Farewell Sony MiniDisc

[admin]

Sony quietly announced the release of the last stereo system that will ever feature its MiniDisc format, effectively killing the format. Frankly, we were surprised to hear the 20-plus year old disc format was still alive at all. MiniDisc never caught on with the mainstream and outside of a few professions that regularly use digitally recorded audio, it was living as quietly as it has thus passed. Hearing of the end of MiniDisc, Audioholics presents a eulogy for a format that most of you may have ignored but one that long ago etched a magneto-optical pitted groove into the hearts of many music fans through the 1990s.

Discuss "Farewell Sony MiniDisc" here. Read the article.

 

[afterlife2]

I still use mine to record radio shows.

 

[j_garcia]

My dad still uses his for now too, but far less now that he has his ipod and Kindle Fire.

 

[bac522]

Frankly, we were surprised to hear the 20-plus year old disc format was still alive at all.

And hence the reason Sony, in general, is a company in dire straights today. The company has no ability to see the future and less ability to end products that never provided to the bottom line to begin with!

 

[serhauss]

MiniDisc Obituary

It is a pity that Sony MD has passed away...I still have a Sony MDS-920 (standalone) and more two portables MD players from Sharp and Sony. In my bedroom there is a Sharp MD/CD system that still works fine and frequently I use it to copy from CD to MD just pushing a single bottom. My collection of over 100 recorded MDs it is in pristine condition and play fine. The MD sound quality is better than most MP3 tracks due to higher audio compression of MP3. However, I understand and I agree that the current generation that consume media prefer practicity instead of quality, and as a consequence the mini iPod Nano and similars players are a huge world wide success, including here in Brazil where I live. This young generation has grown up listening to low quality audio and are convinced that the highly compressed sound of a MP3 is good enough. Not for me. Sergio Haussmann (Brazil)

 

[j_garcia]

It is a pity that Sony MD has passed away...I still have a Sony MDS-920 (standalone) and more two portables MD players from Sharp and Sony. In my bedroom there is a Sharp MD/CD system that still works fine and frequently I use it to copy from CD to MD just pushing a single bottom. My collection of over 100 recorded MDs it is in pristine condition and play fine. The MD sound quality is better than most MP3 tracks due to higher audio compression of MP3. However, I understand and I agree that the current generation that consume media prefer practicity instead of quality, and as a consequence the mini iPod Nano and similars players are a huge world wide success, including here in Brazil where I live. This young generation has grown up listening to low quality audio and are convinced that the highly compressed sound of a MP3 is good enough. Not for me. Sergio Haussmann (Brazil)

Not all MP3 is highly compressed. I understand what you are saying, but MP3 isn't the problem, people accepting poor quality is

 

[Ovation]

I'm not ready to give mine up just yet

I have a stand-alone player/recorder from Sony, works great, and Sharp portable (built like a tank, bought it in 1998 and still works flawlessly). I use the stand-alone primarily to record radio shows these days, but I still playback some of the mixed-tunes discs I made back in the day. Even have a few audio feeds from some concerts broadcast on cable TV years back. I agree they were a victim of bad timing, but always reliable. Oh well. I still have and watch HD DVDs, too. Guess I'm a sucker for marginal formats.

 

[96cobra10101]

Yep. I rock a couple Sony MD players. Hell, I have Pioneer LD player too!

 

[MC Next]

The Minidisc, Not Dead Yet 2014

Still buying and using minidisc and 1GB HI-MD in 2014. NEW Sony Neige 10 and 5 Pack minidisc are on sale from Japanese sellers from Sony Japan, selling online @ ebay and Amazon. Other NEW Sony, TDK, Victor and Memorex minidisc are on sale in smaller supplies at higher prices. Used minidisc and 1Gb HI-MD are still on sale on ebay and Amazon in much smaller supplies at higher prices also. Used minidisc and Hi-MD recorders are on sale on ebay and Amazon but prices are moving up not down. There are still a very few (if any) NEW minidisc and HI-MD recorders on sale (on ebay and Amazon) from older supplies but the premiums are high.
The minidisc and HI-MD format due to Japanese (and smaller European and US) demand is not dead yet but time is running out, so buy what you can now if you plan to use this format in the future.

 

[chadergeist]

This format is not dead for me!
The younger generation can have their shitty sound quality. I want no part of it.
I am into pure good audio quality. I will keep using the md format till the day i pass
away. Sony are the idiots who gave up on this format. If i where Sony, i would kill
the MP3 format, kill purchasing digital music, take Apple to court for a law suit on
how they used tactics on pushing Ipods on the public and led to the unsuccessfulness
of a proper format...so on and so on. I would even kill the cdr and dvdr format. The
only way a format will win if you kill all other formats where it will leave people to
only have one to use and eventually love. This is my rant. Even if it is way up there
as a fantasy stand point.

 

[TLS Guy]

Not all MP3 is highly compressed. I understand what you are saying, but MP3 isn't the problem, people accepting poor quality is

MP3 is a problem. It is an inferior codec compared to others especially AAC plus. MP3 is only acceptable at comparatively high bit rates. It is time this codec was consigned to the history department. There is no excuse for perpetuating this codec.

 

[j_garcia]

Though MP3 has become a generic term like Coke for soda, most downloads today are MP4 not MP3 and it is a slightly better codec. AAC really should have won, but it doesn't have a nice ring to it lol.

 

[highfigh]

I have a few MiniDiscs, including one by Joe Cocker- that's probably the only one that was opened.

 

[lovinthehd]

I haven't used my MD player/discs in quite a while now....might have to dust it off and give it a whirl just for nostalgia's sake.

 

[MR.MAGOO]

it this what the subject is about?
I had two of these but mysteriously they are lost. Maybe one reason the format is obsolete. Some CD players had a well in the tray to play them without the need for an adapter. They were sometimes called CD singles, had one or two songs.

 

[MattyB]

No, that's a 3 inch CD, not a MiniDisc - I had quite a few of those in the late 80's to early 90's when the fashion for the smaller CDs faded out, replaced by full-size 5 inch CD singles - perhaps another thread could be dedicated to this short-lived format. It could also be a 3 inch DVD which are used in some older camcorders.

 

[lovinthehd]

This is a minidisc - kind of like an optical disc in a case (similar to an old floppy disc in a way)

 

[MR.MAGOO]

so it died sort of the way their BetaMax died? A proprietary design nobody else wanted?

 

[MattyB]

Depends where you are from - in the US it never really made a big splash, whereas it was a very popular format in Europe. I certainly remember it being everywhere in the UK in the 90's. Overall I would say it was one of Sony's modest successes.

 

[lovinthehd]

I was introduced to it on a trip to Canada, where the guy who did so couldn't believe I didn't know about minidiscs....and since he made me a few of some mixes he had been playing (he was the bartender at a pub in Whistler) I got a player when I got home. Haven't used it for a while....it's around here somewheres.