Hi Richard, I think there is a bit of confusion here: Richard Lang <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Yeah, the digital signals might be immune to interference, but remember > we're not just talking about the digital domain with a recording process. > The burning of the digital information onto the disc is a physical process, > as is replaying it, and both need a secure isolated transport and good power > supply. Yes, at the lowest level the recording is analog, but no matter how marginal the equipment is, so long as the final error rate is below the error correction system's threshold for "perfect recovery" the entire process is digital and perfect. The only analog parts of the MD recording and playback chain are the A/D and D/A converters and input and output amplifiers. > I'd still probably admit though that the ATRAC version and (for listening) > D/A converter will have a greater effect than build quality on eventual > sound quality. Again, asumming correctly functioning error correction, the build quality (apart from the ATRAC chip, DAC and analog output circuitry) has *NO* effect on audio output quality. > My portable MD EZ 25 is great for music on the move, but it > doesn't sound as good (assume same minidisc on each) as my home deck (even > through the same headphones) - the D/A converter simply isn't as good as the > home deck, nor are the other build items I've mentioned - but you wouldn't > expect them to be and to be honest you don't notice when you're on the move > rather than in the controlled environment of the home stereo. You're right, this is due to differences in the audio output amplifier (mainly) and DAC. > In passing, one other thing that actually surprised me in my search for hi > fi components was the difference between CD players - clearly audible > differences - it's clear to me that different CD players are "tuned" > differently, e.g. sony's seem to have a lot of clarity in the high and mid > ranges, marantz have a more bassy, smooth sound. Obviously we aren't > talking about digital recording, only analogue playback here, so the > differences must relate to build, transport and D/A converter. Again, build quality and CD transport are comletely factored out. The only room for differences are in the DAC and analog output stages. This is why the high-end, thousand dollar CD transports with digital outputs only just crack me up. Unless these manufacturers are stating that they can somehow recover a CD's data with fewer errors *post error correction*, any claim that such a transport would sound better is baseless. Yes, I know about jitter. I do all my listening through a buffered DAC :-). > All I can say is trust your ears and listen before you buy! Good advice! Regards, Rick ----------------------------------------------------------------- To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
