[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> I don't know for sure if MD will survive, considering all the other things
> that are really gaining popularity right now (MP3, etc.), but if it doesn't
> last, then it just goes to show that the best product doesn't always make it.
That's certainly true. I believe Beta was a superior format over VHS as
well.
> I think MP3 is kind of cool too, but I'm not willing to give up the sound
> quality that MP3 chucks out the window. CD Writers are pretty good also, but
> they have their faults as well. You can't title tracks on them, and I tend to
> think that a lot of their popularity has to do with MP3...considering how
> many minutes of MP3 you can burn onto a CD.
You CAN title tracks with a CD-Writer, almost all of them support
CD-Text.
I don't think most people are copying MP3 directly to CD. Most of my
friends are copying MP3's to CDs as regular Audio CDs (74-minutes) for
use in their cars. At any rate, even copying decompressed MP3's to
audio CD is much faster and more convenient than realtime MP3 to MD.
Just now I'm starting to see more MP3 units that CAN read MP3 directly
off of a CD-ROM, and most of these units are designed for car use.
> As far as I'm concerned, minidisc is still the best all around
> alternative...even if it isn't the most popular.
I wholeheartedly agree, even though I'm not sure that it'll ever be
mainstream. MP3 devices have pretty much stolen the spotlight from MD.
MP3 has pretty much replaced MD as the "new cool format". MP3 to MD
integration is the answer, IMO. MP3 is the hot trendy item in audio
these days, I think if a super slick solution to copying MP3 to MD
existed, then MD would sell better than those solid state MP3 players.
I like the idea of a portable MD recorder with a USB port. When plugged
into a Mac or PC, all you have to do is drag & drop your MP3 files to an
MD icon. A few seconds later, the process is complete, the MP3's are
all in the MD. Maybe the MD recorder *should* have a built-in MP3
decoder. Right click on the MD icon, and under a "Properties..." menu,
there is a checkbox "Audio MD Compatibility Mode". If the checkbox is
unchecked, the MP3's are copied directly to MD as MP3's with around
140-minutes of stereo MP3 audio capacity, only playable on that
particular recorder. If the checkbox is checked, the MP3's are
processed by a high-speed codec that converts the MP3 format to ATRAC
and then can save 74-minutes of stereo audio playable on ANY MD player.
Double-clicking on the MD icon pulls up all the tracks listed. They can
be reordered, renamed, and deleted from the PC. When not docked to the
PC, the MD recorder functions as a normal standalone MD recorder.
I think if such a device existed, it'd easily sell at street prices of
$200.
Shawn
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