John Chrapowicki wrote:
>
> Shawn Lin wrote in reply to my earlier post:
>
> | I think you're wrong. People call what Sharp and Sony home
> | decks do an
> | "automatic end search", but really, it is an *absence* of a "last
> | position memory". Since MD is a random-access technology, anytime the
> | disc is stopped, the laser sled is stopped and the last position is
> | "forgotten". An MD portable with End Search adds the
> | "feature" (or IMO, "mis-feature") of remembering the last position. So
> when one presses
> | REC without End Search first, the deck moves the laser sled
> | to the last remembered position. It actually takes EXTRA processing
> overhead to implement the
> | End Search.
>
> Wasn't that my very point? So Sony concluded the user would only choose to
> ES when it was absolutely essential to keep previously recorded material
> intact, thus generally making (slight) power savings overall.
Well no, you misunderstood what I was saying.
It takes more overhead to implement "manual" ES.
Both a unit with "automatic" ES and "manual" ES behave identically.
When you press STOP, the optical block is parked at the innermost "zero"
position.
The difference being that with the "automatic" ES unit, the address of
the last position is not stored in memory anywhere. When REC is
pressed, the unit starts recording at the first free space.
The unit with "manual" ES keeps the last position in a small memory
space. When REC is pressed without first pressing ES, the unit moves
the optical block to the last remembered position and starts recording
there. If ES is pressed first, the last position memory is cleared and
the unit starts recording at the first free space.
So "manual" ES takes up more resources by requiring an extra small bit
of memory to save the last position memory.
> | so they slapped in extra software to simulate a cassette tape so that the
> MD
> | will feel like a cassette to those people.
>
> Yes, but that assumes that most people who use portable tape recorders will
> want to overwrite what they previously recorded AS A DEFAULT. This equates
> to rewinding the tape to the beginning, rather than simply recording from
> where you left off. My personal experience of this 'daily' type of tape
> recording is that you usually record from where you finished, unless it's
> obvious that you don't have enough space on the tape (in which case you may
> THEN decide to either rewind or use another tape). Even if you have played
> back what you previously recorded, you will probably generally stop the tape
> at the end of the recorded section, ready for a new recording.
Well yes, that's correct and pretty much what I was trying to say. Only
a Sony MD portable with "manual" ES can overwrite what was previously
recorded as a default. A Sony MD deck or Sharp portable cannot
overwrite ANYTHING by default, the tracks have to be manually erased or
be manually positioned to be erased. Only an MD portable with "manual"
ES can start overwriting at the last position that playback was last
stopped, even if that happens to be the middle of a track.
> Thus, my argument would be that it is the Sharps & the Sony decks which
> behave MORE like tape machines, if you wish to make such an analogy.
Not at all. A regular tape machine does not automatically start
recording in freespace. It starts recording at the last position that
the user stopped playback or recording, just like a Sony MD portable.
> I do agree though, that perhaps Sony thought it could apply to a situation
> where tape users (eg. reporters) have access to a pool of previously
> recorded 'old' tapes that are available for reuse and have been rewound to
> the beginning.
Yes, I believe that's the reason (lectures, speeches, etc.). Sony at
one time DID want to appeal to people who use (micro)cassette for
dictation and whatever. Remember the MZ-B3 with built-in speaker, voice
activated recording, etc.? I think the ability to record mono is also
another feature to appeal to tapers who are more interested in recording
length than hi-fi.
> Note to Shawn: If you want to continue the discussion, I suggest we do it
> via private mail to avoid us getting kicked off the board ;-)
I don't think that's necessary, since we're at least discussing a
feature of MD.
Not like we're discussing Windoze vs. Mac, automobiles, or Y2K bugs!
Shawn
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