Last updated on January 23rd, 2024 at 02:17 am
A MiniDisc is a recordable CD, permanently sealed in a plastic shell. It resembles a floppy disc, but with a much smaller size.
A MiniDisc measures 2.5 square inches, about half the size of a CD.
It has a storage space of 140MB.
The main advantage of a MiniDisc audio format over a CD is you can record and delete files, much like on a floppy disc.
History
The MiniDisc is Sony’s brainchild. It was first introduced in 1992. It positioned itself as a portable audio CD replacement.
As a combination of an audio cassette and a CD, it has its advantages. First, as in an audio cassette, you don’t experience track skipping. You can also record on it via a MiniDisc player.
The sound quality is impressively high, too, as with an audio CD. In this area, the digital audio tape (DAT) and the digital compact cassette (DCC) rival it.
The MiniDisc audio format also promises durability. It’s long-lasting. MiniDiscs carry lifetime guarantees.
Types of MiniDisc
There are two types of MiniDisc. The first is the pre-recorded type. The second is the blank and recordable type.
The pre-recorded version stores the same amount of music as an audio CD.
There are portable MiniDisc recorders and those used for field recordings and studio music production.
Audio Compression
Even with a storage space of 140MB, a MiniDisc is able to record 74 minutes of music.
How’s this possible?
It’s because it employs a digital compression called Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding (ATRAC).
It’s a lossy compression system with a compression ratio of 5:1.
Recording Method
Music can be copied randomly to disk. The copied tracks will be auto-arranged during playback.
Each recording session creates a new track.
Although the MiniDisc is a digital format, recording is done in real-time. In other words, it’s a digital version of an audio cassette recorder.
Later versions allowed the recording of music directly via a computer’s audio out port.
You can also record from any other audio source. In other words, you can make copies of any CD.
MiniDisc Features
Here are among the standout features of the MiniDisc.
Disc and Track Naming
You can enter the names of the discs and the tracks recorded on them.
Player Display
A MiniDisc player displays the names of the songs on the disc.
It also displays the length of an audio track and the remaining time.
MiniDisc Disadvantages
Audio Quality
Despite being promoted as a CD alternative, sound quality isn’t at par with that of a CD.
Quality, though better than that of an audio cassette, is about the same quality as that of FM radio.
The reason for the low quality can be attributed to the sampling rate employed.
The sampling rate is 22 kHz compared to an audio CD’s rate of 44 kHz.
Playback Compatibility
Unlike a CD, which can be played over a CD player and a computer, a MiniDisc can only be played over a MiniDisc Player.
MiniDisc Popularity
MiniDisc really didn’t catch on in the United States, as expected. The MiniDisc audio format was more popular in Japan.
The main reason is very few music albums were released in the MiniDisc format.
The other reason is the price. The first MiniDisc player, Sony Mz-1 set you back by $700. Even when Sony brought down the price to $250 in 1998, there weren’t many takers in the American market.
That was not the case with studio MiniDisc equipment. Radio stations, recording studios and music bands favoured the MiniDisc audio format.
Firstly, it was relatively inexpensive compared to other setups. It promised high audio quality and portability helped when recording live shows.
End of the Road
Sony discontinued the MiniDisc format in 2011.
MiniDisc players could not cope with the emerging CD-R format which allowed you to create audio CDs via your computer.
MP3 players were also getting popular and the buying public didn’t pay much attention to the MiniDisc audio format.
