Anyone here old enough to have had their hands on this pre-CDr tech?

I had a shelf unit first, later a minidiscman.

Sold it all for eurorack a few years ago.

This was a godsend in pre-mp3 times. You could rip your friend's out of print CDs to the exact same quality.

The tactile quality was very satisfying as well. Plus you could edit them to your liking. Max 90 mins in stereo and double that in mono.