The Minidisc Label Printer
I’ve spent the week so far reorganising my to-do piles (and boxes and crates). Things had got a bit out of hand. On the positive side I’ve found a couple of things I’d mislaid, but the downside is that it’s been a week without video-making and also my back is killing me.
Fortunately I had one video left in the bag - so here it is.
Comments (52)
Matt, these labels look like the plasticated direct thermal label stock used in my Dymo machine. Brother, Zebra and other companies make similar using various tape widths. I wonder if you find a cartridge for a modern labelling machine that uses the same width of tape, take it apart and install it in a Sony cartridge (if they can be disassembled easily). The labels wouldn't be pre-cut to length but you could use Mr scissors. Of course, many modern label printers can be hooked up to a computer, so perhaps some small app that listens to your MD, gets track data from Gracenote or Shazam and prints a pre-formatted label (and case-edge strip all in one) might be a nice project for these current, self-isolating times...
I’ve got something else planned as a follow up to this - but as far as this one goes, I only really bought it to make the video. Even back when it was new the cost to label up discs was prohibitive. I was mostly interested in how it went about acquiring the track names - I thought that was a clever workaround.
Love products like these that add to the retro-experience, but hate when 'supplies' are an issue and it's no longer a viable option.
Wow ! That’s certainly a level up from me using my grandads old typewriter to make wobbly labels for my collection, handily the character height on the typewriter was just about correct for the spine labels, serendipitous meeting of technologies ! Seeing devices like this though just increases my admiration for Sony did in the Japanese market, always something beautifully engineered for most scenarios
Oh, one of the Tascams is also a CD MD recorder 😆
Interesting.. I got into Minidisc after videos by MsMadLemon and of course Techmoan.. Now I have three of them (1 portable Sony, 2 Tascams and an Onkyo). I love them! I haven’t found a affordable prerecorded MD yet though.. But I also like the little printer. Especially if I ever get around to entering the track names on my recorded discs.... 😂
Wait, hang on. You have some clever automated way of copying track names from an SACD to an MD? Using which decks? (My wife and I just decided on a budget, including silly things like MiniDisc, and I'm not quite sure yet whether it's a blessing or a curse.)
Well it’s a Hybrid SACD - so really two discs in one and it’s just the CD layer I’m reading and copying. So any CD with CD Text (that wasn’t protected) would work like this. I’m theory the CD Text should be transmitted over SPDIF - however I’ve yet to test that. I’m currently using the CD MD dual player you see in this video. https://youtu.be/QrlgAvJI3WU I plan to explore this subject further in the future.
"For the 1990s Minidisc enthusiast with everything (except a Minidisc Label Printer)." Yeah, that would be me. I've already checked out Yahoo Auctions and yes, they have a couple for sale. But I think I'll be good and first repair my Sony Lissa MD deck. And perhaps buy a pair of hi-fi speakers to go with the set, now that would be an idea. I have quite a nice (and eclectic) collection of pre-recorded MDs and it's all your fau... I mean your benevolent influence. Always loved those tiny, shiny discs.
I have a Sony MD 1 that I got when I was in high school, and I have a Sony ES home deck!!
Some day I'd love to hear you talk about your actual listening habits. When you just want to enjoy some music, do you often pop in a MiniDisc, or thread up something on your reel-to-reel? Do you leave the house with a cassette Walkman in your pocket? I've burned a playlist or two to my MD Walkman for nostalgia's sake, for instance, but all roads inevitably lead to the digital music library on my NAS. The only exception is the record player I bought last year. Even so, I only use it for albums that never made it to CD or download. And vintage Christmas albums, which somehow feel more Christmas-ey with the clicks and the pops and the side change...
(This is on my mind because my Sony NW-A55 Walkman finally arrived this week and I've spent all night enjoying my 10,000+ track library on it via a microSD card.)
Used to love my MD player when I was in my 20s.
Excellent video, Mat. That one will have legs, I reckon. Another niche product I had never heard of and amazingly, still working as designed. Really interesting, thanks.
I have my doubts - there’s niche and then there’s irrelevant, but fingers crossed.
That was fun. Minidisks definitely qualify as the best looking media ever. A niche product but one I'd never have heard of if you hadn't made this video. Look after the back, see a physio or osteopath if it doesn't improve
Thanks but my back is back on the mend. This happens every time I lift anything, but fortunately it sorts itself out in a couple of days. It’s a good job I’m not a hod carrier.
Did you first try the printer with the MZ-RH1 because that's your favorite model, or did you kind of expect it to not be compatible, as to keep the viewer on the edge of their seat?
A bit of both - it’s the most recent model so if it worked with this in theory it would work with anything.
And no one is going to mention the absolute killer track choices for his first MD label he printed. So choice. Biggie. Redman. Eric B & Rakim. Jungle Brothers/Tribe/De La. Mos Def. Come on this is one killer MD. :)
That’s off a compilation CD. There’s a few recent ones out now that have curated great track lists with CD Text and cost peanuts. Four discs, £4.40 https://amzn.to/2tAN8cs (affiliated short link) Also worth looking at the ‘’frequently bought together’ list for some other similar titles.
What a great piece of kit. I wish I too had one of these years ago. I still to this day have a pile of minidiscs with little written on them to say what’s on them. It shows that there was some thought behind minidisc. I doubt any CD manufacturers ever made anything like this. I still use minidisc. A format that still holds its own in the era of the FLAC. I bought the Anders Enger Jensens Retro Grooves Vol 3. There’s a great bit of minidisc labelling. Hope your back pain clears up soon. Keep up the great work. What’s the music you use at the end of your videos?
The Retro Grooves MDs are really eye catching as are all the MDs made by BandCDs (they should start an online MD store). The music is from the YouTube audio library it’s called Over Time - by Vibe Tracks https://youtu.be/VSSswVZSgJw
I slightly missed out on this era. I was still struggling labelling my cassettes. I would have switched to Mini disc had I known.
I remember writing BASIC programs on my C64 in order to create/format/edit and print out cassette and box labels printed on regular paper. The former had to be taped on. I eventually moved on to GEOS and made better cassette inserts there.
Should you ever decide to do another corporte-history video like your Kenwood program, might I suggest you select Sony? That company likely has more successful innovations AND more marketplace failures under its belt than any other single Japanese tech manufacturer, and I bet their history is fascinating.
I’ve got a couple of books on Sony that I should really get around to reading first.
Mat, you have an eerie sixth-sense of when to drop a new video. It's invariably when I don't have work to do the next day and have just poured myself a zesty beverage. Alternative explanation: I drink too much and don't work hard enough.
Well either way it seems like our schedules are somehow in sync. I’m having a medicinal drink as well.
I couldn't get any sound out of the MiniDiscs I bought at a table top sale a while back, as it turns out, they were in the LP format (like yours), which I didn't realise my player couldn't play. Hey ho. I can always reuse them.
I can understand why they went for LP. Twice the storage with a barely discernible difference. I’ve got loads of two disc CD compilations on single MDs.
today, in oddly specific tech
The kit you could get back then, amazing! Your work and channel have rekindled so many happy memories for me. As someone who was 18 yrs old in 1980 I can vividly remember all the audio technology that was available at the time. I was hugely envious of friends who had Saturday jobs at Boots because their audio range was extensive, and they got a 10% discount! My Saturday job at WH Smiths gave me discounts on records and film, but sadly no audio equipment!
I loved Boots back in the day too. Games, Music, HiFi, Computers - the first place I saw a Nintendo NES with ROB. Oh and my first B&W TV (with IR remote) came from there.
Great video. Strange that it didn't make it to Europe back then. Now I want some Minidiscs to put some stickers on. You could have put a cam on your head while moving boxes around the house and voila another video finished. ;-)
Excellent video, and get well soon!
What a great idea for a device! Delightfully niche but quite useful, I love it.
OMG I just realised that I read both the video description and your comment with TMs voice and ypur voice respectivly. I probably watch to much of both of you LOL
Sorry to hear about your back, get well soon!
It’s not a big deal - my back goes out more than I do. A couple of good sleeps and it’ll be back to normal. But many thanks for your concern.
Just yesterday watched Big Clive demonstrating a new label printer. Maybe a collaboration is in order?
I’ll go and have a look at that.
Such a odd piece of tech, always loved how Sony used to pull off all kind of random stuff for any type of consumer. Nice video!
Crazy Sony is my favourite Sony.
I just got a Sony MDS-JE480 deck, and a portable MZ-N710 a year ago. I have very fresh experiences with labeling the disc. The stickers I had with the discs are dried, and now I have to search for some standard printable A4 stickers, get some MsWord skills, and print my own labels. This printer could be a handy device nowadays. So sad that minidisc were totally neglected outside of Japan.
The more MD things I see from Japan, the more I appreciate what it offered and what almost everywhere else missed out on.
Well, that was fun. Didn't know anything like that existed. Can you let us know when you find the 8-track version?
I’m on it...but don’t hold your breath. Incidentally I kept finding 8-tracks while tidying up and I’ve realised the collection has got a bit out of hand.
woohoo, love obscure tech, I've got a Sony dpa-300 minidisc still video recorder new in the box somewhere, will have to dig it out for @instaglyn. thanks for this, not seen this in flesh
One day I’ll demo my MD camcorder.
Still use my Minidisc (Sony MDS JE530) that I bought back in 1999 for $299. I've never seen that label printer here in the USA; probably would have bought it if I had seen it. Thanks for the video.
Pssst... I hear you like unusual old tech... Haha perfect intro!