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Gear / Technical Help => Recording Gear => Topic started by: harimau on October 26, 2011, 06:50:38 AM
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I have a collection of Sony MiniDiscs and I would like to convert them to CD form.
Are MiniDisc players still being made?
If so (or, if not), which model MiniDisc player would be the right choice to use as the source machine?
Thanks in advance for all the help.
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Ideally something with a digital output, but I'm not sure if anything is currently made. Regardless, it would be cheaper to go the eBay route.
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Once you've got the files from the MiniDisc recorded locally, you can use FFMPEG to convert from the Sony Codecs to something more widely compatible like FLAC. I think the FFMPEG team just added support for MiniDisc-encoded files this year.
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Ideally something with a digital output, but I'm not sure if anything is currently made. Regardless, it would be cheaper to go the eBay route.
This is what I did. A Sony JE-500 (I think thats the model) cost me about $65 used after shipping when I picked one up off of ebay and has an optical out.
Yes, the decoding codec used may not be the best edition, but it beats doing a D>A>D transfer IMHO.
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I still have everything needed to transfer and depending on what you have on those MD's, might be interested in doing it. pm me if interested.
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What was your old Minidisc recorder?
If it was not a Hi-MD--that is, the model number does not have an H in it and there's no Hi-MD logo on the machine--then the recordings were made to be stuck on the disc unless you wanted to re-record them in real time.
That is, until Sony introduced the MZ-RH1. That will upload legacy MD recordings IF you made them yourself--not if you downloaded albums from your computer onto the disc.
They are hard to find now, unfortunately. And people are getting greedy, if Amazon is any guide. The former Minidisc Canada still has the MZ-M200, (same unit, MZ-M200 comes with a dinky Sony mic)
http://pauseplaystop.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=1&cat=MiniDisc+Recorders
If you have a whole lot of MDs, the time you save might be worth it, and you'll be doing a direct digital upload instead of an analog recording.
The MZ-RH1 or MZ-M200 will upload recordings through Sony's barely tolerable SonicStage software onto a PC. Here's the best available version of SonicStage:
http://forums.sonyinsider.com/topic/26171-software-for-your-netmd-or-hi-md-minidisc-playerrecorder/
Once uploaded, you can remove encryption, also with SonicStage--actually with the File Conversion Tool, which will install under the SonicStage group in the PC but runs outside SonicStage. The uploaded files are in Sony's proprietary ATRAC format, but after uploading and decrypting you can convert them to something useful like FLAC or .mp3.
There's a lot of information on that Sony Insider site, formerly minidisc.org. If you do get the RH1, look around there for info or ask for help--a nice bunch of minidisc diehards.