Ning Ning

7/00: A Stereophile article states that, aside from computer based recording, MD is the leading digital recording format in the US.
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2/99: Stereophile advocated MD on its convenience & quality.
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12/98: Lee Chin has written a USC term paper on MD.
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7/98: Top (Tower Records Magazine UK) wrote enthusiastically about Pre-recorded MD in an article last year. 7/98: EE Times article with a bit of inside information and discussing Sony's MD strategy. 5/98: A favorable Telegraph (UK) article about MiniDisc has links to several short equipment reviews.
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11/97: Time Magazine article about A New World at Sony comments on how Idei is adapting Sony to the networked, digital era. (Not directly MD related).
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10/97: Singapore airlines inflight magazine had an article covering MD. 8/97: German Stereo magazine discusses the current status of MD in Europe (alternate translation).
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An EQ Magazine article discusses MD's usefulness for musicians. A Studio Sound article describes how a commercial CD was made from a recording session mastered on MD.
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The South China Morning Post (HK) carries a positive Minidisc article that quotes us.We make several comments on the South China Morning Post MD article. A Home Recording Magazine article on MiniDiscs mentions both MiniDisc.org and MiniDiscussion.com.
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The Wire (UK) mentions the MDCP. We find ourselves rated by Planetclick.com as the "most techy site."
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The T-station held a pixel contest where budding artists can help promote MD.The results of the contest can be found on their site.
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For those in Australia, you can subscribe to Pulse (Sony's half-magazine, half-catalog publication) for free.
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Beyond HiFi has a photo collection of some of TDK's latest designer blank MDs: Ministry Girotondo and Bow wow styles.
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Beyond HiFi points out a set of 3 designer MD blanks being marketed by TDK Europe and currently offers the Happy Cyclop (1st of the series). A PG-13 rated MD "Dream" advert (2.7MB .avi) was produced for Sony UK that they declined to air.
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Sony's PG-13 rated MD "Dream" advert (2.7MB .avi)
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1999: Sony gives up on MD!
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Update: Sony and IBM have struck a deal to master and distribute secure ATRAC3.IDG has a story covering Sony's online music retailing venture.
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Articles from ABC News and Apple cover Minidisco, our sponsor.
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Sharp will be the first to produce portable MiniDisc recorders outside Japan when it begins production of the MD-MT20 and MD-MT15 series in Malaysia in May 1999.
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Samsung UK (XIOD, T:0181-2323235, F:0181-2323227) are seeking UK distributors for their blank MD media, contact Ning Ning for further information.
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A December '98 Stereophile article on MD's growth reports that the number of US retail outlets selling blanks has grown to about 9000! An August '98 Herald Tribune article on MiniDisc states that MD is eclipsing the cassette.
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from U.S. News & World Report by Leonard Wiener.
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from Webnoize, this one though holds to the old misconception that MD is intended to replace CD.
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from TWICE, regarding Maxell and the coming MD "boomlet".
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A June '98 Forbes article states that in Japan, portable MiniDisc players have outsold portable CD players for the first time ever. A Jan/98 Popular Mechanics article muses about why MD is popular in Japan but not in the US. An Oct/98 MD intro article from Popular Mechanics mildly praises the format.
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An article in Time Magazine mentions MiniDisc (Time's Tech Watch section carries it too). A 1996 Austin Chronicle article discusses MD's success in Sony's test markets.
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A January 99 article in the Chicago Sun-Times talks about CDs in the presence of upstarts like MD.

Politics, Legal issues

A WSJ article states that Microsoft and others aim to render MP3 obsolete.
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The RIAA recently wrote email clarifying the legality of home audio recording, stating that consumers are free to copy CDs to MD.
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Articles in Wired and The Lousville Cardinal discuss the recording industry's campaign against MP3 on the net.
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New Scientist articles on copy-prohibited CDs, including mention of SCMS protected CDs in Germany.
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10/00: A grumbling article found on ZDNet talks about Sony fumbling the ball with MiniDisc.
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7/99: A MacWEEK article claims that MD missed the boat.
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Update 4/01: Pohlmann writes a positive MiniDisc article on HiFiBuys' site.
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Included in the article are spectrograms of a snippet of music reproduced from CD, Cassette, and MD.
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Included in the article are spectrograms of a snippet of music reproduced from CD, Cassette, and MD.
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2/98: A Wired Magazine Hype List predicts MD's meme is not long for this world. 3/98: Jon Deutsch made favorable MD commentary in Stereophile's Soapbox column, but, predictably their readers were still grumpy about MD.
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MPO's French pages (circa 1994) concerning MD manufacture and Sharp's second try with MD-Data.
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MD Tech, a website managed by Glen Wintringham, has several detailed MD-related essays that investigate both preamplifier and ATRAC issues.

What's Old?
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Pyo spots a box shot of the Sony Memory Stick walkman, available on store shelves in Japan (note optional ~$200/hour memory card beside it).
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Thomas James notes word (and photos) of Minidisc.com's stylish, upcoming MD retail shop in London, slated to be carrying the entire line of pre-recorded MD titles available in Europe.
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Ian McFarlane and Marc Kieley find news that the Candian Copyright Board has imposed a 60 cent tax on every MD blank sold in Canada.
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Thomas James finds further word on this in the National Post, and the Globe and Mail.
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Smalldisc.com opens shop, specializing in Minidisc gear for musicians and composers.
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Robert Berardino spots Sony's Memory Stick Walkman page, the unit supports ATRAC3 and MP3.
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Top (Tower Records Magazine UK) wrote enthusiastically about Pre-recorded MD in an article last year.
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William Hollingworth has updated his MiniDisc Manager freeware (for Sony decks with S-Link ports) to allow automated recording and track titling of MP3 and CD tracks through an interface with Nirvis' CDJ Music Library software.
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A reader points out detailed English information covering the Digicube MD Kiosk trial, set to debut today at 40 locations in Japan.

A friend sends in a spy shot of a Sony 5 MD changer home deck, shown in mockup form at IFA in August.
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The SDMI compliant JPY29,800 unit plays MP3 as well as Twin-VQ formats.Specs: 86x52x10mm, 54g, 5.5hr battery life.
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Bruno Guers points out the proMD1 professional audio adapter they have designed (and its insides), it is available from Marenius in Sweden (price?).
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MiniDisc Switzerland offers DB generated top-10 lists (e.g. lightest, cheapest, etc.) of MD equipment.

Pyo Ilwoong finds Tagram's Mambo-X P300 portable MP3 CD/CD-RW player.Available in December, it also plays regular CDs and runs for 14 hours on two AA cells (price: $175 Thanks Thomas!).
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Mathew Caughron finds N2MP3 encoder documentation covering MP3 to MD recording on the Macintosh.
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Hussain Sekha gives tips for recording movie soundtracks to MD.
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Charles Snider submits a helpful article on MD shopping in Hong Kong.
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Calum Tsang submits a review of the Zoltrix sound card, a inexpensive board with S/PDIF coax output.
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Mark Derricutt points out the Compaq/HanGo Personal Jukebox, a hard disk based portable MP3 player with 80 hour music capacity and 10 hour battery life, due out in December for about $800. (MP3FactoryDirect has a few further details).
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Matthew Shillaber notes an MD Discam mention in the Telegraph (UK).
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Paul Knight finds a slew of MD blank dealers in Europe: Brinkmann, Musik Produktiv, Music City, Music Store Professional, Reichelt Elektronik, and Conrad Electronic.
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Joseph McLean spots a further MD Discam article, in TWICE.
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Hardeep finds Etown right on top of things, dissing Sony's Discam within a day of its announcement (I find this oddly reassuring, given their clairvoyance with MD).
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Available in January, unit will also record up to 260 minutes of audio.
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Robert Lindemann notes Sony's Japanese MD portable products page, which Jonathan Schwartz pointed out has links to further photos of Sony's MZ-R90 and MZ-R91.
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Did you know track naming from CDs (aka "Joint-Text") requires a button push per track, during recording?
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Pyoilwoong sights a Japanese news release for Kenwood's DMC-L5 and DMC-L3 portables, (Sharp MD-ST531/631 variants?).
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L5: 22hr playback on NiMH (63hr together w/AAx1) 79.4x14.5x71.7mm, 96.4g, MSRP: JPY30,000, L3: AA shaped rechargeable allows normal AA cell to be used when NiMH quits.
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L5: 22hr playback on NiMH (63hr together w/AAx1) 79.4x14.5x71.7mm, 96.4g, MSRP: JPY30,000, L3: AA shaped rechargeable allows normal AA cell to be used when NiMH quits.
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Mikhail Grigoriev notes T-Station's coverage of Panasonic's SC-PM70MD [Japanese page] (5CD+5MD mini-system using 24 bit H.D.E.S [High Density Encoding System] ATRAC version, CD-TEXT to MD title dubbing and "MD Network" for connection to portable), SC-HD615MD [Japanese page] (5-CD and 5-MD 4 piece mini-system with slim speakers and "MD Network" for connection to portable), and SC-NS77MD [Japanese page] (5-CD, 1-MD, 1 Cassette (?) mini-system), Kenwood's Avino SG-7MD (1 CD, 1 MD, 1Cass.
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Mikhail Grigoriev notes T-Station's coverage of Panasonic's SC-PM70MD [Japanese page] (5CD+5MD mini-system using 24 bit H.D.E.S [High Density Encoding System] ATRAC version, CD-TEXT to MD title dubbing and "MD Network" for connection to portable), SC-HD615MD [Japanese page] (5-CD and 5-MD 4 piece mini-system with slim speakers and "MD Network" for connection to portable), and SC-NS77MD [Japanese page] (5-CD, 1-MD, 1 Cassette (?) mini-system), Kenwood's Avino SG-7MD (1 CD, 1 MD, 1Cass.
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24 bit Fine D.R.I.V.E CD decoder and 20 Rec D.R.I.V.E MD recorder) and VH-7MD (the latter most likely a Japanese version of their VH-800MD), Aiwa's XR-H770MD [English page] (3-CD, 5-MD, 1 cassette bookshelf system), and JVC's MX-S7WMD [Japanese page] (2-MD, 3-CD compact mini-system with 2X CD-MD dubbing speed). (Phew! Maybe etown's just got a feeling of sour grapes about MD's success in Japan?)
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Jason Kwan spots a Japanese announcement for Sony's PC-AV computer, featuring an FM tuner, TV out, TOSLink optical in/out, IEEE1394 (i.LINK), USB, and integral MD drive.
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I offer some suggestions to MD Webmasters.
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Lee has made a page about recording MP3 to MiniDisc.
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Tim Stockman says a few words about recording vinyl LPs to MD.
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Zachary St. Martin finds Sharp's Japanese MD-MT831 PC Link page, with downloads and screen shots of the software available for PC and Zaurus platforms.
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Ronald Molier points out an audiophile oriented review of Sony's MDS-JA555ES in HIFI Choice (UK).
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The Korean Minidisc Page has snapshots from the Korean Electronics Show showing Samsung's MD bookshelf system and the latest Yepp solid state players.

10/7:Jimmy Kim points out Sony's photo and Japanese announcement of their MDX-G77REC MD receiver, world's first single DIN in-dash MD recorder, featuring "jog-roller" control and 10 second time-machine recording. (As expected: Japanese FM band only).

The T-Station scoops us on a photo and Japanese announcement for Sony's MDS-JA555ES deck (ATRAC Type-R DSP and first MD deck with SNR and Dynamic Range of >108dB).
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Minidisco has information on Sharp's MD-M3 bookshelf system, with 4x CD to MD dubbing.
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CNN carries a brief biography of Morita.
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Japan-Direct finds the Sony MZ-R90 on sale in Japan and posts several snapshots of it.
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18 hour NiMH battery life, 76x17.5x80.5mm, 74g w/o batt, MSRP: JPY28,000.
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A friend spots a [pdf] JVC brochure with photos for their MD portables (XM-R70, XM-PX5, etc).

9/27:Dave Willis points out a Newswire report covering Sony USA's announcement of their MZ-R90/E90, MXD-D3, PMC-MD55 (2x CD/MD bookshelf system) and SDMI compliant PC to MD audio link (a $50 hardware & software package that connects via USB or parallel port).
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R.M.Morrien has started an Aiwa AM-HX55 page, with some good photos of the unit.

Clover Systems has good information on the CD (and hence MD) standard's error correction methods.

Patrik Hall notes Japanese info for Kenwood's DPX-9000MJ car MD receiver, double DIN size with 4 MD and 1 CD capacity.
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Peter Ravn and a friend note the formal Japanese announcement of Sony's NW-MS7 Memory Stick Walkman and 32 & 64MB memory sticks (at JPY13,500 & JPY22,000 resp.) that go in it.
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A Sony Memory Stick press release gives further information in Japanese.
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Capacity is 20 minutes of MPEG video (10 minutes in high-quality mode).
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Cevan Twilley spots word that Warner will release back-catalog material on MD (click "MiniDisc" after the page loads).
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Oscar Fowler sent us a clear scan (back in April!) of the Sony MDH-10 MD Data Drive operating instructions.
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All you need is some carefully placed adhesive tape.
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ATRAC3, the audio coding for Sony's upcoming Memorystick Walkman, gives MD equivalent quality at 128kbps (cf. MD at 292kbps) and can be easily transcoded into standard ATRAC1.

Busy Peter Ravn finds: Sony Deutschland's MDS-JA555ES page, with photo; further technical info on the 730MB iD MO disc; Traxdata's 80 minute MD; and the German cybershop CarStereoCompionents, selling car audio, CD and

There are two physically distinct types of discs: Premastered MDs, similar to CDs in operation and manufacture, and Recordable MDs, which can be recorded on repeatedly and employ magneto-optical technology.
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What's New?

Our contact Email addresses have changed due to the torrent of spam/virus messages.Please prefix your email address for us with "md-", e.g. "md-webmaster".Apologies!
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This is Sony's only Hi-MD with a built in tuner.
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On the news front, one surprise is that Hi-MD isn't doing too well in Australia - Sony 2nd generation units may not arrive there till 2006.
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Due the end of May, the ¥53,000 unit offers high speed CD->MD dubbing (Hi-LP=8X, Hi-SP=6X, PCM=4X, std-MD=2X), USB uploading, and can be used as a PC data drive as well.
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Akin to last year's Hi-MD portables, the unit records in Hi-MD and std-MD modes (SP, LP2, LP4) but does not support MP3 directly.
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Emma Stratton's Minidisc essay in The Morning News captures the aura and optimism of Minidisc's early days. (Courtesy Joel Dueck) (Discuss ... )
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The USB-powered DS-HDM1 (mech. trans.) offers peak write speeds of 9.8 Mbps (1GB media) and 4.4Mbps (reformatted 305MB std-MD media), that's 7X and 3X (respectively) the CD data rate.
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AV-Watch has further photos and coverage. (Discuss ... ) // Ed Barlow points out a ZDNet (UK) article on avoiding obsolete storage hell.The author recommends staying away from many companies and their proprietary media, including "the Minidisc music format that seems designed by lawyers"

4/13:Hi-MD Macintosh support?Several readers point out Japanese news of the Buffalo MD-HUSB portable downloader (further coverage at Gizmodo and AV-Watch (mech. trans.)).
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Buffalo Buffalo, Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo? (Discuss ... )
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Is there similar hope for MP3 files on Hi-MD media? (Discuss ... )
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Minidisco has the MZ-RH10 and MZ-RH910 in stock.
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The MZ-DH10P is due late May, the MZ-DH710 late April.
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Did you know the camera was originally slated to be 3 megapixels, but was scaled back to reduce the unit's overall size? (Discuss ... ) // Minidisco is accepting 2005 Hi-MD pre-orders, for delivery in mid to late April.
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Did you know the camera was originally slated to be 3 megapixels, but was scaled back to reduce the unit's overall size? (Discuss ... ) // Minidisco is accepting 2005 Hi-MD pre-orders, for delivery in mid to late April.
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// MDcenter.nl posts the first picture of the Sony MZ-RH10 with its Euro/NA remote (scroll to bottom of page).
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They're touting the native MP3 capabilities and it is nice to see the units in action. (Discuss ... )
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The MZ-NH700 is a Hi-MD recorder available in Canada and Europe that is essentially an MZ-NHF800 without the AM/FM/TV radio. // Minidisc Access is offering the industry's first 48-Minidisc organizer binder for US$29 plus shipping.
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A Wall Street Journal piece adds this Minidisc related commentary: The Walkman group has suffered from a split between those who believe Sony should make its gadgets compatible with a wide range of popular services and technologies -- like the MP3 music-encoding system -- and those who push Sony's proprietary technology -- such as Minidiscs and the Atrac music-encoding system. (Discuss ... ) // The Sound Professionals is offering their standard binaural microphones for $30, 67% off their normal price.
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Forums administrator Kurisu finds a plethora of Sony Hi-MD equipment pictures and specifications, including Sony's Hi-MD Photo page, MZ-DH10 and MZ-RH10 battery life specs, and photos of the MZ-EH930 Hi-MD player.
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After years of wishing and waiting, Sony's 2005 MZ-DH10, MZ-RH10, MZ-RH910 and MZ-RH710 Hi-MD portables will finally play back MP3s directly.
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The MZ-DH10 is unique -- it includes a 1.3MP camera and color LCD built into the unit. (Discuss ... )

2/27:Daryl Kobayashi points out MD gear on clearance at Crutchfield, including an MZ-NH1 for $300.

2/20:Minidisc.org has moved to a new server.We think you'll find the site a bit faster now.

2/16:Sony headed for AAC support on Connect?
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Ed Barlow points out an interesting Register article (UK) indicating that an upcoming Sony Ericsson mobile handset will be able to carry 6 to 10 CDs worth of MP3 or AAC format audio, and that tracks can be purchased for it from Sony's Connect music store.
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Christopher McManus presents this month's Forum Focus: The second edition of Minidisc Community Forum Focus shall begin with a zinger for you European Sony Hi-MD folk; a user by the name of himdman has figured how to lift the volume limitation enforced by French litigation - which allows all models [except NH1, which isn't 'capped] to enjoy a full 5mW output!
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And lastly, read an interesting interview with the developers of ATRAC3plus.With 6,000 registered users and 100 users on at mostly any time, be sure to join us for insightful MD discussion.

2/8:MDcenter.nl posts good photos of Hi-MD blanks.Their jacket seems a bit like a small pre-recorded case.

2/5:Capturing Toddler's Speech on Minidisc: John Guest points out a method for recording children's speech on TalkBank.org that uses a Sony MZ-N10 recorder, lapel microphone, and a toddler harness. Capturing Toddler's Speech on Minidisc: John Guest points out a method for recording children's speech on TalkBank.org that uses a Sony MZ-N10 recorder, lapel microphone, and a toddler harness.
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AV-Watch has further coverage (mech. trans.) Oddly, the unit appears to be lacking both USB and digital output connections. (Discuss ... ) // Christopher MacManus finds a Sharp technical paper (in Japanese with English abstract) describing their work to produce an integrated optical pickup that handles both Hi-MD and Std-MD media (full paper)
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AV-Watch has further coverage (mech. trans.) Oddly, the unit appears to be lacking both USB and digital output connections. (Discuss ... ) // Christopher MacManus finds a Sharp technical paper (in Japanese with English abstract) describing their work to produce an integrated optical pickup that handles both Hi-MD and Std-MD media (full paper)
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A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds: Mark Bausch points out stories in the Chicago Tribune (cached) and Forbes in which Sony finally admits that its near-religious adherence to ATRAC and an overly proprietary atitiude about music and entertainment content has been a mistake that has cost them sales.
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And MacWorld has the same story from a slightly different perspective. // For Dutch readers, MDcenter.nl is having a contest offering Sony MCMD-R1 Hi-MD cardreaders.
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Paul Riismandel posts an in-depth Sony MZ-NH1 review at Epinions.com that nicely situates Hi-MD in its historical context.
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The Hi-MD forum has an informative discussion contemplating the usefulness of a 128kbps ATRAC3plus bitrate for Hi-MD . And lastly, if it's been a while since you've employed Marcnet's Hi-MD Renderer program [allowing you convert those recordings made by Hi-MD to *.wav], he's up to version 0.31 and it includes some fantastic updates.By the way, Sonicstage 1.5, 2.1, and 2.2 users can upgrade to Sonicstage 2.3 . Do join us for daily discussion of all and sundry Minidisc topics, registration is quick and easy!
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Marck finds a positive MZ-NH1 piece in Australian IT, stating that in terms of sound quality at least, Sony's Hi-MD portables are indeed iPod-killers. // And an AudioGoGo article asks does the iPod have a future?
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They write however "I have to smile when I see Sony mentioned as a possible usurper of the iPod.
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IDG News and The Register cover Sony's MP3 conversion -- apparently Sony will allow NW-HD1/2 owners to upgrade their firmware to play MP3s directly.
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Sony's conversion to the MP3 religion: Peter Ravn points out Sony's Japanese page for their NW-HD3 and NW-E99 fully ATRAC3plus/MP3 compatible 20GB HD and 1GB Flash walkmans (mech. trans).
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As TrustedReviews NW-HD1 review points out, the earlier unit's inability to play MP3 files, coupled with Sonic Stage (download manager) buggyness conspire to create an unfriendly (and unSony-like) user experience.
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Sony (finally!) garners their Hi-MD customers' votes: Clay reports that Sony has released their Wav Conversion Tool that converts uploaded Hi-MD recordings into Windows ".wav" format audio files.
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From there they may be easily converted to MP3 or burned to CD. (Discuss ... )

10/26:Ganesh and de Pablos point out the new Panasonic SJ-MR50 MDLP recorder, a sleek unit with a built-in microphone and speaker as well as a wealth of good old front-panel butt

There are two physically distinct types of discs: Premastered MDs, similar to CDs in operation and manufacture, and Recordable MDs, which can be recorded on repeatedly and employ magneto-optical technology.
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What's New?

Our contact Email addresses have changed due to the torrent of spam/virus messages.Please prefix your email address for us with "md-", e.g. "md-webmaster".Apologies!
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Sony later released an uninstaller, but Mark has has looked at it and finds "Without exaggeration I can say I've analyzed virulent forms of spyware/adware that provide more straightforward means of uninstall".
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Attention Sony Electronics -- would anything bad actually happen if you just jettisoned Sony Entertainment? (Discuss ... )
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The unit can record to HD from a variety of sources, including CD (8x) and MD (realtime, analog). // Christopher Clark points out further NetJuke info at Engadget (in English).
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Latest of the bunch is the NAS-A1 NetJuke stereo it's launching as part of the Any Music joint venture ....

10/13:Several readers point out coverage of Sony's MZ-EH70 MZ-EH50 Hi-MD players (mech. trans).The ¥19,000 and ¥17,000 (resp.) units feature a maximum battery life (AA+NiMH) exceeding 80 hours and incorporate PCM and ATRAC/ATRAC3/ATRAC3plus codecs, but lack support for MP3 playback.
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Further coverage at AkihabaraNews and AVWatch (mech. trans). (Discuss ... )
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Available in December for $2000. (Courtesy Boris Bengin) // Also from AES, a respected journalist in the audio field reports: I was told [by Sony's pro-audio division] that new Hi-MD models are being developed and that Sony had no intention of killing the format. ...
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Available in December for $2000. (Courtesy Boris Bengin) // Also from AES, a respected journalist in the audio field reports: I was told [by Sony's pro-audio division] that new Hi-MD models are being developed and that Sony had no intention of killing the format. ...
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They kept assuring everyone that Hi-MD in the pro market will continue.

9/25:A CanadaEast News article reports on Sony's announced restructuring, stating "Sony also fell behind Apple Computer Inc.'s IPod in what should have been its forte - portable music players - clinging to CD and minidisc formats and its own proprietary but unpopular format for digital music files.
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The IPod models are a big hit in Japan, where Apple began its ITunes store in August to rave reviews."
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The Washington Post reports that Sony will cut 10,000 jobs in a restructuring operation to "catch up with rivals such as ... Apple Computer and its popular iPod player in the portable music industry".
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Minidisco donating 5% to Hurricane Katrina relief Minidisco will donate 5% of every order placed between now and Sept. 20th directly to the American Red Cross to support the Katrina Relief efforts.

9/11:Sonic Stage R.I.P. Sony announces "Connect Player", a drag and drop oriented audio management tool. (Discuss ... )

8/24:Dale Greer nicely covers Hi-MD Minidisc to Macintosh transfers, finding them quick and easy. (Discuss ... ) // Daijobu puts together a Standalone Sonic Stage 3.2 installer enabling installation to be done without a connection to the Internet. // Speaking of Macintosh support, Minidisco is now carrying the Sony MZ-M100 ($400) and MZ-M10 ($300) portable Hi-MD recorders. Dale Greer nicely covers Hi-MD Minidisc to Macintosh transfers, finding them quick and easy. (Discuss ... ) // Daijobu puts together a Standalone Sonic Stage 3.2 installer enabling installation to be done without a connection to the Internet. // Speaking of Macintosh support, Minidisco is now carrying the Sony MZ-M100 ($400) and MZ-M10 ($300) portable Hi-MD recorders.
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Strap's comments: The article is talking about how the iTunes launch in Japan is a raging success and how Sony musicians are trying to get their music onto iTunes even though Sony hasn't reached an agreement with Apple.
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Strap's comments: The article is talking about how the iTunes launch in Japan is a raging success and how Sony musicians are trying to get their music onto iTunes even though Sony hasn't reached an agreement with Apple.
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I wouldn't mind seeing them dump their music and movie studios and get back to doing what they used to do better than anyone, making the most innovative electronic equipment in the world. (Discuss ... ) // Kurisu points out several nice reviews from the forums: A black MZ-DH10P pictorial, an MZ-RH10 review and MZ-RH10 vs.
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As anyone who has hand titled on an MZ-RH10 unit knows, the characters K, L, M, X, Y, Z, k, l, m, x, y, and z are missing from the input screen.Sony has agreed to pay for the repair as well as round-trip shipping charges. (Discuss ... )
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Check out the many other topics in our Product Reviews/Pictorials section that were not mentioned here, and you can add to the growing list - Register for free to participate in the #1 discussion board for Minidisc!
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Sony (finally!) comes to their senses, allowing unlimited uploads of your own recordings from Minidisc to PC in Sonic Stage 3.2. Remember NetMD with its silly 3-download limit?
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How far they have come! (Discuss ... )
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Kurisu finds Sony Business Products pages for the MZ-M100 (MZ-RH10 clone) and MZ-M10 (MZ-RH910 clone) portable Hi-MD recorders.
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They appear identical in every way to their RH brethren but also support upload of PCM linear recordings (only) to a Mac using Sony's Hi-MD WAV Importer software. (Discuss ... )
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Amid Choueiri points out a thoughtful article on Sony's Hi-MD technology at DigitalMediaThoughts. // Minidisco.com has the Sony MZ-DH10P in stock but they note some incorrect details on Sony's site: Unit has no Mic input, no Line input, no AC input on the unit - AC adapter plugs into the charging cradle only, no external AA battery case - can be used only with the removable LiIon rechargeable battery, the AC adapter is 6V not 3V.
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On the news front, one surprise is that Hi-MD isn't doing too well in Australia - Sony 2nd generation units may not arrive there till 2006.
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Due the end of May, the ¥53,000 unit offers high speed CD->MD dubbing (Hi-LP=8X, Hi-SP=6X, PCM=4X, std-MD=2X), USB uploading, and can be used as a PC data drive as well.
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Akin to last year's Hi-MD portables, the unit records in Hi-MD and std-MD modes (SP, LP2, LP4) but does not support MP3 directly.
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Emma Stratton's Minidisc essay in The Morning News captures the aura and optimism of Minidisc's early days. (Courtesy Joel Dueck) (Discuss ... )
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The USB-powered DS-HDM1 (mech. trans.) offers peak write speeds of 9.8 Mbps (1GB media) and 4.4Mbps (reformatted 305MB std-MD media), that's 7X and 3X (respectively) the CD data rate.
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AV-Watch has further photos and coverage. (Discuss ... ) // Ed Barlow points out a ZDNet (UK) article on avoiding obsolete storage hell.The author recommends staying away from many companies and their proprietary media, including "the Minidisc music format that seems designed by lawyers"

4/13:Hi-MD Macintosh support?Several readers point out Japanese news of the Buffalo MD-HUSB portable downloader (further coverage at Gizmodo and AV-Watch (mech. trans.)).
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Buffalo Buffalo, Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo? (Discuss ... )
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Is there similar hope for MP3 files on Hi-MD media? (Discuss ... )
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Minidisco has the MZ-RH10 and MZ-RH910 in stock.
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The MZ-DH10P is due late May, the MZ-DH710 late April.
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Did you know the camera was originally slated to be 3 megapixels, but was scaled back to reduce the unit's overall size? (Discuss ... ) // Minidisco is accepting 2005 Hi-MD pre-orders, for delivery in mid to late April.
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Did you know the camera was originally slated to be 3 megapixels, but was scaled back to reduce the unit's overall size? (Discuss ... ) // Minidisco is accepting 2005 Hi-MD pre-orders, for delivery in mid to late April.
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// MDcenter.nl posts the first picture of the Sony MZ-RH10 with its Euro/NA remote (scroll to bottom of page).
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They're touting the native MP3 capabilities and it is nice to see the units in action. (Discuss ... )
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AV Land (UK) has high-res photos of Sony's MZ-DH10P MD downloader/camera.
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The MZ-NH700 is a Hi-MD recorder available in Canada and Europe that is essentially an MZ-NHF800 without the AM/FM/TV radio. // Minidisc Access is offering the industry's first 48-Minidisc organizer binder for US$29 plus shipping.
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A Wall Street Journal piece adds this Minidisc related commentary: The Walkman group has suffered from a split between those who believe Sony should m