Net MD recording issues.

[MiguelMN]

Hello,

I did the following recently: Purchased a used Sony MZ-R30 (I owned one of these years back) and a used Sony programmable CD player with optical out. A little later I learned about Net MD minidisc players, so I purchased a used Sony MZ-N505 and a copy of SonicStage 1.5AE. I installed the software on an old PC I have running Windows 7. I found out later that SonicStage is not supported on Windows 7. So, I then purchased an old laptop running Windows XP. SonicStage works well on it.

Now, to test out these devices I created a mixed music minidisc using the CD player connected to the MZ-R30. All tracks recorded OK and was able to play the minidisc back. I then tried the minidisc on a Denon Mini HiFi minidisc player I have. Minidisc played fine.

I then used the laptop running SoniStage to edit the tracks (all tracks were not given titles). That worked fine.

My next test was to copy a CD onto a minidisc using the laptop and the MZ-N505 connected to the laptop.

There is where I've encountered a problem. Playback.

At first I thought the tracks on the CD would transfer to the minidisc, but actually SonicStage copies to the hard drive then copies to the minidisc (at least that is what it appears to me it does). After the transfer I tried the minidisc on my HiFi minidisc player. I can see the tracks but when I push play nothing happens. I then tried the minidisc on the MZ-R30. I can see the tracks on it and it appears to play but I get no sound. I then tried the minidisc on the MZ-R505 and I see the tracks and hear the music.

Is there something with the SonicStage that allows copying tracks onto a minidisc, but this minidisc can only be played on the minidisc player/recorder the tracks were copied to, in this case to the MZ-N505?

As mentioned the minidisc I recorded from a CD player to the MZ-R30 plays fine on the MZ-R30 as well as on my HiFi minidisc player.

As a final test I recorded a compilation minidisc using the CD player connected to MZ-R30. Afterwards I edited the minidisc by giving it a name and edited each track with the song title. I then proceeded to play the minidisc on my minidisc HiFi player. All is well here.

Unfortunately the laptop I purchased died. No big loss, given that I only paid £30.00 for it.

Also, I just read a post where SonicStage was installed on a Windows 10 machine. Is this really possible?

[Peter_S.]

Hi Miguel,

Phew - it has been a while since I last used MiniDisc.

If I remember correctly this behaviour has something to do with Atrac copy protection.

So this might be the reason why you cannot play back on other devices.

Cheers

Peter

[MiguelMN]

Thanks for your response.

I thought that might be the case, but that means you are restricted playing back minidiscs on the Net MD minidisc player used to record tracks. Basically not being able to play the discs on any other minidisc players. That’s dumb, especially since you can pretty much copy MP3 music on any player and play using any device. 
I like the sound of the minidisc even though your limited to a small number of tracks per minidisc.

At least I have the MZ-R30 and the programmable CD player. The major drawback with this is adding track names, it sure leaves your thumb sore after some use.

[Sonyvores]

I think it's just a sillie issue with the format you picked

MZ-R30 is an old Minidisc recorder and it can only plays legacy Atrac format in "SP" mode

You probably record in LP Mode into the NetMD thats why it can't be played on MZ-R30. Normally R30 sould read the track with LP info before track name.

[MiguelMN]

I currently do not have access to SonicStage, laptop died, so I’ll continue to use the MZ-R30. The minidisc I recorded using SonicStage would not play on my Denon Minidisc HiFi deck as well. I guess it can’t play minidiscs recorded in LP mode.

[MiguelMN]

Update: got SonicStage 4.3 and installed it on my Sony VGX-TP3 PC running Windows 7. Starts up and works fine. I did a test disc and found the same problem in not being able to play the disc on different minidisc players other than the one used to record on. I then remembered about the SP mode and changed the settings and did another test disc. This time the disc is playable on all my minidisc players.

I’m all set now!

[Sonyvores]

see? it's was just a silly issue . Glad you can enjoy it now 😃