The only MiniDisc recorder with a stylus - XM-R2

A look at JVC/Victor's Unique Touchscreen MiniDisc personal stereo.
My earlier video about some track titling options for home decks: • MiniDisc: Adding Track...
-------------- SUBSCRIBE -----------------
www.youtube.com...
------------ Merchandise ----------------
teespring.com/...
------------ SUPPORT --------------
This channel can be supported through Patreon
/ techmoan
******Patrons usually have early access to videos******
--------- Outro Music ----------
Over Time - Vibe Tracks • Over Time - Vibe Track...
----- Outro Sound Effect -----
ThatSFXGuy - • Six Million Dollar man...
----- AFFILIATED LINKS/ADVERTISING NOTICE ------
All links are Affiliated where possible.
When you click on links to various merchants posted here and make a purchase, this can result in me earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network & Amazon.
I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to AMAZON Sites (including, but not limited to Amazon US/UK/DE/ES/FR/NL/IT/CAN)
FAQ
Q) Why are there comments from a week ago when this video has just gone live today?
A) Patrons usually have early access to videos. I'll show the first version of a video on Patreon and often the feedback I get results in a video going through further revisions to improve it. e.g. Fix audio issues, clarify points, add extra footage or cut extraneous things out. The video that goes live on youtube is the final version.

[@RCAvhstape]

Ah, yes, our old friend "megabass", giving us a choice between thin and tinny or booming and muddy.

[@jerryspann8713]

I remember a few Sony Walkmans with Mega Bass sliders that would allow you to adjust the bass levels, but also the treble.

[@RCAvhstape]

@@jerryspann8713 In my experience most Walkman and similar devices sound a lot better if you get a good set of earphones or buds. Same for smartphones and other devices.

[@nickwallette6201]

Mega Bass off: Anemic Mega Bass L1: Too much! Mega Bass L2: Are you trolling me?

[@burns46824]

Bingo. Thankfully the D-303 had a good "middle" setting.

[@noslost-z7r]

I actually absolutely love Mega Bass - but maybe it’s just me

[@matthewdunne8432]

So cool! Minidisc is likely one of the most fun, cool, enjoyable formats ever made. The discs alone are just super cute and cool. I used to go and stare at the minidisc players at the Sony store wishing I could afford one. Ffwd to 2020 when I decided to invest in a MD home stereo. Have had a blast making discs and the artwork to go along with them.

[@worldcomicsreview354]

Been looking at getting an MD deck for my home hi-fi, which will be the first minidisc player I've owned. Back in the day I jumped straight from tape to MP3.

[@DavidPaulMorgan]

@@worldcomicsreview354 i gave my music centre unit away. I wish I had kept it as it didn't take up much space.

[@shelby3822]

"Can you make coffee before you get on your phone luv?" 'But honey Techmoan has uploaded a video about a technology I've never owned!"

[@jpurple]

And I will add: " ...and never will..!"

[@res1tah71]

Found one of these at goodwill

[@gator_productions]

@@res1tah71 did u get it?

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

😄 What I like is that it saves me from the temptation of collecting any of this stuff. Techmoan does such a good job demonstrating and informing us about each item - it's almost as if I did buy one and had a play with it.

[@res1tah71]

@@gator_productions no i didnt have any minidiscs to use on it

[@enquiryplay]

I recall spending countless hours back in the late 90s manually entering track titles on my portable MiniDisc player. It wasn't worth it.

[@jamesslick4790]

I'd play (and still do with Mp3s) in random, so...Yeah.. Just Track 1,2,3, or whatever was fine!👍😊👍

[@TheCoolDave]

I did have home unit, on the remote it had all the keys... It made a world of difference. I had a portable player only and I had a IN dash in my car..

[@healygarden9101]

Should have used a writing stylus rather than inputting letters from a pad (unless that technology hadn't been perfected yet).

[@ohnoitschris]

I'd just stick with abbreviations for tracks

[@jonnono]

I meticulously labelled every single one of my discs (I ended up with about 40 of them). It was not much more annoying than texting my mates on my pre-T9 Ericsson phone, really. Just the way things were done back then.

[@SarahLJP]

2:43 登録 (tōraku) "Registration" "Entry" "Record" 取消 (torikeshi) "Cancel" 曲編集 (kyoku henshū) "song edit" 文字入力 (moji nyūryoku) "Character input" 削除 (sakujo) "Delete" メニュー [meniyū] "Menu" 音量 (onryō) "Volume" カナ (kana) "Abbreviation for the Japanese syllabary" 英 (ei) "Abbreviation for English or latin alphabet" 記号 (kigō) "Symbol" 表示 (hyōji) "Display"

[@Borismolotov]

Arigatou gozaimasu

[@lemons2300]

Arigatoe Honda Suzuki Sensei, eat sushi with my ninjas, our samurai katana are stole by Kappa Yokai, tengu protect geisha shamisen at the kinkakujin, oyakodon with umeboshi katsuobushi bento osechi at sebun erebun. Konobangumiwa gorannosponsano tekkyode wogurishmas

[@lemons2300]

jk thx g

[@EpicTyphlosionTV]

I think we've stumbled upon the pinnacle of niche tech

[@DubsBrown]

Just needs a Nixie tube

[@sailaab]

Aye agree

[@seamusoblainn]

There's probably a Snes interconnect only available in Japan that let's you draw on the TV screen via the minidisc screen for some unknown reason

[@51StPi]

Now just waiting to see the review of a '98 Juventus number 21 team jersey.

[@captaintoyota3171]

Hmm you watch this show much? He will find even more niche stuff have faith

[@djneo92nl]

It’s becoming quite a traditional to watch a Techmoan video of saterday before lunch :)

[@j.harbottle8928]

After Lunch on Sunday's, surely, like the war film used to be , Guinness used here for added effect!!

[@arielhernansuaznabar9527]

From where I am I watch his videos before breakfast

[@valreal6049]

Anybody miss the puppet bits that he used to put at the end? I'd imagine enjoyed making them otherwise why bother. I quite liked them.

[@moonshine3333]

COPPA www.ftc.gov/enforcement/rules/rulemaking-regulatory-reform-proceedings/childrens-online-privacy-protection-rule

[@Techmoan]

The Moans puppets absence: The puppets are on hiatus during the current situation because their ‘set’ has been commandeered as an office while the Mrs is working from home for her employer due to The Event. If the situation surrounding The Event turns around and she returns to the office, they may make the occasional appearance. However ideas for them don’t flow thick and fast any more, especially now that ‘cancel culture’ dictates all jokes have to be acceptable to everyone everywhere. That’s a tall order, there may be some sect in the middle of nowhere who considers ‘flipping eck’ to be the worst utterance ever. Then there’s COPPA - a Californian law that says KZbin videos can’t be monetised if they appeal to children. Apparently children watch the puppets segments even though they often don’t understand the humour. I’ve been told many times by viewers that ‘My kids love the puppets’. So if they were to feature in a video and I don’t tick a box to say that it’s ‘content that appeals to children’ I could lose the channel, however if I do tick the box then the video can’t earn any money. All because I stuck some puppets in it for the sake of a lame ‘dad joke’. So pretty much everything is counting against them right now.

[@Blackadder75]

@@Techmoan I say flipping eck to cancel culture!

[@Kalvinjj]

@@Techmoan people getting offended from the puppets, and not being able to add the puppets because some random law dictates that if it has anything that _might_ catch a child's attention it just has to comply to being a child's video, just proves that stupidity is on the rise for sure... The race for the bottom never ends I guess.

[@dashcamandy2242]

@@Techmoan I often refer to The Event as "Voldemort Disease," the disease-who-must-not-be-named. Hopefully, Mrs. Moan and the rest of the world can start getting back to some sense of normalcy soon!

[@iu1191]

I loved minidisc and thought it simply couldn't get better back then. When net MD came - I thought everything was just amazing. Then I learned that there will always be the next version. I still have my minidiscs and the players .... something just won't let me throw them out. Love the vids. Thanks for doing these.

[@Navneetvaio]

Thank you for sharing this brief yet awesome part of Tech History. Love your show man. Fan From India.

[@DJTI99]

My typical Saturday: Coffee, breakfast, and the latest Techmoan.

[@revivedfears]

My typical Saturday: Wakeup, score a bag, have a dig, puke, plug again, techmoan, veins in shreds, life lost.

[@JamesOKeefe-US]

Yes @DJT199!!👍

[@fabricioaf89]

It's always a joy to see these crazy 90's and 2000's devices, everybody was trying to come up with something new

[@deathstrike]

It would have been great if they had managed to integrate bar coding that revealed the track labels on the compilation box. If you had a special scanning pen, you could connect it to a dedicated port on the recording device. A swipe of the pen and volia!! The information is copied to the disc and a printer if you had one connected.

[@kylereese5869]

@@deathstrike I wonder if the Game Boy Advance or PDAs use the Data MiniDisc that would have been epic.

[@deathstrike]

@@kylereese5869 Actually one portable used a variation of it. The Sony PSP used a smaller, more compact version of the MD called the UMD (Universal Mini Disc). I think that's why other companies could not use it due to licensing issues. It would have been a good idea to use these on Nintendo based products. But, the old story is that Nintendo asked Sony to joint develop a CD entertainment system for the SNES and they briefly worked together until Nintendo found out that Sony wanted a substantial cut for each CD and they stiffed Sony and opted to work with Philips. Well the story didn't end well for Nintendo at the time. The knowledge gained from the partnership allowed Sony to build the legendary PS1 and stomp on Nintendo. Sony has always been too selfish and stingy with sharing or licensing it's technology. See the Betamax VCR, Nintendo, the list goes on. Your right, the MD tech would have been a great fit for Nintendo had either side gave a little and both would have profited. If they had, we could very well have seen a UMD equipped Gameboy Advance or DS Series. What could have been.

[@deathstrike]

Edit: Universal Media Disc not mini. I stand corrected.

[@deathstrike]

@@kylereese5869 A PDA equipped with an MD variant would have been good as well because a cheaper distribution for software until the internet and digital downloading became mainstream. But again those pesky licensing fees and Sony hoarding it's tech.

[@whitehawk45]

I remember I had a presentation in middle school and the speakers vibrated my minidisc player and it kept skipping lmao. iPods were starting to become popular and it took me a minute to figure out my minidisc was skipping lmao

[@SyntheticFuture]

Techmoan is a channel that was 10 years in the making xD Everytime it's a thing you've been trying to find for years. Awesome to see it all come together :)

[@thereallantesh]

I remember reading about MiniDisc back in the early '90s, and being very excited about it, but it never took off here in the United States. Watching your videos today I am still fascinated by the technology, and I suppose I could buy it now, but I can't think of a practical use for it today other than nostalgia. Still I love these videos. It's such a great topic.

[@Netm8kr]

This just serves as another reminder of how MDs inspired possibilities. Too bad, it never got its chance to stand out worldwide vs limited regional success. I still have a strong luv for our beloved MDs. Peace...Netm8kr 👍🏾✌🏾

[@SeraphimKnight]

5:19 The lack of word wrap is actually a quirk of the japanese language which enables sentences to be broken at any single character (as do most other non-latinized asian languages by the way). It's also why japanese electronic devices often had those strange word wrapping problems popping up everywhere, since it's not an issue in the native japanese that the engineers used.

[@captaintoyota3171]

Man i remember MD we all had em in our cars and huge binders of MDs. Hope Techmoan keeps finding rare old stuff i really like the really really old stuff like 30s-40s/older

[@worldcomicsreview354]

There was a 45rpm in-car record player in the 50's (maybe early 60's). It was "skip free", by virtue of extreme tracking force that ate your records.

[@diarykeeper]

Techmoan showing us worlds we never knew existed. *Prays to the music-gods to thank em for MP3Tag, AdvancedRenamer and FLAC Audio format*

[@Kalvinjj]

A moment to spare to thank for Gracenote too, cannot forget how lovely it is when things work automatically as well right?

[@igorszamaszow171]

Since I clicked on a notification without looking at the thumbnail, after seeing the title, my first thought was 'what kind of stylus? Isn't MD supposed to be magneto-optical?' Silly me :)

[@sailaab]

😅... ywah.. you had to scribble on ro the discs.. directly using tge stylus

[@alastairward2774]

Thought the same myself...

[@davefoster7770]

I love your minidisc videos. They changed my life from razor blades and quarter inch tape to button presses and magic. The portable ones were only good for playback though. The vibrations of the motor travelled up the mic wire. Much to my distress.

[@johnwiiu7005]

Oh my! Reminds me of the time Casio decided to plaster a touchscreen on a calculator and add a calendar function to it. (Casio IF-8000)

[@millsyinnz]

Speaking of track information, we should take a moment to thank all those who took their time to manually enter in track information when albums are digitised.

[@51StPi]

Minidisc was for recording the Pete Tong show and editing Pete Tong out.

[@djgaryowens]

John Peel played better music and helped tapers cos he didn't talk over the music, easily editable unlike daytime radio I wished always that something could be done to shut Steve Wright and Gary Davies up I shut them up for good by boycotting their garbage shows.

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

Omg my EXACT use case! Pete Tong on the yellow minidiscs, Judge Jules on the grey ones and Danny Rampling on the green ones.

[@51StPi]

@@djgaryowens I did n't press stop when I use to tape Peel :) Though I have never been able to find the one for years where he played something with a sample of Agent Cooper saying damn fine coffee, I think it was A Tribe Called Quest "Can I Kick It" but I can find no record of it.

[@51StPi]

@@SproutyPottedPlant All those edits of Sing It Back and Push the Feeling on and trying to get as much of it on as you can without them talking over it until you corrupted the disc 😐😂

[@BEXYSPC]

I love mini discs :) have a few recorders myself my best one is a Net MD Sony QS deck the same as yours :) and I miss the puppets!! lol :)

[@samholder]

thank you so much for keeping minidisc alive

[@heedmywarning2792]

That is just amazing. I didn't even know a unit like this existed.

[@nazznomad]

More minidisc videos! Love them

[@rebeccaschade3987]

I have a pre-NetMD minidisc recorder (Sony MZ-R500), and I was amazed to discover that CD's that supported Sony's "CD-Text" actually would automatically transfer track names to the MD as well.

[@game-tea]

NNNNNNice. Really funny to see a PDA/minidisc sort of combo! As always love your vids!

[@maxr2825]

You are the MAN! Love your MD videos

[@yoyoyodavo]

wake up honey techmoan uploaded

[@sanddebil]

All those minidisc videos makes me wanna buy MD player... Even tho it's unconventional and old I really want it for some reason

[@NandR]

That's the techmoan effect. I've been shopping for a solid cassette player. I never had a quality one growing up and I want to hear one now.

[@shaydevlin5557]

Same

[@mobiusbelts3607]

Unconventional!? Those things are damn near futuristic compared to my 3” record player!! Get one buddy; you want you to have one.. doooooo it! doooo it!

Already did.Both MD and Tape deck, turntable, DAT, dcc (fav), R2R ... Dream hi end from youth... For pocket money second hand ... Or even for free. Some fuses to change, belts as well. Utterly satisfying TechMoan effect. Happy even the shed is piled up with recievers and decks in queue for recapping etc.. FUN ! Fulfilling! Worth it! Thanks @Techmoan !

[@romero-kyun2681]

go for it mate! I just got a great deal on a md player with 10 discs and 3 blanks for 20 dollars. gonna hunt for a recorder soon!

[@marcusaurelius6607]

i have both akai and victor in my collection. this was the earliest attempt to slap a pda like interface on any portable music player. it’s a grand-grand-granddad of ipod touch.

[@pauledwards2817]

Another great video, thank you. I have to say, the PS2 keyboard in the end was the number one way to do titles, worked a treat. I do have the Lissa MD recorder and it does connect via firewire to allow the same sort of functionality as NetMD and just like NetMD the software is rough and hard to get going if not more so.

[@nutsnproud6932]

I saw the title and thought stylus as in record player stylus. Thanks for the video Mat.

[@xuntdmc]

How tf did you comment on a 12hr old video 6 days ago? Not sure what you show, but it shows "6 days ago" on my phone when all other comments are within the last 12 hours. Are you magician?

[@Techmoan]

*There's more information in the video description.*

[@xuntdmc]

@@Techmoan im a baboon. Thanks - I was completely lost lol. What an awesome perk!

[@dafoex]

@@xuntdmc Less "magician" and more "moneybags", haha

[@andrewwilliams5337]

Oh man, all these mini disc videos is gonna have me ending up with one... or a collection. I can feel it.

[@andrewwilliams5337]

@Fisher Man haha. I actually bought one of his vinyls at an op shop years ago, only because of the name. But I’ve never actually listened to anything from him... I will have to give him a go now. 👍🏻

[@andrewwilliams5337]

@Fisher Man turns out I’d actually heard a number of his songs before, just never associated them with anyone. Also the wife is a massive Beyoncé fan and she samples one of his tracks. 👍🏻

[@kwirkkwirksn1090]

me in the late 90s: napster=>mp3s=>MiniDisc=>car=>😎

[@Kalvinjj]

Nowadays I would be complaining about that double compression, but then again teenager me in mid 2000s was testing the lowest bitrate MP3 I could tolerate (128 was my limit) to fit as much as I could on that 1GB memory, and then an eAAC+ capable phone came and I could stuff 2000+ songs on 4GB at 64kb/s or freaking 48 for simple sounding electronic music... Damn I cannot believe I could stand that, even back then with crappy earphones I could tell it sounded trash.

[@revivedfears]

@@Kalvinjj nowadays ur an insufferable dingus. Audio snobs are my newest fetish. 😎

[@Kalvinjj]

@@revivedfears >dingus I see a certain aussie green iPad talking hands guy is making quite a fame around these parts too eh! Also I feel molested by that last sentence. Don't stop.

[@sHuRuLuNi]

I loved my minidisc recorder. And by the way, it was the last thing I actually listened to portable music on. Today I don't even do that on my phone. In fact, come to think of it, I rarely, if at all, listen to music anymore ... weird.

[@annother3350]

Don't listen to music?! Do you find yourself regularly reminiscing about the good old days?! Weathers original looking more appealing by the day?! You're getting old son!!

[@kushith]

The thumbnail is well thought out

[@reeffeeder]

Not gonna lie, I clicked in anticipation it was some sort of hybrid record/minidisc player monstrosity.

[@jugglerjim01]

Same here 🤣🤣🤣

[@jamesslick4790]

I was "stopped" by that too, And I was an "OG" Palm Pilot and CURRENT LG "Stylo" user, LOL.

[@randomatheist1039]

Likewise

[@ricochetpig]

😅 Does such a thing exist?

[@randomatheist1039]

@@ricochetpig the closest thing would be the hybrid discs that were vinyl on one side and optical on the other, meaning they could be played on a turntable or a cd player. I think Mat has covered them in another video.

[@zuti071]

I never seen or heard for this device. This is the one of those days that i learn something new.

[@6581punk]

There's quite a few things that never made their way out of Japan. Presumably because the MD format never did well in the US.

[@focusedeye]

@@6581punk "Presumably because the MD format never did well in the US." Blank recordable CD's were both inexpensive and convenient and led to the downfall of MD's. Never really took off in Canada either, other than in my DJ/drag queen circle of colleagues. As a fulltime DJ in a bar in Vancouver, BC from the mid 1990's to 2007 I went all-in on about 300 mini discs.

[@alphagt62]

The Minidisc was available for 10 years in Europe and Asia before it came to the US, because in the US record companies had a law suit against digital recording mediums that was completely unfounded, saying if promoted piracy. But, it was enough to keep the Mini out of the US. And when the law suit was finished, there was a tax added to each machine and each blank disc that went directly to the recording companies! To compensate them for all those pirates. So, by the time it was available, recordable CD, and the iPod had already taken the market, and for some reason the manufacturers of minidisc machines did zero advertising, allowing the medium to fall on hard times. I love my minidisc! Everyone in my band has one, we record our practices and use it to learn new songs, nothing else works as well for these purposes. I’ve been looking for a recorder that uses SD cards, and there are some, but they all suck for one reason or another. Hard drive recording requires a computer! So I keep my minidisc deck working and order blank discs from Japan.

[@bobblum5973]

_Next on Techmoan:_ "The prototype MiniDisc player with Nixie Tube display." Thank you for providing us with another 9:01 of enjoyment! ☺

[@nyc90]

Crazy that it had touch volume controls but a physical dial for line in! That would drive me insane.

[@bugradio]

It was a revelation 20 years ago when I started at my radio station and found their MD decks had huge remote controls with a button for *every letter* of the alphabet. It was a game-changer compared to cycling through the letters when labeling on a portable. One day, I accidentially erased the track names for an entire promo disc. A disc full of station spots with no names. That took some time to correct!

[@bugradio]

(I'm still there and we still have the last rack-mount MDs we bought, but they aren't used for anything)

[@doggerproductions]

Best format ever🙂

[@twocvbloke]

Cor, a music player with a touchscreen, whatever happened to that concept? :D

[@cuttinchops]

The first shown is the EXACT MD recorder I had in my childhood! On the bus recording off my friend’s CD player’s line out and making mixes..... YARrrr

[@AudioElectronicsChicago]

good memories 👍🏻

[@FoxMcovitch]

duuude i been waiting for these to be reviewed !

[@Jamato-sUn]

Oh, this is so cooooool! The LCD! The touch screen!

[@mikewhiles4635]

Cool Victor (JVC) MD, but the key board you could use with selected Sony mains recorders makes the whole process so easy. 😎😎😎

[@MiloPerrotti]

Thank you.

[@ILikeStyx]

I've got a fondness for MiniDisc - still own my MZ-N505. I wish pre-recorded albums didn't end up becoming an expensive collector's item, as I never had the chance to buy them from retail :P

[@voicumarius2000]

i belive as is time it was very practical and this for his time was important,very intuitive video I watch the entire video I lovet

[@misterspitfire6564]

I miss Minidisc... I remember friends saying "What is that?" I also remember telling them, "Something better than that mp3 player you've got!".

[@DriveInFreak]

MiniDisc was quite popular in the broadcast industry. The decks that we used had a keyboard port on them, so you could just use a keyboard to enter the tiles, ect. I wonder if there were any "consumer" decks that had that option. Seems JVC had a good idea there, but I can't imagine having the patience to do such a thing.

[@dashcamandy2242]

There were higher-end consumer MD decks with keyboard ports. Sony had quite a few models that supported a PS/2 keyboard, and they also integrated that feature into their larger CD carousels (300+ CD units) around the same time. I wish I had one of the keyboard-input models, since my Sony's rotary encoder is flaky.

[@Lachlant1984]

I seem to remember seeing a Panasonic MD recorder that did not have a touch screen, rather it had a touch sensitive pad below the screen, I think this pad had some of the playback controls on it.

[@donaldmason4959]

Why don't you ever mention the Sharpe MD recorder? I find mine still excellent after many years of use even though it "eats" batteries. Great vids' as always!

[@deeiks12]

Why on earth they'd make the volume controls touch based. This is just plainly stupid design, otherwise love this thing.

[@deeiks12]

@@renakunisaki yes, this makes it even more baffling :D

[@MattGamesYT]

I really love this, It's like a HP Ipaq that had a love child with an Apple Newton.

[@sailaab]

oh my my

[@MattGamesYT]

@John DoDo Doe Not ashamed to admit I just googled "Apple Wifi Pad" before realising this was a joke 😅

[@StuartPoore]

Thumbs up for the HP iPaq - those hunt-and-peck stylus keyboard days (although my first iPaq had a Blackberry style mini physical keyboard !)

[@MattGamesYT]

@@johndododoe1411 OOOh I get you! This is me being dense and not understanding!

[@Kalvinjj]

to be honest now that you mention it I can only think of that Family Guy's Noah's ark meme but with the Newton and an MD recorder instead

[@derecwilsom4546]

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...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.

[@dashcamandy2242]

I've often used old car stereos as garage/basement radios. It's a great way to repurpose the stuff you upgraded from. I built a wooden box that housed the power supply from a commercial UPS (uninterruptible power supply) and a factory Delco radio and two speakers salvaged from an Oldsmobile Calais that a local fire department used for Jaws of Life training, and used that as a workplace radio. Being a car stereo, it was more suited to the temperature extremes of a guard shack (over 90F in the summer, "up to" 30F in the winter) than a bookshelf system or boom box, and it cost me nothing other than time. I had cassette playback, C-QUAM (AM Stereo), and a 5-band EQ, I was one happy "Security Host."

[@franklinbrooksstoppedcomme3267]

Having a look at these rare portable disc players of unusual hardware makes me wonder if by some off chance some company somehow ever went out of their way to make a portable player for SACDs or MQAs with a similarly compact Toslink output/input as seen on the device in this video. I could imagine such a device would be quite a sought-after niche beloved by audiophiles who like to get a listen to some hi-def music straight from the disc.

[@pizzagogo6151]

Very surprised they had a digital input ( completely forgotten about mini toslink!)- very advanced for the time, interesting!thanks

[@gamingmusicandjokesandabit1240]

Touchscreen on MiniDiscs was only slightly touched upon :-)

[@shilze1]

"lasts about 4 hours of playtime" "That's not too bad." *Realizes recharging didn't exist* "Oh."

[@fwingebritson]

This is why I want to go to Japan. That is to find the lost electronic artifacts that I missed out on through the years.

[@aiko4139]

I still have a Sony Net MD and it still works fine and looks almost brand new. And i also have a Combo Deck with CD and MD. My Net MD is the same. Its the Sony Net MD Walkman MZ-N707 Type R MDLP

[@redtails]

I hated minidisc. I saved up forever for a Sony MZ n510 (as a kid), but it was such a disappointment. The software (for transferring songs to the thing) was terrible, LP2 and LP4 were noticeably low sound quality, and after 1 year of light use it stopped reading the discs lol. Consumer electronics can be such utter garbage, and they still are.

[@daveash9572]

I had a Sony deck and a Sharp deck. The Sony seemed to be better built, and had a remote control with unique buttons for the whole alphabet, but as with this device, they were laid out alphabetically. The Sharp units remote however, had a layout similar to a 90s mobile phone, with a numerical layout where letters ABC were on the number 2, DEF on the number 3 etc which was still slightly slower to use than the Sony remote, but due to experience with texting, felt quicker to use. Never had a portable player though, apart from various car stereos in the late 90s.

[@scottreigel9911]

I always love the content....but where have the puppet shows gone to?

[@solidjb]

Hey I'm watching this video on a smartphone in a bus!

[@thefenrisianssweatshop]

Every time you upload minidisc vids I get waaay too overexcited. Cool lil device that. 😊🤘🏻🐺

[@xiaoka]

The only one so far! Minidisc is the vinyls of the 20s!

[@6581punk]

Funny how we refer to a record based on what it is made from. Not for MD as it would be too complex to say.

[@Kalvinjj]

@@6581punk wonder how many people that never seen it confuse it for a fancy looking floppy

[@Frenziefrenz]

@@6581punk Most of my records are shellac tbh, but I think they're mostly referred to by speed (78s).

[@sonicjackalopeproductions3342]

The plural of Vinyl is vinyl. Just saying. And, vinyl never stopped production. MD has been dead in the water with no manufacture for 20 years

[@kevinallen9106]

@@sonicjackalopeproductions3342 8 years. Last new Sony machine shipped 2013. Tascam MD-CD1 Mk3 could be purchased new (in Europe) until 2018.. Just sayin'.

[@darrenwells2277]

I wish they still made Minidisc... Its still what I use on my Hi-fi the most today. I just think MP3 has no soul, its convenient, but you don't get the fun of sitting there making the discs. So MD sticks with me!

[@Defensive_Wounds]

2:44 - I guess that Techmoan doesn't send text messages on XBOX then... They used to have a qwerty layout then they changed it to abcdef. I am used to both thanks to this.

[@annother3350]

You can plug in a physical keyboard

[@Gadgetonomy]

I love that you keep coming back to Minidisc every once in a while, it's my favourite retro tech!

[@Gadgetonomy]

@SteelRodent Thanks for being pedantic, but I think everyone knows exactly what I meant. No need to spoil the spirit of my comment.

[@adobedoug2564]

I used to have one of these. I recorded a few live shows.

[@NoMoneyG]

Love my MD players! Would love to add this one to my collection also! Just because like yourself. Thank you

[@win33adam]

That personal Sony MD Player/Recorder at the beginning (model Sony MZ-R3) was 400 pounds in early 1996 at Argos. However around that time in the West Midlands there were a branch of stores closing down (think they were called Powerhouse?) and they were almost giving stuff away. My mate got one for 75 pounds and I got the non recordable MZ-E3 (250 pounds) for 50 quid! In hindsight I should have spent 25 quid more and got the recordable one but I was 13 at the time and my pocket money didn't stretch that far. I actually sold a few years later and doubled my money.

[@timvantongeren261]

The Kirkland battery. Commonly found in straya. Especially in the neighborhood of a nugget and DankPods

[@darrenc2721]

I think people who didn't try minidisc were missing out. It was far more portable than cd, killed off sadly by mp3. I still use md to this day. Always off hunting for old discs and albums. Still record albums to this day. It's was so much fun to own and play with. It was expensive to own in 1997, but it was worth every penny.

[@ASausageDog]

love the MD player vids.. cheers techmoan :)

[@jonsingle1614]

Long live MD !

[@EldaLuna]

ive only had the usb version of the minidisc in the 2000's.. i still own the discs but no device for them as mine broke...but now make me want to find one and see if they still worked.

[@GnarlyDude970]

Minidisk was such a cool format. I wish I still had mine and I wish there was something similar around now

[@franklinbrooksstoppedcomme3267]

Ya never know; maybe soon wearing old MiniDiscs as earrings or something will become a hip, trendy new thing with young folk these days, and thus give incentive for companies to make a new HDMD format seeing as they're selling again. I don't always predict future trends correctly, but you can screenshot this one just in case it comes true. I'd sure not be surprised if we end up in a dystopian future where people wear music.

[@lucaciprian8923]

Now I want to add this unit to my collection! If I can only find the Sony DH10P and Qualia-017 my collection would be done! But as you said, it's a matter of years of research.

[@darzanpl1226]

Hell yeah a new video

[@KinChungE]

The button on the top-right corner should be "Menu" instead of "Settings"

[@Tactical_Hotdog]

Great point, hop in your TARDIS and let the manufacturer know immediately.

[@NeatNit]

@@Tactical_Hotdog No, just Techmoan

[@Techmoan]

I'm just describing what the buttons do - not the translation of the Japanese text. A few of the buttons are some kind of a menu - this is the settings menu.

[@Evicous]

@@Techmoan that person was being *pedantic* I don't think your response will be satisfactory

[@rustymixer2886]

@@Evicous yup unless like trying to explain something to a wife

[@rcfanaticdublin]

Still got my netMD player (in it's box) and a dozen or so disc's hidden away somewhere since 2003.

[@mistermatix8241]

Jamiroquai's Travelling Without Moving album, my god I love that album!

[@guushertoghs2143]

I just watched an 8-bit Guy video, and he had a 16 inch LP. A not so mini disc :) From small scale digital to large scale analog. I hoped Techmoan might have a video on this big type of record, but nope. Not yet anyway :)

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

👍 Another top drawer production, thank you. Can remember getting into MiniDisc in the 90s. Entering those track titles, I could sense my life ebbing away. Ended up just scribbling the tracks on the card inserts "cassette style" - much easier 😃. Sometimes a pen and a piece of paper is the best solution.

[@mice2071]

Watching these videos about MiniDisc players and gadgets help me recall the nine consecutive enjoyable years I lived in Japan. I still own about 10 MD players and probably over 400 blank MDs, not to include the already over 250 MDs I recorded on from my favorite CDs. I updated my SonicStage on three of my recent purchased computers which have Windows 10 operating system. The only inconvenience is that whenever Windows 10 has a major update, I have to reinstall the software patches in order for it to recognize when I plug in NetMD to record to a black MD. Other than that discrepancy, the program still works like a champ.

[@Trekeyus]

I'm not going to lie mini-disc is my favorite format because it's just so niche and sci-fi it's kind of like what we imagined the future to be.

[@jamesslick4790]

Weird American here. I had a "home" (Sony) MD......and 2 CAR MDs (Alpine & Sony) Weirder fact: CADILLAC, The most "Americanist" of luxury cars, offered MD in certain "Seville" models in the late 90s!

[@killfalcon]

I was surprised at how similar the stylus is to the ones on the Nintendo DS handhelds, but I guess it works, so why not?

[@whitehawk45]

The DS blew my mind in 2004

[@NeatNit]

There really isn't anything different to do with it. It makes sense to make it out of plastic because it's rigid enough, cheap and lightweight. It needs to be tucked away inside the device so that you don't lose it. It needs to be roughly pencil shaped so that you have a thick enough stick to hold but the point is precise on the touchscreen. So yeah, of course it's similar, how could it be different?

[@killfalcon]

@@NeatNit I think the thing is expect to have "evolved" is the squared off bit at the tail-end that sits flush with the device. It's a good solution, just didn't expect to see it on an older device... though I guess the 90s aren't that much older. I wonder who came up with it in the first place?

[@worldcomicsreview354]

I bought a DSi in Japan in 2014 in order to play one game ("White Comic", you can probably guess why from my username). I used it so little it's still holding the same charge in 2021... and has been repatriated to Japan, where I've lived for nearly 5 years. I ought to get it out and play some more...

[@withinjapan2024]

Like seriously Techmoan what is your problem??? Why must you always insist on teasing me with the magnificent, beautiful, magical mini disc tech lol I got my first shelf mini disc system in 2020 and OMG I am just in love.... can I marry a mini disc??? I really need to buy a portable player but thats the next trip to japan

[@vanhavirta]

3:24 "ニヌフヒ" omg he went there 😳

[@rabit818]

So much work. We’re so spoiled in 2021. We could do so much with our phones.

[@andreasklindt7144]

I guess nobody uses their phones to its full potential!