What the heck is a U Disc and why would I want one? (2024)

bonsaiparkTurn me on, RedmondThread Starter

Location:
USA
Over the weekend a young relative gave me a small portable CD player to tide me over while I rebuild my system. The built-in speaker(s?) was poor so I tried to plug a pair of PC speakers into the player, using both an auxiliary and USB port on the side. Nothing happened so - in desperation - I opened the enclosed instruction sheet and tried to make sense of it. The ports are apparently inputs, allowing this little unit to become the hub of a diverse entertainment system.

The instructions encourage me to plug a "U Disc" into the USB port, which sent me straight to Google. I now know what a U Disc is - at least, I know that it's NOT a USB flash drive (which I'm quite familiar with). I know how it differs, but was unable to find a single article explaining why I would want to use one, or what advantages it would have over established alternatives.

Where did U Discs come from? And what good are they?

bonsaipark,Aug 19, 2024

#1

GlmoneydawgHere for the chuckles.

Location:
Ontario Canada
I'm not sure if i'm impressed or disappointed that you know this What the heck is a U Disc and why would I want one? (3)

Glmoneydawg,Aug 19, 2024

#3

timind, chris8519 and jonwoody like this.

bonsaiparkTurn me on, RedmondThread Starter

Location:
USA
So I might be right in thinking this was a "we'll do it because we can" non-solution to a non-problem?

I can't find anyone willing to justify this format, it seems.

bonsaipark,Aug 19, 2024

#5

I did a lot of scrolling before posting a question here (and some more this morning). The internet is getting kind of light on information. I've still found nothing that gets into the pros and cons of these things (other than the obvious p's and c's they share with HDs or flash memory, as compared to, say, eight-tracks).

Is there - really - any reason for U Disc to exist?

bonsaipark,Aug 20, 2024

#7

aorecords likes this.

Carl SwansonSenior Member

Location:
Southern California
One of my 8th grade teachers had a burgundy-colored one back in 1963. At the time, I thought it was the coolest car I'd ever seen.

Carl Swanson,Aug 20, 2024

#9

Agitater likes this.

bonsaiparkTurn me on, RedmondThread Starter

Location:
USA

This is similar to the kind of inexpensive player I was given as a gift, so the USB port is probably to accomodate a U Disc drive.

However, the well-reviewed Marantz CD6007 component CD player has a USB port, too, and I'd been thinking about getting one of those to replace my burned-out player. I'd been assuming this would let you play files from a USB memory stick. If not, it's going to be useless.

bonsaipark,Aug 20, 2024

#10

Boltman92124 likes this.

qwertyA resident of the SH_Forums.

Location:
Melbourne, Australia.
Is there a headphone output on the CD player? You could use a phono-rca adapter and then plug into a line-in in an amp (adjust the volume so it is at a similar volume to other inputs in the amp). This isn't ideal, but should work. Although note that there could be a technical reason not to do it, I've done it for years in years gone by to get better audio from my TV.

qwerty,Aug 20, 2024

#13

bonsaiparkTurn me on, RedmondThread Starter

Location:
USA
I don't know about that HOTT portable above, but mine doesn't have a headphone jack. The speakers are built into the unit and there's no way to shut them off. Unless synching a Bluetooth headset suppresses the speakers.
I think you're right. This model is described as a walkman (discman), so it doesn't make a heap of sense to have inputs for additional source peripherals (like a U Disc drive) on it.

bonsaipark,Aug 21, 2024

#14

Solitaire1Carpenters Fan

If you are interested, there's a YouTube Channel named "Techmoan" hosted by a man who has a specialty of covering little-known audio formats. Formats such as this:

Solitaire1,Aug 21, 2024

#16

JCM800 and MC Rag like this.

bonsaiparkTurn me on, RedmondThread Starter

Location:
USA
Well, the instructions for the CD player were certainly very badly translated. But there are a lot of articles on the Web describing the U Disc (c, not k) as a USB peripheral that contains a tiny rotating hard disk inside (not flash memory). What to make of those?

Is this a difference between a U Disc and a U Disk???

bonsaipark,Aug 22, 2024

#17

bonsaiparkTurn me on, RedmondThread Starter

Location:
USA
The MicroDrive sounds like what this article is talking about:

What Is U Disk & the Main Differences with USB Flash Drive - MiniTool

But it's calling it a "U Disc".

I found other descriptions on the Web that are similar to this one, but everything has this same vague, slippery, confusing aura. You can't be sure what it is or why it's supposedly useful. I haven't researched a lot of "weird tech" so this seems unusual to me.

bonsaipark,Aug 26, 2024

#21

bonsaiparkTurn me on, RedmondThread Starter

Location:
USA
Arrrgh! So this is why I'm finding the Web increasingly useless. Should have known.

Well, I have a couple of USB flash drives that I used to back up CD rips. I'll just try plugging that into the CD player and see if it knows what to do with the files.

Thanks!!!

bonsaipark,Aug 26, 2024

#24

vwestlife likes this.

What the heck is a U Disc and why would I want one? (2024)
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