The Big Thread of MiniDisc Information

Discussion in 'Discmans, Minidisc, DCC and other players' started by Mister X, Jan 11, 2021.

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  1. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    My Japanese Buddy gave me just the player, these are a neat version, now I have to find the rest of this brochure! Maybe it's on the old Panasonic Website?


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    Mister X, Aug 3, 2026
    #201
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  2. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    A pretty expensive unit from Sharp, the MD-Z3-B


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    Mister X, Aug 14, 2026
    #202
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  3. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    Kenwood 1994.2, the DMC-A7R


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    Mister X, Aug 15, 2026
    #203
  4. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    1997


    upload_2026-8-20_16-31-59.png
     
    Mister X, Aug 20, 2026
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  5. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    A neat Sony MD Player, unsure of the year. Can it take either a gumshoe battery or normal one?


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    Mister X, Aug 27, 2026
    #205
  6. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    One of the forgotten mash-ups is MD-Data which was a natural extension of the 3.5 floppy's (that Sony developed). Here's a cool brochure for one of the data drives that also looks like it can play the music discs as well. The disc says 140 Mb, the old floppys were 1.44 Mb and the Zip Drive was around 100 Mb so this would have been a very strong contender for consumer data storage. This is very nice looking and has a rechargeable battery! I'd love to see one of the tech YT's do an episode on it.

    From 1994


    Sony 1994.9 1.jpg
    Sony 1994.9 2.jpg Sony 1994.9 3.jpg Sony 1994.9 4.jpg
     
    Mister X, Sep 11, 2026
    #206
  7. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    Even JVC had one! The very rare XM-R1 MD Player which could also record. I feel like they had to record since they were expensive to start with but add in a component deck and most people would have keeped walking.


    JVC 1995.7 1.jpg
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    Mister X, Sep 11, 2026
    #207
  8. Michiel

    Michiel Well-Known Member S2G Supporter

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    Nice, I have never seen this PCMCIA MD data device. Don't think it was very common at all. Looks like it goes over SCSI. I eventually settled back then on SuperDisk LS120, mainly because it could also read standard floppy disks and integrated nicely into the systems I had.
     
    Michiel, Sep 13, 2026
    #208
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  9. Longman

    Longman Well-Known Member S2G Supporter

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    I found it strange that Sony didn't push MiniDisc as a data format. However, they had other plans.
    https://www.howtogeek.com/the-last-gasp-of-the-floppy-disk-why-sonys-hifd-failed-so-miserably/
    I wonder if there were internal rivalries between the computer and audio divisions.

    I too had an LS120 drive, which I recall making excellent SciFi type sounds as the computer booted. I never had any issues with it. I only stopped using it when I got a Motherboard that didn't have an IDE connector.

    It is strange that Sony had so many problems with HiFD when Imation went on to make the LS240.

    Zip drives ended up with a slight reputation for unreliability (click of death) but that happened over years not one month.
     
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2026
    Longman, Sep 13, 2026
    #209
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  10. Michiel

    Michiel Well-Known Member S2G Supporter

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    The thing is, the SciFi powerup sound of the LS120 always made me doubt the drives' durability. It all sounded so advanced that it seemed bound to break down quickly. However, the opposite is true. I still have the systems equipped with LS120 drives (Toughbooks, Matsushita). And while standard floppy drives, the belts for instance, can run into problems, the LS120 drives are still working perfectly nearly thirty years later. The only downside to the drive was that you couldn't boot from it. But that was probably the case with the Zip and the Data MD as well.
     
    Michiel, Sep 14, 2026
    #210
  11. Experious

    Experious Active Member

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    I'll just leave this here.

    1. Front Cover (Custom).jpg 2. Contents (Custom).jpg 3. Page 1-2 (Custom).jpg 4. Page 3-4 (Custom).jpg 5. Page 5-6 (Custom).jpg 6. Page 7-8 (Custom).jpg 7. Page 9-10 (Custom).jpg 8. Page 11-12 (Custom).jpg 9. Page 13-14 (Custom).jpg 10. Page 15-16 (Custom).jpg 11. Page 17-18 (Custom).jpg 12. Page 19-20 (Custom).jpg 13. Back Cover (Custom).jpg

    The MDA-5051 is the one I had/have. I'm kind of on the lookout for the matching head unit, although I don't have a spare car to put it in!
     
    Experious, Sep 16, 2026
    #211
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  12. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    Cool brochure! I'd post some cool stuff but the hosting overlords won't let me....

    I had a local guy selling me one of Sony's first MD Car Players, he was going to drop it off on his way through town. I said call/text when your here but he never did and I didn't hear the doorbell, I'm still bumming about letting that one get away.
     
    Mister X, Sep 17, 2026
    #212
  13. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    I don't think the data storage bug hit me until warez got big around 1998, anybody remember the first hacked programs on the net? There used to be websites called "warez" that had just about any program you wanted for free! Most had nasty viruses but some were fine. Storage was a huge issue and data drives seemed to be the way forward with Zip and Imation leading the pack.

    I was working in the data storage world (and cassettes) around the time of your article Longman but I dont not remember the Sony at all. We were mostly making head cleaning cartridges for all kinds of media. I used to do a ton of stuff with Zip Drives but more so for the industrial back up drives which were 8mm and came in different versions depending on the brand, 3M and Imation were huge around here.
     
    Last edited: Sep 18, 2026
    Mister X, Sep 18, 2026
    #213
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