2013 Look Back, Sony MDs

[BlackListedB]

MD or MiniDisc, butted heads directly with MP3 (layer 3 of MPEG) compression codec using it's own unique ATRAC compression audio, Sony and other producers offered media that included pre-recorded titles and blanks, and like DAT or Digital Audio Tape before, came under fire for pristine (as thought by record companies) duplicates as good as original artist's recordings, but could it battle digital audio on flash media or in smaller form factors?

 

Without even recording, which plagued LaserDisc catching on in the 1980s, MP3 players took off while MD floundered, but like DATs before it, MD found a major fan base, and it's still alive despite Sony announcement here to end the format. I actually thought MD had ended earlier, by at least a year or more given media certainly became a USED MARKET only resource. Stores everywhere took the media off the shelf, or they sold out in fast order, since when I was shopping, they had already vanished.

https://medium.com/people-gadgets/a8b1379b2f1

 

I still have analog cassettes here and there, but it comes from a long history of buying things for the best price. A co-worker in the 1990s turned me onto trying MiniDiscs for the first time, I even bought a DAT that showed up at the local Goodwill, but required me to invest in a repair to get it back to working condition, but as it happens, I still own that recording deck with a small collection of DAT tapes. So I'm happy I actually got personal experience comparing these technologies that mark the true path of digital audio and video over the course of 30 years or more!

 

MDs are still alive by the fan base created during it's time in the market because it still offers all the digital audio features you can get today, at this exact minute. Recording is simple, and it's highly portable as well, which just doesn't come with most digital PLAYERS

Edited October 25, 2013 by BlackListedB

[BlackListedB]

Going to append this article as well, notice the author is a lot younger then me, I grew up when consumer Reel to Reel was still in some people's homes, and one of the first formats I had access to. Even into the 1980s 8-track cassette head units could be found in new cars!

 

http://www.retrojunk.com/article/show/3729/the-mighty-minidisc

 

Reading down half the page to the copyprotection Sony used with NetMD, I can concur by way of personal experience, a disc I made using the downloaded (free) software though from my own CDs I bought, I could not edit or re-record for some reason, and it's that Check In and Check Out copyprotection method he gives more detail on, seems to be a real detriment but having found and downloaded the software that works with NetMD, I decided to reserve it for some of my computers when I need it.

Will I be able to mate to the same machine I used originally?? Probably not, I know I traded one already!

 

Hi-MD was a neat advancement, however, still too pricy for me to get, I hope to find one to play with eventually though! May become my main MD recording unit

Edited October 25, 2013 by BlackListedB