On Mon, 11 Sep 2000, las wrote:
> > How much data can the new HDCD hold?
>
> As far as I know the same as a regular CD.
But isn't there some compression involved there? If so, what's being
lost?
> > The only issue with sound quality regarding MDs is due to the vact that
> > ATRAC is a compression algorithm, and you always lose something in
> > compression.
>
> Yes, but if you can improve the over all sound quality the loss will become
> insignificant.
Compression upon compression doesn't work to improve the quality of
anything.
> > A CD holds 650MB worth of data, uncompressed. An MD...only 160MB.
>
> I could be wrong, but I believe that it is 140MB.
Only when formatted for computer writing. The capacity for music in
digital data format is 160MB.
> > I really don't know what the big deal is. Personally, I don't know any
> > people whose hearing rivals that of the dog, so nobody I know can really
> > tell the difference between the CDs I own or the MDs I've copied them to,
> > via the digital sound card in my PC.
>
> I agree fully, but many other people insist that they can hear the
> difference.
I'm sure that there are a few people who can...unfortunately, there are
a heck of a lot more that would like to think that they can, a great
number that have deluded themselves into thinking that they can. And then,
there are those of us who realize that inaudible frequencies are
inaudible, no matter what we'd like to think.
Guess what...it's a pretty fair guess that at least 99% of the human
population fall into the last category.
Personally, I can usually pick out one instrument in an orchestra that's
just hit a bad note. That doesn't mean that I can detect the absence of
frequencies that are already inaudible to the human ear.
It's already established that MD isn't necessarily the medium for
professional quality recording. I don't think anybody's trying to argue
that point. We need to remember, however, that this medium is geared
primarily for portable, personal use. Let's face it, personal, portable
equipment, especially the headphones, isn't geared for the same use as
professional, or even high end home audio equipment...and there's a
reason that most people have CD changers attached to their high end home
audio systems.
If MD manufacturers were really going to look for an alternative to ATRAC
compression (or any lossy compression method), perhaps the work should be
focused on increasing the physical capacity of the discs, so that
compression wouldn't be necessary.
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