Author: Mark Alexander

Why, you ask? Because the my other portable developed a very wonky disc release mechanism and stopped writing the TOC (table of contents) to the disc after editing it, rendering every disc (no matter what was recorded) as "BLANK DISC."

When I reached the point I couldn't deal with this any longer, there were no other decent MZ-S1's showing up online, so I decided to try a different model. To be honest, it was the color that got me.

And wouldn't you know, immediately after I hit the BUY IT NOW button, an auction for another pristine MZ-S1 showed up. I submitted the minimum bid, never expecting to actually win the auction. Of course, a week later, I did…

Both units arrived today.

To be honest, it is nice to have a fully functional S1 again. The S1 has always been my favorite Minidisc portable, since I originally owned one in the early 2000s. While some MD connoisseurs decry its large, chonky design, I personally love it. See: Quirky.

One aspect of buying used Minidisc equipment that seldom gets mentioned is that oftentimes the sellers will throw in a few discs to sweeten the deal—or to just get them out of the house. Almost always they've got stuff recorded on them—not an issue since they can be easily erased and reused—but occasionally you find a gem hidden among them.

The first S1 (the one with the wonky release mechanism) came with an unlabeled disc with no disc name or track titles recorded. Before I summarily dismissed it and erased it, I thought I'd give it a listen. I really liked the funky jazz beat, so I took a chance that it was more than just YouTube-friendly royalty-free fodder (a lot of times seller post videos of their wares on YouTube), and fired up Soundhound. It immediately identified it: Ernest Raglin – Below The Bassline. It's been one of my go-to discs to listen to while falling asleep since getting it.

I know all this shit is boring as fuck to most of my readers—OLD MAN REDISCOVERS AND FINDS JOY IN OBSOLETE TECHNOLOGY AND WAXES POETIC ON ITS COOL FACTOR AS WORLD SLIDES INTO DYSTOPIAN HELLSCAPE—so thanks for sticking around in spite of it.