thepootleflump

Yes.

skyther I like the look of that amp, I bet it sounds smoooooth. Why is your system sitting on the floor though?

We can get them a little cheaper than $2 a piece in the UK but then the dollar is sinking like a stone at the moment :wink: should be fun when I go over to the states next year since the dollar is so weak :smile: I agree that CDs would be somewhat cheaper but I'd still rather have a Minidisc than a crappy ugly CD-R and to someone who is not running a Chinese pirate factory its not a great deal of money. :cool:

Thats a little harsh, I personally have never had a single problem with Sonicstage, not 1 problem - although others have. As for Mac, don't think it exists.

I prefer to backup :smile: CDs using the minidisc format, price isn't much different to a good brand CD-R and they're smaller, nicer to look at, more durable and sound the same. For joe public I can see why a hard disk format might preferrable.

You could be right that Minidisc has had its day apart from a niche market; Sony obviously thought it was worth investing in updating the format so it can't be all bad news otherwise they wouldn't have bothered. I still like MD because it isn't solely restricted to people that listen to music on the go but people who also want to listen to hi-fi; on my system it still sounds great. Spending a couple of hours listening to music with a book or magazine is a great way of relaxing and doesn't involve hunching over a PC listening via substandard speakers. I couldn't really imagine plugging an iPod into my hi-fi and fiddling with the controls. There is something about the permanence of having the music saved on a disk with a life of 50+ years compared with having it saved on a hard disc with a life of who knows what, yeah it can be backed up but with MD there is no need. As for the media, I'm not concerned about the lack of Hi-MD media when standard disks are so cheap and widely available, and with no Hi-MD decks available I’ll stick to standard MDs for now.

You are right at the end of the day copying a CD using a computer or ripping to the computer is so simple Sony should forget DRM and free the Minidisc format, that way it might really take off. Why does Sony insist on implementing copy protection while all these MP3 players have no such protection?

Very difficult to say really. They definately sound slightly different but I would say they are very close. Without doing a three way test with the original it would be very difficult to tell which was most accurate. Based on listening I would say that to me normal SP has the edge over Hi-SP. The music seems to have more atmosphere and a slightly smoother or warmer feel to it which tends to be my preference in general - I don't particularly go for clinical. Actually I've been sitting here swapping between the two on the same recording and would say that normal SP sounds quite a bit better! Could it be that Hi-SP is more accurate but I just prefer the sound of SP? What is your opinion?

SP to SP not Hi-SP, both played back in the MDS-JE500. The recording made on the portable have a much richer feel about them and are audiably closer to the original. It is no real surprise I guess, the JE500 uses a fairly early generation ATRAC.

I unfortunately or maybe fortunately have never had the pleasure of listening to a an iPOD so couldn't comment on sound quality. What I can tell you is that digitally recorded matter via my MZ-NH600 sounds considerably better than digitally recorded material on my MDS-JE500 when played through the deck. Sony has obviously done some very good work on the ATRAC format over the years. The old deck is going in the bin It certainly won't be making any more recordings. I read a review ofsomeone slating Sony for continuing to utilise its propritory music format, ATRAC, rather than adopting WMV, MP3 and whatever format Apple uses, anyone care to suggest why.....hmmm let me think.

Well actually no, it's so I can play minidiscs on my hi-fi. Why not use your computer. I've used my Hi-MD recorder to title tracks since getting that, much easier. We'll I'm still thinking about getting an MDS-JE480. Since most of my music is now recorded through my Hi-MD recorder I'd only use it as a player. I wonder what the sound quality is like compared to the MDS-JB980 which is twice the price. Oh, thought I'd say my MZ-NH600 makes much better optical recordings than the MDS-JE500 which sounds shril in comparison. I guess thats ATRAC 4 verses a much newer DSP.

Music companies such as EMI should invest in the best form of copy protection - reducing the price of their products. People might buy them then.

Yeah the MZ-NH600 is definately the way to go. It supports the new Hi-MD format with 1 GB discs and lots of music storage capacity. Also supports AA batteries which last ages. Finally it is pretty well made so should last the distance. With a budget of $400 you could get that and many discs.

I might sit tight for a few months to see if Sony actually come out with the Hi-MD decks. I can record new material to old SP via my MZ-NH600D which will give some improvement over the old MDS-JE500 deck and just use that as a player for the lounge. I guess I can live with the fact it is not silver for a couple of months and hopefully things will be clearer on the Hi-MD deck front. I can't see why Sony wouldn't release Hi-MD decks, can't be much more effort over knocking out the existing range and might help to sell the Hi-MD brand. We shall see.

Anyone know what the current old gen minidisc decks are like. I have an old MDS-JE500 and was thinking of replacing it with one of the latest JE480/780/980 decks. Basically my sitting room hi-fi is silver so want it to fit in nicely. I'm tempted to get the JE480 because it is cheap £90 (approx. $180 US) and will do until or if Sony lauch a Hi-MD deck. It'll be used mostly as a player for my minidisc accumulated over the last few years but will occassionally be used to record material via the optical input. Opinions welcomed.