Hello Fellow ARSC Members.

We have a project that just came in-house, that includes a collection of 
Sony MiniDiscs. I've heard and read a bit about this format but in 20 
years of business, this is the first time we've had this format in house.

After several hours of research, I still cannot come up with a deck that 
we should consider purchasing for this job. I'm asking for some advice 
from the collective.

Is there one playback deck that is the best option for migration from 
MiniDisc to file format that covers all the advancements in MiniDisc 
technology, including the capability for the long
playback MDLP modes, ATRAC3plus (3.5) or higher encoding, Hi-MD, and any 
other advancement considerations?

Is there a way to connect this playback deck to a computer and simply 
migrate the data off MiniDisc, in faster than real time, just like we 
all rip data from an audio CD to file? If so, can you recommend 
software, proper computer platform and operating system, etc?

Looking forward to any input that the expert opinions at ARSC can 
provide, as this one is outside of my wheelhouse!

Kind Regards,

John Schroth
Media Transfer Service, LLC