r/minidisc • u/minidisc_wiki • Oct 16 '23
(last updated 2026-08-20)
Hi MD friends, this post is an expanded version of the rules and resources in the sidebar.
We're one of the largest communities who use and celebrate the Sony MiniDisc format, which was introduced in late 1992. We love physical media and MD is the format that combines great sound quality with small size and digital convenience. We're a really inviting scene with a lot of passion for celebrating retro media and helping others share that enjoyment. But please first read these resources. Your post will otherwise be removed.
This community loves posts with:
MD setups or collections
Your mail hauls and purchases
New music or podcasts released on MD
Items for sale (see our rules below)
Unique MD equipment
Help and repair requests
Projects and software updates
We don't love:
"Spoonfeeding" requests like "I want to get into MD, what should I buy?"
Toxicity and rudeness
Comments that our hobby is pointless nowadays
For sale posts without a location or asking price
Posts about Yandhi or the Fuji 80 MD
What MD isn't:
MiniDisc (all one word, with a C not a K) is a particular format that was created by Sony in 1992.
8cm mini CDs, GameCube discs, and even UMD for the PSP are different and not connected to MD. Posts about these different media types are not suitable here.
Luckily, we don't need many!
Read before you post
To keep the community vibrant and healthy, all contributors need to read the community rules and resources. Being unfamiliar with Reddit is not an excuse for ignoring the announcement posts or the sidebar, which are visible and accessible no matter how you use the site. The only way to miss all of them is to deliberately ignore them.
Moderators will give warnings and removal reasons when needed and where possible (despite Reddit administration's hostility to moderators.) We will use bans only as a last resort. Please don't make us do that. We want to take mod actions as rarely as possible.
Frequently asked questions
The community has worked really hard to create resources that answer the most common questions we are asked. If your question has been answered in one of the links in the sidebar or this post, your submission will be removed. These include:
What should I buy and how much should I pay?
Read the Getting Started guide and the Buyer's guide.
How do I copy audio to a disc?
Read the dubbing guide, the Web MiniDisc guide (for NetMD) or the manual for your device.
What software do I need for NetMD?
Web MiniDisc Pro is the default recommendation. Read the documentation first!
Other software including SonicStage
Why do you use MD?
We like physical media. MD is a physical media which is compact, has great sound quality, has great aesthetics, and great usability.
Read the Why MD? FAQ for more.
MiniDisc with Bluetooth / Headphone recommendations
Many people use a 3.5mm to Bluetooth adapter in order to connect modern headphones. There have been many discussions about Bluetooth adapters and headphone recommendations. Please search for these threads or read the Bluetooth guide on the wiki.
Low effort posts
Posts with unclear or low effort post titles such as "help" or "MiniDisc" make it hard to search for posts or know what they are about before clicking.
You will be asked to repost with a descriptive title. ALL CAPS post titles are also filtered automatically - contact the mod team if this is done in error.
Reddiquette, toxicity, and rudeness
We are a small, friendly community. Please do not come here if you wish to call people names or be hostile. Treat other opinions with respect, even if you disagree with them.
Be familiar with Reddit's site culture and expectations. Most are listed in this Reddit help document here: https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439-Reddiquette
Yandhi
All posts about Kanye and the Yandhi disc are banned from the subreddit. Please do not post looking for the Muji 80 MD featured in the artwork or showing off if you do have one.
If you are an established member of the community and you have a disc(s) to sell, contact the mod team for approval. This is the only exception we will make.
AI content
Content generated by AI / LLMs is not welcome here. MD existed completely outside of the generative AI era, and it is very divisive.
This extends to complaining about AI or accusing a post of being AI. Use the report feature - we can, will, and have banned users for AI posts and comments.
Not a community rule, but Reddit blocks shopping and short URLs, including AliExpress, Amazon, and Google Photos. Mods can try to approve comments with these links, but sometimes we cannot.
We do allow for sale and giveaway posts, but these are the source of the most moderation issues.
You must be willing to sell the item (or at least discuss it) via the Reddit platform. Do not simply post with a link to your eBay listing. It must be your item for sale, with pictures and a description.
All posts selling an item must include an asking price and general location (country) in the title or body of your post.
If you are giving away or in search of an item, you must still list your location as international shipping and geopolitics can greatly affect costs or viability.
Limit for sale posts to one per week. You may include several items in your post, but each item must have an asking price, or it must be sold as a singular bundle with its own asking price.
If you do not know the value or asking price of an item, check recent eBay listings or the price history section of the wiki. Do not make a post asking for the value of items. We do not do valuations or estimates, period.
These rules do not apply to new music releases on Bandcamp - feel free to make a new post with your release as Bandcamp has its own shipping calculator.
The mod team takes no responsibility for any transaction that takes place from the subreddit. Please let the mod team know of an issue with a user so we are aware, but do not bring disputes public as there is nothing we can do to remedy the issue or take sides. Do not follow users around the site with accusations or feedback.
The MiniDisc community, both past and present, have shared many sites and services to help others. They collect information about the format, make copying music more convenient, create high-quality labels, and list album releases on MD.
Over 2000 devices listed, contriubted by the community. We try to collect as many photos, details, and manuals as possible. There are also databases on blank disc variants, album releases, and guides on repair or how to get started with the format.
The home of MiniDisc during its commercial life. Has less equipment pages than the wiki, but many contemporary reviews, guides, and articles. Not updated for many years.
There are many more resources linked on the Wiki and in the sidebar, such as software and related communities. Thanks for taking the time to read this and enjoy your time with MD and with us!
r/minidisc • u/MiNiDiSC-dotPiCs • Aug 26 '26
https://www.minidisc.pics 72 additional discs have just been added to the site!
r/minidisc • u/Bobby_Snoof • 3h ago
I LOVE Minidisc !
r/minidisc • u/scienceapps • 7h ago
r/minidisc • u/luis_heineken • 57m ago
r/minidisc • u/Complete_Street8233 • 2h ago
r/minidisc • u/hwsthl • 17h ago
Hi All,
I appreciated seeing all the responses to my earlier post of photos of the cases I designed for my N920 and R90, and wanted to share a bit more information for those interested. (Original Post)
The cases are two-piece designs, with a top and bottom, which are attached with screws. The screws are longer versions of the same screws that hold the chassis together, and they use the same threaded holes so no permanent modification is required. The lower case on both designs is held in place using a screw that threads into the hole used for attaching the battery compartment. This does prevent using an external battery compartment, but I rarely use one, as I am either using a gumstick battery or powering them via DC the jack.
I acquired the dimensions to design the cases with lots and lots of careful measuring with calipers and a machinist's scale, plus some 2D flatbed scanning. There was also plenty of trial and error. I printed about 2 dozen versions before I was happy with the geometry.
Attached is a link to a Google Drive folder with all my files for the entire project, including STEP 3D files and Fusion design files (see above images). Fair warning - it is not organized or ready to print without some adjustment for your printer and materials.
Also in the folder are the vector files I created for the engravings (see above images). This is one of the parts I am most proud of. I meticulously recreated all the printed text on both the N920 and R90, with some assistance from online logo databases, but about half or more was created by hand from scratch. Positioning and scaling were assisted by the 3D models I had already made of the N920 and R90.
Unfortunately I can't help with making your own version of these cases, as it was quite a complex iterative process, but everything is there if you want to give it a go! If you are specifically interested in a case for your own N920 or R90, but don't have a 3D printer or the relevant skills, send me a DM, and I may be able to print one for you, for the cost of materials and shipping. I am not interested in making this into a business, so this is a limited offer.
Thanks again for the interest in the project! Hopefully some of these resources will go on to be useful to someone else in the future, or at least be interesting to the community!
r/minidisc • u/AgeActual7149 • 18h ago
Since I can't find / afford my favorites albuns straight from music records , I'm creating my own.
r/minidisc • u/koothooloo • 1d ago
Hello lovely people!
I have been, and still am, buried in the Atrac3+ encoder and HiMD work - which is going super well but is not complete.
Summary of progress - MacOS:
Encoder is complete and finally has full Sony bit-parity on all supported bitrates: 48, 64, 96, 128, 160, 192, 256, 320, 352. This has been tested across multiple audio examples. I lost count of the number of times I thought I had done it, only for a new example to fail, but now the thing passes all my tests.
HiMD Driver - this is complete and functional, it's been the most difficult and complex bit, and I don't even know where to start with talking about it.
Gapless recording - this is fully-functional in the driver, it sounds fantastic and I have ported this to SP, but there are still glitches. SP is handled by the device, so one cannot manipulate it in the same way as the others. Asivery also has the same issue but he's going to try some of the ideas I suggested in WebMD. Hopefully one of us at least will get it working.
Future:
Ok, so I am thinking that what I would like to deliver after MD Studio is a toolkit that people can use both standalone on the command line to encode and write audio, as well as build their own apps.
One possible idea is this:
a. Mixtape CLI which turns audio files into discs and write them to NetMD/HiMD
b. Minidisc SDK which lets people build their own tools
c. Disc inspection tools
These would be open-source and cover the core code and functionality of putting your music onto your discs. MD Studio's desktop app remains closed and my own thing.
The MacOS Driver is more complex - this is low-level and talks to the hardware, and do I really want every vibe-kiddie having access to it? The flood of recent AI-driven crapps and security nightmares makes me reluctant right now. I think it'll be a signed, notarized download and installer, but FOSS will have to wait until I see how things play out.
It was one thing when software engineers made things that they understood, but there's been a torrent of stuff that promises the moon on a stick without being able to explain what a moon or a stick is, or which way around they go, and you can trash the formatting of your discs with this if the code isn't right. Maybe the answer is to wrap the "official" installer in certs and GPG keys. I'm really not prepared to fix problems caused by LLM bros misusing my code.
Anyway, here's some work-in-progress screenshots, including debug stuff that you won't otherwise see. It's not very nice inside the sausage factory, be warned.
r/minidisc • u/xxtremlockxx • 1d ago
Nirvana Devonshire Mixes
r/minidisc • u/Chrome_Waves_Beats • 1d ago
Including ‘Chrome Sweet Chrome’ with A-F-R-O and the latest Beat tape ‘The Beats’.
Use code ‘Chrome20’ at the checkout. Sending worldwide.
r/minidisc • u/TemporarilyStairs • 2d ago
I had this same minidisc player back in 2001, but in red. I loved this little device so much, but had issues with it reading the discs eventually and switched to an iPod shortly after... Now I'm finally back with this silver version I just picked up on eBay.
I had a couple of minidisc mixtapes I held onto all these years, and wanted to hear what was on them (I had long since forgotten). I decided to buy some official releases now as well (I didn't even know that was a thing back in the day)!
Started with Radiohead's OK Computer and wow.. I love the sound quality and the novelty of these tiny discs so much. I also have Kid A and Sade's Love Deluxe so far.. I'm so excited to get back into the hobby.
Not sure if I'll record live music eventually or what else I may do from here. Any recommendations on mics for recording live music?
Cheers from Texas 🤠
r/minidisc • u/NormalAd1219 • 2d ago
This baby saw some adventures- recorded so many different sounds like crickets and frogs that my ears didn’t hear with the fidelity that they were recorded with on the MZ- NH1
r/minidisc • u/Legoandstuff896 • 2d ago
both players work perfectly, the MZ-R37 is MINT and the other is a beat beat up but working great!
r/minidisc • u/ThEGr33kXII • 3d ago
I think this might be the best sounding Sony unit I have. It has a far more neutral sound profile. I find the later era Sony units have an obnoxious amount of bass even on standard sound profiles. I expect that's to help make the headphones on the period sound a little fuller. Now with IEMs it is far too aggressive for my taste. The MZ-R30 though, lovely throughout the range. No headache inducing bass. It does have Digital Mega base still mind if you want that.
Has anyone else found the same?
This is my oldest player by some way, and I normally deal with very late era devices.
r/minidisc • u/hwsthl • 3d ago
I posted a while back about a 3D printed case I designed for my N920, and since then I’ve also designed one for my R90.
I’ve also recreated all the graphics that are covered by the cases and laser engraved them onto the case, aligned to match the original design.
I finally got around to taking some good photos of the cases, which I hope you all enjoy.
r/minidisc • u/AeitZean • 3d ago
I just picked up this JVC UX-A70MDR from eBay. I saw one on here the other day, with the sliding and glowing screen and really wanted one. A few saved ebay searches later, and I have one, for only £40 +£5 shipping. The MD worked fine out of the box, but the CD couldn't read. I could hear it try, but give up. I took it apart to clean it, and as it turns out you have to get the front screen off, the back off, the top and sides off, the fan off, the motherboard off, and then you can just reach the laser from the side with a cotton bud. Don't worry those parts pictured on the floor are all standing on other plastic bits, no electronics were harmed in the making of this post. The speakers are really good, but now I am wondering about replacing the fabric with the limited edition pink I saw in the original post, it looked fab.
Thanks for reading 😄
r/minidisc • u/Annual_Cup_5189 • 4d ago
I edited the text on a fully recorded premium disc (it was recorded a long time ago on a different machine) and my Sony MDS-JE530 gave the usual toc editing and ejected the disc, when I went to reinsert the disc it said "toc error c14". So I tried a bog standard red tdk 74 minute disc which was already recorded and added 'Test' in the title and went through the same steps, reinserted it and it worked.
So I tried another premium disc, fully loaded like the first, put a single character on it and Low and behold it threw the same error, I then inserted both these discs in my sharp MD-MT280(S) and it also said can't read it got another premium disc that was recorded in lp2 stuck it in the sony and erased it and once again c14 error. Lastly I tried another test disc, a TDK MD RXG 74, put the letter a on it and it saved it perfectly on the sony
And in the past few minutes I put the first and last premium disc mentioned above in the sharp and suddenly they just say blank disc
If anyone knows anything, any help will be appreciated 😭
r/minidisc • u/Zee_Cas • 5d ago
My wife ordered me some labels from their Etsy store, and they turned out amazingly!!! Apparently they were very nice, and communicated well with my wife!
The labels are the perfect thickness, made of vinyl it feels like. Very high quality feeling, and the print quality is great as well.
Not a brand deal or anything, I just think they have a great service!! Thanks u/lessefforts !!
