man, as a kid in the 80s-90s my Sony cassette Walkman was everything to me. I know it’s nothing compared to an iphone, but back in the day having your tapes & radio in one wherever you went was so cool. I embraced minidisc when it came along and I still use it today, even though I’m 100% up with today’s tech.
I'm from the United States. Minidisc didn't take off here. But the format still fascinates me. This video gave me a window into what you could do with a Minidisc.
When I was a teenager in Hong Kong in the late 90s/early 2000s I used to download totally legal mp3s to my computer, rip the mp3s to an audio CDR, then transfer the CDR to MD on my dad’s home stereo system, then use said MD in my portable MD player. I had about a dozen such MD mixtapes rattling around in my backpack at any one time. Sure, it sounds like a pain in the ass now but I was a teenager obsessed with music so what else was I going to do? Study?😆 To be honest it never occurred to me to actually use the recording capabilities of the various portable MD players I had over the years. Could have saved myself a lot of time lmao
Yep, there was a lot of downloading totally legal MP3s in those days. Sadly, I wasn't one who took advantage of that, so my options were (and are) still limited. But, yes, you did go to a lot of extra work. But it was something you enjoyed. I wish I had all my music collection on WAV and well organised, that would be great for making MD playlists now.
Great video mate,very informative.Just getting into the minidisc world after picking up a Sony MzR50 on eBay recently.Could never afford one back in the day but am loving the format,great audio from such a small device!👍
This is a great video for people exploring Minidiscs like me, to learn how to record on them. I heard of them as a child in the 90s but never used the format so I'm exploring them now.
Great summary!! I got into MD around 1999, never entirely got out. Today I use either a Sony CD/MD deck to do direct record, or WMD Pro to convert wav to ATRAC using one of my NetMD portables. It’s awesome to see a resurgence of interest in the format - tons of great resources out there now- label generators, templates and some enthusiasts will even get their discs UV printed with artwork, which gives a collection a very professional and unique feel.
I wish I had got into it back then, and stayed in it to pick up lots of them very cheap when people were about to throw them away. I've dabbled with a couple of vinyl self-adhesive labels on mine. They look kinda okay, but I have no creative skills so it's a bit of a chore. I'd love to be able to UV print. Maybe in the future there will be cheap home UV printers. Who would have thought, 10 years ago, that we could 3D print stuff at home?
Thanks for the interesting overview, concise and well edited. I'm having a retro resurgence lately and have been tinkering with CRTs, old consoles and now music too. I had a Panasonic SJ-MR200 back in the day and used to record sounds on it for use in video projects at university in the early 00s. I've recently acquired an immaculate Sony MZ-N520 and I'm looking forward to making some discs with Web Minidisc Pro and possibly tinkering with some analog or optical too. Thanks again
@@mudstuff Thanks for your kind comments. CRTs scare me (in terms of working on them). Good luck with making discs with Web Minidisc Pro. It's great software, but can be tricky getting the Driver installed on Windows. Thanks again.
@CBitsTech thanks for the reply. I received my 'new' md recorder the other day and was aware of some possible issues getting started on pc. So, I haven't tackled the pc yet as I also have a macbook. I bought a mini usb b to usb-c cable, connected the md to the mac, opened chrome and it just works! 😁
THANKS so much for the very informative content. Wow wish I experimented a bit more back in the day via PC to record. I’ve very recently rediscovered my love affair via my Sony R55 MD player on a beach holiday where I trialled a ‘NO Smartphone / Social Media’ getaway and loved it! Being a 70’s / 80’s child creating the mixed tape was fun and experimental just as I had done in 2000-2003 with Mini Discs. I now plan to ripp a few CD’S from my late 80’s / 90’s / early 00’s collection onto PC then transfer to Minidisc. I guess I better stock up on some blank discs and purchase a Net MD portable.
A no-phone, no Social Media beach holiday sounds ideal! NetMD is very handy, especially with the Web Minidisc site/software. Line in or Optical would work in the meantime on your R55, for that authentic 'mix tape' experience. Watch it though, you'll be buying cassettes next!
I bought like about 16 years ago at a hamfest (amateur radio flea market) a portable Sony MZ-R500 MD Walkman recorder. I got it cheap. Not a NetMD version. Maybe $20, but I don't remember. That included a recorded Gleen Miller MD minidisc. I'm just starting to use it again. It has one input for regular line input or digital optical input. I use the SPDIF output from my other PC. Both of my PCs have Linux on them. The digital input of the Sony takes the skinny male input end with the red light from the optical digital cable. I use the SYNC function for the digital connection and recording. That way it records digitally only when something with volume is output to the Walkman. It pauses if the sound level goes out or low until sound comes again and automatically records. Unless I give it about two seconds of no sound, it will skip marks between tracks or make too many marks between tracks if sound waits too long. I do have to later manually mark or unmark marks between tracks some. I use the normal speed for 80 minutes of best recording. I don't bother with the LP2 or LP4 speeds. It does sound pretty good. A MD stand alone home recorder would be more convenient to use, especially with the small menu on the portable, but the home units cost more than CD recorders still.
Sounds like you're using a good method. Regarding a home hifi unit to do the recording on, have you looked for micro systems (including CD and radio)? Sometimes they show up as local pickup only and aren't too expensive.
I got music onto both blank discs I had and they sound great. I used Web minidisc Pro and figured out that I had to install the driver to get it to see my players. Thanks again. @@CBitsTech
Thanks God that someone like you is showing us how to do this so our players are not just doorstops! One would think that Sony would have done something like the Web Minidisc Pro. I hate it when a company doesn't support it's legacy products.
@@terryhollingsworth Well, Sony had SonicStage, but as a business, there's no point updating it if they're no longer selling MD players/recorders. All credit to the developers of modern software to help us all keep these things alive.
I was an original MD user in the 90’s and recently got back into them. Encouraged by some of your earlier videos on repairing I have managed to restore 4 faulty devices to working order. Regarding optical out - a lot of older MacBook Pro laptops output optical from their headphone socket. Not clearly documented but tested by myself on a 2012 model and works a treat. Regarding Net Md , I restored a sharp net md recorder but the USB connection on the device is proprietary and I can’t for the life of me find a cable that fits .
Nice work on getting four devices working again. The MacBook Pro headphone socket, did it glow red to indicate it's optical out function? I've never owned a working Sharp. I always heated proprietary cables and connectors, still do.
@@CBitsTechyes the cable had the reassurance of a red glow I picked up a sharp 831 , prefer it to the Sony R55. Lovely build quality . It doesn't have any LP but I do t use that anyway
Brilliant video @cbitstech! Great to see sonic stage working properly. I didn’t know about the last method you used at all… looks really cool. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sorry, I've only just seen your questions "are you sure you can't copy files? CD only?" NetMD Wizard appears to be CDs only (but you can select certain tracks). Everything else is files too. Does that answer your question?
If you use a split headphone/optical jack, you can record from your phone if it has one. Just put optical out in headphone socket, play from say Apple Music n hit record. You don’t get any titles but it does work
No, it doesn't separate tracks using optical. But if you can add a silent track of three seconds at the end of each track, it will add a track mark when it detects three seconds of silence. You asked what cake I use. Sorry, I don't understand.
I am thinking to buy a sony minidisc player and I wonder how to get some music there... I could found some blank minidiscs around... thank you for this video!
Hello, I've just found your channel and I hope you have the time to read my comment! I am a big jazz fan and back in the ninety's I loved nothing more than taking my portable cassette tape recorder around London jazz pubs and clubs, and secretly record the jazz sessions, which was difficult because the machine was quite large and hard to conceal. Then the minidisc player/recorder appeared and things became much more easy to conceal it in an inside pocket, with a tiny mike pinned to my jacket lapel. Fast Forward to today, and I find myself with over a hundred unique minidisc recordings. I have two working minidisc decks, and five non-working portable recorders. My question to you is, is there a way I can transfer from minidisc to my computer, in the form of computer files (mp3s) or similar? Hoping you can help, regards, John, (aged 86)
Hi John, thanks for your interesting comment. Yes, there is a way to convert your recordings to MP3, but it takes a bit of work to set up. Actually, you will get the files in WAV format (I think), but that can be played by most media players. You will need a compatible NetMD Minidisc player. Search Google for the Web Minidisc Pro page. Using that site, you will need to install a driver for your Minidisc player, then connect it to USB using a Mini USB cable. If you can get all that to work, you will (I think) need to go into 'homebrew mode" on the Web Minidisc site, then select the Minidisc tracks (on the computer), and click Download and Convert. As I said, it's pretty tricky to set up, but once done, it's a quite easy process to get each disc copied to your computer. Search TH-cam for the video by dabhdude entitled "Transferring Minidisc recordings via USB tutorial". That will help, I think.
@@CBitsTech Thank you so much for your quick response to my question, with the help of my son who will be visiting us here in Spain very soon, I'm sure we can make some headway with this. I am enjoying going through some of your previous videos, i wish I had your skills.Thanks again!
Thank you for the compliment. I'm due to upgrade my laptop within a couple of months, I'm upgrading the storage capacity and moving to Windows 11, so I'm installing all the software again from scratch. I had planned to do a video of it even though it's outside my TH-cam channel's usual subjects. I'll need to get Web Minidisc Pro working again after that, so maybe I'll do a tutorial video myself, maybe! It will be several months at least before I do that though. I hope you get it sorted out with your son before then, though.
Yep. WebMinidisc Pro can do that if you have the right player. Alternatively, Line out (or headphone out) to a PC Line In (adapter) will allow you to record using software such as Audacity.
Hi Cbits Tech there's an issue with web mini disc pro right now I think they're having technical issues do you know what that's about? I can't seem to connect right now
Nice video! I have SonicStage 4.3 running on Windows 11 with 64bit netMD driver. It's a litttle bit tricky to install the driver, but Howto of installing it on Windows 11 can be easily found.
Impressed 👍 I'll be moving a laptop to Win 11 within a month. I don't think I'll bother with SonicStage on that though, I much prefer the Web Minidisc Pro route. If I ever need SonicStage again though, I'm lucky enough to be able to boot into Windows 7 still anyway. Thanks for the info that it can be done.
Not the digital files, I think. Bit if DCC players have optical out then that might work. If not, Line Out to Line In would work, but involves digital-to-analogue then analogue-to-digital conversion (automatically by the player and recorder).
i like your video. the problem i'm having is that the minidisc player is not showing up for me to transfer music to. the minidisc player shows that its hooked up and so does my computer.do you have any ideas? i can't seem to find the driver
Excellent guide! Im just having an issue with webminidisc pro: Ive installed the drivers into the aiwa player, and when connet to the web application, a disclaimer pop up: YOUR DISC IS WRITE PROTECTED: "PLEASE SLIDE THE TOGGLE AND INSERT IT AGAIN". but the disc is not in writing protected mode, so I dont get it. Anybody here with same issue? Ive tried with two different player and different discs, always the same. Thanks
@@CBitsTech thank you for the answer! I got a Sony player, but I do not know how to delete old drivers to install the new one. I cannot find a guide anywhere: do you know how to do it? It could be really really helpful as it is my only HiMD player and recorder. Many thanks!
Hi. First, download the Zadig Minidisc USB driver from here zadig.akeo.ie/ Connect your MD recorder to your computer. Right-click the Start button, go to Device Manager Locate the USB Minidisc Driver, right-click, and delete it. You maybe should restart the computer, but if you do, disconnect the Minidisc recorder. Install the Zadig Minidisc Usb Driver. It looks like it gets stuck, but it's working, it takes a long time (or it did for me). Connect the Minidisc recorder, and keep your fingers crossed. Any probs, ask again. I'm pretty busy though, so maybe seach online for a way to do it too. Good luck.
@@CBitsTech thanks a lot! Im gonna try, but when I dedicated some time to it a couple of days ago, I remember the critical issue was about windows not recognizing the player (sony hi-md mz nh600), so I cant possibly delete any driver from it because in the first place is not recognized...with the Aiwa it worked just fine, deleted the drivers and installed those from zadig. Im gonna try again and in case Ill let you know! Thanks for your guide!!
The drivers are in Windows, not the Minidisc player/recorder. Not all Minidisc player/recorders are supported. I don't remember HiMD being supported, but it might be. Check the Web Minidisc Pro website for info on compatibility, and maybe check the Zadig site too. I'm not really an expert.
For either software, it depends on whether you use the onboard open-source (atracdenc) or the Sony proprietary encoder. Both give you the option to choose, just that the proprietary encoder isn't shipped together for obvious (legal) reason. Objectively (and subjectively) speaking, output from Sony encoder is quite a bit better, with more of the higher frequencies preserved. Output from atracdenc has a hard, lower freq cutoff and it is noticeable. (This is coming from looking at spectrograms, and the ears of a pre-30yo individual.)
I'm kinda going through all the 90s and 2000s tech I wanted but never could afford. Right now I have a HP Ultrium LTO-4 fibre channel tape drive in my desktop and a external SCSI 1gb Jaz drive and I'm thinking about getting a minidisc player.
Hi again, thanks for your response and time. I've just bought two sony minidisc players on eBay and a Optimus cd player with an out line socket to transfer music to the mini disc player. Is it possible to transfer music from a phone from TH-cam or spotify to a blank mini disc please?
@@IsaacDicloc You can't connect MicroSD or USB memory directly to a Minidisc recorder, you have to do it via a computer. When they're connected via a computer, they function in the same way as the computer's hard disk.
If the cd player hasn’t got an output connector and I will use a phone jack is avls going to help or I still need to adjust the volume manually? Thanks
Hey cbits it's Paul here . I ran into a glitch on my discs. I rec'd on web mini disc pro. I wiped the disc and dragged an album into the site and copied it. But there's a second or two of songs left on the disc as tracks. They either snuck on got on from my file manager OR THEY ARE FROM THE SONG TRACKS THAT WERE ON THE DISC BEFORE. CAN YOU HELP ME PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING? THANKS BITS TECH!!!!!
I never hear of anyone doing that. I suppose if you could turn the video into audio to record it then decide it on playback it's technically feasible, but the bitrate would be very low for real-time video.
@@AngelChris-e7h Rec is continuous recording. Rec Sync is where the MD recorder waits for data from the Optical In before recording, and automatically paused at the end of the music. Rec Sync also automatically adds track marks if it detects 3 (or 4) seconds without music.
Hey, Wonder can I connect my minidsc deck recorder to my laptop via hdmi ? I want to recrd that way. Minidisc web pro works for portables but those discs dont work in the deck.
Does anybody knows how to delete the native drivers from a Sony HiMi idisc player in order to install the new from Zadig?? I am triyng anything, but of course the installation always fails because the native drivers must be deleted. I have genuinely no clue!
The drivers are in Windows. I believe Zadig installs one driver which works with multiple Minidisc recorders, and some MD recorders aren't compatible. Ok, from memory, connect the MD recorder to the computer. Right-click the Windows Start button, click Device Manager. Locate the driver you want to remove (probably in the USB section). Right-click it, click Delete or Remove. Do not reattach the MD recorder until after installing Zadig, otherwise Windows will reinstall the incorrect driver.
I did a quick Google search, your options are Line In or Optical In. Both are shown in the video. You can probably download a manual for it too. Good luck.
I guess that full size CD players that you could record from preceded portables by quite a while, so recording from CD to anything else was already covered by the full size ones.
i don't see the use of recording a cd to a minidisc. i just rip the cd and play the file on an mp3 player. i used to record from a portable cassette player to my computer through a cable using a program called audio cleaning lab on my computer. the only problem is that the cd sounds like a cassette. that also worked with a vinyl album through my stereo. i have vinyl, 8track and casette, but i never got into minidisc. now all that i listen to is mp3s.
I like the physical media. Usually I rip the CD to my computer first, then put it on a Minidisc for the physical media and cool players aspects. For me, there's no point in an MP3 player if I can listen via streaming.
Great video 👍👍 I WAS TRYING TO RECORD FROM A BLU RAY PLAYER TO MD VIA OPTICAL CABLE....AND WAS TRYING TO RECORD A BLU RAY PURE AUDIO....BUT AS I TRY TO RECORD THE MD WON'T ALLOW IT..... SAYING COPYRIGHT.... ANYWAY TO OVER COME THIS?? Thanks
@@RoyMurphy1 that's because they are not in 16 bit audio Redbook you can try using hdmi to TV the the TV optical output to minidisc so it will be in 16 bit optical
Good video, thanks. Just a basic question. I realise that recording with Line In is analogue so wont include song info, but what if I record from a CD deck to a MD using an optical cable - will it include the song info?
Thanks for the reply. I've renewed my interest in MD but couldn't remember some of the technicalities. So am I right in assuming that the only method to include song info is to record via WebMD? As a general comment, I think Minidisc was a great format. Compared to say vinyl, it's a shamed it hasn't shared the second life of the former.
I've been thinking about your questions. I don't know whether the track data can be transmitted via optical. Even if it can, the CD must include the 'CD Text' feature (most don't), and the CD Deck or player must be CD-Text capable (most aren't). Perhaps the simplest way to copy an original CD album to an MD with all the track data is using a NetMD recorder and a PC and the NetMD Wizard software. That software gets the data from an online database and then copies the tracks with data to the MD. If you have the tracks on a computer with the data on them, use the Web Minidisc Pro website. Or if you have the tracks on the MD without data, the Web Minidisc Pro site will allow you to add the data manually. Hope that makes sense. @TechMoan really is the YouYube Godfather of all 'defunct' formats, so use his videos as the best resource. I'm just a beginner by comparison.
Thanks for your response. Having rekindled my interest in MD I decided to dust down my pride and joy of 20+ years ago - a Sony MZ-RH710. I remember being devastated when I accidently dropped it on to the floor from waist height. Fortunately it still seemed to work ok. So I'd be interested in your thoughts - do you think they are actually quite durable or was I just lucky?
I rarely drop anything, that's why my last six mobile phones are still working 😁 I don't really know about durability of minidisc players. I'd guess that drops would be okay if they don't land on the battery door. I don't think they do so well if crushed (sat on) or something is dropped on them causing a dent.
That makes sense. Albums will be no more than 74 minutes, mixtapes can be longer. Even my old ears can hear the difference with LP4, so I avoid it. Thanks.
Hey cbits tech I'm Paul I live in Canada , in B.C. but I was watching this video of how to get recording on web minidisc. Could you help me install a driver on my laptop? I have an extra laptop I'm silling to take the leap down the rabbit hole and try to get this style resurrected in my life so I can enjoy the ND players again. Please let me know if you can help, 🎉🎉🎉🎉
Hey Paul. How far did you get? Did you find the correct driver. It's at zadig.akeo.ie/ If it doesn't install, then you need to turn off Windows signed driver enforcement, or whatever it's called. I'm doing this from memory. To do so, hold down shift on your keyboard while clicking restart. Go into advanced options, and disable signed driver enforcement. Then boot into windows 10. Delete any minidisc driver that is already installed. Then install the driver (I think you install it before connecting your MD). That should do it! If you're worried about disabling signed driver enforcement, it's only for this driver. When you restart windows next time, signed driver enforcement will be enabled again automatically. Any problems, let me know and I'll find better instructions next time I'm at a PC. Good luck!
I installed the driver I opened webminidisc pro and connected my mz-n707 and it says it did not detect any device. I ordered a new USB b to usb a cord cause my old cords were very old it may be that causing the issue.
Ok. Also, right-click the start button, go to Drivers. Locate the MD driver, right-click, delete, then tick the check-box for 'also delete files for this driver'. Then install Zidig drivers again.
I'm looking for where it says disable signed driver enforcement. I think I'm one step away. I ACTUALLY haven't installed the driver yet, (well not reinstalled anyway). So I'm looking at these options: Start up repair Startup settings Command prompt (use the command prompt for advanced trouble shooting) Uninstaller updates (remove recently installed quality or feature updates from windows) And UEFI Firmware settings (change settings in your pc's UEFI firmware). ...which one do I click next?
Thanks!
Thank you so much 🙂
man, as a kid in the 80s-90s my Sony cassette Walkman was everything to me. I know it’s nothing compared to an iphone, but back in the day having your tapes & radio in one wherever you went was so cool. I embraced minidisc when it came along and I still use it today, even though I’m 100% up with today’s tech.
Absolutely, we're into cutting edge tech of every age.
It's now 2024, and I'm all about converting all my audio to minidisc and rocking it daily on my MZ 910 retro style
I'm from the United States. Minidisc didn't take off here. But the format still fascinates me. This video gave me a window into what you could do with a Minidisc.
in Europe was Huge success then IPOD came out and killed the MiniDisc
Well done mate! Top-notch video, all the editing and bother was worth it! I feel your pain!
Thank you, that means a lot coming from you.
Thanks very much for the Super Thanks, very generous of you.
When I was a teenager in Hong Kong in the late 90s/early 2000s I used to download totally legal mp3s to my computer, rip the mp3s to an audio CDR, then transfer the CDR to MD on my dad’s home stereo system, then use said MD in my portable MD player. I had about a dozen such MD mixtapes rattling around in my backpack at any one time.
Sure, it sounds like a pain in the ass now but I was a teenager obsessed with music so what else was I going to do? Study?😆
To be honest it never occurred to me to actually use the recording capabilities of the various portable MD players I had over the years. Could have saved myself a lot of time lmao
Yep, there was a lot of downloading totally legal MP3s in those days. Sadly, I wasn't one who took advantage of that, so my options were (and are) still limited.
But, yes, you did go to a lot of extra work. But it was something you enjoyed. I wish I had all my music collection on WAV and well organised, that would be great for making MD playlists now.
Great video mate,very informative.Just getting into the minidisc world after picking up a Sony MzR50 on eBay recently.Could never afford one back in the day but am loving the format,great audio from such a small device!👍
Thanks. Yes, it's great to be able to afford things we couldn't back then. The R50 looks like a good unit.
I found my old MZ- NE410 mini disk player while moving recently. TY for the guide!
This is a great video for people exploring Minidiscs like me, to learn how to record on them. I heard of them as a child in the 90s but never used the format so I'm exploring them now.
Thanks very much. Enjoy your Minidisc experience!
Great summary!! I got into MD around 1999, never entirely got out. Today I use either a Sony CD/MD deck to do direct record, or WMD Pro to convert wav to ATRAC using one of my NetMD portables.
It’s awesome to see a resurgence of interest in the format - tons of great resources out there now- label generators, templates and some enthusiasts will even get their discs UV printed with artwork, which gives a collection a very professional and unique feel.
I wish I had got into it back then, and stayed in it to pick up lots of them very cheap when people were about to throw them away.
I've dabbled with a couple of vinyl self-adhesive labels on mine. They look kinda okay, but I have no creative skills so it's a bit of a chore. I'd love to be able to UV print. Maybe in the future there will be cheap home UV printers. Who would have thought, 10 years ago, that we could 3D print stuff at home?
thank you for this video, i used the toslink methid and everything went amazin, i can now listen to my fav music on my lil MD walkman ^^
@@skullape3281 Great to hear, thanks.
Thanks for the interesting overview, concise and well edited. I'm having a retro resurgence lately and have been tinkering with CRTs, old consoles and now music too. I had a Panasonic SJ-MR200 back in the day and used to record sounds on it for use in video projects at university in the early 00s. I've recently acquired an immaculate Sony MZ-N520 and I'm looking forward to making some discs with Web Minidisc Pro and possibly tinkering with some analog or optical too. Thanks again
@@mudstuff Thanks for your kind comments.
CRTs scare me (in terms of working on them).
Good luck with making discs with Web Minidisc Pro. It's great software, but can be tricky getting the Driver installed on Windows.
Thanks again.
@CBitsTech thanks for the reply. I received my 'new' md recorder the other day and was aware of some possible issues getting started on pc. So, I haven't tackled the pc yet as I also have a macbook. I bought a mini usb b to usb-c cable, connected the md to the mac, opened chrome and it just works! 😁
THANKS so much for the very informative content. Wow wish I experimented a bit more back in the day via PC to record. I’ve very recently rediscovered my love affair via my Sony R55 MD player on a beach holiday where I trialled a ‘NO Smartphone / Social Media’ getaway and loved it! Being a 70’s / 80’s child creating the mixed tape was fun and experimental just as I had done in 2000-2003 with Mini Discs. I now plan to ripp a few CD’S from my late 80’s / 90’s / early 00’s collection onto PC then transfer to Minidisc. I guess I better stock up on some blank discs and purchase a Net MD portable.
A no-phone, no Social Media beach holiday sounds ideal!
NetMD is very handy, especially with the Web Minidisc site/software. Line in or Optical would work in the meantime on your R55, for that authentic 'mix tape' experience. Watch it though, you'll be buying cassettes next!
@CBitsTech Oh it sure was !
I bought like about 16 years ago at a hamfest (amateur radio flea market) a portable Sony MZ-R500 MD Walkman recorder. I got it cheap. Not a NetMD version. Maybe $20, but I don't remember. That included a recorded Gleen Miller MD minidisc. I'm just starting to use it again. It has one input for regular line input or digital optical input. I use the SPDIF output from my other PC. Both of my PCs have Linux on them. The digital input of the Sony takes the skinny male input end with the red light from the optical digital cable. I use the SYNC function for the digital connection and recording. That way it records digitally only when something with volume is output to the Walkman. It pauses if the sound level goes out or low until sound comes again and automatically records. Unless I give it about two seconds of no sound, it will skip marks between tracks or make too many marks between tracks if sound waits too long. I do have to later manually mark or unmark marks between tracks some. I use the normal speed for 80 minutes of best recording. I don't bother with the LP2 or LP4 speeds. It does sound pretty good. A MD stand alone home recorder would be more convenient to use, especially with the small menu on the portable, but the home units cost more than CD recorders still.
Sounds like you're using a good method.
Regarding a home hifi unit to do the recording on, have you looked for micro systems (including CD and radio)? Sometimes they show up as local pickup only and aren't too expensive.
So glad you made this video. I have two minidisc Walkman's with no way, I thought, of getting music onto my blank discs!
Excellent. I hope you get them working.
I got music onto both blank discs I had and they sound great. I used Web minidisc Pro and figured out that I had to install the driver to get it to see my players. Thanks again. @@CBitsTech
@@terryhollingsworth Excellent. Web Minidisc Pro is definitely the way to go if you can. Enjoy!
Thanks God that someone like you is showing us how to do this so our players are not just doorstops! One would think that Sony would have done something like the Web Minidisc Pro. I hate it when a company doesn't support it's legacy products.
@@terryhollingsworth Well, Sony had SonicStage, but as a business, there's no point updating it if they're no longer selling MD players/recorders. All credit to the developers of modern software to help us all keep these things alive.
Oh yeah! Webmd renew my collection easily
I was an original MD user in the 90’s and recently got back into them. Encouraged by some of your earlier videos on repairing I have managed to restore 4 faulty devices to working order.
Regarding optical out - a lot of older MacBook Pro laptops output optical from their headphone socket. Not clearly documented but tested by myself on a 2012 model and works a treat.
Regarding Net Md , I restored a sharp net md recorder but the USB connection on the device is proprietary and I can’t for the life of me find a cable that fits .
Nice work on getting four devices working again.
The MacBook Pro headphone socket, did it glow red to indicate it's optical out function?
I've never owned a working Sharp. I always heated proprietary cables and connectors, still do.
@@CBitsTechyes the cable had the reassurance of a red glow
I picked up a sharp 831 , prefer it to the Sony R55. Lovely build quality . It doesn't have any LP but I do t use that anyway
Thanks for the info. That Sharp has a great display. I'm trying to resist a visit to eBay right now :)
Brilliant video @cbitstech! Great to see sonic stage working properly. I didn’t know about the last method you used at all… looks really cool.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Yeah, the NetMD Wizard is a pretty good solution is you want a no-fuss method of copying a CD to minidisc and automatically adding the track data.
@@CBitsTech question: are you sure you can’t copy files? CD only?
Sorry, I've only just seen your questions "are you sure you can't copy files? CD only?" NetMD Wizard appears to be CDs only (but you can select certain tracks). Everything else is files too. Does that answer your question?
@@CBitsTech Yes thank you. 😀
Brilliant 👍
Thanks very much. Very hard video to put together, but worth the effort as it continues to be a top video for me each month.
Thanks for the video, very good info.
If you use a split headphone/optical jack, you can record from your phone if it has one. Just put optical out in headphone socket, play from say Apple Music n hit record. You don’t get any titles but it does work
I must try! Thanks!!!
Does it separate tracks like it does using true optical recording?? Also, what cake do you use? Got a link?
No, it doesn't separate tracks using optical. But if you can add a silent track of three seconds at the end of each track, it will add a track mark when it detects three seconds of silence.
You asked what cake I use. Sorry, I don't understand.
Great guide, thanks a lot
Thank you
Well explained 👍🏼
Thanks for this video. I’m going to get the Sony Walkman MZ-S1 and I’m researching how to put music on it.
Cool. I hope the video helps.
I am thinking to buy a sony minidisc player and I wonder how to get some music there... I could found some blank minidiscs around... thank you for this video!
Hello, I've just found your channel and I hope you have the time to read my comment! I am a big jazz fan and back in the ninety's I loved nothing more than taking my portable cassette tape recorder around London jazz pubs and clubs, and secretly record the jazz sessions, which was difficult because the machine was quite large and hard to conceal. Then the minidisc player/recorder appeared and
things became much more easy to conceal it in an inside pocket, with a tiny mike pinned to my jacket lapel. Fast Forward to today,
and I find myself with over a hundred unique minidisc recordings. I have two working minidisc decks, and five non-working portable
recorders. My question to you is, is there a way I can transfer from minidisc to my computer, in the form of computer files (mp3s) or
similar? Hoping you can help, regards, John, (aged 86)
Hi John, thanks for your interesting comment. Yes, there is a way to convert your recordings to MP3, but it takes a bit of work to set up. Actually, you will get the files in WAV format (I think), but that can be played by most media players.
You will need a compatible NetMD Minidisc player. Search Google for the Web Minidisc Pro page. Using that site, you will need to install a driver for your Minidisc player, then connect it to USB using a Mini USB cable. If you can get all that to work, you will (I think) need to go into 'homebrew mode" on the Web Minidisc site, then select the Minidisc tracks (on the computer), and click Download and Convert.
As I said, it's pretty tricky to set up, but once done, it's a quite easy process to get each disc copied to your computer.
Search TH-cam for the video by dabhdude entitled "Transferring Minidisc recordings via USB tutorial". That will help, I think.
@@CBitsTech Thank you so much for your quick response to my question, with the help of my son who will be visiting us here in Spain very soon, I'm sure we can make some headway with this. I am enjoying going through some of your previous videos, i wish I had your skills.Thanks again!
Thank you for the compliment.
I'm due to upgrade my laptop within a couple of months, I'm upgrading the storage capacity and moving to Windows 11, so I'm installing all the software again from scratch. I had planned to do a video of it even though it's outside my TH-cam channel's usual subjects. I'll need to get Web Minidisc Pro working again after that, so maybe I'll do a tutorial video myself, maybe! It will be several months at least before I do that though.
I hope you get it sorted out with your son before then, though.
Thanks for putting this video together. Have you done any research on how to get the music OFF of the discs and back onto a PC?
Yep. WebMinidisc Pro can do that if you have the right player. Alternatively, Line out (or headphone out) to a PC Line In (adapter) will allow you to record using software such as Audacity.
Thank you, by the way. You're welcome (for me putting the video together).
I got it working with the zadig drivers! Thanks again!
For posterity, I am using an MZ-S1 on an old ass thinkpad running windows 10
@@RyanDraperRocks Excellent that you got it working. Installing those drivers is the most difficult part imo.
Hi Cbits Tech there's an issue with web mini disc pro right now I think they're having technical issues do you know what that's about? I can't seem to connect right now
Sorry, no idea. I can't get to a PC for a while. Have you tried Chrome and Edge, maybe on more than one PC?
Nice video! I have SonicStage 4.3 running on Windows 11 with 64bit netMD driver. It's a litttle bit tricky to install the driver, but Howto of installing it on Windows 11 can be easily found.
Impressed 👍 I'll be moving a laptop to Win 11 within a month. I don't think I'll bother with SonicStage on that though, I much prefer the Web Minidisc Pro route. If I ever need SonicStage again though, I'm lucky enough to be able to boot into Windows 7 still anyway.
Thanks for the info that it can be done.
Can DCC music tapes be transferred to Mini Discs?
Not the digital files, I think. Bit if DCC players have optical out then that might work. If not, Line Out to Line In would work, but involves digital-to-analogue then analogue-to-digital conversion (automatically by the player and recorder).
@@CBitsTech Thanks for your feedback and letting me know.
Very nice sir. So in my opinion Web version is the more affordable to make a "MIX TAPE" minidisc? Thanks and greetings from Seoul- Korea
Yes, I think so, Web Minidisc Pro is the best at the moment.
i like your video. the problem i'm having is that the minidisc player is not showing up for me to transfer music to. the minidisc player shows that its hooked up and so does my computer.do you have any ideas? i can't seem to find the driver
Can you specify the optical cable type used
can I pause a minidisc recording from cd to add another cd song to carry on recording??? thanks
@@AngelChris-e7h Yes
Excellent guide! Im just having an issue with webminidisc pro: Ive installed the drivers into the aiwa player, and when connet to the web application, a disclaimer pop up: YOUR DISC IS WRITE PROTECTED: "PLEASE SLIDE THE TOGGLE AND INSERT IT AGAIN".
but the disc is not in writing protected mode, so I dont get it. Anybody here with same issue?
Ive tried with two different player and different discs, always the same.
Thanks
I don't know for sure, but try a different cable. Or it could be that Web Minidisc Pro (or the driver) does not support Aiwa players.
@@CBitsTech thank you for the answer!
I got a Sony player, but I do not know how to delete old drivers to install the new one. I cannot find a guide anywhere: do you know how to do it? It could be really really helpful as it is my only HiMD player and recorder. Many thanks!
Hi. First, download the Zadig Minidisc USB driver from here zadig.akeo.ie/
Connect your MD recorder to your computer.
Right-click the Start button, go to Device Manager
Locate the USB Minidisc Driver, right-click, and delete it.
You maybe should restart the computer, but if you do, disconnect the Minidisc recorder.
Install the Zadig Minidisc Usb Driver. It looks like it gets stuck, but it's working, it takes a long time (or it did for me).
Connect the Minidisc recorder, and keep your fingers crossed.
Any probs, ask again. I'm pretty busy though, so maybe seach online for a way to do it too. Good luck.
@@CBitsTech thanks a lot! Im gonna try, but when I dedicated some time to it a couple of days ago, I remember the critical issue was about windows not recognizing the player (sony hi-md mz nh600), so I cant possibly delete any driver from it because in the first place is not recognized...with the Aiwa it worked just fine, deleted the drivers and installed those from zadig. Im gonna try again and in case Ill let you know! Thanks for your guide!!
The drivers are in Windows, not the Minidisc player/recorder.
Not all Minidisc player/recorders are supported. I don't remember HiMD being supported, but it might be.
Check the Web Minidisc Pro website for info on compatibility, and maybe check the Zadig site too. I'm not really an expert.
Hi! does exist some way to get music in a Minidisk if my walkman is not a NET md? Mine is a SonY MZ-R90
Is there a difference in sound quality using web md pro vs netmd wizzard?
I haven't compared the two. I doubt I could tell the difference anyway, my ears are old and not hi-fi enabled anymore :)
For either software, it depends on whether you use the onboard open-source (atracdenc) or the Sony proprietary encoder. Both give you the option to choose, just that the proprietary encoder isn't shipped together for obvious (legal) reason. Objectively (and subjectively) speaking, output from Sony encoder is quite a bit better, with more of the higher frequencies preserved. Output from atracdenc has a hard, lower freq cutoff and it is noticeable. (This is coming from looking at spectrograms, and the ears of a pre-30yo individual.)
Hi, can you connect a mini disc player to a personal cd player through the headphones jack connection please?
Yes, headphones out to mic in will work, if that's all you have. You have to set the volume control correctly though, by testing a recording.
I'm kinda going through all the 90s and 2000s tech I wanted but never could afford. Right now I have a HP Ultrium LTO-4 fibre channel tape drive in my desktop and a external SCSI 1gb Jaz drive and I'm thinking about getting a minidisc player.
That's fine niche retro storage you have there. Would you get a internal Minidisc for your PC, or a regular portable or deck?
will the second one work with any other cd player i got a cd 916 cd player anti skip
Hi again, thanks for your response and time. I've just bought two sony minidisc players on eBay and a Optimus cd player with an out line socket to transfer music to the mini disc player. Is it possible to transfer music from a phone from TH-cam or spotify to a blank mini disc please?
Yes, it's possible if you use a 3.5mm headphone socket or a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter. But it's not legal, copyright laws prohibit making copies, sorry.
Good video! Hmmm,but can you show us how to record minidisc from a micro sd and usb
@@IsaacDicloc You can't connect MicroSD or USB memory directly to a Minidisc recorder, you have to do it via a computer. When they're connected via a computer, they function in the same way as the computer's hard disk.
can you record on mini disk net player from Itunes ???? thanks in advance
Nope. You can use the files from the locally stored iTunes library, depending on their format, using the other methods in this video.
If the cd player hasn’t got an output connector and I will use a phone jack is avls going to help or I still need to adjust the volume manually? Thanks
Yes, you'll need to adjust the volume with AVLS to.
Hey cbits it's Paul here . I ran into a glitch on my discs. I rec'd on web mini disc pro. I wiped the disc and dragged an album into the site and copied it. But there's a second or two of songs left on the disc as tracks. They either snuck on got on from my file manager OR THEY ARE FROM THE SONG TRACKS THAT WERE ON THE DISC BEFORE. CAN YOU HELP ME PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING?
THANKS BITS TECH!!!!!
Wonder if anyones found a way of getting video on to a minidisc then played back via optical with some sort of pulse converter?
I never hear of anyone doing that. I suppose if you could turn the video into audio to record it then decide it on playback it's technically feasible, but the bitrate would be very low for real-time video.
Before add track or recoding on MD you put in a disk or not??
Yes, put the disc in first.
I have the MZ-NE410. Am I able to install music to a disc on this device?
Yes. You can download a user manual from here www.minidisc.wiki/equipment/sony/portable/mz-ne410
Thanks!
Nhi, transfer from cd player to mini disc player... Did you use a 3.5 to 3.5mm headphones jack cable to connect?
Yes, that's correct. Line out to line in, if you have those sockets.
what's the difference from REC and CD SYNC????
@@AngelChris-e7h Rec is continuous recording. Rec Sync is where the MD recorder waits for data from the Optical In before recording, and automatically paused at the end of the music. Rec Sync also automatically adds track marks if it detects 3 (or 4) seconds without music.
Hey, Wonder can I connect my minidsc deck recorder to my laptop via hdmi ? I want to recrd that way. Minidisc web pro works for portables but those discs dont work in the deck.
Hi Paul. I've never heard of any MD device working via HDMI, sorry.
Does anybody knows how to delete the native drivers from a Sony HiMi idisc player in order to install the new from Zadig?? I am triyng anything, but of course the installation always fails because the native drivers must be deleted. I have genuinely no clue!
The drivers are in Windows. I believe Zadig installs one driver which works with multiple Minidisc recorders, and some MD recorders aren't compatible.
Ok, from memory, connect the MD recorder to the computer. Right-click the Windows Start button, click Device Manager. Locate the driver you want to remove (probably in the USB section). Right-click it, click Delete or Remove.
Do not reattach the MD recorder until after installing Zadig, otherwise Windows will reinstall the incorrect driver.
For web mini disc pro does it have to be a WAV file? Or can it use Mp3 files and convert it to atrac?
Their website says "MP£, FLAC, WAV, or most other audio files".
Nice video!!!
Please answer, i have MZ-R410 and this device doesnt have any NetMD, so is it impossible to transfer music into minidisc? or is there any other ways
I did a quick Google search, your options are Line In or Optical In. Both are shown in the video. You can probably download a manual for it too. Good luck.
Excellent, informative video shame about Firefox as it’s my go to browser
Me too. But using Edge for this one task isn't so bad.
How comes that most of sony cd players hasn’t got a line out connector?
I guess that full size CD players that you could record from preceded portables by quite a while, so recording from CD to anything else was already covered by the full size ones.
i don't see the use of recording a cd to a minidisc. i just rip the cd and play the file on an mp3 player. i used to record from a portable cassette player to my computer
through a cable using a program called audio cleaning lab on my computer. the only problem is that the cd sounds like a cassette. that also worked with a vinyl album
through my stereo. i have vinyl, 8track and casette, but i never got into minidisc. now all that i listen to is mp3s.
I like the physical media. Usually I rip the CD to my computer first, then put it on a Minidisc for the physical media and cool players aspects. For me, there's no point in an MP3 player if I can listen via streaming.
Oof why did i get a player without netmd or even CD to MD... Helpful video though thank you
@@bastiboyza Thanks. Optical and Line in are ok too.
I prefer using a deck. But any device capable of recording is good.
Great video 👍👍 I WAS TRYING TO RECORD FROM A BLU RAY PLAYER TO MD VIA OPTICAL CABLE....AND WAS TRYING TO RECORD A BLU RAY PURE AUDIO....BUT AS I TRY TO RECORD THE MD WON'T ALLOW IT..... SAYING COPYRIGHT.... ANYWAY TO OVER COME THIS?? Thanks
You need a 16 bit optical output device
@@NICKYCOUSIN my 4k player can output up to 24bit......but can record normal CDs through it just not the blu ray pure audio disc's...... strange
@@RoyMurphy1 that's because they are not in 16 bit audio Redbook you can try using hdmi to TV the the TV optical output to minidisc so it will be in 16 bit optical
@@NICKYCOUSIN I'll try that Thanks 👍
Good video, thanks. Just a basic question. I realise that recording with Line In is analogue so wont include song info, but what if I record from a CD deck to a MD using an optical cable - will it include the song info?
No, sorry, no song info via optical cable either.
Thanks for the reply. I've renewed my interest in MD but couldn't remember some of the technicalities. So am I right in assuming that the only method to include song info is to record via WebMD? As a general comment, I think Minidisc was a great format. Compared to say vinyl, it's a shamed it hasn't shared the second life of the former.
I've been thinking about your questions. I don't know whether the track data can be transmitted via optical. Even if it can, the CD must include the 'CD Text' feature (most don't), and the CD Deck or player must be CD-Text capable (most aren't).
Perhaps the simplest way to copy an original CD album to an MD with all the track data is using a NetMD recorder and a PC and the NetMD Wizard software. That software gets the data from an online database and then copies the tracks with data to the MD.
If you have the tracks on a computer with the data on them, use the Web Minidisc Pro website. Or if you have the tracks on the MD without data, the Web Minidisc Pro site will allow you to add the data manually.
Hope that makes sense. @TechMoan really is the YouYube Godfather of all 'defunct' formats, so use his videos as the best resource. I'm just a beginner by comparison.
Thanks for your response. Having rekindled my interest in MD I decided to dust down my pride and joy of 20+ years ago - a Sony MZ-RH710. I remember being devastated when I accidently dropped it on to the floor from waist height. Fortunately it still seemed to work ok. So I'd be interested in your thoughts - do you think they are actually quite durable or was I just lucky?
I rarely drop anything, that's why my last six mobile phones are still working 😁
I don't really know about durability of minidisc players. I'd guess that drops would be okay if they don't land on the battery door. I don't think they do so well if crushed (sat on) or something is dropped on them causing a dent.
For albums, always use Type-R and SP mode. For Mixtapes, LP2, but Don't use LP4 for anything other than Audible.
That makes sense. Albums will be no more than 74 minutes, mixtapes can be longer. Even my old ears can hear the difference with LP4, so I avoid it. Thanks.
what about a mac computer ?????????????????
Sorry, I have no idea. I don't own one.
Works fine
Ble to tv hdmi. Tv to md optical.
Hey cbits tech I'm Paul I live in Canada , in B.C. but I was watching this video of how to get recording on web minidisc. Could you help me install a driver on my laptop? I have an extra laptop I'm silling to take the leap down the rabbit hole and try to get this style resurrected in my life so I can enjoy the ND players again.
Please let me know if you can help, 🎉🎉🎉🎉
Hey Paul. How far did you get? Did you find the correct driver. It's at zadig.akeo.ie/
If it doesn't install, then you need to turn off Windows signed driver enforcement, or whatever it's called. I'm doing this from memory. To do so, hold down shift on your keyboard while clicking restart. Go into advanced options, and disable signed driver enforcement. Then boot into windows 10. Delete any minidisc driver that is already installed. Then install the driver (I think you install it before connecting your MD). That should do it!
If you're worried about disabling signed driver enforcement, it's only for this driver. When you restart windows next time, signed driver enforcement will be enabled again automatically.
Any problems, let me know and I'll find better instructions next time I'm at a PC.
Good luck!
I installed the driver I opened webminidisc pro and connected my mz-n707 and it says it did not detect any device. I ordered a new USB b to usb a cord cause my old cords were very old it may be that causing the issue.
Ok. Also, right-click the start button, go to Drivers. Locate the MD driver, right-click, delete, then tick the check-box for 'also delete files for this driver'. Then install Zidig drivers again.
You might need to disconnect the MD after deleting the old driver and restart windows before installing the new one.
I'm looking for where it says disable signed driver enforcement. I think I'm one step away. I ACTUALLY haven't installed the driver yet, (well not reinstalled anyway). So I'm looking at these options:
Start up repair
Startup settings
Command prompt (use the command prompt for advanced trouble shooting)
Uninstaller updates (remove recently installed quality or feature updates from windows)
And
UEFI Firmware settings (change settings in your pc's UEFI firmware).
...which one do I click next?
gold plated optical cable 😭