Topic: MiniDisc transfer question

[StarkRavingCalm]

Hey everyone,

I have a few mini-discs that I want to transfer digitally. Unfortunately, the recorders I have access to do not have any means of a digital out.
I do have a Sony NetMD that has a USB cable but it throws an error when trying to transfer to the PC saying that the track was recorded using a different unit.

Does anyone know where I can get equipment that can successfully transfer these discs digitally?
I know there were some PC based units at one time but I have not had any luck finding them.

I see a Sony MDS-E10 on eBay that has coax out (so I wouldn't need to buy a optical to coax converter). Does anyone know if this will transfer it without issue?

These recordings are personal in nature (birthdays, reunions, etc..) so I am hesitant to do a B&P on them.


Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[adrianf74]

You're looking for an MZ-RH1 (http://www.minidisc.org/part_Sony_MZ-RH1.html).  With the included software or something like NetMDPython (https://wiki.physik.fu-berlin.de/linux-minidisc/doku.php?id=netmdpython), you can transfer the MD contents as ATRAC and then do playback and/or conversion with ffdshow.  This would be considered most correct way of doing a transfer.  The other option is to do what you're saying and that is to do the transfer via digital out, however, MiniDiscs are very precarious in nature.  A disc recorded on Recorder A may play back fine on Recorder A but Recorder B (or Player C, for that matter) will choke on it.  There are no guarantees and with the age of the discs (most of mine are pushing 7-9 years now), read errors become more common.

Best of luck.

[yousef]

Here in the UK I recently picked up a fullsize MD deck with digital out for about £10 on Ebay.

I don't think there's any sort of market for these things at the moment so it should be pretty easy to pick up a decent deck for not much cash.

For the price I paid for mine, I wouldn't even be looking to sell it on after my transfers are done. And I bet the charity shop wouldn't want it either...

[twatts (pants are so over-rated...)]

Hey everyone,

I have a few mini-discs that I want to transfer digitally. Unfortunately, the recorders I have access to do not have any means of a digital out.
I do have a Sony NetMD that has a USB cable but it throws an error when trying to transfer to the PC saying that the track was recorded using a different unit.

Does anyone know where I can get equipment that can successfully transfer these discs digitally?
I know there were some PC based units at one time but I have not had any luck finding them.

I see a Sony MDS-E10 on eBay that has coax out (so I wouldn't need to buy a optical to coax converter). Does anyone know if this will transfer it without issue?

These recordings are personal in nature (birthdays, reunions, etc..) so I am hesitant to do a B&P on them.


Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Try your local Craigs List...  There are always Mini-Disc units on the Raleigh CL...

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/search/?areaID=36&subAreaID=&query=minidisc&catAbb=sss

Terry

[adrianf74]

And I bet the charity shop wouldn't want it either...

LOL.  Prolly not.  And you'd have to pay to dispose of it, I'm sure, as well...  Nice find, BTW. 

[StarkRavingCalm]

eBay still getting pretty high prices on MD untits.

Found this on CraigList for short money:
http://www.minidisc.org/part_Tascam_564.html
While not exactly what I was looking for, with digital out and bypassing ATRAC, it may get me where I need to go.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

[adrianf74]

FleaBay usually sees stuff being sold for more than it's truly worth.  I had found a used RZ-RH1 a few month's back that had a broken battery door and even that went for around $150 or so (which to me, was too much).

Can't say I've had any experience with the Tascam 564 but most Tascam gear I've owned over the years was well built and work well.

[Ghost of sml42]

i researched this a few years ago and ended up picking up a cheap mds-je470 and modifying it to give optical out:

http://frank.mtsu.edu/~hhw2b/470mod.html

sure you need to be handy with a soldering iron, but at the time md decks with optical out were much more expensive. i think i ended up paying GBP 30 for this deck, managed to blag the optical connector for free, and spent a couple hours of an evening drilling soldering and testing. works a charm

[StarkRavingCalm]

AARRGGG!!

So I bought the Tascam 564 unit off of Craigslist. MD's "seemed" to play (levels on the meters, etc...)
However, no output via SPDIF.
After some googling, appears this unit is designed for data-grade discs and will send those out SPDIF, but not audio-grade.

So my attention has turned to:
TASCAM MD-301 MKII MINI DISK DECK

Has optical out which means I will need to buy optical to SPDIF converter.

Anyone have any experience with this unit?

Too bad there wasn't an "equipment swap" section of this site. You know, pass around (in this case antiquated) equipment for short runs for people with limited need for a nominal fee.

[yousef]

Oh, that's a shame. I didn't know there was such a thing as a data minidisc.

Good luck with your new deck...