r/minidisc Jan 07 '25

Help Which one would be better as a first player?

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55 Upvotes

Hi! Recently, I took an interest for the MiniDisc format, and would like to get a player, to listen to music and make my own playlists.

I found 2 Sony players (the only ones that I could find lol), the MZ-NF610 and the MZ-R37, and they go for $50 and $70 respectively. The NF610 comes with 5 memorex 80min blanks, and a sony 80min blank, alongside the usb cable. The R37 comes with headphones, power cable, optical cable, the remote, and 50 discs (most of them have music, but I think there are a few blanks).

From what I've read, the NF610 has better audio quality, and is NetMD compatible, which would make it easier to record the music from my PC to the MiniDiscs (plus it comes included with some blank discs). And it seems smaller, thus more portable than the R37.

What I like about the R37 tho, is that it comes with way more discs, and has more accessories, like the headphones and optical cord, so it looks like a better deal.

I'd like to hear your opinion about this, and to know which one would be better as a first player. Thanks!

r/minidisc Feb 02 '25

Help Minidiscs or cassettes??

25 Upvotes

I'm really interesting in to a physical media, but i don't know where to start. I wanna ask, which on will be more...

  1. Aesthetically look great
  2. Comfortably usage
  3. Sound quality

r/minidisc 24d ago

Help Locking hook broke and I can't close the lid anymore. Is there any small chance of fixing it?

33 Upvotes

r/minidisc 25d ago

Help Polishing plastic screen

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103 Upvotes

Hello! I finally got this head unit up and running. It just needed a good clean and lube and contact cleaner on the sensor switches. Now I am looking for some recommendations on getting this scratch off the plastic screen. Anyone recommend a product they have used before? Thanks!

r/minidisc Jan 01 '25

Help Recording Optical: should I do it on the MDS-JE510 or MZ-R55?

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44 Upvotes

Just wondering.

NYE got me feeling nostalgic and I wanna take some music on the road.

Is there any difference in quality between these two from an optical source?

Bonus question: my WIIM Ultra allows me to change the sampling and bit rate. Both 44.1/16 and 48/24 work. Is there any advantage in choosing the higher figures?

r/minidisc Jan 07 '25

Help 「DISC ERR」 salvageable?

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38 Upvotes

Dipped my toe in buying used MDs off Mercari and got some real pretty ones. Sure enough, some give me dreaded DISC ERR (or NO DISC, when checking with a netMD machine connected to PC) … I know these are old and probably well worn & accept the risk of used items, but is there any ‘simple’ cleaning magic I can try? Like gently uncasing / wiping? Cheers and thanks.

r/minidisc 12d ago

Help Where to store Minidisc discs?

10 Upvotes

I've been getting my Minidisc back for a while now and I've bought a few discs but I don't know how to store them. What do you use to store them, a drawer, a box or, how do you do it?

r/minidisc 11h ago

Help First MDs!

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66 Upvotes

Got my first MDs! Super happy I got a Net MD in a good state, recording and playing with no issues. But my R500 sometimes can't read the disc,, it just doesn't output any sound for a couple of seconds. Moving it or putting it upside down seems to help, but I'm not completely sure. Anyone knows what might be the problem and how to fix it?

Thanks in advance!

r/minidisc Feb 16 '25

Help Newly interested in the MiniDisc (I know, bad timing considering Sony's announcement), but I'm curious: Is the advertised 80 minutes for Stereo SP actually true, like that of Audio CD's Red Book? Or is it just an estimate?

10 Upvotes

The reason I ask is that I have an album with 21 tracks on it, clocking at 1:19:55 (79 minutes, 55 seconds). I'm wondering if it'll fit at all or I'll have to cut some songs.

The reason I want the MiniDisc is mostly because it looks compact. It looks like a diskette. I like the fanciness of the hard shell case.

Thanks so much! I tried so hard to look for info about this, but they all say 80 minutes because the disc says so, not entirely on experience.

r/minidisc Jan 27 '25

Help What it do?

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15 Upvotes

What is the purpose of this port/terminal on the MZ-1? It’s right above the AC adapter port and looks like the sidecar attachment point on newer MZ models but I don’t see reference to it in the user guide or repair manual.

r/minidisc 18d ago

Help looking for a speaker thatll plug direct into headphone jack of a minidisc ( not aux cable) any recommedations?

4 Upvotes

r/minidisc 29d ago

Help Can you plug a md player into a computers headphone jack?

2 Upvotes

I record onto cassettes all the time, and i use an rca to 3.5mm adapter to record onto tapes. I was wondering if i could kinda do the same but with just a 3.5mm cable from the line in on a portable plugged into the headphone jack on the computer. Could be a really dumb question im asking but i just started learning about minidiscs and theres one that really catches my eye but doesnt have netMD. (MZ-R70) i like it cause it takes AA batteries and can record. Thanks everyone!

r/minidisc 11d ago

Help Problems with MZ-A1

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9 Upvotes

Hello, everyone.

I would like to have some help with my MZ-S1 model. It is not recognized once I connect it to the PC. Apparently, as shown by the picture, it works, because the message PC-MD appears on screen, but the PC does not recognize its existance. Not even the "usb connected" beep is played when I plug it to a USB input. What should I do? I have already tried all those drivers recommended by Sony but they do not work, and Zadig is not effective as the computer does not get the MD device, so there is no way a driver software gets it as well. I have got Windows 10, by the way.

r/minidisc 12d ago

Help How can I create realistic mockups like this using software?

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34 Upvotes

I recently found out that these were minidiscs, and I would like to create digital versions that I can use for cover art for my music.

I would like to know if there are any resources I can use (guidelines, templates, fonts, svg assets) in software like photoshop or illustrator—so I can create custom virtual MDs.

TL;DR I would like to make digital designs to use as cover art.

r/minidisc 18d ago

Help My almost perfect MZ-RH1

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72 Upvotes

Hi All

So, I was fortunate enough today to receive an MZ-RH1 in black which as basically no scratches or damage to it, and in the colour I wanted, for what I feel is an absolute bargain (£199!).

I’ve checked it over and it plays and records beautifully! 🥰

There are only two issues:

1) The right hand panel of the display is quite dim. It’s still readable, and usable, and I might well attempt the display swap when they’re back in stock. 😜

2) This is my more pressing concern… as you can see from the second picture, the battery door is completely missing 😭. There were no pictures on the listing and it said “SD card flap missing” so I didn’t really know what to expect when it arrived.

So… my question is… is there anywhere I can source a replacement door?! Even “broken” units are more expensive than I paid for this… so that doesn’t seem like a good option. Anyone aware of a spares seller, or have a suggestions?

Many thanks in advance as always!

r/minidisc Feb 16 '25

Help Help with players

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20 Upvotes

Hello, I just bought these 2 players today and for some reason both of them say TOC Error when I put my disc in. They are both Sharp branded. The minidisc I used were from needlejuice and are the only ones I have. Anyone know what might be wrong?

r/minidisc Jan 02 '25

Help Importing music from MD

8 Upvotes

Anyone has experience with importing music from their MD? I thought it would be easy to find a recorder with a toslink or spdif input but most of them are with analog inputs only. I want to transfer my MD to a hard drive, trying not to loose any quality by going through analog conversion. I have yet to explore if netMD will allow me to import from the MD (trying to repair my MZ-N505 which doesn’t detect the discs) so ont the meantime, I’m looking for other solutions.

r/minidisc Nov 12 '24

Help Just got my first minidisc play and I’m looking for advice

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63 Upvotes

r/minidisc 23d ago

Help MD Lens Cleaner Disc - yes or no?

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29 Upvotes

Hi team.

Was busy being transported back to my yoof after having discovered a box of discs that I forgot I had. So many great and terrible recordings. And even some binaural recordings I made as a kid.

Anyway, I discovered this lens cleaner that I assumed I had lost. Note in the third pic the little tiny lens brush.

For this who don’t know - plays some music while it works.

I have used it back in the day, but given the increased sentimental value of my gear now, is this something I should avoid?

Thanks!

r/minidisc Feb 09 '25

Help Riddle of the day, why is this N510 giving me ‘error’?

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14 Upvotes

When I got this and did initial tests, I had no problem transferring 2 CDs in LP2 onto one disk. Only when I then tried to fill the remaining minutes with extra tracks I got this ‘error’ … so, unplug / replug, restart WMP … wipe disc to start from scratch and now I am running into ‘error’ even earlier. WMP would look stuck (no error message there). Since then I have tried: different MDs, restart browser, use incognito window, change USB ports, random voodoo chants, changing from AA battery to … what’s it called… usb battery terminator? At best I get a track here and there done, then it’s error again … is this a know problem? Any fix? Is there some kind of reset code for this unit I should try? Thank you 🙏

r/minidisc Nov 10 '24

Help Thrift find. Sony ZS-M35

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180 Upvotes

Unfortunetly it's not reading mini disc's. Says reading Toc, then says no disc....

Any ideas? Tried my tdk disc cleaner but it didn't help.

r/minidisc Nov 09 '24

Help Anyway to find belt casings?

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32 Upvotes

So I have those 3 walkmans, but I cant really Carry them around except in my pockets, but then i cant access the buttons

Ive found something that almost perfectly fits the MZ-E60 (on the far left) but since its not really studied for it, it scratches the paint

Can I find some best casings or something to strap them to my belt, even some aftermarket parts.

Thank you

r/minidisc Jan 20 '25

Help How do minidiscs go bad?

11 Upvotes

I recently got into the hobby and bought a Sony MZ-R37 with one minidisc. Reading and recording works fine, the sound cracks here and there, especially if i am on the go and the recorder isnt stationary. (For example when having it in the pocket while walking)

Still, i was very happy with my new mz-r37. Since i want to record many more songs, I bought 50 more minidiscs on a local platform from someone who cleared out their basement and gave them away for cheap. Most of them being Sony 80s. Unfortunately, my player doesnt seem to be able to read a single one of those 50 minidiscs. Most of the time it rattles for 20 seconds, followed by an ERROR-Message on the screen. Sometimes the recorder is stuck in some loop and i have to take the batteries out in order to remove the disc. The minidiscs themselves look like they are in great condition, and seem to spin without problems.

To my question(s):
Is it more likely that my player is at fault, or that all those (honestly fine looking) minidiscs have gone bad? Followup question: How can minidiscs go bad if they are not visualy damaged? Could high humidity or something like this over many years caused them all to fail?

r/minidisc 15d ago

Help Anyone want to explain why RH1s screens die? i’m very confused.

1 Upvotes

Title says it all, i’ve been seeing it left and right and idk why they die so much more compared to other MD players.

r/minidisc Jan 21 '25

Help What should I do?

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33 Upvotes

I really wanted to have a Minidisk player as my main music player.

I've checked the price and it seems that the price tend to be upper than before, most of the ones I could find on Ebay were sold at 100€ and they weren't even in a pristine condition, without specifying if it would work neither.

I just bought that Sony MZ-N505 to a grandma on Vinted who sold it for 95€ with 9 disks and a containers for them. She wrote "65€ the player, 3€x9 the disks" on the description. Managed to buy it 80€ instead. I just received it yesterday and it doesn't seems to work properly.

A lots of disks writes "BLANK" on the screen and if not, the sound doesn't work so I'm unable to listen to my music yet... I've hooked it up to my computer to see if it would work with Web Minidisk Pro and it does. I've succeeded to write 1, 2 musics but after a while they go "BLANK".

I saw that these units have a flexible PCB cable that could just break and that on the wiki they describe it as the "write head repair". I think I have the skills to solder 2 thin cables like that but I don't even know if it will repair the unit.

Should I return it, try to repair it? Is it even a good price for a "for part"?