Six Ways to get Music onto a Minidisc

Let's look at six ways to get music from various devices onto a Minidisc.

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Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:08 Headphones out to Line In
03:25 Line In from Line Out
05:50 Optical In from Optical Out / SPDIF (via TOSLink)
10:41 SonicStage
15:37 Web Minidisc Pro
19:44 NetMD Wizard

This video came from 101 video clips, four screen recordings, four cables, three computers, three minidisc recorders Sony (MZ-N710, MZ-N707, MZ-R30), an Aiwa cassette deck, a Sony Walkman (cassette) WM-F2085, a Sony Diskman D-E451, and a yellow Audio Technica Sound Burger. Also shown at the beginning and in the thumbnail is a Bluetooth transmitter/receiver, but I forgot to shoot that. I guess that is one for a follow up video.

[stringz.]

man, as a kid in the 80s-90s my Sony cassette Walkman was everything to me. I know it’s nothing compared to an iphone, but back in the day having your tapes & radio in one wherever you went was so cool. I embraced minidisc when it came along and I still use it today, even though I’m 100% up with today’s tech.

[CoasterManOfficial]

I'm from the United States. Minidisc didn't take off here. But the format still fascinates me. This video gave me a window into what you could do with a Minidisc.

[bigbowlowrong]

When I was a teenager in Hong Kong in the late 90s/early 2000s I used to download totally legal mp3s to my computer, rip the mp3s to an audio CDR, then transfer the CDR to MD on my dad’s home stereo system, then use said MD in my portable MD player. I had about a dozen such MD mixtapes rattling around in my backpack at any one time.
Sure, it sounds like a pain in the ass now but I was a teenager obsessed with music so what else was I going to do? Study?😆
To be honest it never occurred to me to actually use the recording capabilities of the various portable MD players I had over the years. Could have saved myself a lot of time lmao

[yajiu]

Well done mate! Top-notch video, all the editing and bother was worth it! I feel your pain!

[Reticencezen]

This is a great video for people exploring Minidiscs like me, to learn how to record on them. I heard of them as a child in the 90s but never used the format so I'm exploring them now.

[vincen]

Great video mate, very informative.Just getting into the minidisc world after picking up a Sony MzR50 on eBay recently.Could never afford one back in the day but am loving the format, great audio from such a small device!👍

[guardiangibbs]

I found my old MZ- NE410 mini disk player while moving recently. TY for the guide!

[halmiller]

I bought like about 16 years ago at a hamfest (amateur radio flea market) a portable Sony MZ-R500 MD Walkman recorder. I got it cheap. Not a NetMD version. Maybe $20, but I don't remember. That included a recorded Gleen Miller MD minidisc. I'm just starting to use it again. It has one input for regular line input or digital optical input. I use the SPDIF output from my other PC. Both of my PCs have Linux on them. The digital input of the Sony takes the skinny male input end with the red light from the optical digital cable. I use the SYNC function for the digital connection and recording. That way it records digitally only when something with volume is output to the Walkman. It pauses if the sound level goes out or low until sound comes again and automatically records. Unless I give it about two seconds of no sound, it will skip marks between tracks or make too many marks between tracks if sound waits too long. I do have to later manually mark or unmark marks between tracks some. I use the normal speed for 80 minutes of best recording. I don't bother with the LP2 or LP4 speeds. It does sound pretty good. A MD stand alone home recorder would be more convenient to use, especially with the small menu on the portable, but the home units cost more than CD recorders still.

[eric_eagle]

Great summary!! I got into MD around 1999, never entirely got out. Today I use either a Sony CD/MD deck to do direct record, or WMD Pro to convert wav to ATRAC using one of my NetMD portables.

It’s awesome to see a resurgence of interest in the format - tons of great resources out there now- label generators, templates and some enthusiasts will even get their discs UV printed with artwork, which gives a collection a very professional and unique feel.

[shirl]

If you use a split headphone/optical jack, you can record from your phone if it has one. Just put optical out in headphone socket, play from say Apple Music n hit record. You don’t get any titles but it does work

[mudstuff]

Thanks for the interesting overview, concise and well edited. I'm having a retro resurgence lately and have been tinkering with CRTs, old consoles and now music too. I had a Panasonic SJ-MR200 back in the day and used to record sounds on it for use in video projects at university in the early 00s. I've recently acquired an immaculate Sony MZ-N520 and I'm looking forward to making some discs with Web Minidisc Pro and possibly tinkering with some analog or optical too. Thanks again

[EonReevesScaleHobbies]

10:00 and later you can go in and delete the gaps between tracks if needed - or add a gap

[davidfromdownunder]

THANKS so much for the very informative content. Wow wish I experimented a bit more back in the day via PC to record. I’ve very recently rediscovered my love affair via my Sony R55 MD player on a beach holiday where I trialled a ‘NO Smartphone / Social Media’ getaway and loved it! Being a 70’s / 80’s child creating the mixed tape was fun and experimental just as I had done in 2000-2003 with Mini Discs. I now plan to ripp a few CD’S from my late 80’s / 90’s / early 00’s collection onto PC then transfer to Minidisc. I guess I better stock up on some blank discs and purchase a Net MD portable.

[Rwilts]

I was an original MD user in the 90’s and recently got back into them. Encouraged by some of your earlier videos on repairing I have managed to restore 4 faulty devices to working order.

Regarding optical out - a lot of older MacBook Pro laptops output optical from their headphone socket. Not clearly documented but tested by myself on a 2012 model and works a treat.

Regarding Net Md, I restored a sharp net md recorder but the USB connection on the device is proprietary and I can’t for the life of me find a cable that fits .

[thetonywony_]

i recently got given a Walkman minidisc player from my mum, this video was very useful =) im 13 and am really interested in physical media right now

[terryhollingsworth]

So glad you made this video. I have two minidisc Walkman's with no way, I thought, of getting music onto my blank discs!

[yajiu]

Brilliant video @cbitstech! Great to see sonic stage working properly. I didn’t know about the last method you used at all… looks really cool.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[skullape]

thank you for this video, i used the toslink methid and everything went amazin, i can now listen to my fav music on my lil MD walkman ^^

[SaulChevymann]

Oh yeah! Webmd renew my collection easily

[darioluna]

Thanks for the video, very good info.