Never Stop Learning!

  Thank you all for subscribing (if you haven't already, please consider it!) to my YouTube  where I try my best to repair some of these great old devices. 800 subs ago I never thought this would get this far! Thank you again for your support and I hope I can continue to help the great MiniDisc global community in some form. To celebrate 800 subscribers, I'm doing something a little bit different this time! I'm going to give away this sweet Sony MZ-E810SP - a nice MD unit with a folding speaker dock, and I'm going to direct-ship some MiniDiscs that I won in Japan straight to you! So the winner will get two packages, one Sony MZ-E810SP, and one set of MiniDiscs from Japan! For this  NINTH  giveaway (completely free to enter!), use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter between October 26th and November 3, midnight US Pacific time. a Rafflecopter giveaway Please see official rules, here!      Privacy policy is included here also - I don't need/want your info o

  Thank you all for subscribing (if you haven't already, please consider it!) to my YouTube  where I try my best to repair some of these great old devices. I've been out of the loop for awhile so THANK YOU all for following me on Instagram and YouTube, even when I couldn't get any new videos up! To celebrate   700 subscribers , I'm hosting MiniDisc giveaway #8 - a Sharp MD-DS33 (2005) MDLP Player that's a 1-bit/Auvi device. Yes, that means it works best with balanced headphones, but 3.5mm balanced TRRS cables aren't common. They will sound fine with normal headphones, but you be the judge. Perhaps they'll make you spring for some balanced cables for your IEMs!  If you have any questions about that, feel free to ask! As you know, I love these Sharp Auvi/1-bit devices and the MD-DS33 is a fun, later-model one that comes with a slim "capsule" remote and a DoublePow gumstick battery. You will need a charger, so I highly recommend getting one of these!

I hope you can forgive me for being a bit cautious with my first Sony MZ-E10 (late 2002 ) - the world's thinnest and lightest (and most fragile?) portable MiniDisc player in existence! Initially, I tried to remove the battery via the side door, but gave up after a bit of friction. I simply didn't want to break this delicate device that already has board-level problems. Instead, I did a full teardown (and learned a lot) to remove the battery. Now that I've accumulated three of them ( thanks Buyee! ), I finally have one that works! So after some experimenting and consultation with other brave MZ-E10 owners on the MiniDisc Wiki Discord , I decided to make a video about how to get in and out of the side door of an MZ-E10. First, I did it via lid removal which helped give me room to work. After that, I added some "bonus" footage to show how to do it without removing the lid at all! Please check out the video on YouTube if you'd like to learn more. I've added t

Thank you all for subscribing (if you haven't already, please consider it!) to my YouTube where I try my best to repair some of these great old devices. To celebrate 600 subscribers , I'm hosting MiniDisc giveaway #7 - a pretty complete Sharp MD-DR7 MDLP Recorder set! This is the one I won from a Yahoo Japan auction and now I'm giving it away to a lucky winner!  As you know, I love these Sharp Auvi/1-bit devices and the MD-DR7/DR77 are seriously some of my favorite devices because I love the look and feel of these solid little squares! You'll get everything seen below including an original Sharp 5v power supply (100v so you may need an adapter/convertor).  Note - I did add a bit of copper in the battery door for better contact after the video. Still, you'll also have a AA sidecar if you need it! For this SEVENTH giveaway (completely free to enter!), use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter between August 6th and August 16th midnight US Pacific time. a Rafflec

Here's a bit of a change of pace: How about a rare MD unboxing? I am a firm believer in the fact that MiniDiscs are meant to be used for playback and recording, so I don't collect sealed ones like many others do, but I had to pick these up when I was at a Hard Off in Japan, because they're quite rare! I heard there are two variants within this same box design, so I was curious to see what's inside. Check out the video for more details, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the handmade QC checks on each disc sleeve. Also, the discs may look unremarkable, but I think they have a nice, high-end "serious" design. Sure they're not TDK Bit Clubs, "wa", or "ho", but I think they're pretty nice. Here are some additional pics:

Many of you (OK, the handful of you) that watch or read my stuff know I have a soft spot for Sharp MD devices, especially the MD-DR7 (my favorite is my blue one!)! Browsing around on Yahoo Japan Auctions (via Buyee), I placed a bid on this nearly complete (missing the dock) Sharp MD-DR7 (late 2002) in silver that was unconfirmed. I woke up the next morning with a debit to my PayPal and I had won it for the low price of 370 yen! Now to see if it works...  The Sharp MD-DR7 (late 2002), as many of you may know, is one of my favorite Sharp MDLP recorders. It's a great-looking compact recorder and was Sharp's (the world's?) first portable MD recorder with a 1-bit digital amp AKA Sharp's Auvi/Delta Sigma amplifier. To get the maximum benefit you had to use Sharp's included balanced headphones or source your own 3.5mm balanced cable (not common). I'm a sucker for these quirky Sharps and I won this one on an auction for just 370 yen! It was basically complete except for