[Whitebread]

Is the format that MD records to called ASF??? Many MD owners say that MD players sound better than CD players. Is it cause of the hardware or the format??

 

[Vertigo-1]

MD's format is called ATRAC. If MDs sound better then CDs, it's purely because of hardware. Technically, because of the fact that MDs are a compression of the original recording, they can't possibly sound as good as the original. But they can be made to sound better through better hardware implementation on the MD side, and consequently bad hardware implementation on the CD side.

The best example of this is right within Sony's own portable lineup. Their MD players have much better DACs, headphone out stages, and equalization. On the flip side, their PCDPs get crappier and crappier every year pratically. Try boosting the bass on a Sony MD player, and then boosting the bass on a Sony PCDP, and you'll instantly see what I mean. And this is where people would say "MDs sound better then CDs".

Now try comparing a CD played back on a Linn Sondek CD12 to an MD played back on any MD player, and see which one wins.

 

[Whitebread]

Ok, thanks. I'll stick to CDs. I would be nice if a PCDP could play something like Monkey's and had good hardware.

 

[Mystic]

I would definitely NOT say MDs sound better than CDs. They do sound very good for a compressed format though.

 

[Mystyler]

Personally, MD is the portable format of choice.
Perhaps not for your homeset-up, but nothing beats it for portable.