RE: MD: Dataplay (small 500MB *multipurpose* discs) vs. MD
I have seen the Dataplay discs and they are pretty well thought out. My biggest complaint being that they are industry friendly, not consumer friendly. As for why MD was never pushed that wayThat's Sony for you. On the technical side. MD can be written to at a present max of 2x in CDR terms (300kbps) but that is the raw figure. When you take into consideration the compression of the input data (audio) it has a subjective speed of upto 8x. The current system heads only support 1x raw/4x subjective. That is becuase MD is optimagnetic-rewritable (because it is magnetically written [modulated] actually). So the Mavica was designed to use CDR becuase CDR can easily record at 8x raw speed. Hope This Helps, RJ Kirkland - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: MD: ATRAC-R and Laser Colors
ATRAC can never surpass CD quality since it stores less information than CD-DA. For the same reasons, equal quality is also theoretically impossible, and practically impossible without increasing the bit stream allowed (24-bits/sample I believe). Actually the amount of data stored on an MD could be increased by 8x without a blue laser, simply a slightly different red one. MD-Data2 uses the different laser and a smaller track pitch to achieve a 5x increase in disk capacity. Maxell has already prototyped a MD-Data that can store in excess of 1.5gigs of data. But in both of these cases they will (most likely) never be applied to MD audio because of fear that it would hurt the original MD format customer base. I think it would be a great idea, but I understand how it could potentially hurt MD's use in the US especially. The other problem faced by increasing just the size of the disc, is that you will have to record at 1x speed from most sources, except for the Sony CD-MD machine which would allow faster speeds (I doubt more than10x would ever be released for complexities sake). Companies like EDL offer a way for faster access and recording, but like alot of proprietary solutions, they priced their product to make a large profit off of a small user base, instead of the converse. So since at ~$8,000USD it is out of the reach of most people, it has not become a popular piece of software, and MD has suffered. If it had been cheaper then MDH-10/11 (MD-Data drives) would have been higher leading to increased production and possibly better drives in the future. My $0.02, RJ Kirkland Regarding MiniDisc compression, I see that now there is an ATRAC-R. How well does it rate as compared to earlier versions? Since MD's compression algorithm is constantly being upgraded, could MD one day be equal to or surpass CD sound? Also, I believe I read in the January/February issue of SOUND VISION that using a certain color laser (blue?) could practically quadruple the amount of data stored on an MD. Could this mean one of the following: (1) that MD could store the same amount of data as CD without compression, resulting in uncompressed, true CD-quality sound in the same amount of time? or (2) that using ATRAC compression, up to 4x the amount of music could be on one MD? If so, either could be a boon to the MD format! Jonathan C. R. Davis ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: MD: Applications of MD Data2
Dirty Dingus Magee wrote: I know MD Data technology is incompatible with audio MD units but I believe that if Sony wants to, they could develop a professional type unit that could compete with existing but antiquated technology thereby placing themselves in a favorable market position and benefiting consumers. It's my impression that ATRAC as used in MD is a lossy compression system. I doubt many pros would want to start out with a lossy system. They might not mind publishing in such a format, but they would like to retain as much info as possible until committed to final form. ted MD Audio uses ATRAC MD Data does not have to use it. It can be used, but if a pro would like to keep the complete digital integrity of the original sample they certainly could using MD Data. As to Dingus, Sony is NOT planning on supporting MD-DATA2 as an audio format, that doesn't preclude someone from creating a pro deck that can support the new format and use it as data, it just means that you shouldn't expect to see any consumer products that support a 650MB audio MD. The differences between the Audio MD and the Data MD as far as the drive reading it is concered is just one of the holes on the disc case, but it is upto Sony whether they will ever allow a higher audio disc. RJ K - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
MD: Read/Write Head Specifications and Measurements
I was wondering if anyone knows where I can find the specifications for a MD compatible read/write head. I am looking to build one for an engineering project. RJ K KC2COE Comp Sci/Eng U of South Florida - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
