From: simon@cs.city.ac.uk (Simon Brock-Gunn)
Newsgroups: rec.music.cd
Subject: Re: Will the new Mini Disk format make it?
Date: 23 Jul 92 11:47:40 GMT
Organization: City University, London

In article <1992Jul22.174534.11109@aero.org> clare@aero.org (Clare Waterson) writes:
>I've been hearing some info about Sony's new CD-like format called
>"Mini Disk".  It's a 3" optical read/write disk encased in a rigid
>plastic shell (sorta like 3.5" floppy disk shells).  It uses sound
>compression methods to allow 90 minutes of music to be stored at
>CD-level quality.  Track names and album title can be programmed onto
>the disk itself.  Sony is expected to make this technology available by
>the end of the year or early next year.  Apparently they will be
>focussing primarily on the portible player market.

My understanding of this is that it won't be anything near to CD quality.
The music is split into about 32 different frequency bands, and if any
given band is quiet and is surrounded by two louder bands then it is
assumed the listener wouldn't hear it anyway and so it is not recorded -
this is the basis of the compression.  I think maybe they're focussing on
the portable market because the quality's not so hot, and people won't
notice the difference if they are on a bus or jogging or whatever.

>There is a competing technology called Digital Compact Cassette (DCC)
>which is slated to come out on September 1.  Pre-recorded DCCs are to
>be made available at the same time, at CD-comparable prices.  DCC
>players can also play standard audio cassettes.  Philips has arranged
>with a consortium of companies to support this technology.  The tapes
>are reputed to not be quite up to CD-level quality.  And, obviously,
>tape is jot a random access medium like CDs or Mini Disks.

IMHO, DAT hasn't taken off at all as an audio medium, and DCC might do the
job.  Since ordinary tape cassettes have been around for such a long time,
there must be quite a lot of people with fairly old players.  This might
just be the incentive for them to buy new ones, since it will give them
better reproduction of their existing tapes (as any new cassette deck
might) plus the bonus of being able to record digitally.

>It seems obvious to me and those I've talked to that the Mini Disk
>format is clearly superior in every way to the DCC format, but I hear
>that the "expert" marketing word on the street is that DCC is highly
>favored to win out due to the large number of companies supporting it
>and that Sony is going out on a limb since it is promoting the Mini
>Disk format on its own.

Interesting you don't mention any competition with DAT - is it being
assumed that it will die out?

>What have y'all heard?  I'd expect that folx on this group would be
>supportive of the Mini Disk effort; is this true?

Not in my case.  I have become too used to CDs to buy expensive 
equipment to reproduce inferior quality sound.  I'll most certainly be
waiting to see if something better comes along.

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Newsgroups: rec.music.cd