MiniDisc: Adding Track Titles without a PC
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
- Looking at various methods to add track titles onto MiniDiscs.
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MiniDisc Day Info minidiscday.com
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NOTE: A number manufacturers besides Sony had MD models in their ranges with PS/2 keyboard sockets. E.G. Teac/Tascam, Kenwood, JVC/Victor, Denon. You can find the model numbers for some of these on the following page by doing a text search for the word "Keyboard" www.minidisc.o...
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FAQ
Q) What does the red 'UK Tuned' badge mean on the Minidisc recorder?
A) Well it depends if you take Sony's answer or the real one.
Sony would claim that the components have somehow been tuned to suit the particular sensibilities of the UK ear.
However reading between the lines it was really just a way for Sony to differentiate models that were supposed to be sold in the UK from the unofficial parallel imports.
Some HiFi dealers sold parallel imported models that weren't originally intended for the UK market and because these avoided various duties and taxes, they were able to sell them at a lower price than the stores who were selling the official products. I believe Sony added the UK tuned badge to the official UK models to appease the Sony centres and other official dealers who were sick of getting undercut for price in the adverts shown in the back of HiFi magazines.
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I thought the automatic label printer waa the most odd and niche MD accessory you could ever show to us, but it took you less than a month to surprise me again! A flippin IR keyboard MD remote controller, just for editing your MD text... God I love Sony
@ That's what I love about them, when they released a new tech or a new format they would go all the way to fully support it
@@Toxis374 Unfortunately, you can't please everybody.
@ Auto manufacturers have been dealing in planned obsolescence ever since they started manufacturing autos. They have had for some time now the technology to build cars that will last literally decades without rusting or breaking down. But if they did that, then no one would be buying cars every few years and they would basically be putting themselves out of business.
@@7JANEWAY Totes agree. I live in New Zealand where our vehicle fleet is notoriously aged, we all drive old cars, except for the few flashy wankers. We buy used imports from Japan, 3 year old cars driven less than 50,000Km, plus a shittonne of 2nd hand parts. I think we win on the deal, Japanese automotive engineering is second to none in the world, we get cars that are proven to run forever, and plenty of cheap parts to ensure they do so. If a model is a dud, we know beforehand and don't import them as no one will buy. Basically we don't fall into the trap of the early adopter.
One of these is available for pickup in my area for 100€...
Physical Media needs to stay. The more we move away from it, the more we lose ownership of things. We are basically renting content at that point
We always have been renting, or so the music labels wanted us to think. They fought tooth and nail to prevent dubbing onto tapes, then copying of CDs, then they added copy protection to DAT, and don't start about the idiotic checking out / checking in on MiniDisc, this is what killed this format. Just like Android vs Apple, cassettes or later CDs or later MP3s gave more freedom than DAT or MiniDisc. Napster opened the floodgates, and though it has been killed, the non-DRM music format has not. It is not about the medium. It is about being able to copy. You would buy a VHS tape, but then Macrovision would not allow you to copy it, what is the point in physical media like this? But copying non-DRM files is a bliss, choose whatever media you like to store them.
@@ConsumerDV Copy protection on MD was horrible, at the time I worked for a local radio station and we'd get government ads sent to us on CD. We of course didn't play them off CD, so we copied them straight onto MD, using the digital signal, because that's faster than realtime. But then we couldn't use the digital out on those MDs anymore, because it was a second generation copy. So we either had to transfer the ads using an analog line, and then edit each track manually, or we couldn't play the ads over a digital line, for automatic playback by our computer system.
It cost us way too much time not being able to use a system as it was designed to work due to copy protection.
Or just buy the actual files lol.
@@DaedalusYoung There were devices available to disable the SCMS bit from a digital stream. They could be looped into the digital connections but they were rather ... not really legal. I had a DAT machine once that had an SCMS removal modded into it along with some upgraded electronics.
@@TuxraGamer I have copied some MP3 files more than five times, and made copies of copies. I don't think MP3 even has any form of DRM. (Or most of of them.)
The title of this video triggered my PTSD. I spent too many hours entering characters one by one on my discs.
Why can't audio equipment manufacturers be adventurous again? PS2 on front of a HiFi unit it's just, wild :)
Then again there were PC controllable VHS machines which I thought were very cool, but never had the chance to see one in action.
LG TVs let you plug in a USB keyboard and mouse, it even supports the scroll wheel. The TV and things like receivers can be controlled from a PC via IP, with protocols like Crestron and HomeKit and of course now the cloud via Alexa, Google Assistant.
What happened was that everything became an ARM based computer with a funky case. No more built to purpose circuit boards. My new set top box is a Android devices for crying out loud. And the TV it is hooked up apparently runs WebOS.
@@straightpipediesel Have one of those, they apparently run WebOS. Developed by Palm before they got bought by HP. And then sold off to LG once HP had another CEO replacement and tried to refocus on servers.
I had one of those giant sony 400 disc DVD carousels, it had a PS2 port for disc titling. Soooo much typing, especially for things like Simpsons DVDs.
LOL 20 years ago my mom bought a Sony 200 disc cd changer with a PS/2 port. I showed her how to use it and she spent like 2 months inputting all the album names and track titles for her 160 some odd cd's. Was cool tech but very tedious unless you only had a few disc's
I lived in the US and used minidisc for a good 4-5 years. I had a Sony MZ-R37 for portable use and also a Kenwood KMD-673R for my car. Loved mini disc! Thanks for all the videos on this tech I fondly remember
I nominate Techmoan as TH-camr of the year
Sure..
I nominate Camera Conspiracies.
This is TH-cam, so that's never going to happen. "TH-camr of the Year" would be either a guy whose hamster plays the piano, or some clueless 15-year-old talking about shoes....
@@mattb4721 or funny cats videos :P
The net is vast and infinite, this puppet master is a gem of the nerdy techy part it.
Date correction: Minidisc Day is the 7th March 2020 - more info here: minidiscday.com
NOTE: Various manufacturers besides Sony also had MD HiFi decks in their ranges with PS/2 keyboard sockets e.g. Teac/Tascam, Kenwood, JVC/Victor, Denon. You can find the model numbers of _some_ of these by using the link I've posted in the *video description text box*
I've been watching you for about 18mths now and I find you very relaxing/informative but I still don't know your name.. bro what is your name?
I had a technics system that had built in mini disc, it was an excellent system.
I am - again - using and loving minidisc.
Two years ago I bought a Tascam MD350: it sounds terrific, even my old discs (recorded on a low level Sony) sound great. The Tascam apparently has a very good DA/AD converter.
Extra nice: it has a PS2 keyboard interface on the front.
@@pauljones2389 His name is Mat.
I have just found my minidisc recorder in the loft with over 70 minidiscs.
I am going to have a fun weekend showing my daughter what a minidisc is lol 😆😆
When I bought my MD deck in 1998 I honestly thought I'd be naming every track. It was a Kenwood with no other way to enter track names than by turning a knob on the front panel to select letter by letter.
I quickly gave up bothering to name tracks.
Same with my Denon CD to Mini-Disc deck
Sadly I had the Sony 510.... and it developed the open/close glitch if no disc was loaded. So it kept turning itself on/off. Anyway, I got to where I'd label the disc but not the tracks. I just knew what they were since most were MD versions of favorite 90s mix cassettes.
That's why back then in 1997, I invested in both, a stationary MDS-JE700 MD deck (with the huge remote which made entering names pretty easy) and an MZ-R30 MD walkman. I loved the format - its sound quality was always sufficient to my ears and the discs themselves were very convenient during an era when everyone else was still using compact cassettes.
My Sony MD MDS-E10 has the PS2 keyboard input and I love using it. Sony was smart implementing it also into their CD Changers (CPD line). I can't imagine typing the 800 cd titles in both without a keyboard. Great video Mat.
I own few CDP-CX300 and editing titles is nowhere near as easy on them as it is on my MDS-JB940. CD changers are great but editing their content is tedious- ended up with excel spreadsheet.
BTW, Matt, as you like mechanical electronic, might be a good idea for you to dive into one of those Mega Storage Sony disc changers some time in the future- carousel mechanism is fascinating in it's simplicity... Cheers.
I've got a couple in the attic.
I had one of those 300 disc changers with the PS2 keyboard input 17 or 18 years ago. Only supported manual entry of the album title, though fortunately it supported CD TEXT as well
I own a MDS-JE520 + MD/LP Walkman MZ-G750 + I had a MD Player in my car 😎 Memories/nostalgia 💕
Techmoan It would make a great video. I have 2 CDP400 synced with a cable. Then you do not have to wait 20s or so for the next disc to load as it mixes and blends in the songs beautifully.
Neat! Would definitely go for the keyboard solution.
But crap... now I guess I have to restock some MDs in my webshop! 😱🙈😂💸💸💸
Can't wait for retro grooves vol 4 Anders!
PLEASE DO! So sad I missed out on the earlier runs!
Please restock, want to buy them to go along side my tape cassette versions!
I can't help but giggle like a 3rd grader at 9:50 "Peanut Butt"
Well, you capitalized it correctly at least. ;)
@@emmettturner9452 True.
"Make sure it says keyboard" - I always love how thorough Techmoan is.
Is it me, or the more obscure the format is, the best the video from Techmoan is? The Minidisc videos are easily my favourite episodes, Techmoan's research on the format was simply fantastic, almost PhD thesis-like stuff.
By the way, happy Minidiscday!
I used to work in maintenance of broadcast and professional video equipment. mainly Sony stuff, and was always amazed by the amount of specialized add ons and options Sony always offers for any format or platform. There are a lot of unicorns around of very specific devices.
Fun fact, the model name of Sony equipment always is a meaningful abbreviation, e.g. BVP-xx Broadcast video printer.
This is a printer to print barcodes for video tapes to be managed by automated broadcast systems, and I only seen one in my life, witch is more than most people have. In this video, RM probably stands for Remote, and D for Digital . P is often for PAL, but in the case of minidisc it probably means something else :)
Happy Minidisc day!
I own Sony MDS-JE510 since 1995.
BtMC I have the same model. Unfortunately it keeps trying to eject the disc when there’s no disc inserted. Haven’t gotten around to taking it apart to fix the disc presence switch/sensor. The factory remote was pretty nice too; direct track access for up to 25 tracks and could label the disc and tracks with a separate button for every letter.
Minidisc was the perfect physical medium. Small enough to be carried around - cool and capable enough to be a quality option.
I don't know what a "Space Dimension Controller" is, but now I want one.
I don't know what it is either, but it sounds like Super Magic Fun!
I want to know what that red UK Sound button or light is.
*There’s a bit more information about this in the video description text box.*
@@Techmoan Cool, thanks!
@UCsNbLUHn3N57XJ7pBnph2CA
There will/should be a video about it some day - I just need to get around to it.
I remember those keyboards were standard accessories with professional Sony MD machines. But slightly modified. It had a cable connection with 3.5mm stereo jack on both sides and no need for batteries (if I remember well). Plus a keyboard was modified so it was capable to play several numbers of tracks with a single press of button. Pro machines had memory for small part of those directly selectable tracks. After it loaded beginnings of selected tracks to memory it played them out instantly. A functionality targeted for playing jingles.
It's a wonderful format, and I still use mine every day in the workshop. Just so you know it's very easy to get Sonicstage working on a Mac (High Sierra) using a virtual copy of XP. I've had no issues at all using the NetMD feature with my Sony MZ-N510. Works perfectly every time!
Good thing you bought the JB980 Sony MD deck, besides the convenient keyboard interface it is a superb hi-end deck. I own the near identical JB940 and it still rocks!
I have to confess that the Sony MDS-JB980 is an absolute joy to use. I've only had mine for a few months now but it is lovely. The only thing I've not got working on it yet is the NET-MD function which is a shame but having a PS2 keyboard really makes up for it.
I do really enjoy it when you cover mini disks (discs?) so really glad to enjoy this video.
I guess it's the tactile experience but there is something special about MD (to me anyway).
For how much were you able to purchase the JB980?
Glenn Matthys I got it for £180 although lately they have been going for 250 and up. Now that the Techmoan affect is about to kick in I’d imagine that £300 is going to be more like it. Personally I’d still say they are worth it as they just sound great and a joy to use.
@@markj2093 Mini Discs are Magneto-optical.
Richard Shears- agreed! I've had a JB940 for years and just love it. I have around 5 home decks, several car decks and a couple "Walkmans". Plus, I have 2 full-size aluminum briefcases full of MD's with labels that I custom printed on the case and the disc face and top. Yeah, I always thought MD was special! It was and still is so much fun to play with. I have some MDs that I typed in a whole lot of info into. I forget how many characters the limit is, but it's a lot.
@@markj2093 classification as optical media exists because the readout is optical only. The magnetic part is only used during recording.
I just realized Techmoan isn't a "verified channel".
Why on EARTH has TH-cam not given him a checkmark?!
That Sony LAM-1 tabletop unit is wild! What’s with the CD “ingestion” mechanism?!
Excessive coolness?
Om nom nom 😋
great video...I remember to enter my MD titles on my portable MD using the up/down pushin to enter dial, hours of "fun" ,literally :3
My Mini Disc Sony Sonic software runs perfectly on my Windows XP and Windows 7 pcs. Great videos, keep them coming.
I got it working fine on Windows 10 with little effort. Worked well with my NH-3D player :)
@@muinarc0 Thanks great, will need to try it on my Windows 10 pc. Thank you for the heads up.
Kind regards,
Sky.
Oh my, I have had my MiniDisc for years and never even tried to title a disc. I looked at my setup and see that I have a PS/2 connector on my Sony 200 CD changer. I never use a keyboard on it. I have how ever made my own Titles on CD at the time of burning the CDs. Now most of the CDRs can not be read by modern CD players. Unless you use Music CDRs. Any way I am still enjoying watching your videos.
Oooh, I like your Technics equaliser!
Yes it’s a beauty. There aren’t too many EQs with Spectrum Analysers around in the silver finish - so I was happy to find it.
I managed to get Sonic Stage working on Windows 10 but damn, that application is slow and not user friendly.
Robbert van Rijsewijk It always was junk
I agree it was always junk, but after getting it to work with Windows 10 I was surprised at how quick and easy it was to use to be honest. I prefer to use my other minidisc player though because net MD only records in LP2. It's too bad because I think MiniDisc is the best format. It's just too bad that everyone was still crapping their pants about piracy. The same thing they did with cassettes, and the same thing they're doing with MP3 files. Piracy will always be there but the thieves in the recording industry will always make their money - just not as much. Thieves.
@Tan Jenner - Wow never heard about that. However I didn't start using net MD until 2005. I wonder if there are any exploits now that it works with Windows 10? I'm not a computer expert, but I know that I never had any problems or gotten any viruses because of the program. Anyone?
Well there's the problem; trying to do something functional under MSWindows :D
You could always try something like the Linux-Minidisc project (wiki.physik.fu-berlin.de/linux-minidisc/doku.php). I don't have a minidisc system (nor access to one) so I can't tell you it's usability.
If worried about security you could always run a virtual machine. Same for compatibility issues, it's not that hard to get a virtual machine running on your PC and there are plenty of guides out there. Just a search for 'Virtual Machine Win 10' is enough to point you in the right direction.
When I was in high school my friends and I used a MD recorder/player for the audio when we made our amateur films for the 48-hour film project. It was the best quality we had available and was one of the few pieces of equipment that never required any special care, it just worked without complaint. Even in 2004, in Cincinnati, OH we had trouble finding the media for it. We even called a Best Buy who told us they no longer carried them. We didn't believe them, so we showed up and found them on the shelf. It was thought to be so dated by 2004 the employee couldn't believe we the store would have them. It's incredible that people are able to get into the format today.
"...obtain some MP3s...", ahhh, happy days...
Napster :-)
@@Auberge79 ftp servers.
absolutely hilarious, i noticed that choice of words too
eMule, LimeWire...
I preferred Audiogalaxy! Best quality and harldy any "bogus" music
I own a Sony JB930 and love this feature 👍
Minidiscs wonderful, always a pleasure to this day to use.
From a time when Sony made beautiful things and kept shooting themselves in the foot.
Well kinda. notice how everything had to happen in real time (unless it was happens on all in one units). the whacky thing about MDs is that it is a digital format that via ornery DRM pretends to be analog.
@@digiowl9599 Net MD was high speed but yet again self defeated by Sony.
I've never tried Hi MD so can't comment.
The rest of your post doesn't make any sense to me.
They should've made what was the iPod... the gotta-have mp3 player. They were there, having made the Walkman. But for whatever reason, they didn't. (Same for Sears and Roebuck in the US... That chain should've been Amazon.... they had the 'Wishbook' catalog that everybody had to have. And sold everything from TVs to clothes to yard equipment. Delivered to your door way back. But I digress..... I guess business models are hard to break.)
@@cjc363636 Yeah you're right, even when they did jump on the mp3 player bandwagon Sony still hobbled themselves with in house cables and connections and creaking menus etc etc
@@stepheng8779 also, they just had to try to push through their mobile DRM ATRAC format when everybody else was literally using MP3 and even lossless formats. Kinda like Microsoft with their stillborn WMA
And they haven't learned a bit. When the PS4 came out, it refused to play back media from USB drives. So silly.
7:55 Wait! Didn't they make "Rump Shaker" back in the day? I remember that song during final exam week in the sixth grade LOL.
That was on their second album, a few years after the one in this video.
I do love your way of documenting these "oddities". Hell, the BBC has to give you a slot for this. As long as it exitsts at least....
I love my minidisc 💽 I still own blank disc to record new stuff on it. Most my disc are recorded on HiMD unfortunately, I no longer own a player compatible with those disc (players are a pretty penny). I do own two MDLP players, the sound quality still to this day blows any streaming service away. It’s pretty crazy that there is an emoji of a Minidisc 💽 😱😝🥰
Still have my Sony MDS 940. Great machine.
Easy remote to use, even for me.
Again, nice vid.
Sony minidisc stuff of all levels was so nice to use, good looking, well made and well thought out. They also sounded pretty damn good too!!
The only thing cose to a mini disc I ever had was my PC's remote start system (it put a wireless remote on your power button had nosey younger cousins and i Needed to stop them from shutting off my system) and it came on a very small mini disc style cd.
Oh Happy Minidisc day!
I can't wait to see an 8-Bit Guy/Techmoan mashup using the phrase "do a dub" as if he said "do a dump". 11:00
Adding track titles to MD, DCC, DAT and CD always drove me bananas because there was always a handful of titles that were longer than the character number limit.
Oh, man. As an bright-eyed, optimistic teenager, I had one of those desktop stereo systems with a 5-CD changer and 3-Minidisc slots... and just a basic portable MD player, so ALL of my discs were titled by hand in basically the same way as on that Okiyo component. I actually kinda liked the process of it, being a bright-eyed, optimistic teenager with nothing to do but hang out in my room and copy CDs to MD.
What intensity are your eyes now?
Don't let age let those eyes grow dim my man
I use md mostly for vynil backup. and back in the late 90’s as I had also a portable recorder, I used to edit and name in the subway, to mark the tracks etc. I play the records at home from a technics sl-d3 all the way side to side , so in each disc I normally get 2 tracks 1 per side to be subdivided in the different tracks . At time I loved it
I would love to know the model of that machine that had the 3 minidisc slots
(up until now I thought there was only 1 model of machine that had more than 1 minidisc slot, and that machine only had 2 minidisc slots)
I loved MiniDisc. I have memories of using my PS2 optical out to get perfect copies of my CDs. Was great as it did all the CD Text as well if the disc had them. Then using the awful Sony PC software which would convert all my totally-legally-acquired MP3 files to ATRAC files.
I kinda miss the days of managing my music library, now I just use Spotify which isn't the same. Cheers for the trip down memory lane :D
If MD had still been developed, I guess they may have been using Bluetooth keyboards or maybe Smartphone Bluetooth links to transfer files and title tracks.
That does make me wonder, some modern phones still have IR blaster built in. Could one technically program an app to name MD's with a phone?
@@Kumimono Maybe it would work. Finding the remote code for the MD player may be a challenge. It remember one of my friends had a really old PC around 1993 that was ahead of its time with an IR keyboard but once again compatibility is the issue with IR.
@@Jooles99 if it's sent over infrared you'd be able to mimic, to get the code you'd need something that could read the serial codes sent by the sony keyboard.
Techmoan rocking the brass instruments shirt today, I see.
Thanks to you, I now own a Sony MDS-JE640 with Keyboard Port 😅
I have one of the rare RM-D11P remotes. I can confirm that it works on ALL of Sony's home decks.
It stands to reason that someone could record the infrared codes and publish them so that anybody could use them with a cheap universal remote or infrared-equipped smartphone.
@@lmaoroflcopter : They still get made for the Chinese market. More importantly, if you have a headphone & mic port then you can just buy a few parts online to build yourself an IR blaster, rendering it's presence or absence on your phone moot.
@@lmaoroflcopter Heck no; that's when they were just getting started. Only a few holdouts don't include the feature anymore.
@@lmaoroflcopter Glad you found the codes. Some devices do lack the feature, but it's still quite popular, especially among Samsung Galaxy S phones. It might have finally waned a bit in the past couple of years though.
Yep got one of these remotes rmd11p for my 920, richer sounds £55 many years ago. Makes life a doodle.
My deck (MDS-JE520 i think) didn't have a keyboard socket or PC connectivity. I had to use a DIY IR receiver/emitter with a program called EasyText. First you have to record your remote's IR codes, it would then play them back in the right sequence based on the titles you type, including all the control/command button presses (like shift, number, etc). Janky but sooo much better than typing with the remote.
For years I loved (and still do) analogue tape including cassette and wished for a better tape format and wanted DAT to succeed at the time, but now after watching Techmoan's videos I have three personal minidisc players and a minidisc deck, all I can say is thanks to Techmoan for opening my eyes to this fantastic format.
Awesome video, sir. Great info! Thanks a lot
I do not have Mini-Disc. I do not find that topic even remotely interesting. But I watch the whole video, getting my kicks just seeing all of the 80s and 90s hifi-gear you have. :-)
Early on I could only afford a portable MD-recorder so I bought the MZ-R700, good little pre netmd machine. Later I bought the MDS-JB930QS, which is a great machine. Even later I also bought the MDS-JA555ES which is now my main unit and favorite. I've only had to change the belt for the 555, other than that they alll have worked perfectly. When I was wondering about easier ways to enter titles to the songs I almost bought the expensive Sony keyboard but then realized I could do it with a 7€ PS/2 keyboard. No regrets there either.
I still record minidiscs for playing in my 1994 Toyota Celica. The format that refuses to die! My two favourite track title routes are: PC Keyboard on a Sony MDS-JE640, or recording my selection on a CD-RW with CD-Text then using a Sony CHC-CL5MD to high speed dub to MD. The latter does NOT copy the disc title over, just like you said on your setup, only the track titles.
www.colin99.co.uk/hifi/midi.jpg
www.colin99.co.uk/mycar-2018.jpg
Although, I don't see it ever happening, I think it'll be a very sad day when physical media disappears.
Too late.
I've looked to my left and it's still here. Keep practicing the magic
@@Techmoan I ment disc's are drying out... CD players laser's quit working... etc.. "too late" as they really are disappearing.
Physical media will never completely disappear.
Why? Because there's something about handling a piece of physical media (vinyl, CDs, cassettes) that adds to the experience of listening to music. This is a large part of the vinyl resurgence, and it will be for the upcoming (who knows when) CD resurgence as well.
MP3s and other digital sources are great for on the go, and whenever you're not at home and you want to listen to music. But an MP3 file is just that: a computer file that's on your phone or IPod, and therefore intangible. People want a hands on experience with their music just as much as for anything else. It's just human nature.
Back in the 80s, when CDs burst up on the scene, everyone said it was the end of vinyl records. Guess what? Not only was it not the end of vinyl records (though they did stop making 45 RPM singles by 1990--which I wish they still would make them), but for the past few years, vinyl is back and bigger than ever.
So for this reason alone, there will always be some sort of physical media available--including physical media that hasn't been invented yet.
So sit back and enjoy your vinyl, CD or cassette, knowing full well that they will never completely go away.
The abandonment of DVD/Blu Ray in favour of steaming services is an especially worrying development.
Now I'm just listening to Inner City. Thanks.
Sonicstage 4.3 can be installed on the current windows 10 (It recognizes the himd natively as a removable drive) , you need to download the offline installer which was still available in the forums on Sony. 4.3 removes all restrictions off the version normally supplied with the MZ-RH1, no limits on transfers. Grace note works for even recorded radio from an md
But from what two people in the comments have said already it doesn't auto populate ripped CD track titles from a database any more - is this true?
@@Techmoan TBH I'd have to install sonic stage and it connects to a grace-note service to label anything recorded based on waveform analysis and if sony have discontinued it to wouldn't work on their bravia tv's anymore and it does on mine last time I checked.
@@Techmoan Okay, I've just finished installing a boot-camp install of Win 10 Nov 2019 and will check if Sonic stage 4.3 transfers track information to the md player... one sec. There is no native application for mac that can decode oma files.
I was absolutely fascinated with minidisc when it came out, but as a 12 year old child with no income I had to let it slide past me. I already had a cd player, so couldn't convince the parents to switch lol.
Matt, i just discovered this but now you can use Chrome to burn minidiscs on any OS. stefano.brilli.me/webminidisc/ Is a web based NetMD recorder, supports renaming discs, recording Discs at SP,LP2,LP4, erasing discs, but not transfer off the discs.
Oh no... I won't buy any of these! But I LOVED watching anyways :)
Nobody's buyin, that's the point of the video...
You have great music tastes!
I really like your shirt. Are the instruments printed or stitched on? Where can I get one like that?
I was really surprised minidisk was kinda limited to the UK. All the perks of physical media and none of the downsides IMO.
I used to carry the CD covers with me and spent my bus commutes typing the track names with the MD player.
Imagine they sold a minikeyboard to use with the contacts for the remote... like you plug out the display remote and plugin a keyboard made for recording and naming.. would be so cool to have such a thing :) but even if it would exist I probably could not afford it lol
Have a minidisc recorder that I got back in the mid 1990s. I loved to use it and record and play back discs on any number of different portable disc players. I loved this format and thought it would last for a very long time. Great sounding format but Sony seems a shoot itself in the foot every time they come up with some new like this. Minidisc was probably the most convenient format there was.
Well done, again! I don’t imagine you ever anticipated being able to unintentionally drive market prices...
It's really all a bit overblown - everyone will have forgotten about this video by next week.
1.000.000 subs incoming. Quality content deserves this.
Thanks for the informative video I didn't realise that some MD players has a keyboard socket something to look out for. Still love using the MD system as I like physical copies of music.
Hands up if you "obtained" all your mp3s back in the day 🙌
The sadness of the world in which we live. When you have to specify the fact that you just told an obvious joke. Techmoan is one of my favorite folks on TH-cam. The snark always makes me smile.
Hmm. That's interesting. My Sony MZ-N1 can get to the lower case text really fast.
1. Scroll the dial into the first few CAPITAL LETTERS
2. Scroll backwards past the A and you will be in the lower case section.
Now, since it's been years since that machine of mine worked. But I have a feeling that you will actually end up scrolling through the numbers first, and then the lower case letters start at z. I don't even know if it was mentioned in the manual that came with it. I just happened to discover this by fooling around with it one day. It was still a challenge to do it that way, but being able to scroll backwards made it a bit easier. Normally I would have titled all my disc in Sonic Stage. But sure was a challenge when I was copying cd's from my PS2 via optical cable. Also, it sucked when you did an LP4 disc, and you end up running out of text space on the disc around track 67, but there is 98 songs on the disc. I got a bunch of 80's compilation discs like that.
And I never even knew about Minidisc Day. Had I known. I wouldn't be hauling around my WM-EX12 for the past week.
Thanks for another awesome Minidisc video. I think that's why I came to your channel in the first place years ago.
I think it's worth mentioning that the PS/2 connector specifications doesn't require it to be hot-pluggable, so it's a bit hit and miss on devices supporting it. It might explain why the PS/2 port worked on one of the devices but not the other, assuming they were both powered on when you connected the keyboard.
Thanks for making the CD/MD combo double in price on ebay.co.uk
You've had twenty years to buy one, so that's on you.
Steve Hardy - That’s known as ‘The Techmoan effect’!
Great if you have one to sell
Very interesting video, not used my MiniDisc for years but i remember i only ever recorded my own using a PS2 with optical link to my Sharp MD-SR50, if my memory serves it auto put the track titles on. will digout some and check, maybe tomorrow on MiniDisc day, keep it up, thanks David
Such a shame there wasn't compatibility between audio and data MDs allowing high speed data transfer to/from a PC, no doubt due to piracy concerns (along with the ridiculous SCMS which prevented you copying your own original material but permitted a first generation copy of copyright material!). The latter was easily cicumvented using a SCMS controller / stripper (I have an M-Audio CO3 that converts between AES/EBU, optical SPDIF and coax SPDIF, and also allows the copy-protect bit to be changed to "no copy protection", "original (allow first generation copy)" or "1st Gen" (allow no copy). But the need to copy digital audio to/from MD in realtime killed it for me in the end (my main use was for theatrical sound effects).
Cool video, I use Sonic Stage for my MiniDisc titling
For me, the simplest (with what I have) is a netmd portable device (Sharp IM-DR580H(S)) connected in USB to my PC with a Virtual Machine running Windows 7 and Beat Jam or Sonic Stage.
The good thing about Mini Disc is, even if you are restricted to the most rudimentary method of inputting track titles etc, you can update them at a later time, even after the Disc is finalised, unlike CD-R's, where once the disc is finalised, you cannot add anything to it.
So if you do get bored, you can finish all the track titles later at your own convenience.
I loved them!
Great video. Back in the day, I owned a Sony MD Hifi and used a Palm Pilot to title my MDs using its IR blaster. MD Titler (archive.org/details/tucows_166234_MD_Titler) for the Pilot worked a treat! A great combo of early 2000s tech.
I had a job in a theatre (think curtains and live actors, not film!) and the sound had just been switched from open-reel tape to minidisc. The recorder they had was a "professional" rack-mountable unit, with all sorts of connectors (RCA, XLR, digital, etc) and on the front was a PS/2 Keyboard connector. Reading the manual showed me that the keyboard could control the deck with various keys, but, also, the QWERTY keyboard could be used to enter disk and track titles! It certainly made it easier for the people running the show to all they had to do was hit "play" for each track. It's something I thought was a profesisonal/prosumer feature only, I never thought I'd see it on a consumer-level device :)
At my radio station we still use MD decks (MDS-E12) daily dozens of times. Although they have a PS/2 socket we mostly find the qwerty remote quickest and handiest for titling afew tracks at a time.
But you've given me an idea for making a little microcontroller gizmo that could be plugged into a PC to suck up a playlist (eg M3U format) then be plugged into the PS/2 socket via a USB to PS/2 keyboard adaptor and would simulate a keyboard doing rapid fire entry of titles.
Despite TM saying the software is not available for modern PCs, this link ( sonicstage.en.lo4d.com/windows ) states *Sony SonicStage CP* works on Win10, updated May last year and "Tracks may be recorded on Hi-MD devices". Freeware too!
I no longer have a MiniDisc recorder, so I'm unable to test, but thought it might come in handy for someone (to test?).
Great review, I still have 2 Sony MZ-N10s and a Blue MZ-N1 as well as a MXD-D3. I would love to know what model that Sony with the brushed aluminum at 4:17 is, I have been looking for something like that to go with the rest of my stereo equipment. Best part about buying old MD equipment is the loads of free minidiscs that have music on them. People usually send all their discs both blank and recorded. I test drove a mini while living in norway back in 2003 or 4, I remember you could have a md player as the optional stereo. cheers
The remote for my JE-520 has a key for each letter, so it's nice and fast. Big chunky remote though!
I have the same machine and the remote is a bit of a brick, but I wouldn't change it
Lucky, I have also MDS JE-520, but without a remote (it cost twice as much as a deck on eBay)
To celebrate minidisc day I’m going to pull out my Sony MZ-R70 minidisc player and play my Fragma album that I recorded years ago complete with complete track titles that I painstakingly added courtesy of the buttons on my minidisc player! Happy Minidisc day everyone 😄
*goes to check old MiniDisc player on hifi for ps2 keyboard socket* - nope. I actually used to quite enjoy inputting type and editing tracks with the little clickwheel/stick combo thingy, though.
I'm thinking of getting into minidisc. I'm getting absolutely tired of cassettes. Not only do tape type matters, but so does a deck and more times than not, you'll find more that need repairs than ones that are in working conditions.
if those remorts use IR to communicate someone could implement an app using a mobile phone with an IR transmitter to write text. you can use an IR receiver to capture the data and figure out the protocol easily.
The remote to enter text reminds me about the older days when texting SMS using older phone :)
The slightly better thing with the phones though is the text auto advances to the next character if you swap keys or wait a second - on the remote you have to use another button to advance the cursor after a character has been entered. It sounds like it's not a big difference - but when it comes to typing a name it's slows things considerably.
@@Techmoan never mind T9, so you could just hit a number once pr character and have the phone guess.
During the 2010s I used an HDD/DVD recorder which had a similar arrangement for entering titles. It auto-advanced when changing keys (you only had to advance manually when using the same key consecutively), so it wasn't too bad, though symbols were annoying because there was only one key for a long sequence of available symbols and the symbols weren't ordered in a particularly useful way (such as most-commonly-used first or such).
Great video (again). I used Minidiscs in the late 90s/early2000. I used it to record song ideas and field recordings when I was not in the homestudio. I still got the discs and would like to transfer them on the PC but there are more than 100 discs. So who whom not you could I ask for help :) Have you ever heard about a device that read out the data of a Minidisc? Transfering 100 discs in realtime is too timeconsuming. Thanks
I never tried it but believe it is quite likely that the keyboard-remote could be emulated with LIRC/WinLIRC and simple DIY or inexpensive hardware and a PC/laptop. Possibly an android phone too.
My JVC MInidisc has a great remote with a flip-open QUERTY keyboard! Makes labeling quick and easy. Thanks for the great vids!
It’s amazing how you cover ONLY tech no one else cares about. Eventually you’re going to run out and have to do something popular.
I used to repair this type of thing for a living, had a local journalist come in in desperation as they had erased a disc with an interview they wanted, luckily you could put a disc recorded with 1 long single track in to a hifi player, let it read the table of contents (TOC) then manually wind the disc out before putting the erased disc in, it would then play everything previously on it allowing you to record it to another device.
Sometimes I just think that Sony had a small team of people who were tasked to designed the most specific niche products they could think of and that's how we ended with an IR controller for entering MiniDisc titles.
If its a Japanese Player, it probably uses a DIN8 not a PS2 connector, as PC-9800 was popular over there and that was the common connector type.
The Techmoan Video Dilemma: "Do I pause during the video to type a comment, or wait until the end, running the risk of getting so involved with it I forget what my comment was?" I ran the risk, did remember...
Get a wireless keyboard with a USB dongle, plug it into a USB-to-PS/2 adapter, then plug that into your PS/2 keyboard port. Use a PS/2 extension cable if needed. Then you can be a bit more creative where you store and use the keyboard.
I've used a wireless keyboard & mouse combo with a single USB dongle plugged into an On The Go (OTG) adapter on my Android phone. So much easier for typing, and so funny to see a mouse pointer on my phone screen!
Thanks, as always, for an enjoyable and entertaining video!
Do note, however, that backwards compatibility with PS/2 is something the keyboard (or in the case of a wireless keyboard, the dongle) does need to explicitly support; this trick may not work with all USB keyboards.
@@Spritetm Oh, very true, and thank you for adding what I'd left out!
As with many cases of mixing old and new vintages of technology, you can frequently get things to work _if_ you understand the details of the components involved, _and_ if you therefore understand the potential of experiencing a "smoke test" (let the magic smoke out and it may not work again). Electrically you can plug a USB keyboard into an adapter and then into a PS/2 port, it shouldn't harm anything but may not work. That also holds true for using that same adapter to plug a USB flash drive into a PS/2 port; it shouldn't harm it, but don't expect to be able to access the drive!
Yes u can get sonic stage 4.3 on win10 just fine. Just search around for the tutorials. Join minidisc on FB group as well if u want.
Wrecks'N'Effect! Underrated album - Soul Man is my jam. :D
Long live Minidisc...
I still use the onboard naming function, although I have NetMD software, I don't use it... :)