MiniDisc: Adding Track Titles without a PC

[@fab1604]

I thought the automatic label printer waa the most odd and niche MD accessory you could ever show to us, but it took you less than a month to surprise me again! A flippin IR keyboard MD remote controller, just for editing your MD text... God I love Sony

[@fab1604]

@ That's what I love about them, when they released a new tech or a new format they would go all the way to fully support it

[@7JANEWAY]

@@Toxis374 Unfortunately, you can't please everybody.

[@7JANEWAY]

@ Auto manufacturers have been dealing in planned obsolescence ever since they started manufacturing autos. They have had for some time now the technology to build cars that will last literally decades without rusting or breaking down. But if they did that, then no one would be buying cars every few years and they would basically be putting themselves out of business.

@@7JANEWAY Totes agree. I live in New Zealand where our vehicle fleet is notoriously aged, we all drive old cars, except for the few flashy wankers. We buy used imports from Japan, 3 year old cars driven less than 50,000Km, plus a shittonne of 2nd hand parts. I think we win on the deal, Japanese automotive engineering is second to none in the world, we get cars that are proven to run forever, and plenty of cheap parts to ensure they do so. If a model is a dud, we know beforehand and don't import them as no one will buy. Basically we don't fall into the trap of the early adopter.

[@CompuKonstantin]

One of these is available for pickup in my area for 100€...

[@lennyg47]

Happy Minidisc day! I own Sony MDS-JE510 since 1995.

[@basshead2003]

BtMC I have the same model. Unfortunately it keeps trying to eject the disc when there’s no disc inserted. Haven’t gotten around to taking it apart to fix the disc presence switch/sensor. The factory remote was pretty nice too; direct track access for up to 25 tracks and could label the disc and tracks with a separate button for every letter.

[@SuperPJG]

I nominate Techmoan as KZbinr of the year

[@nux3960]

Sure..

[@Techmoan]

I nominate Camera Conspiracies.

[@mattb4721]

This is KZbin, so that's never going to happen. "KZbinr of the Year" would be either a guy whose hamster plays the piano, or some clueless 15-year-old talking about shoes....

[@nux3960]

@@mattb4721 or funny cats videos :P

[@lukahutinski9075]

The net is vast and infinite, this puppet master is a gem of the nerdy techy part it.

[@offspringfan89]

Is it me, or the more obscure the format is, the best the video from Techmoan is? The Minidisc videos are easily my favourite episodes, Techmoan's research on the format was simply fantastic, almost PhD thesis-like stuff. By the way, happy Minidiscday!

[@hammerheadcorvette4]

Physical Media needs to stay. The more we move away from it, the more we lose ownership of things. We are basically renting content at that point

[@ConsumerDV]

We always have been renting, or so the music labels wanted us to think. They fought tooth and nail to prevent dubbing onto tapes, then copying of CDs, then they added copy protection to DAT, and don't start about the idiotic checking out / checking in on MiniDisc, this is what killed this format. Just like Android vs Apple, cassettes or later CDs or later MP3s gave more freedom than DAT or MiniDisc. Napster opened the floodgates, and though it has been killed, the non-DRM music format has not. It is not about the medium. It is about being able to copy. You would buy a VHS tape, but then Macrovision would not allow you to copy it, what is the point in physical media like this? But copying non-DRM files is a bliss, choose whatever media you like to store them.

[@DaedalusYoung]

@@ConsumerDV Copy protection on MD was horrible, at the time I worked for a local radio station and we'd get government ads sent to us on CD. We of course didn't play them off CD, so we copied them straight onto MD, using the digital signal, because that's faster than realtime. But then we couldn't use the digital out on those MDs anymore, because it was a second generation copy. So we either had to transfer the ads using an analog line, and then edit each track manually, or we couldn't play the ads over a digital line, for automatic playback by our computer system. It cost us way too much time not being able to use a system as it was designed to work due to copy protection.

[@TuxraGamer]

Or just buy the actual files lol.

[@svenschwingel8632]

@@DaedalusYoung There were devices available to disable the SCMS bit from a digital stream. They could be looped into the digital connections but they were rather ... not really legal. I had a DAT machine once that had an SCMS removal modded into it along with some upgraded electronics.

[@dnb5661]

@@TuxraGamer I have copied some MP3 files more than five times, and made copies of copies. I don't think MP3 even has any form of DRM. (Or most of of them.)

[@trippymchippy8586]

Minidisc was the perfect physical medium. Small enough to be carried around - cool and capable enough to be a quality option.

[@Techmoan]

Date correction: Minidisc Day is the 7th March 2020 - more info here: minidiscday.com NOTE: Various manufacturers besides Sony also had MD HiFi decks in their ranges with PS/2 keyboard sockets e.g. Teac/Tascam, Kenwood, JVC/Victor, Denon. You can find the model numbers of _some_ of these by using the link I've posted in the *video description text box*

[@pauljones2389]

I've been watching you for about 18mths now and I find you very relaxing/informative but I still don't know your name.. bro what is your name?

[@madMARTYNmarsh1981]

I had a technics system that had built in mini disc, it was an excellent system.

[@nicomeier8098]

I am - again - using and loving minidisc. Two years ago I bought a Tascam MD350: it sounds terrific, even my old discs (recorded on a low level Sony) sound great. The Tascam apparently has a very good DA/AD converter. Extra nice: it has a PS2 keyboard interface on the front.

[@7JANEWAY]

@@pauljones2389 His name is Mat.

[@weymouthladuk]

I have just found my minidisc recorder in the loft with over 70 minidiscs. I am going to have a fun weekend showing my daughter what a minidisc is lol 😆😆

[@qreeves]

"Make sure it says keyboard" - I always love how thorough Techmoan is.

[@atare7773]

You are the Ultimate Tech Guru. You talk about a lot of audio/video tech from the past & even now. I enjoy watching you on KZbin. You are very tech savy. I like all of these things too but I can't take them apart & fix them like you do. Good luck in your tech ventures...

[@crcomments8509]

I used to repair this type of thing for a living, had a local journalist come in in desperation as they had erased a disc with an interview they wanted, luckily you could put a disc recorded with 1 long single track in to a hifi player, let it read the table of contents (TOC) then manually wind the disc out before putting the erased disc in, it would then play everything previously on it allowing you to record it to another device.

[@brettjohnson791]

When I was in high school my friends and I used a MD recorder/player for the audio when we made our amateur films for the 48-hour film project. It was the best quality we had available and was one of the few pieces of equipment that never required any special care, it just worked without complaint. Even in 2004, in Cincinnati, OH we had trouble finding the media for it. We even called a Best Buy who told us they no longer carried them. We didn't believe them, so we showed up and found them on the shelf. It was thought to be so dated by 2004 the employee couldn't believe we the store would have them. It's incredible that people are able to get into the format today.

[@Vaggumon]

The sadness of the world in which we live. When you have to specify the fact that you just told an obvious joke. Techmoan is one of my favorite folks on KZbin. The snark always makes me smile.

[@tejanospecial]

I lived in the US and used minidisc for a good 4-5 years. I had a Sony MZ-R37 for portable use and also a Kenwood KMD-673R for my car. Loved mini disc! Thanks for all the videos on this tech I fondly remember

[@KaraBela1975]

For me is Minidisc the best format ever made.

[@NeutralGenericUser]

Seeing the mechanism by which the disks are inserted/ejected, and those small satisfying buttons (11:27) on those old Sony hifis really makes me miss that era of tactile feedback. We don't have anything anywhere near that good nowadays. Most buttons feel lifeless and mass produced with little thought to them.

[@DRDCC]

My Sony MD MDS-E10 has the PS2 keyboard input and I love using it. Sony was smart implementing it also into their CD Changers (CPD line). I can't imagine typing the 800 cd titles in both without a keyboard. Great video Mat.

[@pbsa1979]

I own few CDP-CX300 and editing titles is nowhere near as easy on them as it is on my MDS-JB940. CD changers are great but editing their content is tedious- ended up with excel spreadsheet. BTW, Matt, as you like mechanical electronic, might be a good idea for you to dive into one of those Mega Storage Sony disc changers some time in the future- carousel mechanism is fascinating in it's simplicity... Cheers.

[@Techmoan]

I've got a couple in the attic.

[@sketchsketchsketchsketch]

I had one of those 300 disc changers with the PS2 keyboard input 17 or 18 years ago. Only supported manual entry of the album title, though fortunately it supported CD TEXT as well

[@deech.dubois]

I own a MDS-JE520 + MD/LP Walkman MZ-G750 + I had a MD Player in my car 😎 Memories/nostalgia 💕

[@DRDCC]

Techmoan It would make a great video. I have 2 CDP400 synced with a cable. Then you do not have to wait 20s or so for the next disc to load as it mixes and blends in the songs beautifully.

[@RickTheGeek]

I had a job in a theatre (think curtains and live actors, not film!) and the sound had just been switched from open-reel tape to minidisc. The recorder they had was a "professional" rack-mountable unit, with all sorts of connectors (RCA, XLR, digital, etc) and on the front was a PS/2 Keyboard connector. Reading the manual showed me that the keyboard could control the deck with various keys, but, also, the QWERTY keyboard could be used to enter disk and track titles! It certainly made it easier for the people running the show to all they had to do was hit "play" for each track. It's something I thought was a profesisonal/prosumer feature only, I never thought I'd see it on a consumer-level device :)

[@jonesvox1]

My JVC MInidisc has a great remote with a flip-open QUERTY keyboard! Makes labeling quick and easy. Thanks for the great vids!

[@Phil-Sands]

For years I loved (and still do) analogue tape including cassette and wished for a better tape format and wanted DAT to succeed at the time, but now after watching Techmoan's videos I have three personal minidisc players and a minidisc deck, all I can say is thanks to Techmoan for opening my eyes to this fantastic format.

[@somerandomgoogleuser3374]

Phil - I have many M.D. players & recorders, portable & 17" units even C.D. recorders, love em best formats ever! I also have two D.C.C portable units & many tapes - the sound is absolutely awesome - I couldn't believe it when I first heard it , it is SO clear & clean - not what you normally associated with Cassettes!!!!

[@utube4andydent]

Worked on a radio station based in Bristol in 1995 called Kute Fm all the adverts and jingles were on mini disc it was simple easy to programme and a joy to use in a time before computers did most of the work!! Thumbs up 👍 for mini disc day 😋

[@maximumfang2555]

I swear not even a week ago i had recently picked up my old minidisc player for fun. I had first gotten the player and two album books by chance from helping a friend clean their garage. I tried to learn how to record albums but never found the right method. So watching the second part of this i have to say thank you, and much appreciated.

[@SwitchAndLever]

The title of this video triggered my PTSD. I spent too many hours entering characters one by one on my discs.

[@a500]

I have to confess that the Sony MDS-JB980 is an absolute joy to use. I've only had mine for a few months now but it is lovely. The only thing I've not got working on it yet is the NET-MD function which is a shame but having a PS2 keyboard really makes up for it. I do really enjoy it when you cover mini disks (discs?) so really glad to enjoy this video. I guess it's the tactile experience but there is something special about MD (to me anyway).

[@RedShift5]

For how much were you able to purchase the JB980?

[@a500]

Glenn Matthys I got it for £180 although lately they have been going for 250 and up. Now that the Techmoan affect is about to kick in I’d imagine that £300 is going to be more like it. Personally I’d still say they are worth it as they just sound great and a joy to use.

[@MatthewCobalt]

@@markj2093 Mini Discs are Magneto-optical.

[@johnhanek167]

Richard Shears- agreed! I've had a JB940 for years and just love it. I have around 5 home decks, several car decks and a couple "Walkmans". Plus, I have 2 full-size aluminum briefcases full of MD's with labels that I custom printed on the case and the disc face and top. Yeah, I always thought MD was special! It was and still is so much fun to play with. I have some MDs that I typed in a whole lot of info into. I forget how many characters the limit is, but it's a lot.

[@svenschwingel8632]

@@markj2093 classification as optical media exists because the readout is optical only. The magnetic part is only used during recording.

[@angi733]

Sony minidisc stuff of all levels was so nice to use, good looking, well made and well thought out. They also sounded pretty damn good too!!

[@ДмитрийСумароков-з2в]

I have been doing mini disks since 1995 - I have interesting devices and I'll show them to you the other day

[@FranklyPeetoons]

An old MiniDisc deck languished in my closet for over ten years. Thanks to videos by you (and maybe a few other KZbinrs) I was able to sell it on ebay for more than I originally paid for it. Interest-stokers are cool!

[@liammorse1021]

You may not be responsible for the whole of the resurgence of minidisc, but you definitely are responsible for at least one 20 something finally getting into a technology he always thought was fascinating as a kid but could never afford, and for that I thank you

[@bobblum5973]

The Techmoan Video Dilemma: "Do I pause during the video to type a comment, or wait until the end, running the risk of getting so involved with it I forget what my comment was?" I ran the risk, did remember... Get a wireless keyboard with a USB dongle, plug it into a USB-to-PS/2 adapter, then plug that into your PS/2 keyboard port. Use a PS/2 extension cable if needed. Then you can be a bit more creative where you store and use the keyboard. I've used a wireless keyboard & mouse combo with a single USB dongle plugged into an On The Go (OTG) adapter on my Android phone. So much easier for typing, and so funny to see a mouse pointer on my phone screen! Thanks, as always, for an enjoyable and entertaining video!

[@Spritetm]

Do note, however, that backwards compatibility with PS/2 is something the keyboard (or in the case of a wireless keyboard, the dongle) does need to explicitly support; this trick may not work with all USB keyboards.

[@bobblum5973]

@@Spritetm Oh, very true, and thank you for adding what I'd left out! As with many cases of mixing old and new vintages of technology, you can frequently get things to work _if_ you understand the details of the components involved, _and_ if you therefore understand the potential of experiencing a "smoke test" (let the magic smoke out and it may not work again). Electrically you can plug a USB keyboard into an adapter and then into a PS/2 port, it shouldn't harm anything but may not work. That also holds true for using that same adapter to plug a USB flash drive into a PS/2 port; it shouldn't harm it, but don't expect to be able to access the drive!

[@aureliaconn4604]

Watching your videos had inspired me to get my minidisc players out of the loft and have a play. Having found that my music taste has changed a bit since I used to play them, I wanted to record over them. The hifi with the minidisc recorder is long gone, so I managed to get a Tascam MD-350 off eBay. The minidisc revival in my house is in full recovery. Cheers for that. 👍

[@justanotherguyfromthenorth5791]

This brings back so many memories. I had a home Sony unit, two portable recorders and even got my dad and friends into minidisc. I loved the format. I had to input track titles with the display/wand interface for the portables. It took forever to cycle through the characters. Whew. It was a labour of love.

[@christianlenz3438]

I really enjoyed adding Informations to my Tracks from 2000 to 2003 on my Sony Mds-Pc1 (without a PC). When I saw the full result after about one hour of typing, I was extremly Happy!!!!

[@usagiyojimbo5944]

I do love your way of documenting these "oddities". Hell, the BBC has to give you a slot for this. As long as it exitsts at least....

[@Polydeukes68]

Early on I could only afford a portable MD-recorder so I bought the MZ-R700, good little pre netmd machine. Later I bought the MDS-JB930QS, which is a great machine. Even later I also bought the MDS-JA555ES which is now my main unit and favorite. I've only had to change the belt for the 555, other than that they alll have worked perfectly. When I was wondering about easier ways to enter titles to the songs I almost bought the expensive Sony keyboard but then realized I could do it with a 7€ PS/2 keyboard. No regrets there either.

[@stepheng8779]

Minidiscs wonderful, always a pleasure to this day to use. From a time when Sony made beautiful things and kept shooting themselves in the foot.

[@digiowl9599]

Well kinda. notice how everything had to happen in real time (unless it was happens on all in one units). the whacky thing about MDs is that it is a digital format that via ornery DRM pretends to be analog.

[@stepheng8779]

@@digiowl9599 Net MD was high speed but yet again self defeated by Sony. I've never tried Hi MD so can't comment. The rest of your post doesn't make any sense to me.

[@cjc363636]

They should've made what was the iPod... the gotta-have mp3 player. They were there, having made the Walkman. But for whatever reason, they didn't. (Same for Sears and Roebuck in the US... That chain should've been Amazon.... they had the 'Wishbook' catalog that everybody had to have. And sold everything from TVs to clothes to yard equipment. Delivered to your door way back. But I digress..... I guess business models are hard to break.)

[@stepheng8779]

@@cjc363636 Yeah you're right, even when they did jump on the mp3 player bandwagon Sony still hobbled themselves with in house cables and connections and creaking menus etc etc

[@svenschwingel8632]

@@stepheng8779 also, they just had to try to push through their mobile DRM ATRAC format when everybody else was literally using MP3 and even lossless formats. Kinda like Microsoft with their stillborn WMA And they haven't learned a bit. When the PS4 came out, it refused to play back media from USB drives. So silly.

Why can't audio equipment manufacturers be adventurous again? PS2 on front of a HiFi unit it's just, wild :) Then again there were PC controllable VHS machines which I thought were very cool, but never had the chance to see one in action.

[@straightpipediesel]

LG TVs let you plug in a USB keyboard and mouse, it even supports the scroll wheel. The TV and things like receivers can be controlled from a PC via IP, with protocols like Crestron and HomeKit and of course now the cloud via Alexa, Google Assistant.

[@digiowl9599]

What happened was that everything became an ARM based computer with a funky case. No more built to purpose circuit boards. My new set top box is a Android devices for crying out loud. And the TV it is hooked up apparently runs WebOS.

[@digiowl9599]

@@straightpipediesel Have one of those, they apparently run WebOS. Developed by Palm before they got bought by HP. And then sold off to LG once HP had another CEO replacement and tried to refocus on servers.

[@3800scgp]

I had one of those giant sony 400 disc DVD carousels, it had a PS2 port for disc titling. Soooo much typing, especially for things like Simpsons DVDs.

[@Bigheadedwon]

LOL 20 years ago my mom bought a Sony 200 disc cd changer with a PS/2 port. I showed her how to use it and she spent like 2 months inputting all the album names and track titles for her 160 some odd cd's. Was cool tech but very tedious unless you only had a few disc's

[@MrSatyre1]

Adding track titles to MD, DCC, DAT and CD always drove me bananas because there was always a handful of titles that were longer than the character number limit.

[@blacksunshine7485]

I was one of the only people in my circle that had mini disc back in the day. Thought it would have been around longer and at the time thought it was the future. I still find them endearing and novel.

[@hermanmunster3358]

The good thing about Mini Disc is, even if you are restricted to the most rudimentary method of inputting track titles etc, you can update them at a later time, even after the Disc is finalised, unlike CD-R's, where once the disc is finalised, you cannot add anything to it. So if you do get bored, you can finish all the track titles later at your own convenience.

[@BRUXXUS]

I just realized Techmoan isn't a "verified channel". Why on EARTH has KZbin not given him a checkmark?!

[@Kellanium]

The existence of "MiniDisc day" has made me shed tears of joy

[@spookylemon4947]

I’ll always love hearing your intros. It will always remind me of the time of getting back into physical media and learning of the formats (new and old) that you’ve covered over the years.

[@zwerker]

Going to celebrate minidisc day (two months late) by sticking a disc in my MZ-N707 (got two, salvaged from work). Love the format!

[@johnhanek167]

Hooray for minidisc- I love 'em! And thanks Techmoan for doing another MD vid!

[@invisiblekid99]

Mini Disc. The best personal compilation album format ever created.

[@cromagnatron7155]

Whatever the subject of the video may be, put "by Techmoan" after it and you got a quality, engaging video. Thank you for sharing all your cool gadgets .

[@mUbase]

Yes yes, guys like you were the reason Mini Disc day exists!!! My partner and I recorded our first gig on Minidisc. :) (I bet therell never be a DCC day though... sadly. x

[@querpmuerp]

1.000.000 subs incoming. Quality content deserves this.

[@MRoth93]

The variance in devices you show us here is really stunning. Great work as always!

[@somitomi]

I don't know what a "Space Dimension Controller" is, but now I want one.

[@deusexaethera]

I don't know what it is either, but it sounds like Super Magic Fun!

[@cjc363636]

I want to know what that red UK Sound button or light is.

[@Techmoan]

*There’s a bit more information about this in the video description text box.*

[@cjc363636]

@@Techmoan Cool, thanks!

[@Techmoan]

@UCsNbLUHn3N57XJ7pBnph2CA There will/should be a video about it some day - I just need to get around to it.

[@shelby3822]

I bypassed MD and went straight to home audio CD-R so I missed the boat but my brother was into it so it was neat to see it first hand. Always liked the ecosystem that was built up with the format. Great vid as always

[@philippbokrand26]

As soon as I read the title I had to give it thumbs up as I'm a big fan of minodisc. Still have a deck and like 5 portables.

[@RJDA.Dakota]

Have a minidisc recorder that I got back in the mid 1990s. I loved to use it and record and play back discs on any number of different portable disc players. I loved this format and thought it would last for a very long time. Great sounding format but Sony seems a shoot itself in the foot every time they come up with some new like this. Minidisc was probably the most convenient format there was.

[@spacerspace8529]

I love how profesional your channel is.

[@NautilusMortanian]

I'm more interested in minidisc because it didn't happen in my country. I've followed your videos where you didn't feel like poking at them because they were common and boring to you, and I felt disappointed. I'm glad you've been bullied into covering it more though, and I appreciate your shows! Great work!

[@ScottsSynthStuff]

There were aftermarket solutions, as well. I purchased a specialized IR blaster that came with software meant for titling MDs. You would type it into your computer, hit Send, and it would erase all the existing titles on the disc (if any), and enter the new titles, emulating a remote control to do so. It had codes to work with virtually every MD recorder that had IR remote capability.

[@RAM-cj1hr]

Thank you Techmoan for making this vid and bringing Minidisc Day to my attention before it happened because some of my favorite artists are going to have Minidisc releases exclusively for the event. 🎉

[@Techmoan]

That's what I hoped to achieve - glad it's worked out.

[@beardnyethedrumguy]

I went and looked these albums up! Made me smile with that blast from the past!

[@DarkSoldier916]

Happy minidisc day from california. I was so happy when I picked one a MZR-500 from Amazon in 2015, and have been using it ever since.

[@JNSNBTTN]

Thanks for doing that many videos, you are doing the viewers and the heritage of hifi-electronics a big service

[@EvilishDem0nic8732WhatItDo]

Keep posting interesting videos. Love them all and I enjoy rewatching them as well

[@AndersEngerJensen]

Neat! Would definitely go for the keyboard solution. But crap... now I guess I have to restock some MDs in my webshop! 😱🙈😂💸💸💸

[@joshm264]

Can't wait for retro grooves vol 4 Anders!

[@etmccaus]

PLEASE DO! So sad I missed out on the earlier runs!

[@smartroadbiker]

Please restock, want to buy them to go along side my tape cassette versions!

[@cjmarsh504]

I always wanted the sony minidisc! Now is a relic of tech in the 90s

[@titchardtf]

I used to own that model , fantastic inputting titles with a keyboard, loved it !! Still using the cdpxb930 uk special edition as main cd player , still working great after 18 years !!

[@wojiaobill]

Nice to see people are still releasing albums on MiniDisc.

[@pordzio]

That Sony MD is a real trooper - survived several years being carried around as a live mix recorder. It also has a really nifty recording mode in which by pressing "play" (IIRC) you insert a track break.

[@bwagner23]

Oh, man. As an bright-eyed, optimistic teenager, I had one of those desktop stereo systems with a 5-CD changer and 3-Minidisc slots... and just a basic portable MD player, so ALL of my discs were titled by hand in basically the same way as on that Okiyo component. I actually kinda liked the process of it, being a bright-eyed, optimistic teenager with nothing to do but hang out in my room and copy CDs to MD.

[@Safetytrousers]

What intensity are your eyes now?

[@diamondsprince]

Don't let age let those eyes grow dim my man

[@honestguy7764]

I use md mostly for vynil backup. and back in the late 90’s as I had also a portable recorder, I used to edit and name in the subway, to mark the tracks etc. I play the records at home from a technics sl-d3 all the way side to side , so in each disc I normally get 2 tracks 1 per side to be subdivided in the different tracks . At time I loved it

[@pineappleroad]

I would love to know the model of that machine that had the 3 minidisc slots (up until now I thought there was only 1 model of machine that had more than 1 minidisc slot, and that machine only had 2 minidisc slots)

[@CanadianMakerProject]

I got into Mini Disc back in the 2000’s and loved it. I had a model from Japan so I could write in Japanese. I always found the inline remote the easy way to write the tracks than any of the wireless remotes (at the time). Think I may have to break out my player and listen to a few tracks for fun. Happy MD Day.

[@zorktxandnand3774]

I used to work in maintenance of broadcast and professional video equipment. mainly Sony stuff, and was always amazed by the amount of specialized add ons and options Sony always offers for any format or platform. There are a lot of unicorns around of very specific devices. Fun fact, the model name of Sony equipment always is a meaningful abbreviation, e.g. BVP-xx Broadcast video printer. This is a printer to print barcodes for video tapes to be managed by automated broadcast systems, and I only seen one in my life, witch is more than most people have. In this video, RM probably stands for Remote, and D for Digital . P is often for PAL, but in the case of minidisc it probably means something else :)

[@Bompi_]

I think it's worth mentioning that the PS/2 connector specifications doesn't require it to be hot-pluggable, so it's a bit hit and miss on devices supporting it. It might explain why the PS/2 port worked on one of the devices but not the other, assuming they were both powered on when you connected the keyboard.

[@Rosscoff2000]

At my radio station we still use MD decks (MDS-E12) daily dozens of times. Although they have a PS/2 socket we mostly find the qwerty remote quickest and handiest for titling afew tracks at a time. But you've given me an idea for making a little microcontroller gizmo that could be plugged into a PC to suck up a playlist (eg M3U format) then be plugged into the PS/2 socket via a USB to PS/2 keyboard adaptor and would simulate a keyboard doing rapid fire entry of titles.

[@TheMallycat]

I Love Mini Disc. Had a Sony MDS-J510 from new and have used it for lots of band and theatre productions. Better than so many other medias. Even bought a Sony MDX-65 for my car (back in the day) which I am considering re-installing.

[@dunebasher1971]

When I bought my MD deck in 1998 I honestly thought I'd be naming every track. It was a Kenwood with no other way to enter track names than by turning a knob on the front panel to select letter by letter. I quickly gave up bothering to name tracks.

[@AcheForWake]

Same with my Denon CD to Mini-Disc deck

[@cjc363636]

Sadly I had the Sony 510.... and it developed the open/close glitch if no disc was loaded. So it kept turning itself on/off. Anyway, I got to where I'd label the disc but not the tracks. I just knew what they were since most were MD versions of favorite 90s mix cassettes.

[@svenschwingel8632]

That's why back then in 1997, I invested in both, a stationary MDS-JE700 MD deck (with the huge remote which made entering names pretty easy) and an MZ-R30 MD walkman. I loved the format - its sound quality was always sufficient to my ears and the discs themselves were very convenient during an era when everyone else was still using compact cassettes.

[@CaptainJack406]

Oooh, I like your Technics equaliser!

[@Techmoan]

Yes it’s a beauty. There aren’t too many EQs with Spectrum Analysers around in the silver finish - so I was happy to find it.

[@Dave64track]

Thanks for the informative video I didn't realise that some MD players has a keyboard socket something to look out for. Still love using the MD system as I like physical copies of music.

[@wpherigo1]

Well done, again! I don’t imagine you ever anticipated being able to unintentionally drive market prices...

[@Techmoan]

It's really all a bit overblown - everyone will have forgotten about this video by next week.

[@draketungsten74]

I can't help but giggle like a 3rd grader at 9:50 "Peanut Butt"

[@emmettturner9452]

Well, you capitalized it correctly at least. ;)

[@draketungsten74]

@@emmettturner9452 True.

[@josuelservin]

The cd retraction mechanism in that little LAM-1 is just delightful!

[@Techmoan]

I'm happy you noticed - it's a work of art.

[@vileCR999]

That RK-TXT1 cable is amazing! You can make one, and then pickup a discman with optical out for $35 and it's the easiest and fastest way to copy over text without a hifi deck!

[@BeefyMon]

That Sony LAM-1 tabletop unit is wild! What’s with the CD “ingestion” mechanism?!

[@Techmoan]

Excessive coolness?

[@BeefyMon]

Om nom nom 😋

[@bagofnails6692]

Such a geeky topic, but genuinely educational for me, as I have decided to set up a Minidisc player in our new middle room. Fortunately a friend of mine came to me with a studio/radio station Minidisc player that seems to have a ps2 socket. Time to go and investigate.

[@rad10gaga]

Very interesting video, not used my MiniDisc for years but i remember i only ever recorded my own using a PS2 with optical link to my Sharp MD-SR50, if my memory serves it auto put the track titles on. will digout some and check, maybe tomorrow on MiniDisc day, keep it up, thanks David

[@bartonlynch]

Good thing you bought the JB980 Sony MD deck, besides the convenient keyboard interface it is a superb hi-end deck. I own the near identical JB940 and it still rocks!

[@glsapp23]

Nice man. Approaching 1mil subs. Really seen this channel grow

[@brianartillery]

Perversely, I really enjoy manually entering titles on minidiscs. I copy old vinyl on to the format, and also analogue cassettes. I make 'mix discs', some of which have movie dialogue snippets between some of the tracks, and sometimes ancient electronic tracks I made in the 1980's. I like making discs up, as each one is unique, and giving them their own titles and track listing is part of the fun for me.

[@justinholmes5614]

Wouldn't goto school without my Mini Disc, it went everywhere with me

[@t-rodshader9593]

I just recently decided to get me one of these machines myself. Very unique format that holds higher than Digital cassettes or any other other an average format.

[@AK-nb6hz]

I work in sound for theatre.. We heavily used the Minidisc format during the 2000's. A trick with your sony on the knob might be the same as one we used to use. Once you've entered the first character and pressed the knob in, you can immediately do one click to the left and then to the right and you should have lowercase without scrolling through. We absolutely mastered the format with on the fly edits to copy SFX between machines and so on! Maybe this helps..? We used the MDS-JE510 and 520 before professional machines made more sense.. Ended up on rack mount sonys towards the end but CD-R's with cd text and auto cue came in and took over.

[@ewanuno]

The touring theatre company where I work has about 10 minidisc players, doing shows almost every day. I make the discs with a portable net MD player using the horrible Sony software running on windows xp in a virtual machine. We've tried modern alternatives but the MD players are still the most reliable and easiest to use. Most MD players have an 'auto stop' feature that just plays one track at a time. That's the one feature that keeps us using them. SD card players with that feature are really expensive.

[@kevinallen9106]

Ditto. Exactly the same reasons for me. AmDram in my case. I assemble sound effects on a PC, write to CD-R then use a Tascam MD-CD1 to x4 dub to MD to use for the actual shows (using MDS-E12). Title transfer is a bit ad-hoc though. I don't know if it's the Tascam or iTunes writing the CD-R CDTEXT in a bad format.

[@ewanuno]

@@kevinallen9106 getting the VM set up and finding a netmd minidisc was a bit of a hassle but the results are worth it. I use wav files and name them 01- trackname then just order by name in the Sony software before transferring. The slowest part of the whole process is waiting for the files to copy to the minidisk.

[@sportsfan1291]

I’ve been so excited for minidisc day since it was announced and I got even more excited to see Palm Mall, Hiraeth, and Hit Vibes being released on MD

[@svenschwingel8632]

Last week, I bought a fully working MDS-JE700 deck from ebay for less than 100€. It fully works, but it is suffering the Sony disease of a darkening FL display. Display is still readable but going out. I bought a brand new JE700 unit back in 1997 which had that very same problem after a few years. It sounds suprisingly good, even by today's standards. And the editing was a real plus.

[@burendasan]

OMG, I very recently bought the mini-stereo pictured at 10:57...and had it shipped all the way from the UK, no less! It’s a Sony CMT-CP500MD. It can record CDs on to minidiscs at 2X speed and it transfers the CD text to the minidisc without having to do anything else. It has a PS/2 connection in the back but it’s labeled “PC Link” and not “keyboard.” Anyway, this was a great choice of topic for this video!

[@flamaest]

I have this wireless infrared keyword keyboard 10p from sony. Paid a fortune to get it imported from Japan about 20 years ago. It works amazingly well. Saved me so much time back in the day.

[@pmr1wrt53]

That's why I will buy me one of a Sony MD 9xx series. I did the same with my Sony CDP-M95 AE2 Compact Disc Player. Manual adding cd & track titles. It can stores about 25x discs. The Sony DHC-MD373 Mini Hi-Fi Component System has also CD TEXT. During recording: If “CD TEXT” flashes in the display during recording a CD, you can record the CD disc title on the MD. Note: Depending on the disc, the CD TEXT information may not be recorded automatically. See the Manuals. Oh Ya, that's why I loved MD's and especial this channel with Mini-Disc video's. There are CDs (New) whose CD TEXT is not printed on the cover.

[@andybaker2456]

So you were the other person who bought that Wrecks n Effect CD! Like you, I haven't listened to my copy for many years. I was a massive minidisk fan, and still have a number of players hooked up to various hi-fis around the house, I even had one in the car at one time, as well as a Sony portable device. You're inspiring me to dust off my minidisks...I just need to find them first!

[@avacado6399]

Your appreciation of minidisc is the most viewed minidisc video

[@janovlk]

I remember those keyboards were standard accessories with professional Sony MD machines. But slightly modified. It had a cable connection with 3.5mm stereo jack on both sides and no need for batteries (if I remember well). Plus a keyboard was modified so it was capable to play several numbers of tracks with a single press of button. Pro machines had memory for small part of those directly selectable tracks. After it loaded beginnings of selected tracks to memory it played them out instantly. A functionality targeted for playing jingles.

[@scoobylol1987]

It's a wonderful format, and I still use mine every day in the workshop. Just so you know it's very easy to get Sonicstage working on a Mac (High Sierra) using a virtual copy of XP. I've had no issues at all using the NetMD feature with my Sony MZ-N510. Works perfectly every time!

[@skyhill4279]

My Mini Disc Sony Sonic software runs perfectly on my Windows XP and Windows 7 pcs. Great videos, keep them coming.

[@muinarc0]

I got it working fine on Windows 10 with little effort. Worked well with my NH-3D player :)

[@skyhill4279]

@@muinarc0 Thanks great, will need to try it on my Windows 10 pc. Thank you for the heads up. Kind regards, Sky.

[@oraz.]

Best format ever. I love MiniDisc.

[@nutsnproud6932]

Thanks for the video Mat. It was really interesting.