+44 845 838 5121

Email us

Break away from Internet Explorer - try Firefox. It’s fast, secure and free!

And try Open Office instead of MS Office. Fully compatible and free.

Why not have a car-free day each week?
The earth needs your help.

Click a flag for a computerised translation in that language.

People might think I am a bit obsessive about Minidisc recorders.

The truth is I like them in theory, but get let down by the practice. I am also aware that people often need a good recorder which costs significantly less than £400-500, so I’m going to try and be nice to them.

Minidisc recorders can make an excellent recording and even now are still used every day by radio journalists for interviews. The new Hi-MD system makes easy transfer of the recordings to a PC (not Mac) straightforward and quick, and it’s almost possible to forget that it never used to be possible at all. All you now need to get going is a minidisc recorder with a mic(rophone) socket and an external microphone and you’re off.

It has become quite difficult to get stocks of minidisc machines, as several suppliers no longer sell them. For quite a while it looked as if the format would wither away but now there is news that Sony are launching a new model - the MZ-RH1 - available in the UK from July 2006. It is the latest incarnation of the Hi-MD sub-genre and you can see the full spec here. We’ve got some of the MZ-RH1 on order - keep an eye on the News page for delivery.

In general:

• Minidisc recorders are small and light, but can be fiddly to operate; most changes to settings are through menu trees.
• File uploads to PCs are now easy to do but only in SonicStage, the software included in the box. There are now no limits to the number of times you can upload one file.
• File conversions can be carried out in SonicStage, but it’s still best to record uncompressed.
• Because they are a consumer device supply can be erratic, and models can change frequently and confusingly.

The Minidisc Forum keeps an eye on all things minidisc and is worth checking out.