From: weitzman@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu (Adam J. Weitzman)
Subject: Re: MiniDisc is here!
Followup-To: rec.audio
Organization: Brandeis University
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 14:30:59 GMT


Follow-up is to rec.audio.

In article <1gj1fqINNelu@bigboote.WPI.EDU> flamengo@wpi.WPI.EDU (Lourenco William Dantas) writes:
>In article <ibhan.724366214@husc10> ibhan@husc10.harvard.edu (Ishir Bhan) writes:
>>Hey, did anyone notice that MiniDisc, Sony's new optical CD-like recording
>>format is here?  The discs are encased in plastic, and are really small
>>(2.5"?).  The only problem is that support isn't great yet, and we'll
>>probably see mostly top 40 stuff before it becomes (hopefully) big.  I did
>>see REM's AFTP on MiniDisc, though.  The whole idea strikes me as far
>>better than DCC.
>>               -  Ishir Bhan -  ibhan@husc.harvard.edu  - 
>
>	Why do you want the MDs to catch on? I am hoping that the DCCs
>	are the format that captures consumers. This way I can continue
>	listening to my tapes. And I'm pretty sure that many people still
>	have tapes that they would like to listen to. 

Sorry, you lost me here. The existence of another format does not preclude
one from listening to your format of choice. You still own a cassette deck,
so you can still listen to your cassettes if you choose.

I think you are worried about backwards compatibility. To me, this is a 
complete wash. Consider this:

(a) You *still* have to buy another piece of stereo equipment, be it an MD
    player or a DCC player. While it is true that you *can* trash your
    cassette deck if you buy a DCC player, you don't have to.

(b) In switching over to a digital format, many people (such as myself) plan
    to *re-record* their analog cassettes onto *some* digital format, whereupon
    the old cassettes can be tossed. Then you won't need *anything* to play
    them anymore, be it an old cassette deck or a newer DCC player. This is
    a clear win for the MD; it is read and recorded by laser, so it never 
    degrades like cassettes (even DCCs) do, and they're smaller, sturdier, and
    less susceptible to heat and humidity. *Plus* you get random access and
    a 3-second music buffer so that you can shake the darn thing vigorously
    (like when you go jogging) and not have the music be interrupted or
    corrupted.

(c) Let's say you have a DCC with some tunes you like on it. If you want to
    record over one in the middle with a different song, you have to redo 
    the rest of the tape unless the times of the songs match up exactly. With 
    the MD, it's no problem at all, like recording a file onto a floppy disc.
    You just delete the old one and put the new one in its place. Doesn't 
    matter how long it is (up to the total blank time of the disc, at any 
    rate).

> With the DCCs, a 
>	system will just have to include the receiver, CD player, and a
>	DCC player, unlike a setup with a MD, which in addition to a
>	tape deck (substituting the DCC player) will have to include
>	the MD player.

Like I said, once you make the transfer, you won't need any sort of deck to
play cassettes any longer. Besides, even if I *did* decide to keep my cassette
deck, I'd probably keep it with my (forthcoming) turntable, in the closet, 
ready to be charged into action should I ever need to play something of an 
analog nature, or so that I can buy cassettes (or LPs) of things that are
not available on CD and record them onto MD.

Truthfully, neither of these formats matches up to CD in terms of sound
quality due to the lossy compression algortihms employed by each. To me, 
what we are trying to decide on is a portable format, something to listen to
in the car and on a personal stereo, where you can tape the songs (sorry, 
*record* the songs, I'm gonna have to get used to that :-) in any order you
please and take it on the road with you. Based on the specs of each, I am
100% behind MDs.

> Plus, pre-recorded artists are also featured on DCCs.

I don't know where you got the impression that MDs just came blank. The store 
I went to the other day had Mariah Carey, Indigo Girls, Michael Jackson and
Bruce Springsteen on MD, and their latest albums too. There will be no shortage
of pre-recorded music in either format. All the major labels have agreed to
make their stuff available in both formats. Besides, since (a) both of the
technologies are inferior to CDs and (b) they're more expensive, why would you
*want* to buy pre-recorded MDs *or* DCCs in any case? I have no plans to do
that at all! I'm just going to record my CDs onto blank MDs to listen to
outside the home. I have a feeling that eventually, the price of DCCs and MDs
will fall to below CD level, so they can phase out pre-recorded cassettes,
and the price argument won't hold anymore, but the quality one still will.

Anyways, that's why I hope the MD becomes the format of choice. I hope too
many people aren't bamboozled by backwards compatibility as you are to see the
argument to be made for MDs.

-- 
					- Adam J Weitzman
					  weitzman@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu
"All our life is spent in this permanent brainwashed contempt."
	- Meat Beat Manifesto