Minidisc Appreciation thread

[Longchops]

So I just recorded a bunch of minidiscs digitally off Spotify, and the recordings actually sound better on minidisc than they did on spotify

Am I imagining this? I think it might be to do with the DAC on a minidisc player compared to my phone, but the difference is just like WOW, they sound really really amazing, very close to CD quality....

What a truly great format the minidisc was. Why did we ever abandon it in favour of MP3s?

 

[Deleted member 188516]

So I just recorded a bunch of minidiscs digitally off Spotify, and the recordings actually sound better on minidisc than they did on spotify

Am I imagining this? I think it might be to do with the DAC on a minidisc player compared to my phone, but the difference is just like WOW, they sound really really amazing, very close to CD quality....

What a truly great format the minidisc was. Why did we ever abandon it in favour of MP3s?

may i ask what minidisc deck / recorder you using ?

 

[Longchops]

may i ask what minidisc deck / recorder you using ?

Recorded optical out from a 2012 MacBook pro to a Tascam MD-CD1 and playing back on a Sony JE-520

The Tascam cost me about £150 a few months ago and the Sony was £35 (literally the cheapest minidisc player you can buy)

I recorded everything as well as I could, maximised the volume as high as possible without it clipping

But seriously, it sounds beautiful. Incredible clarity. Much much better than playing spotify on my phone and beaming it to my MPOW adapter or using headphones

 

[Deleted member 116933]

Preaching to the choir, and yes it would be because of the DAC. A great format that just wasn't marketed properly

 

[Gray]

So I just recorded a bunch of minidiscs digitally off Spotify

If you're reading this Spotify, Mr Longchops is probably joking 😙

 

[Longchops]

If you're reading this Spotify, Mr Longchops is probably joking 😙

Ah but if you already own the originals, you are allowed to make duplicates....

Not entirely sure how spotify were ever allowed to do what they do in the first place though, unlike netflix they don't actually own any of the content do they?

 

[iMark]

I also own a Sony JE-520. I don't do a lot of recording with it anymore. But I do occasionally use the deck's ADC for recording record to an old MacBook.
The MD takes the analogue audio from the tape out of our Yamaha R-N602 stereo receiver. The MD is then connected to the optical input of my old MacBook and that records with VinylStudio. I then copy the files to a USB stick and load them in VinylStudio on my Mac mini for all the detailed stuff like splitting and naming tracks ets.

The ADC/DAC in Sony Minidisc decks is amazing, even in a relatively cheap one like the JE-520.

I still like the MD format but having my favourite music on my iPhone is much more convenient than using my portable MD player.

I have to try this though. Our Yamaha R-N602 has got Spotify Connect so I could record that through the tape output.

 

[slunky]

I have the sony jb930 and the sony ja 20es both are very good decks.
I love all the editing you can do with mini disc, especially cutting out all the gaps between tracks.
Sounds a bit anal i know but i hate 4 or 5 second gaps between songs
Black sabbaths technical ecstasy has gaps of about 6 or 7 seconds between songs it's like your waiting forever for the next track to kick in.

 

[Gray]

Ah but if you already own the originals, you are allowed to make duplicates....

You're right, that is once again legal (no doubt because the temporary law banning it was unenforceable).
But if you look at Spotify's specific T&C, you can bet your life that they prohibit any permanent copying of their streams.
I've used 1 or 2 sites for hi-res downloads (which you pay for and own) and read the small print when I signed up.
One of the things you 'accept' is that they have the right to look and check what's on your HDD!!! (I suppose they could specifically identify one of their files that you'd copied from a friend).

Anyway, back to MD.
The digital ins / outs, the editing facilities, even size of disc, everything about it was way ahead of its time.
I've got Philips' first CD recorder (CDR-870). Great sound of course, but on re-writable CDs the editing possibilities, compared to MD, are laughable, limited to 'track' or 'disc' erase (which, admittedly, is probably more than enough for normal people 🤪).

 

[Longchops]

I have the sony jb930 and the sony ja 20es both are very good decks.
I love all the editing you can do with mini disc, especially cutting out all the gaps between tracks.
Sounds a bit anal i know but i hate 4 or 5 second gaps between songs
Black sabbaths technical ecstasy has gaps of about 6 or 7 seconds between songs it's like your waiting forever for the next track to kick in.

not at all, I was literally just going to mention this! One thing spotify/Itunes etc is absolutely terrible for is DJ mixes. You either have to have 1 massive track or stupid gaps in between everything which completely ruins the listening experience!

 

[Gray]

I have the sony jb930 and the sony ja 20es both are very good decks.
I love all the editing you can do with mini disc, especially cutting out all the gaps between tracks.
Sounds a bit anal i know but i hate 4 or 5 second gaps between songs
Black sabbaths technical ecstasy has gaps of about 6 or 7 seconds between songs it's like your waiting forever for the next track to kick in.

Not at all anal (I hope 🙂).....I was editing down to split-second frames when I borrowed my brother's 930....loved it.

 

[Gray]

Says so much that everyone's players are still working.
How could anybody not appreciate MD?
Obviously, not enough people did.

 

[Friesiansam]

The digital ins / outs, the editing facilities, even size of disc, everything about it was way ahead of its time.
I've got Philips' first CD recorder (CDR-870). Great sound of course, but on re-writable CDs the editing possibilities, compared to MD, are laughable, limited to 'track' or 'disc' erase (which, admittedly, is probably more than enough for normal people 🤪).

DVD-RAM provided a 12cm alternative to re-writeable CDs, with the same capacity as a standard DVD and read/write capabilities that enabled them to be used like a removable hard-drive. They were also available in an 8cm format. Early ones were inside a caddy but, later on they were available without a caddy. Unfortunately I don't think they ever really took-off in a big way, not least I suspect, because of the need for a specialised drive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-RAM

 

[iMark]

I even have a Sony MD-DX3 in the attic. Excellent CD/MD combo that can copy CD to MD at high speed. Unfortunately it doesn't have optical out so it's not as useful as an ADC.

There's an incredible amount of information on Minidisc on http://www.minidisc.org if you stumble upon equipment and wonder if it's any good.
I still regret not buying a MZ-RH1 back in 2006.

 

[manicm]

Minidisc players for the car should have taken off - to replace both cassettes and CDs, being more robust than both.

 

[Longchops]

Minidisc players for the car should have taken off - to replace both cassettes and CDs, being more robust than both.

I think they did in Japan to a degree. Was looking at pre 2005 Nissan 350Zs and a lot of the imported ones have minidisc changers

You could buy in dash players in the UK too but the Sony ones weren't actually that reliable, the radio part of it used to break if memory serves me correctly.

CDs are a terrible medium for the car really, fumbling for a disc is where all the battle scars on my CDs come from

 

[Longchops]

If you want a shock, have a look at how much people are paying for pre-recorded minidiscs on ebay. You can sometimes pick up discs for about £15-£20 with battered cases, but a lot of rare ones go much higher

I've seen people pay over £100 for the spice girls minidisc. Seems to be a very strong market for them believe it or not. I think the prerecorded ones could hold a bit more music than the recordable ones too

 

[Gray]

I've seen people pay over £100 for the spice girls minidisc.

...digital from Spotify....multiple copies....market stall....👍

 

[Gray]

DVD-RAM provided a 12cm alternative to re-writeable CDs, with the same capacity as a standard DVD and read/write capabilities that enabled them to be used like a removable hard-drive. They were also available in an 8cm format. Early ones were inside a caddy but, later on they were available without a caddy. Unfortunately I don't think they ever really took-off in a big way, not least I suspect, because of the need for a specialised drive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-RAM

I've got a few of the caddy ones to go with my DVD recorder (all Panasonic) Clever things they are. Again, somehow too good to have been a success.
The Recorder also plays DVD-Audio discs - another lost opportunity (I found Santana / Supernatural for £5 in Zavvi - they probably thought the disc was a CD).
.....and Blu-ray audio...the potential for that, the amount of highest quality audio that could have been stored on each disc.
Streaming is eating away at all interest in disc formats.

 

[iMark]

The latest Bluray player we bought is a Sony UHP-H1. It plays just about every disc format known to mankind, except for vinyl records and Minidiscs. So we have separate players for those formats.

DVD-Audio is pretty good but has the disadvantage of not playing in standard CD players. Same goes for Bluray Audio. Hybrid SACD remains my favourite disc format for playback and ripping.

 

[Longchops]

...digital from Spotify....multiple copies....market stall....👍

LOL. Actually the cases for the pre-recorded ones are worth about £10 on their own. I've seen battered and cracked ones fetch over £8. Its because no one makes them anymore, so there's a limited supply. And people like their MD collections to be all nice and mint. If someone started re-manufacturing them they would definitely sell....would be legal too!

Seems the MD actually eclipsed the CD later on in its life. The Hi-MD was actually better than CD as could handle lossless audio and store an extra 20 mins of music....blank HD-MDs are worth about £30 each now though, I'm guessing people use them for the LP modes for hours of music.

I think the compression on the original minidisc is exactly what makes them sound so punchy and gives them the clarity though, crazy as that sounds....

 

[Longchops]

The latest Bluray player we bought is a Sony UHP-H1. It plays just about every disc format known to mankind, except for vinyl records and Minidiscs. So we have separate players for those formats.

DVD-Audio is pretty good but has the disadvantage of not playing in standard CD players. Same goes for Bluray Audio. Hybrid SACD remains my favourite disc format for playback and ripping.

SACD sounds absolutely incredible, its just such a shame that 90% of the non-classical music appears to be recorded in mono in the 60s. I have a depeche mode album that sounds amazing, but everything else is just a remaster of something really old. just doesn't do anything for me tbh

Theres some kind of DRM on those though isn't there? I'm pretty sure you can't get a digital output from the SA part of the disc, can they be ripped though?

 

[Gray]

I think the compression on the original minidisc is exactly what makes them sound so punchy and gives them the clarity though, crazy as that sounds....

That doesn't seem crazy. I reckon you could be spot on.
I read that ATRAC was suposed to be less detrimental than mp3.
Who's to say the effect must necessarily be negative? - it might be affecting in a way that people prefer.

 

[iMark]

Ripping SACD is possible but quite complicated and not worth the effort. There's an interesting thread here, even though it's from 2012: https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/ripping-hdcd-sacd.301966/

To get things back to Minidisc: you can do what's called a digidrop and record the analogue output of an SACD on a Minidisc. I have done that over 15 years ago with a couple of SACDs that I wanted to listen to on my portable MD player. Excellent sound.

 

[Dawson12]

Hi, new to the forum,just picked up five md players from a mates attic for free....

now, i know that solid state is smaller, more capacity, cheaper......

but i care not, because for DECADES, i wanted a Sony MZ-R35.. now i DO...

and i agree with the posts on here, RECORDED ONTO md, THE QUALITY STILL knocks spots off Spotify, Tidal etc...

(oh, to the user who asked "How do Spotify play they music they dont own..... its like radio.. they license and pay for airplay..... fairly simple)