Transferring Minidisc to PC

stamp92 · 01-11-2003, 10:10

Can someone please clarify or advise me regarding the ways of transferring the audio from a Minidisc to a PC.

Is it possible (sorry if this sounds a stupid question) to put the minidisc in the PC CD rom drive and extract with the right program to the pc and then convert audio to mp3/wav

Or would I have to run a line from the speaker out/line out of the minidisc to the line in/microphone of the pc and then get an audio program on the pc to record it?

many thanks for any help

It's a Sony MZ-N710.

paulyoung666 · 01-11-2003, 10:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by stamp92

Can someone please clarify or advise me regarding the ways of transferring the audio from a Minidisc to a PC.

Is it possible (sorry if this sounds a stupid question) to put the minidisc in the PC CD rom drive and extract with the right program to the pc and then convert audio to mp3/wav

Or would I have to run a line from the speaker out/line out of the minidisc to the line in/microphone of the pc and then get an audio program on the pc to record it?

many thanks for any help

It's a Sony MZ-N710.

line out line in would be the way to go i reckon , isnt minidisc totally different as regards size of disc etc compared to cd ??????????????

stamp92 · 01-11-2003, 10:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

line out line in would be the way to go i reckon , isnt minidisc totally different as regards size of disc etc compared to cd ??????????????

yes minidisc is half the size but i remember in abt 1994 my family had a japanese girl over here and she was using a minidisc i believe and she just put the minidisc in the centre of the cd rom drive and it played on the pc....maybe it was a different format. from what i read minidisc use a compression codec called ATRAC whereas audio cd's use CDA

dobbin · 06-11-2003, 18:23

I've transferred things from Minidisk to PC through the line out on the minidisk and Soundforge on the PC, whilst this works well, its a pain and it only records in realtime.

When Sony introduced the NetMD I thought this was the answer to my prayers! sadly not. The NetMD software only allows you to check in what you have checked out, that is - you cannot copy music from the player to the pc unless it started life on the PC, so we still can't achieve our aim.

As for the using the disk in the cd rom option, it sounds great, but how would you get the disk out of its shell?

Shugo · 22-01-2006, 18:42

It absolutely impossible to read the disc of a minidisc with a computer because a minidisc is a magneto-optical medium. It uses magnetic fluctuations, a regular cd or dvd is strictly optical and uses "pits". The only thing that can read a minidisc is a minidiscplayer.

SMHarman · 22-01-2006, 19:11

You can get MD FDDs for PCs but they are hideously expensive and don't read music MDs.

The only way is as Paul Young said, audio out > in.

Shugo · 22-01-2006, 19:17

idd, it's kind off a waste of money ...

Gareth · 22-01-2006, 19:27

You do realise this question was asked over 2 years ago, right?

ps - welcome to the site

SMHarman · 22-01-2006, 20:09

He He - at least I wasn't the only one to respond.

23-01-2006, 17:38

Hang on - what version of MiniDisc do you have? Whats the exact model?

Stuart · 23-01-2006, 17:44

Err, this thread is two years old. It's possible stamp92 has either solved the problem or given up.

23-01-2006, 17:50

Errr - oh yeah....I see a new member (Shugo) posted a reply not realising it was an older post and has resurected it!

TarAntXon · 20-02-2007, 13:42

Hi there, new member here interested in your recently resurrected topic on minidisc compatibility with PC. I have 3 Sony MD players/recorders, one portable and two separates. I have amassed a collection of over 400 minidisc albums that are running the risk of ending up like my old unlabelled cassette collection if I don't transfer them to my PC where I have no programs specifically designed to manage MD files. I understand that with an optical cable [I have a few different ones] I should be able to backup my music files from MD to PC and maybe later open them in SoundForge or similar Sony player. Ideally I'd like to convert tracks to mp3 or mp4 and add them to iTunes without finding the original vinyl or CDs and doing it all over again. Also similar solution required to transfer music files from DAT to PC. If I don't get any satisfactory reply here I might open a new discussion in a few days re: DAT to PC. ...thanks guys!

Lord Nikon · 21-02-2007, 20:06

XP PLus! Digital Media Edition -

Has a sound recorder which detects the pauses between tracks and creates a new file for each track, you just rename them after, and yes it will save as mp3

Plus! DME is also under a tenner to buy making it cheaper than most of the alternatives.

annecel · 25-02-2007, 14:40

A google search brought up the site www.esdl.co.uk which claims to have a program which enables transfer from MD to PC "MD Studio". Has anyone tried it?