[BoardC3]

Before i say anything DO NOT SAY IPOD. MP3 is compressed and is a very lossy format do not pretend that it is the best sounding. I know that almost all PCDP players out are garbage with few exceptions (both slimXs and a few others). But i just noticed i know nothing about MD. Is it at all lossy? how is the quality of most players? Im just wondering if its possible to get better sound out of a portable.

 

[williamgoody]

Well I hate to tell you but the Ipod and the NJB3 are two of the best sounding units out there, unamped, lossy or not, period.

At least with the Sony MDP the headphone outs are about the same as those on the PCDP's, which aren't bad, but not great. IMO with well ripped MP3's (256kbps), the ipod and the NJB3 sound better than the Sony MDP's or PCDP's (recent, not legendary), due mostly to hardware, not software.

 

[williamgoody]

MD doesn't have to be lossy necessarily. You can record in real time and make an almost perfect copy of a CD on a MD. But again al least with the Sony's I think the hardware, (newer models anyway) leave something to be desired as far as using the headphone out, if you're looking for "best sounding".

Maybe the best setup is to put wave fles on the ipod or NJB3, no lossy format and a potentially better sounding unit.

 

[TimSchirmer]

D-25S... need I say more?

 

[lan]

MiniDiscs use ATRAC compression which is lossy. The headphone jacks on MDs are kind of weak but that's one of the reasons why they have SUPER long battery life.

I heard Creative Nomad Zen can play WAV files and has a good powerful headphone jack.

 

[MacDEF]

The headphone jacks on newer MD portables are weaker, but they have superior DACs so most of them actually sound better than today's PCDPs. My E900 MD player sounds a bit better out of the headphone jack (in standard mode) than any MP3 player I've heard, and better than any of the current PCDPs.

That said, the iPod sounds as good as my Panasonic CT-570 PCDP (considered a good one) in portable environments, and lets me take thousands of songs with me in half the size of the CT-570 alone.

 

[myself, aka me]

New MDPs sound better than a lot of new PCDPs

 

[Oliver :)]

Quote:

Originally posted by BoardC3 Before i say anything DO NOT SAY IPOD. MP3 is compressed and is a very lossy format do not pretend that it is the best sounding.

Well, why not? The iPod handles both AIFF and WAV files, so you can put quite a few full CDs on it sans compression. Importing AIFF/WAV into your PC should also be way faster than MP3 encoding. The 20GB one means *at least* 30 CDs in your pocket, rather more.

Just the other day my TAH finished another triplet of AAAs, and I had to connect my Etys directly to the iPod in order to get rid of the distortions during my daylie commute. The iPod still did a great job on the ER-4S', in fact it was quite interesting to listen without crossfeed again. Nevertheless I felt much better when I had re-loaded my TAH with batts. Great sound became music again.

 

[neb]

I don't use an amp. What I've found though is my portable MD unit (R900) sounds better than my portable CD unit (D-EJ925) for probably the reasons stated by others here - better DAC. Mind you, the mega bass on the CD units very poorly done which does not help.

Of the newest cd players the Panasonic CT-790 appears to have the better sound straight from the headphone jack. I haven't tried this one out myself yet.

Ben

 

[Superbaldguy]

Theoretically, a portable CD player should sound better than an MD player, but, as previously stated, newer PCDP's have poor DAC's and headphone amps compared to MD's. To boot, there are some new 1-bit digital amp designs in MD units that should provide even better performance.

With a biased opinion, I'd get into MiniDisc if I were you.....

Easy editing, the ability to record from any source, inexpensive media (need I go on and on?)......

 

[Oliver :)]

Quote:

Originally posted by Superbaldguy With a biased opinion, I'd get into MiniDisc if I were you..... Easy editing, the ability to record from any source, inexpensive media (need I go on and on?)......

What made me leave MD was all the clutter. Realtime recording, manual editing of track-titles etc., thousands of discs all around the house, never finding the one I just wanted, having to carry a lot of them for choice... I guess some of the above is solved by Net-MD or how it was called...

 

[Superbaldguy]

Wow. That's a *lot.*

TBH, I rather like real-time recording, anyway, but I'm not much into mp3's. With the addition of MDLP, you can record over 5 hours of music on one blank, if you wish. Battery life with MD units is quite impressive, also. So many advantages over the other formats, IMHO.

 

[BoardC3]

didnt think of just uploading wav files. thats probably the best way to go. So which ones better (sound quality wise because i know the Ipod is much cooler looking and smaller) Ipod or NJB?

 

[williamgoody]

It really depends on your setup. Without an amp neither one really has an advantage to me as far as sound. There are other factors to consider. If you ever plan on using an amp with your portable setup, you get a better payoff from it with the NJB3, due to the true line out it has.

If you are exclusively using a Mac, the NJB3 is out (no support)

 

[austonia]

BoardC3, both MiniDisc and MP3 are both lossy formats. However, you can record/download music at a high bitrate that is virtually indistinguishable from CD. yes, most MP3s from the internet are 128kbs which sounds like crap, BUT, you can be selective and find them or make them at 192 - 256 kbit rates, which are very very close to CD. when i say that, i mean in double-blind tests that i have seen posted, laymen can't discern the difference at around 192kbit and audiophiles at 256kbit. also consider that portable music is never going to equal your hi-fi setup at home, there are compromises you have to make to take it with you, and the portability of quality-MP3s can't be beat. MiniDisc is bulky in comparison and targeted at people who want simplicity over options. A Nomad Zen or JukeBox3 both have excellent headphone ouputs (Zen has 100mw/96db SNR) and hold 20gb+ of music. That's thousands of tracks, even at a high CD-quality bitrate. I've gone through about a dozen MP3 gadgets and I can recommend the Nomads for excellent sound quality, while the iPod is a little different, focused more towads portability and simplicity.