I am wondering about this as I have a first generation Sony minidisc recorder (MDS-JE500). I was thinking - does the quality of MD equate to something like 320kbps MP3 or is it worse/better? I know it's definitely not as good as FLAC. Any thoughts or technical info ?
How does the original minidisc format compare to MP3 and lossless ?
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fatboyslimfast
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From memory (faded!), the standard (not long play) minidisc uses a version of Sony's Atrac codec, somewhere around the 300kbps mark. I believe this to be somewhere in between MP3 and AAC for quality, so it should be about equal to a 320kpbs MP3 or thereabouts. I believe the discs held about 160mb.
But, you are correct, certainly nowhere near the quality of WAV or FLAC/ALAC.
I still have a Sony 510 Mini disc recorder, and the sound is still quite acceptable, but compressed compared with my alpha 6, and much less detailed than lossless from my mac to the beresford.
But, you are correct, certainly nowhere near the quality of WAV or FLAC/ALAC.
I still have a Sony 510 Mini disc recorder, and the sound is still quite acceptable, but compressed compared with my alpha 6, and much less detailed than lossless from my mac to the beresford.
wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_Transform_Acoustic_Coding says 292k for the original models, then alludes to improvements in later models, up to 352k.
Given the age of the codec, it might be closer to 256k rather than rating up to 320k AAC
Given the age of the codec, it might be closer to 256k rather than rating up to 320k AAC
fatboyslimfast:But, you are correct, certainly nowhere near the quality of WAV or FLAC/ALAC... I still have a Sony 510 Mini disc recorder, and the sound is still quite acceptable, but compressed compared with my alpha 6, and much less detailed than lossless from my mac to the beresford.
Well, my experiences disagree with that. I have a Sony MDS-JA50ES (which admittedly was their top-of-the-range model at about £1000 at the time) through £40,000 of hi-fi, and my friend has the Sony 510 model through an equivalent value system (Wadia, Bryston 7B's and PMC IB2's) - we exchange music on minidisc. But both our models were earlier types, and not the latest ATRAC version. I also have a server for storing/playing uncompressed WAV files, directed through my Levinson 390s DAC and main hi-fi. The minidisc, using it's own internal DAC, is PDG - audibly better than the server, which is arguably being fed through a better DAC (about £6000 worth). Forget the technical numbers and about how bad minidisc was supposed to be... just try it and see for yourself. Clearly, there are two people here alone who disagree, so you'll have to listen for yourself and form your own view!
Well, my experiences disagree with that. I have a Sony MDS-JA50ES (which admittedly was their top-of-the-range model at about £1000 at the time) through £40,000 of hi-fi, and my friend has the Sony 510 model through an equivalent value system (Wadia, Bryston 7B's and PMC IB2's) - we exchange music on minidisc. But both our models were earlier types, and not the latest ATRAC version. I also have a server for storing/playing uncompressed WAV files, directed through my Levinson 390s DAC and main hi-fi. The minidisc, using it's own internal DAC, is PDG - audibly better than the server, which is arguably being fed through a better DAC (about £6000 worth). Forget the technical numbers and about how bad minidisc was supposed to be... just try it and see for yourself. Clearly, there are two people here alone who disagree, so you'll have to listen for yourself and form your own view!
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