posted
I'm looking to get my wife a MiniDisc Player. The only experience I have with MD Recorder/Players was a Sharp that I spilt Coke on. My question to you is what is a good one on the market right now under $300? I'm looking for one with the Record feature.
Also, don't grill me for not chasing the MP3 wagon. Truth is, I hate MP3's. Once you understand the compression you can't hear it and take it seriously. So MP3 players are most definitely out.
Posts: 1660 | Registered: Jan 2000
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posted
MiniDisc's don't quite compress audio, but they do truncate it. They take the ranges that are supposedly not audible to the human ear, and chop them off, thus, recording less data per second than if they were recording over a greater range. I can't notice the difference, but my hearing is crap. I have heard people say that there is an audible difference. So if purity of the original recording is that important to you, I would look closely at the MD.
Besides, most MP3 players let you play WAV files, which is basically the same format as CD audio.
Posts: 859 | Registered: Oct 2003
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I've had an Awia AM70 minidisc player for about five years now. I don't use it a lot but I absolutely love it. It is a great player/recorder and I've never been disapointed with the sound quality.
One of the things I enjoy is using the microphone to record my kids or speachers, or whatever. I have a really cheap little microphone but I still get a pretty good sound.
My dad just recently bought a Sony player and he enjoys it. We were talking about it the other day and he tells me Sony is the only company that produces the players anymore. I've also noticed they are the only players available in retail stores. Not sure if this is actually true but it seems as though it may be.
Posts: 1294 | Registered: Oct 2003
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quote: Also, don't grill me for not chasing the MP3 wagon. Truth is, I hate MP3's. Once you understand the compression you can't hear it and take it seriously. So MP3 players are most definitely out.
Are you talking about good quality mp3s ripped with good extracting programs, or low-bitrate files?
quote: MiniDisc's don't quite compress audio, but they do truncate it. They take the ranges that are supposedly not audible to the human ear, and chop them off, thus, recording less data per second than if they were recording over a greater range.
it sounds like mp3s and minidiscs are doing the same thing(truncating files), so if you don't like the quality of mp3s, maybe you won't like minidiscs either. Of course I have never listened to minidiscs so I know nothing of the sound quality.
Posts: 331 | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
I think Robespierre was initially talking about MP3's not MDs in his post. Everything he talked about was exactly what MP3s do and not what MD's do. I'm talking in circles, aren't I? [EDIT] Minidiscs work along the same lines as a CD-R.
Of course a bad rip of an MP3 is going to give you bad sound. But, once you can notice the sound degeneration in the MP3 format, it doesn't matter how good the source is or how good the rip is. Either way you can still tell it's an MP3.
...and Aiwa has always been a good company for audio, I'll check into that.
quote: Both formats use a form of "lossy" compression. This means that neither format will sound exactly like a CD it was recorded from. Although some audio engineers tell you that the average person won't notice some of the "missing" frequencies, tests have shown that while individuals cannot pinpoint an exact flaw they do notice things have changed. But Sony continues to improve on ATRAC. The latest revisions of ATRAC (3.5+) have come close to and in many professional opinions equal the quality of the audio CD.
The specifics of each can get pretty hairy and confusing so I won't go into them here. Suffice it to say both do well in an ear-by-ear test using the maximum bitrates of 320 Kbps for MP3s and 285.3 Kbps for MiniDisc.
With pop, pop-country, rock, or hip hop, most people won't notice anything, as these genres tend to be heavily produced with effects filters, sound compressors, and the like. You will notice that MiniDisc has a slight edge in music that has greater dynamic range, such as classical, jazz, and operettas.
quote: MP3s are essentially just computer files you can copy, share, or even send as attachments through email. MiniDiscs, on the other hand, are limited by a couple of factors.
Although you can copy music from one MiniDisc player to another it's usually only in analog format. This means the quality is degraded, similar to dubbing a cassette tape. Secondly, Sony implemented SCMS (Serial Copy Management System) in the MiniDisc. This is just a fancy acronym for copy protection.
quote: If you own a PC and need to carry large amounts of music around, then an MP3 player is probably the way to go. MP3 has no copy protection, so you'll be able to trade without loss in sound quality.
However, if the type of music you regularly listen to requires higher fidelity, then go with a MiniDisc player -- its advantages are only distinguishable if you know what nuances you're listening for in your music. You'll have a format that's close to sounding like a CD, only lighter and more convenient.
One distinct advantage of MiniDisc is that ATRAC is specifically designed to record music. Another advantage of MiniDisc is being able to record live audio using a microphone.
So I guess they are pretty close but minidiscs are slightly better for some things.
Posts: 331 | Registered: Oct 2003
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I have the same player beatnix has. I also don't use it. If you're interested in buying it, email me at the address in my profile.
Posts: 1357 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I currently own both an Mp3 player (Palm Tungsten E) and a minidisc player (Sony NZ1) - the recording on the Minidisc is out of this world - tons of music fits on a disc (5 hours, give or take) and the software is easy to use.
I listen to a lot of jazz, classical and choral stuff, (and a tonne of acapella), and the only sound degredation I've noticed on the Minidisc is with long tonals - ie. people holding chords and such. And only with the human voice. And only on the lowest quality compression (that lets you fit the 5 hours onto a disc.) Great thing is, you can have different compressions for different songs - so all your techno can be low and sound great, and all your choir stuff can be higher and sound good too.
And my Mp3 play... well, meh. It plays music. It's cool. It's also way more expensive to shoce 5 hours onto a flash card.
Posts: 353 | Registered: Sep 2003
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I've got a Rio Karma *Probably more than you want/need* But I can playback raw wav, FLAC, Vorbis, Mp3... Storing.. well, I can store what ever I want on it.
FLAC btw, is lossless and about 1/2 the size of wav. Good Article
Edit: I meant to say "Vorbis" not ogg... Being that ogg is a container format...
posted
I had a minidisc player a few years ago - a Sharp model, but I don't remember the model number. Audio quality was excellent and I got a lot of play out of it until I sold it to help cover the cost of a certain diamond ring.
Minidisc players are awesome. I love 'em. I'm going to get another one some day (unless I can get an iPod - I used the minidisc player for my mp3s anyway), but there's something about being able to put your hands on the actual media that holds the music that has a certain appeal to me. I mean, MDs are so small - that and they amount to unscratchable, recordable CDs.
But then, the new iPod mini is in the MD price range. *shrug* Doesn't really matter to me right now; I don't have the money for it.
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