las wrote:
>
> It's been very quiet around here lately, so either this is going to be one more
> boring post or stir some controversy. I suppose that MD could stand for
> "Miracle that it Died".
>
> Having owned an MD recorder almost since their introduction in the US and
> having even sold MD on the Net for a brief period, I find the superiority of
> the MD compared to the CD to be several hundred percent.
Agreed. I personally do not care for the 12cm disc at all.
MD should have become what CD (and now DVD) is today.
> But aside from things like bad timing, improper marketing etc., one fact will
> always haunt the MD. In a word COMPRESSION. Hard core Hi Fi enthusiasts will
> never accept the MD as having sound quality as good as a CD.
Hard core Hi-Fi enthusiasts are a minority. Nobody cares about
compression, anymore. There has been a widespread acceptance for
compression.
> It has gotten to the point where I even have my doubts. This simple fact is
> that in my case I really don't know. I made all of my MDs from CDs. Digital
> copies, but still compressed by ATRAC.
>
> I don't listen to MDs on my best equipment. I have either listened to them in
> the car using an AUX jack (in those cars who's receiver has one-eg Aiwa brand)
> or using a cassette converter, through a mini system (either using the built in
> MD changer or a Sony 510 deck) or head phones.
I really don't think any one cares about compression anymore. It used
to be that CD vs. MD was a big issue, compression was bad, etc, but with
the widespread acceptance of MP3, people just don't care about
compression anymore. Everyone I know has readily embraced MP3's and
Napster.
> I don't think that the fact that there have been 5 or 6 different versions of
> ATRAC has inspired trust. And the premature release of the MD in a not ready
> for prime time "version one" certain hasn't helped.
I don't think this really matters anymore. I think people are not
buying MD because it's no longer versatile or as easy to use as CD-R/RW
drives for recording MP3's. I still get a lot of questions about MD,
even though I haven't seriously updated my MD Appreciation Page in well
over 4 years. Most of these questions deal with getting MP3's onto
MD's. Sadly, it's just plain easier with a CD-RW drive. I haven't yet
received any email even mentioning MD's earlier reputation.
> Using version 4 (either Sony or Sharp's) as a reference point, I think that the
> sound of an MD will be better than a Cassette and even better than vinyl that
> has been played several times. I've owned some pretty high end turntables and
> cartridges in my days, but even right out of the sleeve for the first time,
> there were clicks and pops on the record.
>
> Also anyone claiming that records sound "better" than a CD (or even an MD) had
> better define what they mean by the word better. They may sound better to that
> individual but there is on way that they can sound better using conventional
> terms.
>
> First of all the recording industry sets a roll off on vinyl. Second, the
> signal to noise ration of vinyl is much less than a CD or MD. And the dynamic
> range of the CD and MD blows records away.
I think LP's sound terrible. I don't even consider it "hi-fi". I think
a lot of older audiophiles love the way it sounds because they were used
to it. They grew up with it. Hi-Fi grew up in the 60's and 70's, when
vinyl was big. Younger audiophiles probably love the way it sounds
because they're influenced by the older audiophiles which they respect.
As far as I can tell, however, vinyl, cassette, and even MD are
virtually all dead. I don't know anyone close to my age that listens to
vinyl, nobody I know buys cassettes, and of course, nobody I know uses
MD either.
MD failed because Sony (and other manufacturers) didn't update MD to
take advantage of new trends in digital audio. More specifically, MP3.
I think most of us saw MD as a good, inexpensive storage medium for
storing MP3's's as early as 1996. Did Sony? Did any other big
company? Not at all. So what happened? NOTHING. MD stayed the same.
The only way to get MP3's onto MD, is by copying them in REALTIME!!!
Why bother, when a dedicated MP3 portable player does the same thing,
but you can copy MP3's to it FAST, usually through USB port. Also,
CD-RW drives that burn at 16x are available. You can convert MP3's to
WAV *AND* burn them to a CD-R/RW much faster than realtime recording to
MD. Now just about EVERY COMPANY has a car CD player that will read
actual MP3 files off of a CD-R/RW!!! That's over 650MB of MP3's. Not
to mention just about every Apex standalone DVD player can play these
MP3 CD's as well. So if you can drag & drop 100 of your favorite MP3's
to a blank CD, which records in less than 8 minutes, why bother with
realtime recording of 74 (or 80) minutes to MD? MP3 is IN. Many new
DVD players will play MP3 CD's. Just about every major company has a
car CD player that will play MP3 CD's. All of these MP3 players,
including portables, are HOT SELLERS. MD WAS versatile for it's time,
but as the world of digital audio grew and changed, MD didn't adapt. It
stayed the same. MDLP was a step in the right direction, but it's STILL
realtime recording, STILL inconvenient as an MP3 playback device (when
compared to alternatives).
Perhaps I'm overly optimistic, but I think MD still has a chance to hit
it big. What it needs is seamless MP3 integration. An inexpensive,
mostly plastic MD recorder that supports all legacy MD
recording/playback modes, but adds the ability to drag & drop MP3's to
an MD. It would need to be significantly faster than realtime. It
should have some kind of CODEC that can quickly and invisibly convert
MP3 files to ATRAC3 files compatible with MDLP for storage on the MD's.
It would be nice if it would work bidirectionally as well, the tracks on
the MD could be downloaded to the PC and invisibly converted back to MP3
if desired. This recorder needs to be CHEAP, street price ranging from
$200-300. Preferably, it should be PORTABLE so that it can be used on
the road, independent of the PC.
Shawn
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