Hi everyone!
Since I started on MiniDiscs -- buying a secondhand MZ-E20 (aka MZ-E40)
player and borrowing a Sony JE520 to record MiniDiscs, I have been getting
into the habit of providing zero lead time between tracks on my MiniDiscs.
The discs are mainly compilations of favourite songs in my CD collection,
and since starting on MiniDisc, I appreciate the ability to have tracks so
close together yet be able to navigate the songs on the disc, unlike
cassettes which required me to keep tracks apart by four seconds to permit
me to use a tape player's automatic music search function to navigate the
songs in the tape. I also appreciate the ability to know how much time is
left so I can make best use of the disc -- avoid that situation where the
cassette cuts out in the middle of a song.
Due to this ability, I habitually run the E40 in "shuffle play" mode to
provide a sense of variety in the music program. Because of the fact that I
have eliminated lead time from the beginning and end of songs -- a track
starts on the first beat and ends just when the song has faded to nothing, I
have noticed that the E40 makes the music play "back to back" without any
lead time. It just sounds like a radio station who is doing the right
thing -- playing a cluster of songs back to back with no jingle or announcer
waffle.
Do any other MiniDisc players, especially home decks, bookshelf systems,
portable recorders and car units keep the lead time between songs down as
much as possible during shuffle play. As well, do any MiniDisc changers
reduce the lead time between tracks during "all-disc" shuffle play?
I would say that this is possible if a machine like the MZ-E40 employs
"read-ahead" behaviour where the machine finds the next track to play then
starts reading it into the anti-shock buffer while the last 30 to 40 seconds
of the current track are playing off the buffer. A changer can use
"read-ahead" behaviour by having a bigger buffer and would be configured to
act earlier, so as to allow it to change discs.
With regards,
Simon Mackay
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