Skipping and studdering minidiscs

C

C. Anthony

New member
I've often run into the problem of one of my disks developing a freeze-up or severe studdering during playback. I'm assuming that dust somehow has gotten into the disk housing. The song will just lock up for a time on a part and will only continue sporatically if at all.
I've "fixed" it more than once by getting the sliding panel on the disk to open and blowing the debris of the recorded disk surface using a can of Blow-off. I've also used a CD wipe to collect some of the crud. This has worked for me sometimes. Has ANYBODY but me had this problem with their disks? I've contacted Sony and other sources for answers about this and never received a reply from anyone. I use my disks professionally and it's embarrasing when this happens. Any input would be welcome.
I'd like to know which side of the disk is read by the laser or are both? (That Blow-off stuff is expensive and I've been cleaning both sides!)

Thanks

P.S. I'm only able to open the sliding panel on the disks by inserting them into an old Sony MD-101 (I use a MDS-40 on the job) that leaves them open somtimes when rejecting. Is there another way to open this panel?
 
You can open the disk like this :-

Hold the disk with the door thingy toward you and the disk up the right way.
On the right hald side inside a groove in the disk there's a little springy clip that holds the door shut. If you push this clip inwards you can open the door.

I have heard of this problem or simmilar before and I believe you can fix it by GENTLY using a vacuum cleaner to suck any crap from the disk (not sure which side is read, but probably bottom) and player.

Phil.
 
Yo Mr. Anthony: [If anyone out there remembers "MR. ANTHONY" from the days of radio, you're as old as I am.]

I've had my MD8 go to "disc error" right in the middle of a project but not often.

I used the vacuum cleaner to clean the disc, very gently using the brush attachment, and then getting the inside of the door where the disc goes in. This seemed to clear up the problem. I suspect that you might even vacuum a new disc when you unwrap it because I don't think the factory takes that precaution in production.

I've never opened up a data disc; I've just vacuumed them with care and have not had the problem very often.

Green Hornet
 
Thanx

This is the first time I've received an answer to this problem ... and thanks for your help.I'll try thr vacuum that makes sense (and will save cents). I have a MZ-1 (Gads I have some old stuff) that will now ONLY show disk error even when I put in a new disk. I'll try vacuuming it as best I can and see what happens. I'll be abandoning Minidisc technology soon (too buggy) and try MP3 and CD-R (I know they skip too) next.
 
I have had only one problem w/ minidiscs, and after inspecting the problem, found out it came from minidiscs that had been dropped on the floor at the store.

Not one single problem outside of that one. But it sounds like you are using your MDs for playback only, which is a situation that may lend itself to a bad player (especially if it's letting dust in the housing! MDs should never be "open" unless they're playing, sounds like your player is giving it too much "playtime" (yes, pun intended)).

Hope that whatever you end up with works well for you, I wish that your MDs could have stayed "unskipped"...

:D
 
BTW, it's worth noting that I've used a MD multitracker (the MD-8) in a 14'x24' room of anywhere from four to ten smokers at once. And we smoked a LOT. Plus, there was OTHER dust flying around, I can clean the MD-8 and it'll be dusty as hell a good two weeks later. I'm AMAZED that my MDs are alive and that I've never had a problem, and somewhat perplexed that you are having this problem this frequently. Makes me think you're ATRAC version is low (or your batteries) or you jog alot.

Hold it. Do you jog with your MD player?
 
Yo Kelly: Hang in there; it's almost St. Patrick's Day.

NO SMOKING IN THE STUDIO. IT WILL CORRUPT ANY TYPE OF GEAR.

wHEN i SMOKED, WHICH WAS 20 YEARS AGO, I noticed how the smoke in my apartment would stick on the walls....ugly, very ugly. I had to have my apartment painted every 12 months....at my expense.

So, no smoking would preserve your recording environment, not matter what system you're using.

One of my good friends, a keyboard man of tremendous skill, could not smoke in my studio and he understood. If I had his skill, I'd be in Florida smoking fish on the grill.

Green Hornet
 
Howdy all, I am having a possibly related problem and would like some assistance, particularly from Green Hornet as he may have seen this...

I recently got an MD8 and have been having DiscError problems. When I record (either SM58 or Acoust/Elect Guitar) occassionally the deck will just hang and give me a DiscErr message. I'm very new to digital recording, so this could be an "I'm a moron" type of problem. It has occurred to me that the levels may have been too high when it did this (still getting used to setting them properly) and that I may just be saturating the disc with some sort of buffer overflow.

The deck was bought as a "dent and scratch" item, so there is a possibility it could be physically damaged, and I have a limited time to send it back. So, I'd really like to know if anyone out there has had similar problems and whether its me or the deck, so that I can get it replaced in time.

I don't want to have to let it go, now that I finally got it in my hot little hands, but I don't want to get stuck with something broken either.

Any assistance would be lovely.

-ish
 
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