Hi.  I'm glad that no one took offense at my post
yesterday (certainly none was intended...I was having
a very bad day at the salt mines).  Anyway, others
said succintly what I was trying to say.  My real
point was this:

1) I have heard, in some cases, a slight difference in
sound between MD and CD.  It's not enough to distract
from my enjoyment, and, more often than not, I have to
do an A-B comparison to be sure.  

2) I love MiniDisc, and I wanted people to know that
not everyone who hears a difference in anti-MD.  I'm
certainly not.

Now, just to comment on some of the responses that
were posted.

> From: "Magic"

> It's interesting to see you have produced evidence
> of my argument that the
> different types of ATRAC have their strengths and
> weaknesses. I have often
> said the Sony is better for classical and jazz
> because it reproduces the
> sounds you describe above much better. The Sharp
> ATRAC system has trouble
> with sustained notes such as classical guitar and
> long bass notes (ie -
> double bass, cello, piano) but it excels at sharp
> attack sounds like kick
> drums, snare etc. - it's brilliant for rock music
> and dance music. It would
> be interesting if you could rerecord the same music
> with a Sony MD and see
> how you feel they compare.

This certainly has been my experience.  The jazz and
rock recordings I have made sound great.  The
classical recordings also are fine...but the
difference is easier to hear.  At present, I have only
the Sharp.  Soon I hope to have a Sony deck.  I will
re-record the same music as a test and report back.

> From: Dan Frakes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Don't get me wrong -- I'm a huge MD fan. I use my
> MD player on a daily basis... I just think that
people should be realistic about the format.

I don't think the difference that I have encountered
are significant for my listening.  We should be
realistic to the point that we acknowledge there are
sometimes some slight differences, and move on.  What
bothers people, I think, and someone else made this
point...there's more being said about the differences
than are necessary, and that can hurt MD in this world
where people's opinions are based on 30-second adverts
and sound-bites. 

> From: "Shawn R. Lin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

> Still, can you say for sure the difference is due to
> the format itself?
> Are you able to discount the DAC, analog stage, amp,
> etc.?

No, I can't say that for sure.  But I'm a musician,
not an engineer, so my comments are based purely on my
listening experience.

> I don't think it is fair for anyone to say MD itself
> is inferior without doing double-blind testing using
the SAME DAC, SAME speakers, SAME amp,
> with everything identical.
> 
> You can compare two specific models, but I don't
> think you can do a
> direct MD/CD comparison without removing more
> variables.  ..., but still, we cannot
> conclude that MD sounds better than CD.

Agreed...and I'm not in a position to do that (and
would rather just enjoy the music in any case).  My
listening tests were done at the time that I entered
the MD world just to satisfy myself that I truly
wanted to get into MD (I had a 30-day window in which
I could return the unit if I didn't like it).  Now, I
am too busy enjoying the music to worry about anything
other than the possible demise on the medium.

It still amazes me that one could reduce the music by
80% and still be left with the great quality that MD
provides.  I would love to understand how ATRAC
accounts for things like overtones....but I'm really
not technical enough to understand it all.  Just glad
it works.

And now for one other question....Is anyone, anywhere
selling the Sharp MD-20?  Other than on Sharp
s own website, it seems to be completely non-existent.
 I probably wouldn't buy it, since the MD-15 is all
that I really need...but I wonder what it is going
for...and I love the sexy gold color that will be
available in the Asian market.

Cheers,

JMJ


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