ATRAC matters only for recording?

[chriscu1]

For you MD experts,
Does the ATRAC version make a difference only when recording, or does a newer version give you better quality playback as well? I see where Sony's ATRAC type R is the best overall recording version, but then I see reports of where their older R50 player is known for having the best sound. Can someone clear this up? Thanks.

 

[MacDEF]

ATRAC is backwards compatible on the playback side -- a player from 1994 will be able to play any future version of ATRAC.

 

[JustinKantor]

I think there has been slight improvments to the decoder, but from what I understand not enough for it to be noticable. There is a faq at http://www.minidisc.org/minidisc_faq.html#Q9 and you can find out more about this for yourself. I own an MZ-1, the first sony portable minidisc player which has optical outputs

I use it so I can record digitally to my computer. I don't have a real good setup in terms of Headphones or speakers to really tell the difference

so I haven't noticed a decline in quality from the MD player that encodes the data (I have a sharp 702). Hope this helps.......
Justin