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What are the advantages and dissadvantages of Sony`s atrack3 and mp3`s.

Jun 14, 2004 at 4:35 PM Post #16 of 32
Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagle_Driver
I dislike the way Sony does compressed digital audio: Even their HiMD units require you to convert your MP3 files to ATRAC3 or ATRAC3Plus before those units can play them back.


That statement will hold validity until Sonicstage 2.1, in which it will allow users to transfer PCM/wav tracks to Hi-MD/MD formatted into Hi-MD mode discs without any ATRAC3plus conversion, hence lossless. At least we have it, I guess.
 
Jun 14, 2004 at 8:16 PM Post #17 of 32
Quote:

Originally Posted by kurisu
Glad you asked! Download Sonicstage 2 [iceeedtea's build] with everything you need.

http://forums.minidisc.org/viewtopic.php?t=4210

[scroll past the official Sony part]


Thanks Kurisu. I will try it.

Does that version of Sonic Stage yet support 128 kbps?

I have the older official version and I couldn't get it to convert atrac3plus at 128kbps.

Most good encoders start to pass transparency for me on 192 kbps so I'm very confident Atrac3+ would be good at 256kbps.

However, I'm more interested in 128kbps having found out that the best of the encoders I've tried are already very good at that bitrate (for portable use anyway).
 
Jun 14, 2004 at 8:55 PM Post #18 of 32
Read this for the bitrates associated with this program: http://www.sony.net/Products/Hi-MD/capacity.html#3

So, in short, the answer to your question [regarding 128kbps encoding] is no. According to Sony, 64kbps ATRAC3plus [aka Hi-LP] should be comprable to 128kbps *.mp3. I have not given any time to determine if that statement holds validity, but I assume it has some merit.

Of course, it'll probably sound like [using your words here]..goo.
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Jun 14, 2004 at 9:06 PM Post #19 of 32
i've been encoding using atrac3+ 256kbps and using ety er4p i have been very happy with the results. it is very hard to tell the difference from the original cd. my only complaint is the sonicstage software is buggy as hell which makes it a pain to use.
 
Jun 14, 2004 at 9:58 PM Post #20 of 32
Really? iceeedtea's build did come without some of the essentials [i.e. directx 9 and a few others]..be a little more specific as to what is buggy and I'll see what I can advise [unless you're not using iceeedtea's build, of course I'll still try and help anyways]

Glad to hear you like ATRAC3plus 256kbps, though..the true beauty of the encoding is the density - doesn't take up much space!
lambda.gif
 
Jun 14, 2004 at 10:31 PM Post #21 of 32
I just used Sony Connect online music store. I got a code from McDonald. Well I downloaded their software, I think it was 19MB, I bought one song and it says the codec was ATRAC3. The software was unstable on my W2k system. The software crash twice.
 
Jun 14, 2004 at 10:37 PM Post #22 of 32
Quote:

Originally Posted by kurisu
That statement will hold validity until Sonicstage 2.1, in which it will allow users to transfer PCM/wav tracks to Hi-MD/MD formatted into Hi-MD mode discs without any ATRAC3plus conversion, hence lossless. At least we have it, I guess.


True. There is a slight spoiler in there in that even though it is PCM, it still has a Sonicstage DRM wrapper. And it's uncompressed, not space-efficient lossless compressed codecs such as FLAC and Apple Lossless.


The same people who say that 64K ATRAC3+ = 128K MP3 told me that ATRAC3 132K is the best codec compared to anything else at similar bitrates. Which tells you how much to trust that information.


At lowish bitrates and using the ATRAC3 codec (not the ATRAC3+) there are quite noticeable flaws in the sound. The ATRAC3+ codec is better bit for bit and does manage to compress more convincingly. My opinion has been aired before about ATRAC3 132K and someone mentioned that there could not be a difference between ATRAC3 132K and LP2. I do not think that is the case, and I believe (circumstancial evidence) that ATRAC3 for Net MD was optimised for encoding speed, not quality.


However, while ATRAC3+ 256K is notably better as redshifter says and indeed extremely difficult to tell from the original CD, in terms of sound quality and storage 'density' in general use there is little to differentiate it from 256K VBR MP3. The fact that Sonicstage rips can be considerably slower than that managed by top/popular MP3 music managers is also something else to think about.
 
Jun 14, 2004 at 10:41 PM Post #23 of 32
halcyon,
I think Sony at this point in time doesn't want to give us 128kbps A3+. My guess is that they don't see the point in giving us that many options: they think if you want transparency, you just go straight to 256kbps, which is an improvement from using ATRAC SP (292).

And here's the listening test they conducted:
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/do...30421/sony.htm

White Knight,
SonicStage 2.0 is the only version of SonicStage that worked on my W2K computer
smily_headphones1.gif


Me... I just found a faster lame encoder for OS X so I'm off to do encode my radio shows and wait for my iAudio 4
eggosmile.gif
 
Jun 14, 2004 at 11:31 PM Post #24 of 32
Quote:

Originally Posted by kurisu
Really? iceeedtea's build did come without some of the essentials [i.e. directx 9 and a few others]..be a little more specific as to what is buggy and I'll see what I can advise [unless you're not using iceeedtea's build, of course I'll still try and help anyways]

Glad to hear you like ATRAC3plus 256kbps, though..the true beauty of the encoding is the density - doesn't take up much space!
lambda.gif



i think it's sonicstage 2.0, but i'll have to check (the disc came with my sony d-ne300). i run win2k sp4 at home, and the main bug is i'll rip a disc, switch it out with another cd, and sonicstage will list the tracks for the previous cd. i have to "clear out" the memory by removing all cd's, have sonicstage try to read both empty drives, then put the cd in. also i noticed that when i select too many tracks to burn, sometimes a track will go missing. there are other, lower priority bugs in the ui, as well.

to my ear a3+ is as good or better than atrac type r. i just wish the software was as well constructed as the minidisc experience.
 
Jun 14, 2004 at 11:40 PM Post #25 of 32
Quote:

Originally Posted by White Knight
I just used Sony Connect online music store. I got a code from McDonald. Well I downloaded their software, I think it was 19MB, I bought one song and it says the codec was ATRAC3. The software was unstable on my W2k system. The software crash twice.


If you want stability, come to my forums and I'll assist you in correcting the crash(es); just open a thread. Otherwise [assuming you'll probably never use the program again], take it with a grain of salt. There are many variables which probably induced the error and I can attest that Sonicstage 2 runs 100% perfectly on my computer at home in the same scenario [win xp being the only difference].

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangraman
True. There is a slight spoiler in there in that even though it is PCM, it still has a Sonicstage DRM wrapper.


They just don't learn where to stop, do they? @#$%

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangraman
However, while ATRAC3+ 256K is notably better as redshifter says and indeed extremely difficult to tell from the original CD, in terms of sound quality and storage 'density' in general use there is little to differentiate it from 256K VBR MP3.


Right. Thank you for clearing that up - I really know nothing more about the other encoding processes in this existance as I wish not to get sucked into such haberdash [I've seen what that pursuit does to a man]! Are the other comprable encodings the same way with 'density'?

Quote:

Originally Posted by redshifter
i think it's sonicstage 2.0, but i'll have to check (the disc came with my sony d-ne300).


Yipes! Uninstall that like so:

1. Uninstall all OpenMG related software via the Add/Remove Programs control panel and reboot as necessary. This means, OpenMG 2.2, related 'Limited Patches' and the 'Secure Module', SonicStage, Simple Burner, and RealOne. Make sure that you unplug your unit.

2. If you run Windows XP, proceed to delete directories within '\Program Files\All Users\Application Data\Sony Corporation' '\Program Files\Common Files\Sony Shared' '\Program Files\Sony' relating to OpenMG.

3. Start -> Run -> regedit. The 'Registry Editor' utility should appear on your screen. Delete the references to OpenMG located under 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Sony Corporation' and 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Sony Corporation' by right-clicking on the entries

..and download iceeedtea's wonderful build of SS2 [here]. AFAIK, your device's drivers are included. I really like his version compared to the other flavors..
 
Jun 15, 2004 at 2:43 AM Post #27 of 32
Not really hacked, just what it should've been. Sonicstage had this Vaio restriction about burning CD's [read more in my forums + t-board], but my associate "lifted" it..you'll see once you download it. Minidisc.org would not host anything that is been dangerous anyway, believe me. Sony would've contacted us long ago; the way I see it we're only promoting it for them, espesically since we sure get alot of North American hits. I've talked to Sony a good bit, actually..they've got such little attention span it's absurd. Ah well.
 
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