I have contemplated and sketched out what would be required to build a slot loading sd card reader. Ultimately, I believe a vertical mount door loading mechanism* is cheaper, more reliable, and certainly has a decent aesthetic.
Yes, it’s disappointing, but I chose to publish this anyway to counter publication bias, and to maybe motivate someone else to come up with a different method to analyze what’s on these dummy MiniDiscs!
Dummy boxes for retail stores that keep the real discs behind the counter wouldn't need any disc at all.
Dangerous is probably a really early MiniDisc as it was a recent album at launch in 1992. Perhaps it was created for launch promotions, trade shows etc. where they needed to show physical MiniDiscs and packaging but hadn't actually mastered and manufactured the real deal yet in quantity?
IPR licences are complicated and maybe Sony did not have contracted rights to the music on MD format but had committed $$$ to the campaign? Maybe Jackson had good lawyers when he sold them the catalogue!!
Are MD pressed or recorded? It might be interesting to see if two Michael Jackson promo discs are identical.
Pre-mastered MDs are pressed and the format is physically similar to CDs. I would be interesting to put this disc under an optical microscope, I assume it would look similar to a regular pre-mastered disc but perhaps it's actually a recordable MD (which look very different) or some kind of R&D experiment.
I took a bunch of optical images of MDs and other formats here for reference:
[+] [-] fudgy|3 years ago|reply
MiniDisc is truly how the future of audio would have looked like in a parallel universe.
[+] [-] parker_mountain|3 years ago|reply
* much like a vertically mounted cd player
[+] [-] Gordonjcp|3 years ago|reply
I know there were "different" disks for the Yamaha multitrackers, but I'm not sure what was different about them.
[+] [-] CompuHacker|3 years ago|reply
Fantastic.
[+] [-] fredoralive|3 years ago|reply
Dummy boxes for retail stores that keep the real discs behind the counter wouldn't need any disc at all.
Dangerous is probably a really early MiniDisc as it was a recent album at launch in 1992. Perhaps it was created for launch promotions, trade shows etc. where they needed to show physical MiniDiscs and packaging but hadn't actually mastered and manufactured the real deal yet in quantity?
[+] [-] ggm|3 years ago|reply
Are MD pressed or recorded? It might be interesting to see if two Michael Jackson promo discs are identical.
[+] [-] new299|3 years ago|reply
I took a bunch of optical images of MDs and other formats here for reference:
https://everydaything.substack.com/p/a-pre-mastered-minidisc
This can be done non-destructively with an inexpensive epi-illuminated microscope.
[+] [-] Firmwarrior|3 years ago|reply
Maybe there's something interesting in there..
[+] [-] truemotive|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] PokemonNoGo|3 years ago|reply