Minidisc Player Review

Evaluating reviews of minidisc players

MiniDisc players have been eclipsed by portable MP3 players. MP3 players like the iPod have several advantages. Because they integrate closely with the music collection on your computer, it's easy to reload and refresh an MP3 player's music collection. You can drag and drop files, which record quickly onto the player. See our separate report on MP3 players for more details.

Sony is the only company still making MiniDisc players and recorders for the U.S. market, though they remain popular in Europe and Asia. Even though MP3 players have taken over, MiniDisc player/recorders still make sense for certain situations, and if you're the sort who likes to buck a trend, they are a less expensive way to manage a large music collection. The most compelling advantage of portable MiniDisc recorders, however, is their ability to make high-quality live recordings of music, interviews and lectures. With the best MiniDisc player/recorders, you can then upload those recordings to a PC.

Because of how far the market has contracted, professional MiniDisc reviews are few and far between. We did find one very detailed and comprehensive review of the Sony MZ-RH1 (*Est. $335) at MDCenter.nl, which is an enthusiast site based in the Netherlands. MiniDisc.org is another enthusiast site that's loaded with user-generated reviews and opinions, along with lots of general information and more. There's also a lively online community of MiniDisc aficionados found in Google Groups' alt.audio.MiniDisc forum. User reviews written by owners on Epinions and Amazon.com are also valuable, and sometimes quite insightful. Don't overlook reviews of older equipment, as some discontinued models are still available from a few retailers as well as on eBay.