Mini CD questions

Factual Questions
1

OK I’ve been out looking at those mini-CDs and all the sales people tell me different things. So I want the SD.

Basically I have a portable CD and love it but as you know they skip. I want something I can run with. I’ve been told mini CDs have like 40 seconds anti-skip and you can use them to record your CDs without sound quality loss and it is hard (though not impossible) for them to skip.

But what kind of CD player must I have to record to these mini CDs. I had one saleslady tell me I could record from my Panasonic portable to the mini cd player. I don’t see how. But anyhow. Before I invest what player do I need to buy?

All I have now is my portable. I can buy a mini cd that records and plays back? Is this right?

2

Yes, you can get a portable mini-disc that records and plays. Yes, you can record from your Panasonic to a mini-disc player. I personally don’t know how. My husband has a deck now, but that’s because portability isn’t one of his utmost priorities. The mini-portable he had was a Sony. He got the display model, though, the one that had been sitting on the shelf. He only paid $99 for it, but wound up taking it back and getting the bigger, non-portable one. They’re still pretty high-priced, between $200-$350, but like regular CD players, microwaves, & VCR’s, they’re coming down. Since it’s close to the holidays, you’ll probably be able to get a really good deal very soon.

Now, someone with more technical expertise than myself needs to step in here and tell you just how to operate the things.

3

Basically I have a portable CD and love it but as you know they skip. I want something I can run with. I’ve been told mini CDs have like 40 seconds anti-skip and you can use them to record your CDs without sound quality loss and it is hard (though not impossible) for them to skip.

Most have a ten second buffer. If you plan to run with it, the 40 second model would be better, but I’ve dropped my ten second model, and it never skipped at all. Shaking it however, produced a little flutter.
Try your own test before buying, and I do mean clip it on your waistband and jump up and down. No way to be sure but a real test.

They do use a compression scheme called ATRAC, so there may be a slight difference in quality, but I don’t think you can really hear it with a musical source. At any rate, the sound quality is excellent.
But what kind of CD player must I have to record to these mini CDs. I had one saleslady tell me I could record from my Panasonic portable to the mini cd player. I don’t see how. But anyhow. Before I invest what player do I need to buy?

All I have now is my portable. I can buy a mini cd that records and plays back? Is this right?

If you get one that records, you can simply run a connecting cord from the line outputs of your cd player, to the line inputs of the mini-deck.
Generally this will be the headphone out of the cd, to the line in of the mini.
Usually, 1/8" stereo, male, both ends, will be correct. Set the mini to record, set the input level, start the mini, start the cd. Let it run till done, and that’s all there is to do.

Most mini-disc recorders also feature editing features, that let you name discs, titles, etc, and most also feature optical digital inputs for making dubs from larger home cd decks.

Either way, the sound quality is excellent, they’re small and portable, the discs can be re-recorded. Disc prices have come down to the point where you can get 10 for about $20.
About the price of a good quality cassette.

I have three mini-disc recorders, and the portable, a Sharp 702, is more sophisticated than the Sony that I use to dub cd’s from. 24bit state of the art. The coolest thing is that the player and ten discs fit in a small drawstring bag.

For more other info than you could ever possibly want to know,start here.
(Oh yeah, and shop around, new models and pricing come out often.)
http://www.hip.atr.co.jp/~eaw/minidisc/index.html

4

Just bought a (portable) MiniCD player/recorder this weekend and am really impressed with it. Mine (a Sharp) came with a wire to record from a CD deck, which has a single male input into the MiniCD and a dual male input (red and white) going into the CD deck. I found that once I’d recorded a disk I could play it over our regular stereo system by putting the single input into the headphone jack of the miniCD and putting the dual ends into a vacant jack on our equalizer (in our case, the one for the tape deck we do not have.) The result was a blaring 74 minutes of continuous CD quality music of ONLY the songs I liked without having to skip all over the place with multiple CDs. BLISS! I haven’t yet tested it for skipping but that was one of the selling points the salesperson was trying to push on me too. Of course he also tried to sell me the one that was a $100 more because it came with a remote. “Why would I need a remote for something that’s only as far away as my pocket?” “Uh, because if you’re jogging and it’s in your pocket you can just hold the remote in your hand or clip it to your shirt.” Yeah, right pal! Let me go play mine on the treadmill for a few minutes and I’ll be right back with a report.

“Damn you, Smiley Face!”

5

Absolutely zero skipping, either on the treadmill itself or in my hand. I even tried running really fast and waving it around wildly. That’s about a million times better than the regular portable CD I’d been using in the past, which skipped no matter what I did. Viva La MiniDisk!

(Hey BugZap, where are you getting 10 miniCDs for $20? I just paid $17 for 5 at a record store.)

6

(Hey BugZap, where are you getting 10 miniCDs for $20? I just paid $17 for 5 at a record store.)

The ‘BIG GUY’ electronics store.
Not the local record store, but, you should have asked them for a lower price.
You bought some music cd’s, and then some mini-discs?
$17 for five ain’t bad, that works out to three-forty apiece.
Double the amount to ten, and ask for the discount on that. Shoot for two-forty. Then settle, or walk.

I bought most of mine at the big guy store.
Off the rack, ten packs.
Basically, for awhile, mini-discs held the status, that 3 1/4 floppies do now.
So they were dumping them for awhile.
That’s when I stocked up.
TDK’s went for, two five packs, with a nice plastic case that held ten, for $20. Plus tax of course.

Lately, the score for more was, ten packs, of Maxell’s, in five colors, with plastic case that holds ten, for $24.99.
Not even on sale.
And up to maxells’ typical, most honored, quality standards.

In any case, shop the big guys, buy in quantity, buy equivalent quality, and always ask for a discount, even beyond what’s being offered.

The record store coulda’ tried to match the price. I’d give them the chance.
Then I’d hit the big guy, and let him cut his throat.
They’re always offering aren’t they?
What’s five bucks to the megolith?

(Hmm, I sound like a pretty hardcore shopper don’t I?
Money ain’t everything, just don’t pay more than necessary.)

7

please please please!
mini-disc
to me, mini-CDs are the 3" cds that were either singles or promo items about 10 years or more ago…
mini-discs were just the greatest audio innovation until Super Audio CD or the DVD-A.

the best place to find blank MDs is, for my money, http://www.tapeworld.com
i think i saw maxells for $1.99 per disc. the standard price that i’ve seen MDs are $2.49.
great place to check out http://www.minidisc.org

if you have a question, i’ll bet it’s answered there.
i just got a xitel sound card with a toslink out…awesome for dubbing MP3s, legal ones, of course, and dubbing projects over to MD.

btw…i picked up some 80 min blanks at a virgin mega store a while back, but has anyone seen a 100 min blank? i wanna get one so i can clone it on some 74s…

8

I have a Sony MD player which I bought so that I could listen to my music on the move, without skipping and fit everything into my pocket. It is important to note, that unless your CD player has an optical output and you are using an optical cabel to connect to the MD player, all you are actually getting is analog recording. I didn’t know this for a while and recorded analogue music for a while; the quality is still excellent; however, I finally dropped some coin on a CD player with an optical output jack (not too cheap I can tell you) and the quality has improved too. mind you, if you listen to your MD player whilst on a plane or jogging out of doors I doubt that it makes a difference worth the extra price of a good CD player.