IMHO - MD and MP3 will survive but each will find
it's own niche and there will be some overlap.
MD = portable playback and record in a small package.
MP3 = portable playback - no portable record (unless you have a laptop
with a large HDD for WAV recording before encoding - or record at
extremely low bitrates).
Result = MD wins
MD = Prerecorded MD's
MP3 = No prerecorded changeable media.
Result = MD wins
MD = Legal (so long as you obey the copyright laws - SCMS helps this)
MP3 = also legal for your own music (so long as you obey the copyright laws)
but the "net" is full of illegal MP3's.
Result = a tie (unless you want to make illegal copies of music .. MP3 wins)
MD = realtime recording with ATRAC
MP3 = no realtime recording at the bitrates that represent 5:1 compression
(or that of ATRAC).
Result = MD wins
MD = moving parts, potential breakdown points
MP3 = no moving parts
Result = MP3 wins
MD = 75min stereo (144Mb)
MP3 = most players are 32Mb or 64Mb and hold less music
(45 mins of MP3's at 128bitrate take approx 42Mb)
MP3's need to be at 256bitrate to match ATRAC compression
ratio. hence giving you 35 mins with 64Mb.
Result = MD Wins
MD = blanks are cheap (relatively)
MP3 = memory is very expensive
Result = MD Wins
MD = investment in hardware (assuming MZ-R90 or equivalent) approx $400
MP3 = investment in hardware ... PC and playback portable approx $700
(assuming PC hardware is minimal i.e. low end spec but new - not secondhand
and prices vary all over the world)
Result = MD wins
MD = 40 sec antishock (usually enough .. but not always)
MP3 = antishock not needed (assumed memory storage)
Result = MP3 wins.
MD = sound quality excellent (especially using ATRAC 4.0 or above)
MP3 = sound quality at 128 very questionable ... 256 better, but file size doubles.
Result = MD Wins.
MD = internet resources are good
MP3 = internet resources are better but often in breach of the law.
Result = MD wins (if you want to stay 100% legal) otherwise MP3 Wins.
(NB: the MDCP is "the" most informative and constructive sites
for users of MD - Eric you do a great job).
MD = Kudos is high.
MP3 = Kudos is higher (newer technology).
Result = MP3 wins .... although I wonder how people show their RIO to
friends and people rush out to buy one? (maybe I should ask the Rio
forum ?). Cause this happens with MD (I now have at least 10 friends who
bought MD after I showed my MD stuff to them).
Final result ....
MD wins hand down. Yes I use MP3 as well, but not as a serious listening
medium or as an archival system. Mainly to put 10+ albums (which I own) onto
CDR and take this to work for playback.
Sometime I think that those of us that have a PC automatically assume that
everyone else in the world has a PC too. Obviously this is not true, and while
the awareness of PC's has certainly risen to heady heights many people still
only use them at work or not at all. MP3 is reliant on PC's .. MD is not,
sure I have a great PC (PIII500, 256MbRAM, 13Gb HDD, SCSI CDR),
but not everyone does.
I would like to see a couple of key features integrated into standard MD
recording equipment.
1. portable MD's with USB interface with PC's .. for titling, file transfer, editing
etc. (using Martins IR hardware and software ... it's excellent for titling).
2. the ability to put MP3 or software ATRAC files directly onto MD's in better
then realtime.
3. Sony push the fact that MD's RECORD !!!
MD is a great format that had a difficult birth, and is taking some time to
grow-up, whilst it won't replace CD it will continue to make inroads into the
portable audio and car audio markets.
MP3 is really aimed at PC users only, a market that is gaining in size and
affluence but is much smaller then the MD market in general.
Cheers GC
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