Will MD's outlast CD-R's?

[Rachael Bee]

Right now I'm operating on that assumption. For my needledrops I always make an MD and sometimes a CD too. I've had MD for 6+ years and I've never had a problem with a disc, nada. Oh, I got some crummy bonus MD's full of dropouts from Minidisco one time, their little house brand....??? The discs all seem to play flawlessly. This week I played the first two I ever recorded and the pre-recorded Marvin Gaye that I got the day I bought my first MD recorder. Stille no problems.

My MD's won't need to last forever. I imagine I'll load the lot into a couple of memory cubes the size of squared B-B's, :p , well, some device/s, someday. Anybody have a reasonable quess, is there any other kind? :p Wait, don't answer that. How long will my very colourful, funny lookin' MD's last? Hello Kitty...

[Winter Hugohalter]

I have 8 year old Sony and Memorex MDs that still sound as good as the day I recorded them. I love the format.

[StyxCollector]

Longer than pressed, aluminum CDs? Doubt it. CD-Rs? They may. Time will tell.

[theoxrox]

I have some "home-made" MD's that are seven years old and still sound just fine!

[Sckott]

Same here. I didn't realize that recordable MDs would be so durable. Some of them went through hell.

The 60-min MD I made of DSOTM MFSL CD came from an MD-1 Sony's 1st portable. The deck has long since died but I played it this week for kicks. Still plays on!

[Beagle]

How long will my very colourful, funny lookin' MD's last?I don't know. I figure with proper care (no floor drops) they should last indefinitely (whatever that means). I do occasionally hear some "spinning friction" sounds during play and begin to wonder.

I worry more about when the laser will burn out. Then you have a unit where 99% of everything works but is now useless, and you are stuck with the MD's themselves which you can no longer play.

I've only had a couple of MD problems. Had to have the laser assembly replaced (after 18 months but w/ extended warranty) on the Sony MD deck. And the MZ-R50 MD Walkman "erased" a couple of discs for some reason, just a fluke thing one night and it never happened since.

I can't imagine having to live without my MD though. Just so much fun to use and you get very decent sounding recordings.

[BradOlson]

MD is a very sturdy format for recording.

[Kent Teffeteller]

Hi Rachael,

I think that MD may well outlast CD. They definitely outlast CD-R and CD-RW with ease. They have given me fewer troubles than any other recordable digital medium. I have 1995 on discs with no playback issues to this day. I have only ever had 2 bad MD's the whole time. One was an early Grey Maxell and the other a Memorex green disc. This is out of hundreds. Our Sony MD-JE 320's in small town radio station usage have been very durable.

[-=Rudy=-]

Weird...some of my earliest 74 minute MDs I recorded myself don't play without errors, but more recent ones do fine. Could just be the player too...always had minor problems with the one Sony portable I own.

[EC3970]

Doesn't MD do it's own strange file compression?
I think support for MD will give out long before CD, but they have been the concert bootleger's choice.

[BradOlson]

ATRAC is MD's file compression.

[Rachael Bee]

Hi Rachael,

I think that MD may well outlast CD. They definitely outlast CD-R and CD-RW with ease.

Holla Killer! :) Feelin' better yet?

I really meant CD-R when I posted the thread. I had hoped that somebody might have an answer with some concrete in it about how long they'll last, the MD's....

I have hundreds of MD's and I haven't had one break yet, at all. BTW, I finished some great MD needledrops lately. My album MD's have swelled in number greatly as of late. ....only a few hundred left to make! Best wishes!

[Kent Teffeteller]

Hola Rachael,

Yes! Things are mucho groovy! 120 LPI, to be exact. The variable pitch is on, the master tape is playing and cutting has now begun. I am a little sore but OK. BTW, I feel like MD will also outlast Dually Disc and it sucks less.

[Rachael Bee]

BTW, I feel like MD will also outlast Dually Disc and it sucks less.

I know you're very complete and used a suck-o-meter to verify this data. To your good health, well you sound good homey :)

[Kent Teffeteller]

Hi Rachael,

The Suckometer has also been calibrated 3 days ago by a known good lab correlated to the National Bureau Of Standards. More than you can say for DudDiscs. Pull!

[whitenoise]

Yes and no.

Yes: MD has two advantages: it's tiny, and it's protected by the outer shell. They can take abuse that would utterly destroy CDs, even just sitting on a shelf.

No: It's MO. It's magnetic. The bits will go away eventually. Sony claims a 30 year lifetime is possible. A really strong magnet can end it all, though.

That said, MD is my favorite removable media format ever, and definitely the most reliable. I've never had an MD fail on me. Still, I'd put money on my CD collection lasting longer (if I keep them in their jewel boxes...).

[Michael]

No, and the hardware won't...not a popular item anymore.

[metalbob]

I replaced my initial model quickly after buying it (I think it was the MZ-R30) with the MZ-R37. This was back in 1998 or so. All the MDs I own are older 74 minute discs and I had just been reusing them from time to time to make field recordings. Recently, I recorded something with a large amount of dropouts toward the end of my recording (about 20-30 minutes into the disc). Not sure if it was disc or the laser, so I blew out any dust from the recorder and got some new 80 minute discs and all seems to be well. I've had a few dropouts in the past, but I am not sure if it was a dusty laser or a defective disc.

[Dan C]

No, and the hardware won't...not a popular item anymore.

Good point. I have a feeling we'll be able to play a CD or CD-R anywhere in the world in 50 years. Finding a working MD player will be nearly impossible. So what's the point of owning a durable format if you can't play it back?

Don't get me wrong, I love MD. One of the coolest inventions of the past 20 years IMHO. Such a shame it didn't catch on like wildfire. :thumbsdn:

It did well as a professional field format, basically replacing fragile portable DAT and crappy cassettes in radio broadcasting. But even there it's days are numbered. The other day I saw our local Clear Channel radio reporter using a recorder with flash memory. So long MD. We hardly knew ye.

dan c

[Rachael Bee]

Yes and no.

Yes: MD has two advantages: it's tiny, and it's protected by the outer shell. They can take abuse that would utterly destroy CDs, even just sitting on a shelf.

No: It's MO. It's magnetic. The bits will go away eventually. Sony claims a 30 year lifetime is possible. A really strong magnet can end it all, though.

That said, MD is my favorite removable media format ever, and definitely the most reliable. I've never had an MD fail on me. Still, I'd put money on my CD collection lasting longer (if I keep them in their jewel boxes...).

I really meant MD outlasting CD-R when I started the thread. So, MD is magnetic not strictly optical? Is that what you're saying, I think it is? I'll be careful with magnets, say hay....

[-=Rudy=-]

Rachael: I'll change the thread title for you. :thumbsup:

[Michael]

Good point. I have a feeling we'll be able to play a CD or CD-R anywhere in the world in 50 years. Finding a working MD player will be nearly impossible. So what's the point of owning a durable format if you can't play it back?


dan c

Exactly...perfectly put.:thumbsup:

[Emilio]

Here in Brazil, CD-Rs are everywhere while nobody knows what an MD is.

OK, nobody but me that is.

I've heard they're being used in some radio stations, but I'm not sure.

[Rachael Bee]

Rachael: I'll change the thread title for you. :thumbsup:

Thanks! :)

[Rachael Bee]

Good point. I have a feeling we'll be able to play a CD or CD-R anywhere in the world in 50 years. Finding a working MD player will be nearly impossible. So what's the point of owning a durable format if you can't play it back?

Don't get me wrong, I love MD. One of the coolest inventions of the past 20 years IMHO. Such a shame it didn't catch on like wildfire.

You're probably right about 50 years from now...? I figur MD only has to last another ten years or so for me. By then I'll proably have decided into what music device I'll dump my MD's.

It's obvious why it didn't catch on. Sony kept prices so high for so long. It took much, much too long for them to offer a $150 home deck, IMO. MD was poised as a replacement for cassette but it was priced way higher. A friend who is an electronics repair technican says MD should of been the format for car players, that it's so well-suited for such....

Yeah, I like's it too. :)