Simon Mackay wrote,
| 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?
Direct answer:
Sony portable recorders segue smoothly in shuffle mode, but like the E40,
they will not stop after one cycle but will immediately start a second shuf-
fle cycle unless you stop them manually. Sharp portable recorders (this is
from their manuals, not from my personal experience) will play one shuffle
cycle and stop, but I don't know whether they segue smoothly or not. I've
posted that question and never gotten a straight answer. The Aiwa AM-F70
has an instantaneous silence between tracks in shuffle mode (none in program
mode), and it will stop after one cycle if you want.
Commentary:
Unfortunately, Sony decks stop and think between tracks in shuffle play, of-
ten for two or three seconds; it's far more annoying than the Aiwa's moment
of silence. There's no good reason; in program play they segue smoothly from
track to track. On the other hand, the decks can play one shuffle cycle and
then stop on their own if you want them to.
(None of this counts trailing silence that is actually recorded as part of
the track; I've reached these conclusions from experiences listening to
discs where tracks had no trailing silence.)
The whole point of the buffer is to read ahead and keep the music flowing out
smoothly during bumps and seeks. It's rather foolish not to use it for the
same purpose during shuffle seeks on some machines.
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