minidisc audio onto iMac

ftft
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
My friend is pretty cheesed off because he bought an iMac believing he would have minimum hassle with his digital peripherals. However, he has recorded a lot of audio onto minidisc and has no idea how to get them onto his Mac.

I've looked around the net but it seems minidisc drives are rare, out of manufacture and PC only. What is the quickest way of transferring onto a Mac? Do you have to play them through analogue output and use iMic to pick them up via USB? There are 50 hours of sound to record so this isn't a great option.



I need a genius! Thanks

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    looks like that is your only option... <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" /> sorry...
  • Reply 2 of 5
    drewpropsdrewprops Posts: 2,321member
    ft,

    It's true, there has never been any software for the Mac that allows you to play, alter or manage ATRAC files on the Mac. I've had a minidisc portable, home deck and car deck since '97 or '98. I've really enjoyed my MiniDiscs all this time.



    BUT, I've done it all without connection to my Macs.



    There's about three or four minidisc threads here every year, always with the same result.



    I once traded emails with Andy Ihnatko about suggesting that some of the geniuses at Mac Hack figure out a solution to this problem, but it never surfaced.



    I'm personally looking at trading over to an iPod in the next two years.



    Sorry!
  • Reply 3 of 5
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    I have actually switched from Minidisc (to iPod), and you won't hear me complain. I've used Minidisc since 95 or so (I had the first model, the big black brick, if you recall that one). After my second recorder croked on me, I looked into buying one of them net-md things, but at that time, they were real-time transfer only, which completely sucked (why would you need USB at all?). I waited, and then they came out with the current net-MDs, which are faster transfer and are also longplay (though the older ones might have been to). Anyway, they are (were) really windows only, I have been warned that they don't even work in Virtual PC, and I was to scared to waste 200 odd euros on it to try. So I spent 400 euros on an iPod. It is SO much better. No more hassle with 60 minidiscs... I have 2000 songs on my iPod constantly, and it's smaller, I think, than my last minidisc player. Anyway. Isn't Minidisc VERY anal about DRM? I know I could never get my songs digitally off my minidisc player, and I don't guess you could do so, even with a computer. It has always been unidirectional as far as digital is concerned. Can you?
  • Reply 4 of 5
    kraig911kraig911 Posts: 912member
    can you not just go to a windows machine and grab the files and convert them to something he can use on this imac? Digitally?
  • Reply 5 of 5
    gardenofearthlydelightsgardenofearthlydelights Posts: 963member
    [quote]Originally posted by kraig911:

    <strong>can you not just go to a windows machine and grab the files and convert them to something he can use on this imac? Digitally?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Nope. The Sony software to handle ATRAC doesn't let you do that (if there are other means outside of Sony to do this, I don't know).



    If he's got an optical output, he can try this <a href="http://minidisco.com/ua-1d.html"; target="_blank">optical-to-USB converter</a>. Of course, that means recording for 50 hours, or however much music he had.



    Like Mr. Big Head above, I've also been a minidisc person since 1995, but I've recently switched to an iPod. I have an MD player in my car, as well as a couple of decks. I still like my portable Sony, but right now, I don't even know where it is.



    [edit: crap-- I hate having the "Add Reply" button so close, because I apparently have lost the ability to read.]



    [ 03-17-2003: Message edited by: GardenOfEarthlyDelights ]</p>
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