Sony Minidisc

[Goosemaster]

I have dropped my NZ410 from 6ft+ onto concrete at the gym. It still Plays FLAWLESSLY. THe Play button sticks a little bit, but that much damage is acceptable


Basically, the SoniStage Software is so intent on looking "nice" that it removes its usefulness quite quickly. RealPlayer is nice, except that it doesn't accept my lossless audio



if Sony were to make the HiMD with:

1)windows storage ability
2)GOOD easy to use software that is well, crap.

they would sell like hotcakes

I would be the first in line.

 

[Gunbuster]

even now that sony has a MD player you can use for data storage they still refuse to let it play MP3.

Sony totally and utterly failed to use the MD format to it's full potential

 

[dethman]

i still use md, and it's still alive and kickin'. sony just never made it user friendly enough, and never utilized the full capability, crippling the format. it could have been big. anyway i'm satisfied, hd players are still too big and mp3 players still don't hold enough songs for my like.

 

[WobbleWobble]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
if Sony were to make the HiMD with:

1)windows storage ability

It will have this ability

For those complaining about MP3 compatibility, the conversion process is automatic and takes almost no time.

 

[0roo0roo]

i don't like big music companies forcing me to convert lossy formats because they are paranoid.

 

[WobbleWobble]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
i don't like big music companies forcing me to convert lossy formats because they are paranoid.

And having an ATRAC3 format is different than MP3 which is also lossy because...?

 

[LS20]

MD is huge in japan.. i dont know the reason why it nevr took off here. many people believe the atrac encoding sounds ALOT better than mp3 (even LAME -aps)... not only that, the md players themselves are known to have better quality DACs than mp3 players. theres are alot of die-hard MDers who sear by their sound quality over mp3 players

personally i say modern mp3s player (ipod/zen/karma/ihp) are way more convenient and i cant imagine their soundquality getting any better


MD is also great for doing live recording. even tho the ihp-120/140 can do wave/320kbit mp3 recording, MD is still preferred for field recording/live shows

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
i don't like big music companies forcing me to convert lossy formats because they are paranoid.

And having an ATRAC3 format is different than MP3 which is also lossy because...?

check in check out software protection etc...

besides the point anyways because i'm not forced to convert mp3 to mp3

 

[WobbleWobble]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
i don't like big music companies forcing me to convert lossy formats because they are paranoid.

And having an ATRAC3 format is different than MP3 which is also lossy because...?

check in check out software protection etc...

besides the point anyways because i'm not forced to convert mp3 to mp3

Use RealOne instead of OpenMG. RealOne doesn't use Check In/Check Out.

 

[isekii]

I just bought me a new Panny MD player with MDLP
Current is the Sony non MDLP player/recorder.

Recording feature is great now with MDLP it'll be even better.
I'm also looking to purchase a MDLP headunit direct from Japan.

 

[0roo0roo]

i'd rather not support a company that still doesn't support other formats. sony's had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the less then adequate level of usability of netmd there are too many alternatives to toss money at the bastids.

 

[GoSharks]

their 828 8mp digicam supports compact flash... sony is _slowly_ coming around

 

Great for portable recording. Though, leaves something to be desired for portable playback when compared to things like Ipod.

 

[StageLeft]

Even before MP3s it failed in north america. There was just no good use for it. Few people had them. People in this thread have them, but in my own life I've known only two people to ever own an MD player.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: GOSHARKS
their 828 8mp digicam supports compact flash... sony is _slowly_ coming around

i don't think they had a choice. professionals use cf, and 8mp requires giant capacities i doubt mem stick has.

 

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Even before MP3s it failed in north america. There was just no good use for it. Few people had them.

Trust me, it was superior for recording.
I used my MD to record our clubnight sets every weekend for years on end.

DAT was too big and expensive, normal tapes sucked, and there was no real all digital solution for recording.

 

[Orsorum]

I have one, I enjoy it.

 

[GoSharks]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: GOSHARKS
their 828 8mp digicam supports compact flash... sony is _slowly_ coming around

i don't think they had a choice. professionals use cf, and 8mp requires giant capacities i doubt mem stick has.

getting OT here but memory stick pro goes up to 2gb - according to a quick google search.

and for the record i have had two MDs, one sony r37 i got in 2000 and a sony e90 player that i got in 2001. the e90 still amazes me with its size.

 

[kami333]

Originally posted by: LS20
MD is huge in japan.. i dont know the reason why it nevr took off here. many people believe the atrac encoding sounds ALOT better than mp3 (even LAME -aps)... not only that, the md players themselves are known to have better quality DACs than mp3 players. theres are alot of die-hard MDers who sear by their sound quality over mp3 players

personally i say modern mp3s player (ipod/zen/karma/ihp) are way more convenient and i cant imagine their soundquality getting any better


MD is also great for doing live recording. even tho the ihp-120/140 can do wave/320kbit mp3 recording, MD is still preferred for field recording/live shows

Part of the reason is that in Japan you can rent cds at places like Blockbuster. Wouldn't suprise me if they made more money off the rentals than sales. The new protected cds that won't let you convert to mp3s will still let you record to MD.

 

[KGB1]

There is some really good responses. Thanks guys, I'm going to be looking into them now, plus I was browsing Virgin megastore in the city and they sell MD albums and cheaper than full blown cd's. Now I don't know which manufacturer to get. Sony OEM or Sharp?

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: GOSHARKS

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: GOSHARKS
their 828 8mp digicam supports compact flash... sony is _slowly_ coming around

i don't think they had a choice. professionals use cf, and 8mp requires giant capacities i doubt mem stick has.

getting OT here but memory stick pro goes up to 2gb - according to a quick google search.

and for the record i have had two MDs, one sony r37 i got in 2000 and a sony e90 player that i got in 2001. the e90 still amazes me with its size.

at what cost? i somehow doubt the 2gb memstick is priced competitively with cf.

 

[screw3d]

I also have a pre-NetMD Sony MD.. the thing lasts forever on a single AA battery. The only qualm is that I could only record it through either a TOSlink or via a male-to-male soundcard to MD connection (ugh). Both ways are slow as heck but it can be very useful as a voice recording device if you have a decent mic.

I love my iPod now though I still keep the MD.

 

[LS20]

sony mz-r50, r3, mz-n707, sharp dr7, ds70 all get alot of mention on head-fi... i think you'll do fine with just about any model

 

[brxndxn]

I'm sorry.. but I'll have to disagree with all of you that say Sony's Atrac 3 compression is better than mp3. Sony's Atrac 3 compression is 285.3kbps (on the older models). A properly-encoded (one like Lame) mp3 will sound much better at the same bitrate. The sheer amount of processing put into an mp3 over an Atrac should easily show that.

The problem with many portable mp3 players is their mp3 decoding. I don't know about the Ipods now.. but the old Diamond Multimedia Rio players sounded horrible.

A mini-disc holds 160mb of data at ~74 minutes of audio. With mp3s, you can get nearly double that with today's usual mp3 bitrates.

I do have an old original metal Sony minidisc player and use it every once in a while.. I feel quite 'retro' walking around campus with my 10yo player. It works fine.. but it's a huge bitch to record audio to it.

 

[WobbleWobble]

Originally posted by: brxndxn
I'm sorry.. but I'll have to disagree with all of you that say Sony's Atrac 3 compression is better than mp3. Sony's Atrac 3 compression is 285.3kbps (on the older models). A properly-encoded (one like Lame) mp3 will sound much better at the same bitrate. The sheer amount of processing put into an mp3 over an Atrac should easily show that.

The problem with many portable mp3 players is their mp3 decoding. I don't know about the Ipods now.. but the old Diamond Multimedia Rio players sounded horrible.

A mini-disc holds 160mb of data at ~74 minutes of audio. With mp3s, you can get nearly double that with today's usual mp3 bitrates.

I do have an old original metal Sony minidisc player and use it every once in a while.. I feel quite 'retro' walking around campus with my 10yo player. It works fine.. but it's a huge bitch to record audio to it.

I disagree. At the same bit rate, ATRAC3 sounds better than MP3s in my opinion. A 74minute disc in LP2 mode (which pretty darn close to the original) can give you 148 minutes. 80 minute disc that's 160 minutes.

It was the MP3 decoding process that made older MP3 players sound terrible, it's the DAC.

If you find your old MD is a bitch to record on to, it's time for you to get a NetMD recorder.