My iPod has disappeared forever. Up until recently it was merely mislaid, but since I’ve recently moved house and therefore packed (and unpacked) all my worldly possessions into boxes, I know for sure that my iPod is gone. Maybe I left it somewhere, or maybe some scrote swiped it (in which case I hope it explodes in the swipee’s face), either way, I have had to face up to the loss of my trusty 30Gb iPod Video and it’s exorbitantly priced, impulse bought, leather case.
The simple answer to this musical conundrum would be to buy a new iPod Classic, but since Apple are charging £197 for one, I decided better of that idea. I mean seriously, £197?? You can buy a whole computer for that amount. Or, for considerably less you can do what I did.
I decided to dig out my Sony MiniDisc Walkman. Alas, the battery had gone the way of the dodo, but a swift trip to eBay, £8 and 2 days later, I was in business. The sound quality through the original Sony headphones (which unlike iPod earphones will actually stay in your ear once placed there) and “digital Megabass” are brilliant. It’s all too easy to forget that Sony pretty much invented the portable music player and therefore probably know a thing or two more than Apple about making a good quality device. The Walkman works as good today as it did the day I bought it about 14 years ago.
I had a few MiniDiscs lying around, but I was going to need a few more to scratch my musical itch. So, once more I ventured forth to fleabay, and found a plethora of brand new blank MiniDisc options. With a bundle of discs duly ordered, I stumbled upon an auction for a Sony MiniDisc hi-fi separate player/recorder (the JE520 to be precise – one of the best Sony made), so I got bidding and soon took delivery of a shiny, almost new looking MiniDisc recorder complete with remote control. This set me back the princely sum of £33! It sounds lovely through my Rotel amp and Mordaunt Short speakers, and it connects digitally to my Rotel CD player.
And so, I set to recording some of my old CD collection. No quick digital duplication here – the recordings take place in real-time. And, there’s no Internet database to kindly populate the album and track names for you, instead these have to be manually entered with the remote control.
Suddenly, recording an album has become an event again, just like it used to be. The process has evoked happy memories of hours spent in front of my Dad’s hi-fi, carefully recording vinyl and CDs onto cassette and neatly labeling it. This has been a real discovery for me. It’s not just nostalgia or rose-tinted glasses, it is actually better. You have to take your time over an album. You read the CD booklet, get involved in the music, enjoy it – and this is a very good thing.
Since digital music took off, I have amassed a music collection totaling more than 30Gb. I have purchased vast amounts of music that I have either listened to once or not at all. Albums have become cheap throwaway commodities collected for the sake of collecting, and not enjoyed like they should be. My collection includes great swathes of music that I don’t even really like, just because it’s easy and cheap to own.
Whilst I won’t be deleting my digital music collection, I will be continuing to use my MiniDisc Walkman, and I’ll be playing MiniDiscs on it that I have recorded myself, and in the process I will be rediscovering great albums and re-igniting my love of music. The next album I buy will be a CD, from a shop. I’m going to buy it and excitedly unwrap it in the car and have a first listen on the way home, then I’m going to put it straight in the CD player and record it to MiniDisc, whilst I lovingly caress the booklet and drink in the music. Then I’ll take the MiniDisc into work and play it over and over on my Walkman. And somehow, this process will get me involved with music again and enrich me.
I feel sorry for all the iPod users out there, because frankly the way it was is just so much better.
!! YES !!
I knew I wasn’t the only person who felt like this!
Over the years, I’ve made great use of both MiniDisc and iPod. Between 1995 and 2005 I served in the RAF, and spent a long time away from home. Having my music collection with me was a great comfort to me. I started with MiniDisc, and later…ahem…’upgraded’ to an iPod.
The result? Well, I couldn’t carry a pocket-full of spare AA batteries. If there was no power-supply, you had the iPod battery, and that was it. If the iPod crashed, or needed resetting, there was no PC, so that was that!
MiniDisc? Well, they became DIRT CHEAP second-hand! A pocket-full of AA batteries would last a detachment. Discs are dirt-cheap, and as you say, ‘mixing’ up compilations is an event in itself! You appreciate the music more! I find that with an iPod of 10,000 tracks, I spent more time skipping back and forth through albums, than I actually did listening to the music!
If I lose a disc, or a disc becomes damaged, you’ve lost a £1, and an album. Lose your iPod, and you’ve lost the music! Worse-case scenario, and the MiniDisc Player gets lost/stolen/broken, and you’re looking at about £25 for a replacement from ebay! (I got into the habit of packing a player in each kit-bag, with the discs split between the two) I also took the iPod, and at least HALF of the time, I had to ‘resort’ to MiniDisc.
I bought a head-unit for my car, and another for my camper, for a total of about £60. I just leave the glove-boxes filled with copied albums. No worries about scratches or damage. Thieves won’t target something they will struggle to fence, so I’ve never had one nicked (touch wood!)
When I buy a new album, I buy it on CD, which I copy, then carefully keep in the collection. The MiniDiscs take the ‘wear and tear’.
They really are the ‘best kept secret’.
They are practically given away, tough as old boots, great sound, practical and versatile! I’ll keep picking up spare players, for the cost of a round in the pub! I’ll carry on with the art of the ‘mix tape’. I’ll keep my shoeboxes full of spare discs. I’ll keep my pockets filled with AA batteries.
I might not need the level of ruggedness or independence, but it served me well when I needed it! I’ll be keeping my MiniDiscs!!