Finally purchased my MD unit (1 Viewer)

[Allan_Lim]

I actually bought a home unit first, which is ironic because the reason I wanted to get into MD was for portable use. I will purchase a portable as well in the very near future.

I had a friend with a home unit make a recording for me and the difference in sound quality was significant enough that I figured I wanted a home deck for making better quality recordings.

Thanks to Keith, Rachel, Michael and others for their valuable advice.

I ended up buying a Sony MDS-JE470. I did want a higher end deck like the ones Keith and Rachel recommended or the MXD-D40 which had a CD and MD unit in one which allowed up to 4X dubbing which would be very convenient. In the end I decided that ordering from the US would mean increased customs clearance and shipping costs that would be significant. Thus I decided that a Canadian source would be best and it wasn't easy finding a home deck in Canada. Even the Sony store was sold out and they said they weren't planning on getting any new ones anytime soon.

So I found my unit at London Drugs and it was the demo unit at that. I picked it up for $250 Cdn. which is about $150 US at current exchange rates. Thought it would be a good starter deck to see how much I like the format. Hoping I'll love it, but only use over a period of time will tell.

So my question is, how much do you pay for blanks and which ones do you recommend?

 

[Rachael B]

Allan, check out the variety of blanks at:
www.minidisco.com
Some of the imported from Japan "designer" MD's cost more. They come in alot of colours and patterns. I have some TDK Bit Club MD's that are zebra striped and somebody please explain the whole Hello Kitty thang to me? Hello Kitty discs are about $5 each...
I only buy 80 & 60 minutes discs these days. I quit buying 74 minute discs when 80's appeared. I like the 60's for putting vinyl on and because you can get them cheap. I think I paid $1.19 each. You should be able to get 80's in the range of $1.50 to $2.50 each buying them in packs of 5 or 10. You may not care, but I like all the off the wall colours the discs come in. You might want to check out MiniDisco's MD storage solutions and accessories. Have fun with your new toy, best wishes!

 

[KeithH]

Allan, welcome to the wonderful world of minidisc! I hope the 'JE470 works out for you. As for blank minidiscs, I have a variety -- Memorex, TDK, and Sony, 74- and 80-minute length. I have been happy with every blank minidisc I have ever bought. If you do shop at minidisco.com avoid Hi-Space blank minidiscs. I think minidisco.com sells them. I have read nothing but bad things about quality control with Hi-Space minidiscs. So, stick to the well-known brands.
By the way, if you are looking for more information on mindisc, check www.minidisc.org and www.minidiscussion.com . The latter site has message boards, though we will continue to help out wherever we can here.

 

[Ted Lee]

i ordered a md storage unit from minidisco and was completely happy with the product. their shipping fees however are crazy...