVD-RAM's standardization problems.
- Non-MP3 Encodings
- On the alternative MP3 front, an interesting article from Wired Online discusses the new VQF compression format, plus a pic of the SolidAudio player which is based on this 18:1 compression system.
- e.Digital, Lucent and TI announce secure Internet audio downloading based upon Bell Lab's EPAC audio coder (which gives CD transparent quality at 11:1 compression).
Thinking of making a MiniDisc home page? You might read our Suggestions to MiniDisc Webmasters.
An alternative to creating your own page, MiniDiscussion is looking for people interested in running MiniDisc message boards that deal with a topic they're experienced in.
- n5md.com is a recording label company that issues recordings in Minidisc format only; two releases so far as of May 2001.
- Bj�rn Blomberg's EE plaza has a good section on Minidisc.
- Steven Goetz has the beginnings of a Minidisc Fan Page.
- MD Central has a clean simplicity to its design.
- James creates a MiniDisc page entitled MDWorld, with links and some MD unit info.
- Keep up with MiniDisc news in Malaysia with MiniDiscNews.com (page is in English).
- Dion Longworth runs a page dedicated to the latest JVC electronics, including MD equipment.
- Petey has a MiniDisc website that concentrates on pre-recorded MDs and MD label templates.
- Audio Heat features an alternate formatting of the MD FAQ.
- Dan Bruner creates a MiniDisc Graphics page of MD graphics and logos.
- Pareen Gandecha used his MD unit to record several bands live in Manchester (UK), you can listen to his results at the Love Garage website.
- Dan Foley starts the Canabrism Minidisc Site, with general MD information, equipment reviews, and links.
- Ryan Graft has made a page devoted to live MD recording.
- Leon runs DiscArray, an MD website with some reviews, interesting links, and a design outline for a 25 button cellphone-like MD portable.
- Ecoustics has a good MiniDisc section with links to many equipment reviews.
- Paul Robertson has started a UK MD page with a focus on blanks, trading and accessories.
- Fabian has made an MD Fan page.
- Axel Stenberg has a stylish MD page at bounce.to/md.
- Louis has made an enthusiastic MD page with several equipment reviews.
- Davin has started MiniDisc Technology Today, featuring MD news and articles.
- The T-Station gives good coverage of modern MD gear, with the option of adding your own equipment or merchant review. They also have an extensive MiniDisc blank gallery.
- Thabenksta has started a MiniDisc page for newcomers to the format.
- Lou Moore has created the MD Trading Post which has extensive information on Sony's new line of 1999 MD deck models.
- Tim Silverman has written a brief intro to MD.
- Jeff Heffernan provides links to MD merchants, with particularly good coverage of the pre-recorded MD suppliers.
- MiniDisc World describes itself as a "source for the latest information on Minidisc products and technology on the Internet."
- Felix creates MDgear.com, a MiniDisc resource with detailed information on the more popular portable units.
-
< 
> -1 +1 -2 +2 -5 +5 This MiniDisc Webring site
owned by Eric Woudenberg. - MiniDisc Switzerland http://minidisc.ch now offers free webspace to anyone wishing to make non-commerical MiniDisc homepages, you can even choose your own URL (e.g. http://minidisc.ch/yourname).
- Shawn Lin's MiniDisc appreciation page has several interesting sections including comparisons of MD to cassette, DAT and CD; info about MPEG Layer 3 on the net; an MD Techie Corner. He also has a FAQ sheet on MD recording and Digital recording.
- Hardeep's MD Gallery Page has images of a wide range of MD equipment.
- Martin Borus' MD homepage covers several MD hacking topics and has a few snapshots from I-Funk-A ' 97, Berlin, CeBit '98 and the Cebit '98 home show. .
- Steffen Hung's Swiss MiniDisc Page, www.minidisc.ch, offers free web space for those wishing to make MD pages.
- Ken Deeter has an attractive MD Page.
- Larry Bell has a page devoted to recording with the Tascam Portastudio.
- A. Tanone has a brief encomium for the MZ-R30.
- Dostick's MiniDisc Page contains a fully scanned Sharp MD-MS200 manual.
- Robert B's MD page includes a discussion bulletin board.
- Nicholas Riley's MD Page has a audio clip of Sony's North American MD commercial.
- P. Jalvinger has a succinct MD page.
- Behnam Tony's French/English MD page has several nice MD equipment pictures.
- D. Jonason's MD page has some info on the Yamaha MD-4.
- The Eclectic Homepage talks about his new MiniDisc.
- Yumiko has a brief MD page.
- A British MiniDisc page contains a few nice pictures, including a diagram of how the ``shock-resistant'' memory system works.
- Roscoe Mittleman's MD page has an MD supplier rating page and an MD specific search engine.
- Maarten's DCC Page has some even handed comments on Digital Compact Cassette equipment. David Rogers has also begun an ambitious effort to build a complete DCC page.
- Kyle Schmitt's MiniDisc page.
- An MD fan has a page that enthusiastically supports the MD format.
- Luis has the beginnings of a page devoted to MD advertising.
- Chris Keen has a collection of large images suitable for Wallpaper on your PC/Mac desktop, including a couple of Minidisc images. Chris also has a generalised MD tech-spec.
- Mat Smith has some comments on the relative merits of Sony and Sharp portables.
- Matt Snow starts up a MiniDisc hip-hop trading group site on Yahoo.
- Lou Moore encourages MD Trading in his recent newsletter, and gives beginner step-by-step instructions on how to get involved.
- Marc Grunberg offers MD trading through Tha MD Trading Post.
- Tim Boswell's TradeCheck site is designed to foster MD trading and features a trader ratings database.
- Emanuele has an Italian MD trading page.
- Anthony Vita has a MiniDisc Trading Post for those who want to swap MDs.
- Stefan Baden has made an MD Trading page.
- Pete Williams has made a small MD Trading Site.
- AV Convert offers MD to CD mastering services.
- CD Post will burn a CD for you and mail it to your door.
- The MD Sleeve Center collects and designs MD album sleeve labels, all available for free download.
- EDL in Britain has a very spiffy MD TOC Editor for folks with MD data drives and Windows machines. It even allows control of the SCMS bits.
- Sony Disc Manufacturing has a good deal of technical information for artists producing MiniDiscs.
- Emagic performs music media mastering of MDs, CDs, etc. They charge $1.93 an MD in production runs of 500 pieces.
- Looking to do a little techno or dance music studio work in Novosibirsk, Russia? DM Records can help out, they do their mastering with an MDS-JE500.
- A table showing the production sales of the optoelectronic industry in Japan predicts over 100% growth rate for MiniDisc players in 1995.
- Pioneer has announced that they will introduce professional use audio system based upon a computer Magneto-Optical drive, the unit will allow 16, 20, and 24 bit recording, at up to 48KHz.
- If you're wondering how Japan is able to manufacture such technological wonders as MiniDisc, the Japanese Technology Evaluation Center has written an informative report on Electronic Manufacturing and Packaging in Japan.
- Rodus sells a Macintosh DB package for keeping track of MDs, CDs, etc.
- Fixtronix (Ireland) offers service and repair of professional Minidisc gear.
- Aiwa posts tech bulletins for servicemen repairing MD gear (archived local copy available).
- You can order any Sony electronics accessory (such as remotes, manuals, etc.) direct from Sony.
- Sharp also allows the online ordering of parts from their Canadian website.
- Sony has a National Direct Response Center at 800-222-7669, representatives there can help you troubleshoot problems with Sony equipment.
- Sharp's World Wide repair centers. Sharp UK states: Although not officially guaranteed by Sharp UK we do try to honour "non-uk" warranties where reasonable. Providing the units proof of purchase is available and verifies that the unit is not older than 6 months and the fault is a genuine one, i.e. not due to incompatability of use within the UK or accidental damage/misuse, we can offer a warranty service. The approved contractor is Sharpserv. They can be contacted on: Tel: 01623 413800, E-mail: [email protected].
- Sharpserv are UK repair agents for Sharp MD equipment and can supply and repair current (and some older) models. Tel: 0870 7380000 Fax: 01623 522025
- In House Service Company does Sony, Denon and Kenwood authorized warranty and out-of-warranty repairs on audio equipment, including MiniDisc units.
- MWES in the U.K. repairs MD equipment.
- Link Communications in Britain repairs and rents pro-use MD equipment.
- Sony UK service centre in West Drayton, near Heathrow, phone: 020 8283 2700. They have been reported to do good work.
- Having trouble with your Sony MDS-PC3? Check out Peter Boon's helpful guide on how to fix problems with obtaining a working audio signal.
- Johnathan Woithe creates a page that gives advice on getting service done on older Sony MD decks.
- David Popovits from Sigma Electronics Israel maintains a Repair Q&A Message Board. He also contributed a detailed and interesting repairman's view of portable MD recorder problems plus 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 pages of followup questions and answers.
- Shawn Lin has an MD Techie Corner page with useful tips for diagnosis and repair of MD equipment.
- Etown offers elementary MD troubleshooting tips.
- Duncan Chisholm discusses repairing a Sharp MS200 that smacked a concrete floor.
- Shawn Lin analyzes the MD Optical Block Failure prevalent in older Sony MD gear. He offers a repair technique that Graham Baker is able to duplicate.
- Shawn Lin discovers and repairs an MZ-R2 internal cable failure.
- Sony MZ-R55 self recording-start problem: Hoshing Kwong describes a circuit board fix.
- Tutorials
- Transferring MP3s to MiniDisc and MiniDisc to MP3 (Matt Charman).
- MP3 recording page (Shawn Lin).
- T-Station's Computer/MP3 recording MD page.
- Analog MP3 to MiniDisc transfer (Jesus Perez).
- Recording MP3 to MiniDisc (Lee).
- ZDTV discusses S/PDIF PC to MD connections and mentions the idea of high-speed downloading.
- Using a Apple/Macintosh computer
- MusicMatch for Macintosh has support for MD track marking, as seen in this screenshot.
- iTunes is a free program for Mac users to manage their MP3's (including the burning of MP3's to CD), created by Apple. Ken Tidwell has written an iTunes guide covering the software's use with recording to MD.
- MPLAY Multimedia Player is a freeware program for recording MP3 (and most other audio formats) to MD on a Macintosh, offering user-settable inter-track delay and cross-fade times.
- Macintosh MP3 to MD digital transfers (and back) are covered in a page by Dale Greer.
- MP3 to MD recording on the Macintosh from the N2MP3 encoder documentation.
- Adding pauses for trackmarking
- PlayQT is an AppleScript controller for QuickTime Player that automatically adds pauses between songs to facilitate trackmarking.
- Doug Adams' free Insert Blanks AppleScript for SoundJam can insert a blank MP3 between each track in a playlist.
- A MacNN article with reader followup covers Sony's apparent lack of interest of Macintosh support for the MZ-R70DPC [USB to Digital audio link] (note however that the unit will be "unofficially supported" through 3rd party drivers).
- WinAmp Utilities
- A German MD user's page describes his efforts to create automatic track marks with Winamp (and a little Visual-C programming) when recording digitally from a computer. (Click on the "MD" link on the left margin.)
- MiniDisc Winamp Skins that make the player look like a Sony MZ-R30 or Pioneer unit. (MiniDisc Switzerland)
- WinCue, a Winamp plugin that automatically adds a pause between MP3 songs to ease track marking.
- Pause Between Songs, another Winamp plug-in that will automate pauses between songs to help people record their MP3's to MD.
- Shorten audio format plugin for Winamp
- RockSteady, a Winamp normalization plug-in useful for adjusting levels when recording from your computer to MD.
- Sharp's Internet Recording Kit
- Music Dish has an article that covers some creative uses of the Voquette Netlink.
- The San Fransisco Examiner and Chronicle has further Voquette Netlink coverage.
- ZDNet has a brief editorial and favorable review of the Voquette Netlink/MD recorder bundle.
- Dave Derby tries out the Voquette Netlink, but finds it disappointing.
- Sharp announced an MP3->MD Internet recording kit (bundling their MD-MT15 MD recorder with Voquette's Netlink software) at Comdex '99; this is covered in articles from Mp3.com, ZDNet, and eTown.
- Sharp USA's Internet MiniDisc page covers their hardware/software package for recording Internet audio to portable MD units with analog synchro-start. (Available from from Shopping.com for $70 as of 1 Dec 99).
- Voquette offers a free Beta version download of their Internet music player (the software component of Sharp's Internet MiniDisc package).
- A comprehensive evaluation of software MP3 decoders can be found at David Robinson's webpage.
- Earjam.com is a Voquette like device that helps you locate and play a variety of web audio content.
- Frontx sells an inexpensive way to cleanly get multimedia inputs and outputs to the front of your computer using a FrontX port.
- PC Soundcards with digital I/O
- See also the Accessories Table section on Sound Cards.
- The Gamesurround Fortissimo II (see also this close-up picture) offers TOSLink optical I/O for around $49. Note: Several users have mentioned that this card does not make track marks with recordings.
- The Leadtek WinFast 4X soundcard, a $30 digital I/O sound card that comes with a TOSlink optical I/O daughtercard, TOSlink cable and optical mini-plug adapter.
- The Chaintech MD Mate sound card includes an optical input/output module, available for USD $49.
- optiComp sells several TOSlink-related products, including sound card add-ons and a cable distance extender.
- The AOpen AW744 Pro sound card with optical output is available for under $30 from several online dealers. Charles Snider writes a review.
- The Midiman DiO 2448 sound card offers full optical and coax I/O for about $150 (available from Zzounds.com for $110).
- The Delta DIO 24/96 is a digital I/O (coax/optical) PCI sound card that is PC and Macintosh compatible.
- The $35 Korean SoundTrack Digital NX sound card has Coax and TOSlink output.
- The Aureal Superquad, a $50 sound card with optical output (search on "aureal optical" at Pricewatch.com); only the OEM version has optical output, their retail version does not.
- Opcode's SONICport Optical allows a USB to TOSlink I/O interface. Note! Before ordering an Opcode Sonicport, you may want to read about Opcode's financial status.
- The Czerny 744XG, a Korean soundcard with optical and coaxial digital audio I/O.
- The Hoontech SoundTrack Yamaha Digital-XG soundcard (US$69.00, optical and coax S/PDIF), the also offer the SB DBII and SB DBIIIdaugther cards for SoundBlaster Live/Value that adds digital optical and coax I/O capability.
- The Xitel Storm Platinum soundcard (US$79.00, TOSlink outputs).
- The Yamaha WF192D soundcard (optical S/PDIF out)
- The Hoontech 4DWAVE-NX soundcard (US$46 with coax/optical S/PDIF outputs)
- The Creative Digital I/O Card for the SB Live (incl. Value) soundcard
- The Sound Card Performance Benchmarks Site has reviews of many digital audio i/o cards.
- PCAVTech has many PC sound card performance test results.
- A site called Digital Experience has a comprehensive table comparing digital sound cards. (Note: Some information is inaccurate and out of date.)
- PCAVTech has Sound Card performance results for a wide variety of cards.
- The Zefiro Acoustics ZA2 card provides digital i/o as well as sample rate conversion and MPEG encoding/decoding.
- The Terratec Soundcard provides analog and digital audio I/O.
- The Adb Multi!Wav Digital PRO card.
- The Guillemot Home Studio sound card provides full digital i/o.
- Creative Labs offers the Soundblaster Live!
card which has digital I/O
- Apache Micro offers an add-on bracket giving Sound Blaster Live! cards SPDIF and optical input/outputs, as well as a digital DIN connector.
- An informative overview of the SB Live, Danny Haak's Digital Connexxion SBLive! website.
- Opticompo's POCAB bracket couples with the Soundblaster Live to provide SPDIF coax and optical I/O for about $60.
- Creative releases the Live Drive II optical I/O bracket (standalone product).
- Creative now has a digital optical i/o option for the SBLive.
- The Hoontech Soundtrack 97 is an alternative 4-track optical output add-on for the SBLive.
- The Xitel Storm Platinum is an inexpensive soundcard with TOSlink output.
- The SEK'D Prodif 96 is a soundcard with optical and electrical S/PDIF and AES/EBU input and output.
- USB and PCMCIA to Digital I/O Devices
- LifeView CatchSound, a USB to TOSlink audio adapter.
- The Canopus MD-Port is a USB to mini-optical I/O adapter (input side includes sampling rate conversion to 44.1khz), MSRP: JPY16,800.
- The Xitel MDPORT-DG1 USB to TOSLink audio adapter sells for $100 (available from Minidisco). 3D Audio Immersion gives a review of the MD-Port DG1. Tony Toghia finds this solution to get the DG1 to work with Sharp MD recorders: "By using MP3 Turbo Injector to combine a short, 3-second MP3 of total silence with the MP3 song I am recording, this gives the Sharp MD recorder ample time to lock onto the digital signal and start recording exactly when the song starts."
- The Swissonic USB Studio, a USB to Digital Audio I/O interface, is reported to be PC and Mac compatible. (Price: US$850)
- The Egosys U24 is a full duplex USB to TOSlink/coax/line adapter, with Windows and Mac drivers (not yet available?).
- Thunderwire promises a complete iMac-to-MD digital solution by "Spring 2000", a Windows version is to follow.
- The VXpocket is a high quality analog/digital I/O PCMCIA card for PC or Mac laptops (MSRP $730).
- The Yamaha RP-U100 (MSRP $500) is a USB port equipped HiFi receiver with TOSlink in and out. The USB connection allows the unit to bypass the computer's sound card and get a direct digital signal. Both Stereo Review and ZDnet comment on the unit.
- The Xitel MD-Port AN1 is a USB to MD (analog) adapter for the Windows platform. Thomas James contributes a tidy review. You can purchase this adapter from Electronics E-Mall. Gregory Chan reports it also works fine on Macs with third party USB cards after downloading Apple's USB 1.4.6a1 DDK and installing the included drivers (It works on Macs with OS 9.0.4 and built-in USB ports fine as is and doesn't need the drivers).
- Other Digital Audio I/O
- MacNN's original article and follow-up setting the record straight that the Sony MZ-R70DPC is indeed Mac compatible.
- Townshend Computer Tool's DATLink provides digital audio I/O (S/PDIF coax/TOSlink and AES/EBU) for machines with SCSI interfaces.
- Software
- Creative Labs' Live!Ware 2.0 allows direct recording to a minidisc (requires special daughtercard). Apparently it includes direct support for digital MD recording.
- Voquette Netlink is a software package for recording Internet audio content to MiniDisc. A Gadget Guru commentary talks about the Sharp/Voquette Internet bundle.
- Tracer's Digital Audio Restoration (DART) Software (and a capsule summary of it) allows you to clean up analog recordings on a Windows machine before recording them to MD, CD, or DAT.
- Analog Devices discusses the details of sampling rate conversion and their new ``SamplePort'' chips.
- Shawn Hunt has a nice page with construction plans for a sampling rate converter that will operate in professional mode (SCMS immune).
Korean
- Taeyong Shim's MDWorld MiniDisc page, covers a variety of MD topics.
- MD Planet keeps a well-maintained website covering the latest MD unit releases and news.
Chinese
- An ITPower article on ATRAC (in Chinese) compares different ATRAC versions (and "borrows" several tables of information from our site!).
- 51digi.com keeps up to date with all the latest electronics news, including MiniDisc info.
Japanese
- The MD Convenience Station has lots of information on new portable MD units.
- Sharp's Japanese MiniDisc pages with many nice pictures including an animation of the MS100 ``slot-in'' design.
- Onkyo's Japanese MiniDisc pages which contain some nice diagrams related to MD theory.
- Puwa-ris has a surprisingly complete Japanese MD page.
- Kosa-P's thorough Japanese MD pages list current portables and decks.
French
- Minidiscque.com compares the MD format to several other digital audio formats.
- Sebastien Bogaert's MD page en Français is quite complete, including good technical information on MDs.
- A Canoe.ca article gives a favorable review of the MD audio format.
- Christian Abegg maintains a French MiniDisc site with a comparison database on the latest MD recorders (available in both French and English), an MP3-to-MD guide, MD-to-MP3/CD transferring, and a full French translation of the MDLP FAQ (originally in English).
- An "Exposition of the MiniDisc" is put together by Oliver Blanc, including the technology behind it, unit test modes, and ATRAC details. The French documentation and associated test software is also available in download format.
- Christian Abegg's Tout sur le MiniDisc has lots of useful MD information, including a full French translation of our MDLP FAQ.
- Jean-Francois Vincent has made MD-21, a French Minidisc page.
- A French MD Page covers many MD basics and has a Sony MD commercial in GIF animation (the text of which says It's MD).
- A few very nice French pages cover MiniDisc Data Drives (English) and the MiniDisc manufacturing process (English), as well as Sharp's MD data activities (English).
German
- The Warentest institute has a comparison test of MP3 and MD.
- A German testing institute's has summary results for 9 modern MD recorders.
- General MD coverage article by the consumer review magazine ``TEST''. They give a table comparing several MD decks.
- Martin Borus' German translation of his interesting MD hacking page.
- A Swiss (German) Article on the technical details of MiniDisc.
- A detailed German page on MiniDisc technology.
- Smokey's Aiwa AM-F3 Page gives good coverage of the Aiwa portable in German.
- Guido has a cute MiniDisc page auf Deutsch.
Dutch
- Robier Pieters has a modern (ca. 2002) Dutch Minidisc page.
- Marck Evers runs MDcenter.nl, a Dutch website with information on MD recorders on the Dutch market, MD technical information, and PC-to-MD recording instructions.
- Teun van Hoesel has a nice MiniDisc Page in Dutch.
Danish
- A nice Danish MD page.
Swedish
- Patrik Hall has started a nice Swedish MD page.
- Johan Halldorf has an MD page in Swedish.
- A pretty Swedish MD page (I know where they found their pictures!).
- Johan Fryxell has started a Swedish Minidisc Page.
Italian
- Claudio Bassi has an enthusiastic MD page in Italian.
- Luca Lusuardi's Italian MD page is worth a visit even for its fashion exuberance alone.
Spanish
- Francisco Javier Moreno's Minidisc Page en Español has lovely explantory photos, even if you don't read Spanish.
- Roger Boix runs a smart Spanish MD site Qué sabes de... Minidisc.
Portuguese
- A Brazilian Audio page has a bit of MiniDisc information in Portuguese as well as an editorial about MiniDisc.
- Oduvaldo 'Duca' Pavan offers a Brazilian perspective on MiniDisc on his pages, in Portuguese.
- A Portuguese MD Page has some brief MD commentary.
Russian
- Vasiliev Andrey runs a Russian MiniDisc Info site.
Hey Sony!
Here are a few suggestions and ideas for Sony, and other MiniDisc manufacturers:
- A MacNN's follow-up setting the record straight that the Sony MZ-R70DPC is indeed Mac compatible.
- How about offering extended warranties on MiniDisc gear? Since extended warranty coverage is available for all sorts of other equipment, its unavailability for MiniDisc does not speak well of the manufacturers' own beliefs in MD reliability.
- How about making a MiniDisc (really ATRAC) demo CD that has example tracks of original music followed by tracks of the same music after processing with ATRAC, so that people could hear for themselves how little ATRAC affects music quality?
- How about a service (or better yet a web site) where I can select music from Sony's entire music inventory and have a custom MD (or even CD) made for me and mailed to my house? Solved! Cductive.com offers this service (albeit with lesser known bands).
- How about providing read and write access to the raw ATRAC data on MiniDiscs (using MD Data drives for instance), and providing software versions of the ATRAC encoder and decoder, as Philips does for DCC? The artificially imposed firewall between MD data and MD audio is a useless limitation of the format.
- On portable recorders with large capacity shock memory, how about a mode where audio is recorded to RAM after the STOP button is pressed to end a recording, and then dumped to disc when the new MD is inserted. This way a concert could be recorded with no disc change interruption! (Note that Sony's MZ-R50 does most of this, allowing audio to be recorded to RAM while it prepares the freshly inserted disc for writing). -Georg Holderied
- How about an MD clock radio? Suggested features: 5 preset radio stations, large snooze bar, choice of alarms (wake up to RADIO, or ALARM, or MD), digital radio tuning, red LED display (not the green backlit LCD display on most Sony & Sharp models - too bright), rear speaker jacks (separate speakers for left and right side of the bed - similar to the Proton alarm clock). -Mike Logan
The Future (seen mid-1999)
(From before, days of future past)- Will MiniDisc Survive?
The MiniDisc Community Pages ran an essay contest in May 2000 looking
for the answer to this question. To our delight, we received over 40
submissions from people all over the world. Here you can read the
winning essay and some of the runner ups.
Winner: Mike Worrell Honorable Mention: Gary Bingner
Andrea Winchester
Richard Reid - Larger MD Capacities
Sharp
and Sony had both said they would have a
~650MB MD-data drive ready by 1997. Sharp was rumored to be developing
980MB and 3.6GB MD-data drives for introduction in 1998. (Maxell's
``Mammos system'' shows
one method of achieving the densities needed to record multiple
gigabytes on an MD sized disc). These larger MD formats were intended
for general data storage but would have also allowed the development
of new devices, such as a MiniDisc Camcorder (imagine a pocket sized
version of the NEC Disk Cam, which
could make video editing as simple and easy as MD audio editing), or a
professional, non-compressing audio recorder. Although the format has
not yet (ca. 1999) been introduced, a prototype MD-Discam has
been shown by Sony at trade fairs.
A tiny (50mm) 730MB MO disc dubbed the iD Photo disc has also been introduced, and
though the disc drive is intended for video and still
cameras, using it in a portable audio application would not be impossible. Maxell's website has further technical information.
- Solid State Audio
The age of solid state audio is close at hand.
For portable playback applications in particular,
solid state (e.g. flash memory) media's insensitivity to shock
is a compelling benefit.
Several such players are already on the market
(MP Man, Rio (which I liked), Yepp [with a base
station that has recording capability], Audible and e.Digital),
with more on the way. Solid state media
is orders of magnitude more expensive than moving media however, and
so its use for archiving audio seems unlikely to be
cost effective, at least for many years to come.
Flash memory capacity follows Moore's law (a doubling of capacity every 18 months), this means that in 2004 a device with 16 times the capacity of today's Rio (32MB) would be available. Such a device could hold 8 hours of high quality audio and, were it dockable in a car player, provide most of the play-only benefits of MD. Conversely however, I feel a solid state player with less than 4 hours capacity is worse than useless. Your favorite songs once downloaded will be repeated ad nauseum, with no relief in sight unless you have your PC nearby. They are a disservice to the music lover.
- Audio Delivery by Wire
- Online Purchase and Downloading
Internet based audio delivery was pioneered by the Internet Underground Music Archive,
which has provided free music downloads by relatively unknown
artists since 1996. The Internet revolution and the ease with which
music can be traded online has forced the recording industry to take
Web based audio delivery seriously and sanction alternatives to traditional
music retailing. The RIAA's recently announced Secure Digital Music
Initiative is both a recognition of Web-delivered music's intrinsic appeal
and an effort to keep matters within its purvey. And today already,
bonafide purchase of mainstream music is possible from several web
sites (such as Liquid Audio,
a2bmusic,
CDNow and
Virgin).
Several papers examine this new paradigm of network audio delivery: Music on the Internet by Iconocast, Robin Whittle's paper Music Marketing in the Age of Electronic Delivery, and Emils Rode and Tolga Yaveroglu's Analysis of Recorded Music Markets.
- Realtime Delivery Physical media, no matter what their form, cannot provide an open ended choice of music. The ideal home audio system would dispense with permanent physical copies of music and instead provide music on demand from a remote server. An experimental system along just such lines was created by Ken Thompson, the father of Unix. Similar ideas have been pursued in Europe in projects such as MODE, which delivered music over ISDN using MPEG Layer 3 and employed an interesting Multi Media Protection Protocol (MMP) that allowed music rental (by way of expiration dates) over wire.
Online delivery systems represent a movement that may bring on the death of pre-recorded discs. I predict however, that this dawning age of music delivery by wire will actually spur recordable MiniDisc use, since we will still need to store, edit, and carry along our downloaded music. It could be argued that recordable/erasable CDs will fill this niche, but the MiniDisc's editing capabilities, portability and ruggedness cannot be matched by CDs of any kind. It must be said however that a home audio server, such as Lydstrom's SongBank SZ-6000 coupled with a portable solid state player could almost entirely supplant MDs, so long as recording capability is left out of the question (see ``MD's Niche'', below).
- Online Purchase and Downloading
Internet based audio delivery was pioneered by the Internet Underground Music Archive,
which has provided free music downloads by relatively unknown
artists since 1996. The Internet revolution and the ease with which
music can be traded online has forced the recording industry to take
Web based audio delivery seriously and sanction alternatives to traditional
music retailing. The RIAA's recently announced Secure Digital Music
Initiative is both a recognition of Web-delivered music's intrinsic appeal
and an effort to keep matters within its purvey. And today already,
bonafide purchase of mainstream music is possible from several web
sites (such as Liquid Audio,
a2bmusic,
CDNow and
Virgin).
- Media on Demand There have been recent announcements by Liquid Audio, Virgin and Sony/Digital On-Demand of a ``half fast'' music on demand system, in which you order a CD or MD from a record store kiosk and have it made while you wait. Although earlier attempts at making CDs on demand seemed to have fallen through (as indicated in these 1 2 3 mail messages), in fact the new Sony/Digital On-Demand system is based upon resuscitated technology from the IBM/Blockbuster system. In Japan, Kiosks for vending songs to a customer's recordable MD blank are already available, an eTown article covers these developments.
- MD's Long-Lived Niche
At the turn of the millenium we are in the midst of the Information
Revolution. The increasing penetration of computing and networking
infrastructure makes it less likely that one particular storage
format will come to dominate, since the fluidity of information
between formats is so much less impeded (consider the CD, in the wake
of the Internet audio boom even its hold is slipping). This being
said, I think MiniDisc's excellence at providing high quality audio in
a superbly small, robust and editable format will ensure a long reign of
success (to 2015 or beyond) as the follow-on to the audio
cassette. The format has clearly ``made it'' in Japan and apparently
in Europe as well. The MD story in the US is hopeful but less clear,
since we Americans seem to have a natural aversion to new and
incompatible formats.
In other parts of the world (take Thailand for example), I am doubtful that MD will ever become as ubiquitous as cassette. After all, the MD and cassette are just a means for enjoying music, and where a society's standard of living will not support a high-tech solution, the low-tech cassette will do nicely (cassette players also enjoy a certain low-tech robustness to rough handling and harsh environments that MD equipment lacks, though MD's medium is certainly superior). Some societies experience a technology infrastructure so rudimentary that musical entertainment is limited to live performances by musicians with acoustic instruments. MiniDisc will not help them.
In any case, I foresee a long-lived niche for MD in the role of field recording to an archival medium. There is no format available today (nor in the foreseeable future) that allows field recording with a lightweight battery powered recorder on a rugged, long-lived, and economical storage medium. I don't suggest that such use alone will sustain development of the format, but I do predict that it will be many years (more than 20 perhaps) before a portable MD recorder is seen as worthless. One could argue that someday a solid state recorder with a few 100MB of memory could record several hours of material before needing to be off-loaded onto a server or the Internet. But I am speaking of remote field recording, where the home computer or Internet will be inaccessible (though such places may be harder to find in the future), and to a medium that is fundamentally robust (a flash card's resilience after going through a washing machine's spin cycle has yet to be reported).
- Wireless Audio Audio coders giving CD-transparent performance and running at 64kbps (stereo) are under development in today's laboratories. Wireless cellular phone service currently employs data rates near 9.6kbps, but 64kbps and even 384kbps cellular data services are in the planning stages. The convergence of these two technologies would allow a portable (medium-less, cache-only) player to provide any music whatsoever desired. In some respects this represents an ideal: an individual's choice of music, anytime, anywhere, with no more to carry than a pocket phone. (In fact a Sony/IBM press release mentions a wireless Japan based trial due to begin in 2000 that will enable customers to receive and play music content over NTT DoCoMo's PHS 64K bps data communications network, using Sony's Memory Stick as a recording media for portable devices.) An added feature of such an untethered audio system would be the ability to record remotely and upload wirelessly onto the network for safe keeping. Except for MD's niche (see above), when this device is a reality, MD will indeed seem old-fashioned.
Conclusion (Apology?)
While I have outlined many encroaching technologies that will eventually help supplant MD, please note that these are future technologies. They are only minimally viable today, for cost and infrastructure reasons. Given current consumer technology, MD is the recordable audio format ne plus ultra. And as long as there exists a desire to store audio on a versatile, permanent and portable carrier, MD will have a following.
Feedback
Please address comments, updates, corrections, etc. to the webmaster. Regarding questions about MiniDiscs, even though I maintain these pages I am not a guru (and like everyone else, I was once a rank beginner), so I would prefer that MD questions be posted to the Minidisc Community Forums or the MiniDisc Mailing List so that everyone benefits from the discussion. Bear in mind that if you do email me an MD question, I am likely to answer it with a cc: to the MD mailing list unless you specifically instruct me not to. I also kindly request that you read the FAQ before posting.All our contact Email addresses have changed due to the torrent of spam/virus messages. Please prefix your email address for us with "md-", e.g. "md-webmaster". Use the main domain name (i.e. minidisc.org) after the '@' symbol.
I am always happy to receive reviews of MD units, especially for unusual or unpopular equipment. Before beginning an article however, please have a look at my guidelines for authors.
Acknowledgements
I wish to sincerely thank Sony for having the vision to pursue the development of the MiniDisc, despite the risks it may present to their music sales. They continue to see technological innovation as the best way to ensure profitability.I must also thank The IEEE, The AES, Sony, John Watkinson and Focal Press, MJ Magazine, Audio Magazine and Stereo Magazine for the often extensive (nay complete) excerpts I have taken from some material. I have notified the respective copyright holders of my publication of their work.
I owe a debt of gratitude to these others who have helped make this page possible: Sumit Shah created the first edition of the MiniDisc Page on November 24, 1995. Jamshid Afshar subsequently maintained the US mirror until Sep. 96. Miska Sulander ([email protected]) maintains the at the University of Jyvaskyla. Rich Brennan ([email protected]) donated space at his company, ConnActivity Internet Services, for the US MiniDisc Page. Nick Perry ([email protected]) kindly provides space for the UK mirror site and maintains the MD mailing list as well as the MD-L archive on his site Amulation.com.
Great thanks are also due the members of the MiniDisc mailing list, the information in these pages is in large part the assembled wisdom and information that has scrolled through the digests over the years that I have been a member. I am more an editor than an expert, winnowing the MiniDisc information signal from the noise.
To those alert readers and net surfers among you who contacted me with tips, I am much obliged. I greatly appreciate receiving email notification of new products and web sites, and I particularly prize scans of magazine articles. Anything you can send me will help to make these Web pages more informative and useful. When in doubt, drop me a line of email to see if I've seen it. Thanks!
May this page be of help to you. -Eric Woudenberg