Bob says:
> I have to admit some curiosity. One of the reasons Sony's MiniDisc has
> been met with disdain is that it uses a lossy format. MP3 doesn't strike
> me as all that different, and I do wonder why many people seem to feel so
> differently about the two.
I don't have the specs in front of me, but I believe that the MP3
compression algorithm loses a bit less than the MiniDisc one. More to the
point, though, I think there's a market positioning aspect here; Sony's
positioning of the MiniDisc pretty well sucks (or sucked; maybe they're
changing it), since it appeared to place it as a straightforward substitute
for a combination of CD and CD-R. Around here, at least, most of the MD
shelf space is given over to audio system component units - tabletop
player/recorders, sometimes in packages with a portable player-only unit.
That's direct competition of sorts with the Diamond Rio MP3 player, but the
Rio doesn't have any moving parts, which renders it superior. MP3s are, I
think, mostly played back on computer audio systems (duh), on which the
difference between an MP3 and a CD is barely detectable, if at all. IMO,
the MD's survival depends on the extent to which it's adopted as a portable
recording format; I know a lot of musicians and radio folks who use them,
for listening to mixes and dubs for the former (superior to cassettes) and
for doing out-of-studio interviews, station promos from stars, etc.
Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
