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The whole point of the buffer is to read ahead and keep the music flowing
out
smoothly during bumps and seeks. It's rather foolish not to use it for the
same purpose during shuffle seeks on some machines.
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I wish the deck manufacturers make use of this buffer as a "read-ahead" in
all advanced-play modes. As for car units, the manufacturers could do a bit
better by keeping the buffer full during all play modes.
All of the changers -- the car units as well as the new changer-equipped
bookshelf systems -- could use the "read ahead" feature during all
multi-disc play modes, and the timing could be worked out so as to cover the
amount of time for the machine to switch discs (spin down the current disc,
replace the current disc in the storage space, find the next disc, spin up
the next disc, read the directory then find the wanted track). The directory
for all the currently-installed discs could be cached by the unit in a
separate memory register, so as to eliminate the need to read the directory
every time an installed disc is mounted in the drive for playback.
Some car head-units do permit multi-changer installations where one
head-unit can control multiple CD or MiniDisc changers. If multi-changer
play modes are used, the head unit could use software to co-ordinate the
read-ahead buffers.
I hope manufacturers are reading these comments about the issue of
"back-to-back" shuffle-play for CD and MiniDisc players.
With regards,
Simon Mackay
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