Never Stop Learning!

The Sony MZ-RH1 (2006) is one of the most coveted Sony portables out there and was their last portable recorder. It had it all: NetMD, Hi-MD support, a built-in mini-USB port, and amazing dual OLED displays. It still looks great, but it can be hard to use with dead displays on the body. Well, this amazing MD community never ceases to amaze me. First it was Web MiniDisc Pro, and now Sir68k on the MiniDisc Wiki Discord has researched and made replacement OLEDs for the Sony MZ-RH1. I was lucky enough (thanks MDcon.live!) to get my hands on two sets of them to test the process and replace the dead OLEDs in my MZ-RH1 and in another community member's MZ-RH1. I won't give you a full play-by-play here since there is the video to watch and the steps/procedure could change a bit depending on how future revisions go. I want to say this first: I know it's exciting news, but Sir68k (like many of us!) have a day job and this hobby is something that gets worked on during spare time. Ple...

The Sony MZ-N1 was Sony's first portable NetMD recorder launched in December of 2001 .  I love this player and for some reason, I ended up with nine (gave one away to a family member) and now have eight of them in blue and silver. I love how it looks with the large 3-line display and the jog dial on the right side. It looks good in silver, but looks quite stunning in blue! It required a dock to utilize NetMD functionality (the dock at the mini-USB connector) which is somewhat unfortunate since the original docks don't always come with these models. Luckily, one of the MiniDisc innovators, Gerry Li (AKA MDGadgetry on Instagram) has developed two separate docking solutions for the MZ-N1 which bring it into the modern era with a USB-C connector. Each model connects via the 3v power jack on the bottom of the MZ-N1 and has a small switch to enable NetMD connectivity. One includes a rechargeable battery while the other is smaller and just for charging/NetMD. Controls The front panel ...

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 460 subscribers, I'm hosting MiniDisc giveaway #6 - a Sharp MD-ST600 (2003) that I picked up directly from Hard Off in Japan (May 2024)! The Sharp MD-ST600 is a nice light, sleek player and this one is in great condition! The remote looks brand new! I tested it and cleaned/lubed it and will throw in some discs, 1 gumstick battery, and a AA sidecar. You will want to find a good universal charger  if you want to keep using the gumstick  like these Nitecore chargers (I have a 2 slot one that works for AA, Lithium 18650s, and gumsticks). For this SIXTH giveaway (completely free to enter!), use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter between June 5th and June 14th midnight US Pacific time. a Rafflecopter giveaway Please see official rules, here!      Privacy policy is included here also - I don't ...

Hello and sorry for the long delay! Hopefully you were able to see some of my posts on Instagram about my travels in Japan and my visits to Hard Offs! I finally got a chance to get some of my pictures and footage together from visiting Hard Offs in Japan. If you haven't been to Hard Off before, definitely find some time! Hard Off is just one set of stores (also Book Off, Off House, etc.) that focus on reuse of goods so they don't end up in a landfill. Think about it like a Goodwill in the US, but WAY cleaner and nicer. Most of the goods for sale are actually in like-new or very good condition at decent or cheap prices.  There is a lot of fun to be had in their pure "Junk" section as well! Here you can dig through shelves or bins full of old, incomplete items and see if you can find a diamond in the rough. I visited a few Hard Offs (and a Book Off) to see what I could find...  Check out the video to learn more  and I'm going to dump the rest of my photos here as w...