From: flamengo@wpi.WPI.EDU (Lourenco William Dantas)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: MiniDisc is here!
Date: 15 Dec 1992 23:53:39 GMT
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
NNTP-Posting-Host: wpi.wpi.edu

In article <1992Dec15.143059.9149@news.cs.brandeis.edu> weitzman@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu (Adam J. Weitzman) writes:

>(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.

	Well, I pointed this out in terms of those who are planning to
	upgrade their systems, like from a boombox to a component system. 
	So instead of getting both a tape deck plus a MD player, one can
	simply purchase a DCC player.
>
>(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).
	
	I did not think of this point. I have to agree that this is an
	advantage for the MD. 
	I have heard, though, that the quality of recordings on the DCC
	is superior to that on a 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.
>[...]  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

	I agree with you in terms of the pre-recorded music. I'll still
	be buying it in the form of CDs, which like you mentioned, are
	of greater quality than both the two new formats. That leaves
	them for use in portable equipments and car stereos. 
	
	Nevertheless, I still am not convinced that the MDs are the way
	to go. It is great that all of you are coming up with these points
	about the subject. We'll just have to see how things shape up and
	what develops. I can wait. The new equipment is too expensive now
	anyway! 


	LOU (flamengo@wpi.wpi.edu)

Newsgroups: rec.audio