[Puddleglum]

I just don't get it, minidisc players seem to fail in most areas of performance when compared to a similarly and often cheaper mp3 player. Not enough storage, bad headphone amp, no line out, and most importantly they cost too much. Even a dink of a consumer could figure out that they aren't that great. So can anyone think of an avantage Minidisc has over a similar player like the ipod?

 

[MdRex]

Cheap cheap replacable media, smaller than CD-RW playing PDCP.

Most of them look cool.

The new HiMDs can be used as storage medias(ie. you can give data on a $7 HiMD rather than giving it on a HDD)

That's what I can think of as of now(coming from a nearly-become MD owner).

 

[Latexxx]

I wouldn't go jogging with an hd based player.

 

[KenW]

Agree. If I were serious about running, I'd invest in a flash unit. Having said that, I just can't see any reason to go MD in todays environment. Media is likely to become more difficult to find and really the HD based units are just so sweet and easy to work with these days. Just don't see MD having anything more than a nich following(guess that's us, huh?) if it has any life left at all. JMO.

 

[DigDub]

md is good for live recording too. most hd-based players offer no or crappy recording capabilities. the sound quality of some units are very good too, like the sharp dr7.

 

[brian183]

I own a NetMD MZN707 and I love it soo much. The only thing I don't like about is it the fact I need to use Sonic Stage or simple burner to take advantage of the USB transfers and I HATE Sonic Stage (simple burner ain't too bad). Actually lemme list all the pros and cons of this machine IMO

CONS:
Lowsy head phone amp (although I use MS1's on it so it's not that bad)
Sonic Stage doesn't allow to upload the ATRACS to your hard drive.
LP4 is not that great (which is why I use LP2 or SP)

PROS:
portability (IMO this is the most portable a player has ever gotten)
40 hour battery life (this is no joke)
optical digital recording
limitless storage (BUY as many discs as you need)

I thinks that's all I can think of. Another thing I love about this thing is it serves as many DAC for my PC. I plug this thing into my SPDIF on my PC (soundstorm) and then I put the player on record pause and now I have a simple stereo DAC. I think the DAC on this thing is very good. I usually plug the headphone out to my old receiver for a better head phone amp.

Anyway, I just wanted to give my opinions about this little player o' mine.

 

[br--]

I've been an MD user and I'm currently an iPod user. These are pretty much the only advantages to MD:

- Most recorders/players have excellent battery life
- Great for recording meetings and live shows

Now here's the disadvantages:

- ATRAC3 Compression. Even if you use their highest compression which is purportedly equivalent to 256kbps MP3, the fact is your lossy music is being compressed TWICE. This is detrimental to the sonics. Also, I personally find ATRAC3 more sibilant when a/bing with other devices.

With my iPod, on an album that I care about sonics, I can use lossless compression. There is no lossless compression with MD. This is a big deal for audiophiles.

- Storage. I believe someone above said an advantage was "limitless storage". Yes, it is limitless if you want to carry around a whole napsack full of minidiscs and plan on changing them frequently. The fact is that it is far more convenient to have 20/40GB of storage in a single device than carry around a huge bag filled with hundreds of minidiscs and swapping them all the time.

The 20GB HD players can hold about 5000 4 minute songs compressed at 128kbps which totals 20,000 minutes. I believe this is similar to LP2 compression on MD. To have an equivalent amount of storage on an MD device, you would need to carry with you 143 minidiscs. If you plan on carrying 144 minidiscs then I guess the MD user would have an advantage in terms of "absolute storage".

 

[fr4c]

LOL i agree with br--

as far as MD's go, the only reason i "had" one was because it was a gift given to me. i guess its was fun to have around considering its size, battery life, and decent sound quality. but then carrying around all those mindiscs in you pocket didnt seem so "cool" anymore. i remember i used to have around 50 minidics to juggle around either in my bag or pocket, and it wasnt even half of mymusic library. plus the propriatory ATRAC3 format of the dreaded Sonic Stage software gave me more reasons to hand it down to some inexperienced noob. (no offense)

 

[stymie miasma]

Battery life, small size and sound quality (LP2) are pluses with my old Sharp MDMT99.

Having to carry around a dozen or so MDs has become a large thumbs down.

If Sony manage to develop a 5GB HiMD that supports mp3 natively, then they could be on to something. Similarly, if they ever get around to supporting mp3 on the NW-HD1...

 

[JeffS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by br-- Now here's the disadvantages: - ATRAC3 Compression. Even if you use their highest compression which is purportedly equivalent to 256kbps MP3, the fact is your lossy music is being compressed TWICE. This is detrimental to the sonics. Also, I personally find ATRAC3 more sibilant when a/bing with other devices.

Actually it's only compressed ONCE, depending on where you're getting your music from. If you're recording directly to the the device (analog or optical) inputs, the device does the D/A conversion and compression. If you go via the computer, it's done in software and then sent over a usb cable. However, if you're taking a raw source like a CD, then there is only one round of compression involved. You would only end up with it being done more than once, if you were converting an already compressed file such as mp3, to a different compression scheme atrac3.

There is a higher bitrate available on MD, that it seems like people are not remembering. ATRAC 4.5 Type R - The last generation of the ATRAC codec, before going to ATRAC3. This is also known as SP compared to lp2, lp4, hi-lp, hi-sp. This is actually 292kbps and sounds GREAT (if you ask me). The only downside is that you can only encode your music to this in realtime on the unit itself (just like 2 years ago). But the soundquality is very much worht it.

Oh, and as for storage...
you would only need to carry around 63 discs to get the equivilent of 20,000 minutes with of storage at 128kbps mp3 quality. I usally have a coupld of 5pack holders in my backpack, but rarely switchout durring the day. If you like mp3 at 128, MD lp4 will be perfectly fine. In either case, I'm guessing you're not listening through good cans, in a quiet location.

Just a few thoughts.
MD isn't dead, it's just resting

-Jeff

 

[fr4c]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stymie miasma Battery life, small size and sound quality (LP2) are pluses with my old Sharp MDMT99. Having to carry around a dozen or so MDs has become a large thumbs down. If Sony manage to develop a 5MB HiMD that supports mp3 natively, then they could be on to something. Similarly, if they ever get around to supporting mp3 on the NW-HD1...

you mean 5GB HiMD

5MB would be......yeah

 

[Embio]

how many HD players have a line-in or mic??

love to see you guys with HD's at a gig recording with... I dont know... your laptops?

 

[ChickenScrtchBoy]

This is why the NJB3 is the ultimate player.

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

bad headphone amp

The latest Sony's have a very nice headphone-out jack.

 

[CSMR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by br-- the fact is your lossy music is being compressed TWICE.

That assumes your music is lossy in the first place.
Quote:

With my iPod, on an album that I care about sonics, I can use lossless compression. There is no lossless compression with MD. This is a big deal for audiophiles.

Are the internal DACs so good that lossless is a big deal?
Quote:

The 20GB HD players ...To have an equivalent amount of storage on an MD device, you would need to carry with you 143 minidiscs.

1 Minidisc stores about a gigabyte I think (HiMD that is).