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MiniDisc:
A compact digital audio disc from Sony that comes in read-only and rewritable versions. Introduced in late 1993, the MiniDisc has been popular in Japan. The read-only 2.5" disc stores 140MB compared to 650MB on a CD, but holds the same 74 minutes worth of music due to Sony's Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding (ATRAC) compression scheme, which eliminates inaudible signals. MD discs store disc and track titles displayed by the player. Used for music recording, rewritable MiniDiscs employ magneto-optic technology and come in 60 and 74-minute cartridges. The MiniDisc drive for computers (MD DATA) never caught on.

MiniDisc definition available at TechEncyclopedia.




MiniDiscs are widely used in Japan for travel, much like a portable compact disc player. They are also used in professional settings for music composition and recording and to store sound effects for theaters and traveling performance groups. Disc Jockeys the world over found the Minidisc as a way to make mass copies of their CD's so that they could have multiple DJ's out on one night.  However, the MiniDisc computer drive (known as the MD DATA) never became popular.

Sony's home page boasts MTV, Comedy Central, and VH1, as users of MiniDisc technology.







This is an actual Minidisc that the audio is recorded onto.  
  










The Sony Walkman version of the Minidisk system still allows playing and recording, but is  miniaturizedinto a portable size for recreational use







Here is another example of a portable version of the Minidisc recorder, whoever this particular one has been  equippedwith multiple inputs for microphones, etc., for field reporting of audio.



 
 




Not only does this picture show us a Walkman version of Minidisc, but it also displays a prerecorded Minidisc of a professional artist that can be purchased.  For more information on professional titles that can be found in Minidisc format check out sonymusic.com.









The company that conceived, designed, and manufactures the Minidisc is the Sony company.  Because of the emergence of the CD-R at the same time as the Minidisc was being introduced, Sony's product never really caught on in any country besides Japan.  Due to the lack of interest shown in Sony's Minidisc product, no other manufacturers ever "jumped on the bandwagon" to create similar products.  

Take a look at the Sony Company's Web site by clicking here.

Click here to see Sony's original announcement of the Minidisc technology.







To see the specifications for this item on the Sony website click here.









To see the specifications for this item on the Sony website click here.










This is the low-end version of Sony's Walkman Minidisc players.
Sony’s MZ-NE410 High Speed Net MD™ Walkman® Recorder enables you to Record your MP3s or CDs at up to 32x* Speed, Play Back ATRAC3™ Audio, MP3, WMA, and WAV, enjoy up to 56 Hours Continuous Playback using 1 "AA" Battery (LP4 Mode), and play more than 5 hours of Music on one 80 minute disc. Take advantage of the supplied Music Management Software including SonicStage™ Software and the Net MD™ Simple Burner Application. Skip-Free** G-Protection™ Technology enables a smooth listening experience, and our "Easy Skip" Group/Folder Function allows for easy navigation between multiple file folders. See why the NetMD Recorder is the best digital choice for you with the MZ-NE410.
Price: $129.99

Sony’s MZ-NF810CK High Speed Net MD™ Walkman® Recorder is a great fit for active lifestyles. So start listening now… Record your MP3s or CDs at up to 32X* the Speed, and store over 5 hours of Music on one 80 minute disc using MDLP™ Long Time Stereo Playback. The AM/FM/TV/Weather Band Tuner Remote enables direct access to the player's AM/FM/TV and Weather stations with a stereo mini-jack on the remote for headphones. The supplied Car Kit Accessories allow you to connect your NetMD in your car! Additional features include the Charging Stand and Rechargeable Battery, Multiple Audio Format Playback (ATRAC3™ AUDIO, MP3, WMA, WAV), and Music Management Software. All these features and more make this digital choice simple - the MZ-NF810CK.
Price: $279.99


Make the right choice in digital with Sony’s MZ-N10 High Speed Net MD™ Walkman® Recorder. Featuring high speed transfer, you can record your MP3s or CDs at up to 64X* the Speed! In addition, MDLP™ Long Time Stereo Playback allows you to store over 5 hours of Music on one 80 minute disc. Utilize features like the USB Cradle for Easy PC Connection and Charging, the Backlit LCD Remote with Editing Functions, Multiple Audio Format Playback (ATRAC3™ AUDIO, MP3, WMA, WAV), and the supplied Music Management Software. Find out first hand why Sony’s NetMD™ is the #1 selling music player in the industry with the MZ-N10.
 


Price: The price was too low for Sony to advertise. (basically because they are trying to get rid of them)









    Ten years after the launch of CDs, Sony announced a new music medium. In the 1990s, the production volume of audio compact cassettes was rapidly declining from its peak of 76 million units in 1988. Seeing this trend, Ohga, then president, felt the need to replace compact cassettes. In the 1980s, Ohga had led the establishment of the CD business, and CD technology had quickly replaced analog audio technology thanks to its digitally-based, high speed random access and direct search capabilities. CDs were a great success, but they were originally a read-only media, and Ohga wanted to make something that was rewritable, a kind of disc that would replace the audio compact cassette.
    When Tsurushima's team from the Audio Development Group exhibited a prototype of a recordable CD at the 1989 Audio Fair, Ohga stopped and paid close attention. Just after the development of the CD in the early 1980s, Sony began development of a recordable discs. The objective was to give magnetic tape the same function as discs. The result of Sony's efforts was the launch of the Write-Once (WO) optical disk in 1986 and a Magneto-Optical (MO) disk two years later. The prototype of the recordable CD that Ohga saw at the fair had actually been produced in 1987. It was based on the same recording technology used in the MO disk, which was originally developed together with KDD (Kokusai Denshin Denwa).
    Demonstrations of the CD were made worldwide using the not-yet perfected prototype. In New York, at a joint press demonstration with Philips, one of the engineers out of view from the journalists, was busy doing his utmost to prevent the system from overheating by cooling it with a Japanese paper fan.
    Though impressed, Ohga said to Tsurushima, You should develop a recording and playback device that uses a disc smaller than the CD to replace the audio compact cassette. This led to the development of a new music medium.
    Software and media standardization would be required in addition to hardware standardization. But Philips, Sony's partner in the development of the CD, was the original creator of the audio compact cassette. Philips had its own idea about what medium should replace the compact cassette, believing it should be a digital cassette. Sony and Philips held countless discussions, but consensus was never reached. It seemed inevitable that two new competing media would be developed.
    Engineers Tadao Yoshida and Kazuhiko Fujiie, who had participated in the launch of the CD, were once again brought together under Tsurushima. Basing their work on Sony's established MO technology, the team began work on creating a compact audio recording device that used discs. It was decided that the new disc size would be 64 mm and that it would have a recording capacity of up to seventy-four minutes, the same as a CD, on an area one-quarter the size of a CD. With the cooperation of the Sony Information Systems Research Center, this led to the development of the ATRAC (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding) digital signal processing technology for audio compression. To ensure that the final product would be portable, technology to reduce track skipping when jostled was simultaneously developed with a new shockproof memory based on semiconductors.
    In May 1991, all development was concluded, and the MiniDisc (MD), the new audio standard, was announced. To enhance portability, the disc was housed in a shell. The MD combined recordable features of the cassette tape with the random access functions and high quality sound of the CD. Sony clearly explained the difference between the CD and MD; the CD was for leisure listening and the MD for enjoying music anywhere and anytime, much like the Walkman.
     Ohga announced the technical development of the MD in Japan and the US. He carried a prototype of the new personal audio system with him to all the press briefings and said, We call upon hardware and software manufacturers to endorse the MD system and target the product launch for the end of 1992. Ohga led Sony's efforts to establish the MD as the standard by holding MD conferences and demonstration campaigns and by signing licensing agreements with influential hardware and software manufacturers.
 


While MiniDisc first made little impression on the world, it began to become popular in Japan. Slowly, MD gained popularity in America as well. Recently, thanks mostly to a dramatic decrease in price, interest has increased quite a bit . Nearly five hundred thousand MD players were sold in the States in 1998, twice the number sold the previous year. Retailers are also beginning to take serious note of MiniDisc equipment. Over nine thousand stores in the US now sell MiniDisc equipment and blank discs.
The Minidisc has faired somewhat better on the world market. It has experienced huge success in Japan and Europe with a two-fold growth in Japan in 1997, and nearly a three-fold growth in Europe in 1998. "MiniDisc is a hit in Japan and Europe with over 6 million units to be sold worldwide in 1997, and Americans have begun to realize the value of this highly portable, recordable digital audio format," said Mark Viken, senior vice president of Personal Audio/Video Products Group, Sony Electronics.

To see articles about Sony's marketing techniques in the last few years click here.



Here are some of the most recent news stories that were found on the Sony Minidisc:

An article on Elson Trinidad, a musician who uses Minidisc for sampling exotic sounds.

3/29: From the Breakfast table to the Battlefield: A Sony NetMD offer on the back of a cereal box.
 
An article in The Guardian (UK) tells how the military is using Minidisc on the ground to blast out messages in Arabic over PA speakers.

6/01 A USA Today article covers Minidisc's comeback.

7/00: A Stereophile article states that, aside from computer based recording, MD is the leading digital recording format in the US.




The advantages of Minidisc technology revolve mostly around three key types of benefits: DIGITAL QUALITY, PORTABILITY, and RECORDABILITY.

DIGITAL QUALITY
Being Digital, Minidisc offers the best in sound quality. Only crisp, clean precise sound comes from digital sound technology. As advantages over conventional tape, there is no hiss, no distortion, no need to set record levels and no  degradationof quality over time. Analog equipment such as standard cassette tape, suffers from all of these drawbacks and more.

PORTABILITY
The way Minidisc works lends itself perfectly to portable formats. First, the technology allows for incredibly small equipment. The smallest of Sony's MD players is barely larger than the 2.5" disc it plays. The discs themselves are easily handled. Housed in small plastic casings, they cannot be scratched like compact discs and are more difficult to break. Also, the MD's Shock Resistant Memory (SRM) system makes it virtually shock proof, eliminating the troublesome skipping which can be caused by rough handling of CD players. Over all the Minidisc is easy to transport and handle, making it an excellent choice over CD.

RECORDABILITY
The Minidisc was the first form of digital audio technology which users could record on. All of the convenience of tape recorder became available, but with the added benefits of digital sound quality that were previously available only from un-recordable compact discs.
Now that recordable CD technology is available to consumers, MD still offers many benefits. One of these is a faster recording time. While compact disc recorders take much longer to record than the actual length of the source, MD recorder can create a recording in real-time, much like a cassette recorder. Another benefit which is unique to MD is the ability to program titles for discs and songs which read out on a digital display on the unit. On many units, these titles can be typed in alphabet as well as Kanji and Hiragana characters for Chinese and Japanese speaking users.

The overall benefits of the Minidisc will likely continue to give it a niche in the market for quite sometime, despite new developments in compact disc technology.



The biggest downfall in Minidisc technology is it's relative obscurity in the United States. Because it is not popular, the equipment prices have yet to drop to a level reachable by most consumers. This price has kept the MiniDisc from being able to compete with the CD. Even the lowest priced Sony MD player lists at $129.99, while it is now possible to find portable CD players for as little as $40. Also, commercially made MiniDiscs are difficult to find. They are made available by Sony Music Store the selection is very limited, and it a customer can not simply drive to a local store to buy MD recorded music as he or she can when shopping for cassettes or CDs.
The MiniDisc is caught by the need to become more popular in order to offer more services and lower prices. Unfortunately for Sony, the best way to increase MiniDisc popularity would be to lower the price and offer more services.



Here is a review by CNET Electronics on the Sony Net MD MZ-N1.

Customer reviews from Amozon.com on the Sony MZ-G755 Recordable MiniDisc Walkman.

A review by Consumer Guide on the Sony MDS-JE440.


Here is a list of sites related to the Sony Minidisk technology that will allow you to join a mailing list or newsgroup:
Mailing Lists
Main (``MD-L'') archive
MD trading & other lists
Multitrackers
Discussion Boards:
Minidisc Community Forums
MiniDiscussion, T-Station
Repair Q&A Board

minidisc.org





Copyright Board Canada issues a press release outlining a new levy being imposed on various recording media, including MiniDisc.

The RIAA recently wrote email clarifying the legality of home audio recording, stating that consumers are free to copy CDs to MD.




The Sony Minidisc has had tough competition with the development of the CD-R.  Because of this, Sony makes it clear that it's product is not a replacement of the CD-R, but a way to make high-quality, digital copies of CD audio.  The company has begun to promote the Minidisc as a way to save MP3 files onto  disc; a sort of replacement of the portable MP3 player.  This new add campaign has already started, as I heard the first Minidisc commercial in years on a Chicago radio station this last weekend.  If consumers adopt the MP3 player as an interface with computer audio, it has a chance.  This is because it allows recording of CD's and MP3's onto the minidisc, while MP3 players only play that specific format.  This new technology could resurrect the Minidisc player .



Click here to learn more about the future of Sony's product.




TechEncyclopedia
Flamingtext.com
Google.com
Sonymusic.com
Sony Minidisc History
Minidisc.org





March 31, 2003
Matthew Cunningham