Is there any way to record without the ATRAC compression? I will mostly be
using the Minidisc to record my DJ sets to then burn to CD on my computer.
Analog input and output is perfect on both ends. I am just worried about
the effects of the ATRAC compression on the sound quality since the end
product will be a CD.
At 09:36 PM 12/5/2002 +0000, Tristan Watkins wrote:
----- Original Message -----
From: "Eric Scuccimarra" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, December 05, 2002 2:13 PM
Subject: RE: (313) mixer advice
> Just looked into Minidisc and it apparently has a built in compression
> method which compresses a 74 minute CD to about 160 MB. I had no clue that
> it did that.
Minidisc uses Sony's own ATRAC compression, and newer models offer LP2 and
LP4 compression modes, which is essentially 1/2 and 1/4 compression, so you
can record for 5 hours on one 74 minute disc. That's pretty damn cool,
although the compression is pretty noticeable at LP4. I really love mine.
The compression is equivalent to 160Kbps mp3 on the standard recording mode,
I'd say, which to my ears means that you can't tell - not to open up that
can of worms again. I know it's subjective. Frankly, for DJ sets I think
it's fine. I would never record my music to minidisc as a first-choice
option though.
One other cool thing is that newer minidiscs also support mp3, and you can
cram a lot more mp3s on a minidisc than you can on the comparable price of
smart memory. Of course, the IPod holds gigs upon gigs, which kind of blows
all the other mp3 players out of the water AFAIK.
One cautionary word of advice though. If you hope to record to minidisc,
then dump the song into NetMD, this will not work b/c of copy protection
measures, so you actually need to do it analogue-style. I was a bit
disappointed by that.
Tristan
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