minidisc

plural minidiscs

1. computer hardwareA disc/disk in MiniDisc format
2. A minidisc player or recorder.

   Jayne K. Guberman (2005), In our own voices ― A guide to conducting life history interviews with American Jewish women, page 20: “Make sure that your minidisc has microphone inputs. Hand-held, high-quality microphones may need a preamplifier to work with a minidisc.”

plural MiniDiscs

1. uncountableA magnetooptical format for storing digital audio.

   Michael Talbot-Smith (2001), Sound Engineering Explained, page 163: “It is doubtful whether it's possible with MiniDisc to do the very fine editing that's possible with full-size tape, where, as we've said, a good editor can take out fractions of a second of a recording by cutting.”

   2 more examples

   This convinces me that MiniDisc is a format whose time has come and gone. When MiniDisc first came out, I was very excited at the existence of an erasable disc format for music.

   1997, Electronic musician, volume 13, numbers 8—12, page 10

   Or you could buy the FW538 system stack, which Philips sees as CD-RW's big weapon in its lone fight against the rising tide of MiniDisc, for £449.95.

   1999, High fidelity news and record review, volume 44, numbers 1—12, page 15

2. countableA disk that uses this format.

   John Watkinson (2002), An introduction to digital audio, page 385: “Recordable MiniDiscs make the recording as flux patterns in a magnetic layer. However, the disks need to be pregrooved so that the tracking systems can operate.”

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   So the recording is real time: To get an hour of music on a MiniDisc, it'll take you an hour. If you go for the MiniDisc and Voquette MiniDisc NetLink solution, you'll probably want to build a collection of MiniDiscs rather than recording music to a MiniDisc temporarily, the way you download music to an ultraportable MP3 player.

   Guy Hart-Davis, Rhonda Holmes (2000), MP3!, page 387

   Jim Taylor (2000), DVD demystified, page 388: “Because MiniDiscs are in a shell, they can be handled easily without fear of fingerprints and scratches. MiniDiscs are about 3 inches across, making them very easy to use and to store.”

3. countableA MiniDisc player or recorder.

   Steve Shipside (2005), Win at the gym, page 28: “I have a MiniDisc which I rest on the treadmill/stepper but it still jogs – how do I stop it?”

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   Jon Konrath (2003), Tell Me a Story about the Devil ― Selected Journals, 1997—1999, page 137: “It'll be nice to travel with a MiniDisc, too. A MiniDisc, a GameBoy, a camcorder, a cellphone—I think RoboCop hauled around less gear.”

   Mape Ollila (2008), Once Upon a Nightwish ― The Official Biography 1996—2006, page 169: “Tuomas suggested to me that WE buy a MiniDisc for Marco's backing vocals in Sinergy. We can't do that for two reasons. First of all, it's not exactly like we just have money being thrown at us to afford these things, and secondly, we prefer to play everything live.”

   Synonyms: MD, minidisc