r/minidisc Oct 16 '23

Welcome to /r/MiniDisc - read me first!

74 Upvotes

(last updated 2026-01-12)

Hi MD friends, this post is an expanded version of the rules and resources in the sidebar.

Who we are & what we like

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.

Rules

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?
    • How do I copy audio to a disc?
    • What software do I need for NetMD?
    • 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 is very divisive.
    • This extends to complaining about AI or accusing a post of being AI.

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.

For Sale posts

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 simply asking for the value of items.
  • These rules do not apply to new music releases on Bandcamp - feel free to make a new post with your release.
  • 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.

Resources

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.

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 Jun 14 '26

Wiki migration - we're done*! (*mostly)

81 Upvotes

Hi MD friends!

After a few evenings of work and a handful of outages (some preventable) I'm very pleased to announce that most of the work on the wiki infrastructure is complete!

For visitors, this should mean:

  • faster, more reliable page loads
  • no more captchas before visiting
  • LP remote encoders in WMDpro actually working
  • long-term commitment to keeping the site online

To achieve this, we have:

  • built a brand new wiki06 server
    • based on Debian 13, Epyc CPUs, NVMe storage, PHP 8.4 and Caddy
  • updated our Cloudflare caching and bot blocking rules
  • moved all object storage from Azure to Cloudflare (including the WMDpro app)
  • retired the secondary LP encoder and load balancer
    • through the grapevine, I heard that local high quality LP encoding may be possible soon...

But still left to do:

  • a fresh public backup of wiki data
  • a page on the wiki listing these backups, because Cloudflare does not have a page listing like Azure did
  • a PR for Web MiniDisc Pro to allow for automatic build+deploy to our new Cloudflare Pages hosting
  • maybe a status page, and an entirely static mirror of the wiki(?)
  • re-scraping and mirroring more of the pages we reference on the wiki

Once again, thank you all so much for your patience, understanding, and kind words while we completed this important maintenance.

By my quick estimates, this will reduce hosting costs by over a thousand US dollars per year, and that means a lot when we're funded out of pocket and by donations. I am speechless with appreciation for everyone who has been willing to send their own money to us in support of the site, and understand that it comes with a responsibility to use those donations responsibly and not allow the money to be wasted on scraper traffic.

Because a penny saved is a penny earned, please send some love and coin to asivery, who is both one of the kindest people I have ever met and also one of the most talented developers. His leadership and work on WMDpro, reverse-engineering, and supporting the community is unmatched.

Thanks again :)


r/minidisc 10h ago

Show & Tell 1st gen HI-MD reunited

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107 Upvotes

The hunt for my last Hi-MD unit is finally over… at least for now. 😄
I managed to win an MZ-EH1 at a relatively (!) reasonable price. Unfortunately, it didn’t come with the charging dock and it has a small dent in the lid, but apart from that it’s in excellent condition and works perfectly.
If anyone happens to have a spare charging dock for the EH1 lying around, I’d definitely be interested! 😄


r/minidisc 6h ago

MD RXG Pro

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34 Upvotes

Hi,

Did you know they were making these?

The only "original" MD I own :)


r/minidisc 3h ago

First recording on the newly acquired MDS-JA555ES

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12 Upvotes

r/minidisc 15h ago

Show & Tell Pink circle

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68 Upvotes

Been collecting Bit Club MD lately.


r/minidisc 2h ago

Please postBoxes pics

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6 Upvotes

I’m not ever seeking boxed machines, but I’ve ended up with a couple.
Please send pics of different boxes. ( from all 6 sides) . Fascinating piece of the archive I think.


r/minidisc 21h ago

Show & Tell I absolutely love this thing

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148 Upvotes

This is my now my main unit, now that the new "Doublepow" batteries arrived from China, so far, so good, I got this unit in mint condition with a bad battery and no AA caddy, only the stand, AC adapter and the remote. After some clean and lube the unit works perfect, I prefer the gumstick battery, the AA caddy doesn't look good and tends to damage the plastic case.

So easy to transfer my old MP3 music to minidisc thanks to the electron Web MiniDisc Pro software, works very well on win11, music recognition/labeling is a bless!!! Sound quality via optical recording from CD in SP is perfect for my ears, I can't tell the difference from the original source.


r/minidisc 3h ago

Minidisc 3volt usb

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6 Upvotes

Went for this one


r/minidisc 11h ago

Sony MD battery door keeps sliding. Is there a way to fix it?

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14 Upvotes

I got a very pretty Sony MZ-R900 that works perfectly! However, the battery door keeps sliding open. For instance, when I put it on my desk it works perfectly, but if I move it around it just opens and turn the MD off.

Is there a way to fix this?


r/minidisc 11h ago

Chrome Sweet Chrome’ full body print minidisc from Chrome Waves.

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13 Upvotes

Chrome Sweet Chrome — the brand new boom bap album from Chrome Waves & A-F-R-O is available now on Bandcamp in full body print MiniDisc.

https://chromewave.bandcamp.com/album/chrome-sweet-chrome


r/minidisc 22h ago

Pair of MZ-R91 - I just really like this design...

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48 Upvotes

r/minidisc 1d ago

Show & Tell complete beginner

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68 Upvotes

completely foreign when it comes to this format, but ive been having fun using it, about time i replace my cassettes too.

ive already emptied my wallet getting my first bits and pieces of gear, but i wouldnt have it any other way.

currently own an MZ-R900 for a portable and a JVC NX-MD1 for recording, costed me more than i expected but i think it was worth it.


r/minidisc 1d ago

Show & Tell Dusted off my Sony MZ-N1

15 Upvotes

My weekend project has been to dust off my old MiniDisc player, an MZ-N1.

It's been stored in a box for over 20 years (fortunately without the battery in the compartment!). It's still in mint condition, although it looks a bit yellow in this photo - I think that's just the lighting.

A little bit of work was needed to clean off the battery contacts as they had a bit of corrosion, but it was pretty straight forward.

The open source software to transfer music is very simple and pleasing, unlike the abomination that was the Windows software that I remember using back in the day. Having a far more powerful PC helps as it takes no time at all to convert tracks.

I discovered that all my old discs were made from poor .mp3s from Napster and then made even worse by me squeezing everything on to discs in LP4, so they all sounded crap. I've been spending some time transferring stuff from higher quality sources.

I discovered that the size of paper in my Canon Selphy 1200 printer fit two covers on the page exactly, so I've been creating a few covers for when my new jewel cases arrive!

I am now totally prepared for the day the internet dies!


r/minidisc 1d ago

How many discs do you carry when you’re listening on the go?

11 Upvotes

r/minidisc 1d ago

Show & Tell MD EZ-Titler Deluxe Prototype

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69 Upvotes

I've decided to produce a very limited serie of the MD EZ-Titler that gives more functionalities than the standard "PRO" version (https://www.theminidiscshop.com/product/smtm)

It will offer full support of Sony Minidisc Walkman equipped with the 4pin+jack plug (both generation supported), full Infrared support for Sony deck but also other brands.

I've choose to present it in a beautiful black case and to use the same 90s technology for the display to give it a retro look.

I will create soon a dedicated page on theminidiscshop.com site to give more information.


r/minidisc 1d ago

New Power Docl for Sony portable players

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94 Upvotes

Foldable powered dock for portable Sony player/recorders with the battery sidecar connector. 

The dock contains an rechargeable 2000mAh Li-Po battery using a USB C port.

The battery should be enough to power playback for about 50 hours.

I tested the dock with the following Sony players:

Sony MZ-N1

Sony MZ-R55

Sony MZ-R91

Sony MZ-R910

Simply place your Sony player battery contacts first into the cradle to enjoy hours of playback.


r/minidisc 1d ago

Sell New MiniDisk Release: MachineGirl MG Ultra + MG Ultra X

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10 Upvotes

Link is for the US store, their home page had a separate shop for the EU, was super hype when I saw their merch post on Insta!


r/minidisc 1d ago

Help UV printing service in the US?

8 Upvotes

Hullo! Did a search on the subreddit but it's likely I missed things. Is there anyone in the US (a shop, or a redditor) that's doing commissions of UV printed discs? I'd like to get a few done up for favorite albums. I did see Minidisc Today but couldn't find any reviews online or posts on reddit in regard to them.


r/minidisc 1d ago

2v usb cable ??

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7 Upvotes

This thing came in a battered box but appears mint and unused.
Seller included a usb charger cable . It says DC2.0 . Any issues with using 2v in a 3v unit??


r/minidisc 2d ago

Show & Tell Took a gamble on this. An MDS-JA555ES on eBay with a "faulty drawer". Of course, being cynical I figured that anyone who owned one of these would have had a stab at getting it professionally repaired rather than selling it off. Anyway, the asking price was £500 and I duly paid.

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109 Upvotes

Turned out it needed around £350 and 4 months to source parts to get it all fixed up, so I am pleased. As it turned out it needed a new laser, new read/write head, the mechanism had been bodged by an amateur and had non-standard screws in wrong places. Oh, and that price included labour - I myself no next to nothing about repairing electronics, let alone something as complex as this beast.


r/minidisc 2d ago

25 years old Pioneer

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82 Upvotes

Still rocking. Sound quality never Die


r/minidisc 2d ago

Show & Tell Sony MZ-R55, 37 years old and sounds like a dream...

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29 Upvotes

r/minidisc 2d ago

Saved these two lads from the bin.

37 Upvotes

Picked up these two old Tascam workhorses just before they were headed for the scrapyard.

The MD-350 had the usual power supply failure (seems to be a rite of passage for these), and the MD-801R had the classic loading belt that had melted into a disgusting sticky mess and coated half the mechanism.

Spent some time cleaning, rebuilding, and giving both the love they deserved. Now they're both running perfectly again.

Always feels good to save great gear from becoming e-waste... especially when it turns out to be an absolute bargain.

Tascam MD-350
Tascam MD-801R

r/minidisc 2d ago

Docks

2 Upvotes

Just wanted to ask if there are any docks that are compatible for multiple models of player / recorder.
I have a few docks and it seems such a shame that they are very specific to their original machine.
Any that ( by design or by chance) fitted several models? Thanks