The ã‚ series are TDK’s flagship minidisc blanks for 2006. The word “sublime” comes to mind…
(Bottom two rows. From top left, L-R: 2003 HO series yellow, 2004 XS-iV 80, 2002 Bit Club, XS-iV “Ministry of Sound” Series, ã‚ in various colors.)
They’re only available in Japan, and at the moment, it appears that none of the usual importers plan on carrying them. I got my set from a friend at T-Board who lives there. Let me know if you need a set, and I can get ahold of him.
There seems to be a sad trend forming in this. TDK and Maxell appear to be the only companies making any sort of custom discs. Sony’s still churning out the generic Color series as well as the plain-blue Hi-MD blanks, which are the only ones in production. No local retailers carry blanks of any stripe anymore, and the number of online sources is dwindling.
Part of this is, of course, the slow death of the format in America. European shops still carry some recorders, but the bulk of the hardware still comes from Japan, where MiniDisc is still alive and well. It’s ironic that Japan produces eight times as many electronic products as they export.
TDK, true to their reputation, makes some of the most durable and well-constructed discs on the market, and it’s a credit that they’re still putting out nice designs.
Here are a few of the nicer ones from over the years:
(The XS-iV series)
(The awkwardly-named “HO” series)