From: lancer@bigwpi.WPI.EDU (Stephe Lewis Foskett)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: I just tested DCC and MD...
Date: 11 Dec 92 16:59:01
Organization: ZikZak Corporation
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: bigwpi.wpi.edu


I just tested both the Phillips DCC900 and the Sony MD walkman at
Lechmere, the local mass-market housewares & electronics store.

OK, so here are my thoughts:

DCC:  I tested with the Phillips demo DCC, specifically Ride of the
Valkyries, O Fortuna, and U2's The Fly.  I was familiar with these
three songs, though not the particular recordings of the two classical
pieces.  The mechanism LOOKS nice, but it's a pain to use.  The
play/stop/etc buttons are too small and the record level control is
too big.  Also, operation is FAR from self-evident, especially with
the long track-skip delay and the auto-reverse function.  The
artist/song display was nice, though the labels are annoying.  (you
press a button to toggle between displays and it says, like "ARTIST"
for 5 seconds and then shows the artist)
As for the sound, it was extraordinarily good, far better than I had
expected.  I COULD, however, pick out an artifact.  I turned the bass
all the way down and the treble all the way up (on the receiver) and
listened to O Fortuna.  Right as the sound changes (as the quiet bits
are replaced by the loud bits) a slight hiccup can be heard, almost a
dropout, in the bits which were quiet.  I hope I'm making myself
understood...  I don't know if this was a problem of the recording
(DDD), the performance (perhaps), or PASC, but it was there.  I tried
it again in the other two songs and it was evident there, as well.
Other than this, though, I could hear NO artifacts of any kind.
Overall, the deck did not impress me for the money.  I've heard MANY
audio casettes which sounded almost as good (dolby S decks spring to
mind) and a $100 CD player sounds as good (to my ears)...  The
mechanism was clunky, (other than the finish which is really nice),
the packaging is cheesy (the casette case has a hole, not a window)
and the price is too high.  Incidentally, the search button mutes the
sound when it is in use and blanks cost $16!
My comment to the sales guy:  "I don't see one of these in my future"

MD:  This, in contrast, is a wonderful machine.  The sound was great
(I checked but I couldn't hear a similar artifact) though there were
no classical pieces on the demo disc.  The disc did include a song
which I am very familiar with, though, REM's "Drive".  Though I
couldn't perform an A/B comparison, I couldn't hear anything out of
place.
This machine is very well build and designed.  It's about the size of
a large walkman, rounded on the edges, with a built-in lithium battery
and charging system.  The disk slips in a slot in front (it could fit
in sideways but the machine would not let it more than about a half an
inch in).  The display, though small, was informative (it displays the
track title, too).  The controls were nice if a bit flimsy.  The play
button is surrounded by a search wheel (search plays a bit of a song
every second or so), there are also search/skip pads.  I couldn't get
it to skip.  The salesguy (who KNEW a LOT about both this and the
DCC!) tells me Sony upped the skip memory to 10 seconds.  It started
right up when I pressed the button and skipped to other songs faster
than my CD player.  It's got an optical out (this was the play only
version), an 1/8 inch headphone jack, volume, "hold", and some other
controls.  It seemed to come with a cloth case.  Also, the salesguy
told me that they would have a MD recording walkman demo in soon with
another MD of music (classical I hope!) and a blank MD so customers
could try it out.  I certainly intend to give it an A/B test!  He said
the store price was $500.
My comment: "I DO see one of these in my future (for recording)"
His response: "I think most people will agree."

your mileage may vary...

.s.
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Newsgroups: rec.audio