An idea for a petition

[ZosoIV]

I love Hi-MD, but I also love audio decks. The MDS-JB940 that I bought and quickly sold last week was frankly a disappointment in terms of being able to put a decent amount of high-quality audio on a disc. The LP modes sound awful, and SP is not without its occasional flaws, either. What we need is a deck that is capable of recording at least 80 minutes of 16/44 PCM and can do all the things a JB or ES series std-MD deck could.

What we need is a Hi-MD deck from Sony. (The two Onkyo ones seem to be useful if you own the matching stereo system, but I'm talking about a standard 17" stereo deck).

Why? Well, for one, people still DO use recording decks in various capacities. Having an uncompressed PCM recorder with re-writable discs would be far more convenient than the now-defunct DAT or CD-R standalone recorders. Secondly, a portable is not a hi-fi component. The ES series of decks sounded excellent as stereo components, but only use std-MD. Why not update to Hi-MD and market the deck to audiophiles and home recording enthusiasts? Third, no other format currently fills this niche other than std-MD, which as we all know has limitations. Though I've seen some HDD PCM/CD-R decks from Yamaha, they are plagued with issues and IMO are instantly less useful because the media (HDD) is fixed.

Maybe it's time to start a petition from people who really have a need or interest in a Hi-MD deck. Even if Sony were to just gut one of their std-MD decks and update it, that would be better than nothing....is it worth a try?

[Sony_Fan]

Personally, I'd love to see a Hi-MD car deck. I think that's more practical than a home deck. I would replace all my CDs in my car with little Hi-MD discs. It would save space and would be well worth showing off.

[t0fler]

I'd very much like to see a new HIMD deck, car or otherwise

[ATELETRONICS]

damn straight. sony. please please give us a real hi-md deck. if there was one. i would definitly buy it. i'm sure a lot of people are just waiting.

[zerodB]

I very much doubt that Sony will listen to any petitions. At the moment, Hi-MD is very much a niche market - designed primarily for the portable recording enthusiasts. MD, on the other hand is different - there is still a market for MD decks, and car units because of the saturation of the devices and media in the Japanese market. Sure, MD use is in decline in Japan, but a sizable market still remains.

As for a HiMD deck from Sony, sure, it's more than possible - but even still there are some things, you can't do on a HiMD - Scale Factor Edit for example - it's a very usefull feature indeed but on HiMD it's technically not possible. And the nature of file-system structure of HiMD makes fragmentation more likely (if you are using discs for file storage as well).

I'm sure a HiMD deck would be well recieved - the advantages of PC uploadable Linear PCM recording on small, cheap, removable media has the potential for a whole host of professional applications (studio recording, broadcasting), but I'm afraid to say I feel Sony just don't seem to see a viable market for such devices. In addition, we are beggining to see the advances of Home Theatre PCs (for the home markets) and other professional devices for the industry.

In the mean time, you still have the Onkyo Decks, and the bookshelf units from Sony.

Side Note: Traditionally, markets are created by demand, and not supply. However, in the world of consumer goods, it is far more economical for corporations to turn traditional market-driven economics on its head, since consumers can't be relied upon to create markets. It works like this:

1) Manufacturers (ie Sony) decide what consumers want.

2) They then tell consumers that they want their product (through public relations and advertising).

3) Consumers purchase the particular manufacturer's products.

All of the above works on the assumption that, consumers are stupid, don't know they want and therfore will buy whatever anyone tells them to. The recent abysmal failure and subsequent folding of HiMD in the Australian market suggests that these kind of narrow assumptions, in particular when dealing with a niche market such as MD, are completley false. Sony should listen to their customers instead, but I don't believe it will happen.

(edit - spelling)

Edited January 31, 2006 by zerodB

[MDGB2]

We need budget, mid-range, and pro decks.

A Hi-MD equivalent JE480, JB980, and something like a JA20ES.

I just hope that IF they do build decks, they don't just build expensive pro ones for studios, and let everybody have a piece of this remarkable new format. Hell, if a decent deck came out, I'd probably stop using CD-Rs.

MD was originally conceived as a recording format, so I'm a bit baffled as to why Sony insist on keeping Hi-MD 'portable'.

How do you apply to be chairman of Sony??

[ATELETRONICS]

i could even go for a good sounding deck with limited functions eg. no digital out. i just really need a deck. i have a standard md deck its a 510 a very old model.

[xravexboix]

If this petition were to have started when Hi-MD was first introduced, then the idea that Sony would support the market is more likely... it's been over a year (2?) since Hi-MD was introduced and it didn't take off as well as any manufacturer would like. It definitely is a niche market as stated by so many other members here.

As for home decks, I think they are moving away from it due to the whole digital home theater market growth... They would want to invest in making universal HTPCs that would penetrate more markets than a home MD deck... I would definitely love to see something along the lines of a "floppy disc drive" for Hi-MD in these HTPCs. That would be a plus for MD users and definitely generate a handful more sales of portable MD equipment (along the lines of "Listen to your favorite TV shows anywhere!" and other things as such).

As for car audio decks, the niche is so small that it's be impossible to generate any profit that will justify the R&D. Those less expensive decks from $80-$200 usually do not pull a profit. Those are the feeder decks that introduce people into the brand so the company is hopeful for return customers looking for higher-end decks. Eclipse (Fujitsu-Ten) still implemented MD into their car audio decks (Japanese versions, anyhow) and even the new Lexus GS (Japan) has a MD (not sure if it's Hi-MD) slot as opposed to our (USA) cassette slot. There are still a few car audio decks being produced, but they are all in Japan... where MDs are truly appreciated.

The prosumer recording niche still has a few products from Sony... although I don't agree w/ their new view on it. There is the PCM-D1 (http://bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBusiness/DisplayModel?m=0&p=10&sp=83&id=82662) which seems to be the new direction Sony is going... on-board storage (4gb) with a high speed memory stick slot. That solution combines on-board and removeable storage that both out-do the Hi-MD. Since it is aimed at the prosumer market, the cost effectiveness isn't as heavily weighed... I guess. $14 retail for 2GB of Hi-MD vs $450 retail for 2GB High Speed Memstick PRO.

I don't think garage bands can really afford $2500 of recording equipment... I'm sure the $300 Hi-MD recorder + $30 of Hi-MDs should be enough... and I'm sure Sony sees it the same way. In the end, it's a business for making money, not making everyone happy... especially a small niche like MD-users =\

[garcou]

MDS JA 20ES is the best sounding md deck I've ever heard. Compared to it, JB 980 sounds so bad!

Onkyo Hi md decks lacks of phones output

Please Sony take MDS JA 20ES basical electronic mechanical and I/O structure, and just change to HImd optical/magnetic heads ,as encoding/decoding circuitery to HIMD's.

This doesn't need much R&D.

And Please one HIMD car unit!!!

Edited February 2, 2006 by garcou