The only MiniDisc recorder with a stylus
Technical mishaps resulted in a couple of video false starts this week. So in place of any planned programming shown in your TV listings magazine here’s a brief demonstration of an unusual MiniDisc portable.
I’ll start working on adding the subtitles for this video tomorrow.
Hopefully I’ll be able to make some progress on my other projects to bring you one of them next week.
In the meantime I trust you’re keeping well, and of course as always thank you for all the support and positivity. I find everyone so much more pleasant here than anywhere else I've recently visited on the internet. 'Social' media often makes it seem like the trolls have taken over the asylum while Patreon is like an oasis of normality. Have a good week.
UPDATE: Reworded a section to remove the erroneous mention of Kanji characters.
UPDATE 2: Removed breathing.
Comments (69)
Hi Mat, Not sure if you have this already but here is the address for the service that you can use with a Mac to transfer audio to a net MD unit. https://stefano.brilli.me/webminidisc/ A friend uses it and says it's safe (your files don't actually go to a web server, they stay local).
Yes I’m aware - it didn’t work for me the last time I tried it, but I’ve been meaning to try it again sometime to show in a video.
I remember seeing this in the shops when I was living in Japan in the late 90s. I also remember labeling disks using that exact Sony model you show and it certainly was a pain, so I can see the desire to simplify the process. The iPod had come out by the time the NetMD machines were around so I had moved on by then.
love anything to do with minidiscs.....keep up the good work. your videos's got me back into minidisc and now i have 2x mz-n510 an MDS JE4760 and a japanese wd-5700-mdx car head unit that i am using with a 12v adapter as my main stereo. Car head units are a great way to save space on a home system and still have lots of features, it replaces my amp, my cd player and my MD player all in one 8" by 4" unit, i just use my netmd portable to create new disks...plus i dont have to convert the voltage as it is all 12v all over the world. so.....I blame you and my wife blames you too. Thanks Mat.
Great video, but shouldn't there be a cheese sandwich logo in the corner since it's a short video of one item,or am I misunderstanding something?
Perhaps - tend to put the logo on when I feel like I haven’t made too much effort on a video. Live audio and minimal editing. This one took a few days so seemed to be a step above even if it was short.
There’s something strangely ominous about Edit: Removed Breathing...
Great video Mat! I still love minidisc as a format, and especially like an unusual Japanese rarity like this one. Never seen one of those before, and most likely will not see one again!
Maybe the bulky device was responsible for the fashion for combat trousers in the 90’s? Interesting video, as always, for a snowy Monday.
I saw the title and thought stylus as in record player stylus. Thanks for the video Mat.
It seems like you’re not alone - it wasn’t my intention to mislead, but it seems like I’ve managed it.
I never bought a mini-disc back in the day. Now I wish I had it would have scratched the itch of something small and portable before MP3 players got good.
This makes me want something like a Palm V with a built-in minidisc player, so you could use Graffiti for text entry. Although, when I say "want", I mean "I'd have paid a lot for it in the 90s, but I wouldn't have been able to afford it then, and I wouldn't pay more than a tenner for it now".
Someone else had the same idea http://www.minidisc.org/mz-r110pda.htm Note: This was an April Fool.
That wasn't what I expected at all. Seeing the word "Stylus I thought you had found something like a Panasonic SG-J500 (a Boombox with a slide out turntable in the bottom) incorporating a MiniDisc deck. I wonder if such a thing ever existed. Teac have made Music Centre type devices incorporating Record Decks and CD Writers, but has there ever been a turntable and MinDisc in the same unit ?
I don’t recall seeing a record player and MD in the same device.
I had a combined CD/MD home recorder think it might have been a Sony MXD-D3? It came from Richers sounds in croydon! You could select what tracks you wanted to be copied across from the CD and it did it in 4 times speed. Between us we had a portable player each and i had a MD player in the car. It was very much the I-pod of the day. I think when i sold it ( about 5 years having used it heavily when we went over to itunes) I sold it for more than i paid for it. I also had a CD only version Grundig CD/CDR RCD 45? which was a badge engineered LG machine which was also sold in the UK under a High end brand whos name escapes me. I bought it new very cheap ( £50) from Dixons because they had lost the manual and downloaded the manual of the hi end one as Dixons hadn't made it available. I used the Grundig machine for recording comedy radio shows off the radio although you could choose tracks of the player only side to record on the recorder side.
You might have seen my more recent iteration of your combo unit briefly in this video. https://youtu.be/5ufOfV40fx0
Not really related to this video as such, but the portable MD units always used to come with these cool inline remotes - a small display and few push buttons for play/pause etc. It's a shame that smartphones never continued that trend, I always thought it was quite handy. I know some headphones etc have a button on them but it's limited to 'one press' for play/pause' and 'two presses' for skip forward.
I lamented the passing of these in the ‘Minidisc - An Appreciation’ video. However since then I’ve grown into the idea of the Apple Watch being the equivalent of a remote for music played on the phone, so the idea lives on.
Hello Mat, what's the reference of the Sony MD player with the keyboard connection? Have a nice day.
Many of the higher end units had that. I had a Sony MDS-JE640 with that feature, but in the UK at the time (Early 2000's ) most decks over £150 seemed to include that feature, not just Sony ones too.
Thanks Mat, you may scoff but every time one of your videos go up, it's the highlight of my lockdown day. Looking forward to the monthly "world to rights"/"catch up" that makes me feel I'm not an lost alien in a bizarre new world. With that in mind, my rant I need to vent to your sympathetic ears with the above text in mind. *Dear Internet. If someone posts the same picture of Bernie Sanders in a coat or the "Jackie Weaver" quote but in different "inspired" scenerios - it's still the same (unfunny) joke. Please avoid the need to fit in, revaluate your life and do not do it. Sigh....I feel better now.....I know you understand..... :-)
I’ve been contemplating venting over ‘jokes’ posted as responses to things on the internet. I fear the concept of humour has been lost to be replaced with posting the same punchline over and over and over again. I think it’s that issue of unfunny people thinking they’re funny because they have an audience. They assume the internet was created so others were forced to hear their weak derivative reposted jokes.
This is a classic piece of Japanese electronics - engineers problem solving. Thank you Mat.
For me, seeing evidence of MD's popularity outside of the US is like looking at an alternate reality. These are always great videos.
You might want to mute that clip at 2:50, freaked me out a bit because it sounded like there was someone breathing over my shoulder in real life....
I’ll take another look at it, thanks.
Techmoan... as effective as a glass of red wine. Helps us forget about the world outside for a precious few minutes. Fascinating and superbly presented as always. Have you had your jab yet, Mat? Have a great Sunday!
Unfortunately I still haven’t heard anything. I’ll be on an ‘unwell 50yr olds’ list...when they get to that is anyone’s guess.
Damn I feel posh because I used to have a home minidisc deck and a portable one. Great video as ever, thanks Mat.
Wow such an interesting experiment with MD players. I could imagine maybe trying to turn that system into a stylus based PDA if it got any traction. Since that screen and stylus gave me Palm Pilot flashbacks. Then again I also owned a couple of Sony Clie models of PDAs.
omg a PDA with data MD as its storage device. Wow. Want.
Hi Mat, Thanks for another great video highlighting a product I never knew about. Particularly interesting being a fan of the Minidisc format, having used it since the MZ-1 launch recorder which had a phone style keyboard making adding titles very quick and easy. (I titled more recordings on that machine that any other). My MDS-JB980 is still in my stack and still working (thanks to an ex dealer friend after the eject belt broke last year). Relax and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
"Patreon is like an oasis of normality" .... This is why I am only on Patreon :-) Have a Nice Week End Matt.
...and you too. Take a break from the lab.
I wonder how many people still have a home deck up and running? My MDS JE-530 is the longest-standing component in my hifi, having been there since purchase on 28th Dec 1999. Always enjoy your videos.
Great video. Used to use minidisc to coppie records onto. To listen to at collage. Miss my minidisc deck.
Off topic but would you guys like to take a visit to the early television museum? : https://youtu.be/YqGaEM9sjVg
I’ll watch that later, thanks.
When I read the title I thought it read md's with a stylus like a turntable did lol
In the paper today there were tales of war and waste, but when I turned over to the TV page, the listing for Techmoan showed that today's episode would be "Tape Recorders of Mission Impossible, Chapter 3." I guess this means that I'll have to wait another week to see TROMI-3. Oh well;>)
I can't be the only person that saw "MiniDisc" "Techmoan" and "Stylus" and thought "A vinyl stylus? How does that work on a MiniDisc? Some sort of compact record player combo thing?" :)
You're sounding better Mat. Always nice to see your latest video.
Some Sony mini stereo systems did copying really easy, One button press 😊 And i have one Sony HCD-MD333
It's always nice to learn more about MiniDisc. :)
As a designer, it’s always fun to see alternative devices – and as a person who’s writing a book about keyboards and typing, this is fascinating! One nit: I am not an expert, but I would double check this actually allows typing in kanji. Something tells me it might be katakana only.
Thanks for the information about the replacement battery! I've been locking for one for my XM-R2.
You’ll need to Dremel out a bit of the plastic from the compartment as well as the lid to get it to fit.
I always love your minidisc contend. It's such a beautiful format and your videos introduced me to it. Did you know that it is now possible to use NetMD through your Webbrowser? Someone spent their quarantine time on implementing it in Google Chrome: https://stefano.brilli.me/webminidisc/
I did - it didn’t work the last time I tried it, but I’ll give it another go when I get the chance.
Thanks! As always I'm amazed how many different devices were made for MiniDisc.
When I look at Sony's lineup I'm just amazed. So many were made that don't seem to have very different functionality. Just like Polaroid's 600 lineup of cameras - all the same internals, just different skins.
Ok, if you came up with an Elcaset / MD changer with AM/FM/CB radio, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
Elcasseiver
Amazing ! Proof that Japan has been living in a parallel future for decades 🤩
Cool to see such a niche-thingy again. Nowadays, they would simply put a full-colour capacitive touch-screen on it, only not use the MDs anymore :-P
happy to be part of the tribe seeking refuge in the oasis! love what you do and I'm sending positive vibes your way! bzzzzzzz that was the positive vibes. I'm sure you felt them lol
Yep. Definitely got something here.
A false start on a video can be frustrating. Don't let it bother you mate. As for me I've got a scratched eye, should be fine in a couple of days.
Nasty. I wish you a quick and complete recovery.
Another fantastic video. Always amazed by the obscure products nobody knew existed that you manage to pull up! Minor detail, if you end up making other edits anyway and want to get ahead of the YouTube pedant commenters - this device doesn't appear to support Kanji input (the screen resolution is too low to display them! and it would need a massive, expensive ROM to fit the fonts and conversion dictionaries), the input is purely for Katakana, the more simple phonetic syllabary.
Thanks for letting me know - I’ll make a quick edit.
Thanks for an excellent video Sir Techmoan. You’re right about social media and positivity (of lack thereof). When Twitter first started it was amazingly democratic and “nice” - I often used to remark about it to people. We all got on with each other. It didn’t matter what you were - we were all friends. Then the journalists and politicians turned up and the whole place turned horrible. (Then the legions of trolls).
What a wonderful device. I’d have loved on of these back then. Although given how long you say it took to find, I doubt I’ll be hunting one out personally. But thank you for featuring it.
Did they never make a minidisc system with a turntable? 😁
Is that like a vinyls player?
I thought I was just going crazy. I thought I saw this in my sub feed on YouTube, but when I went back to watch it, it was gone. Good to know I wasn't seeing things.
Thank you for posting another video Matt.