Lost on technical term - 24bit?

[Jeb23]

Hi,

I am appealing for help to anyone out there.

I had a Sharp MD unit, MT866, which recently gave up on me. It has been an excellent unit though.

Anyway i am out looking for another one, preferably Sharp.

The reason I am inclined to get another Sharp unit is for it's good sound quality (the one i had was 24-bit).

From what i have seen so far, the units produced by Sony is 16-bit. As far as my understanding goes,

24-bit sounds better than 16-bit. I am stuck from this point onwards.

There are many new units on the market now and i am lost as to which one i should get.

My question is:

1 - What is 24-bit?

2 - And are there units with better sound quality other than the one i had?

3 - I have a wide collection of mp3s and i am looking for a unit which comes with a software that enables songs to be transferred to and forth.

I would really appreaciate if someone is able to help me point to the right direction.

Regards

[A440]

Sharp got out of the minidisc business years ago. Meanwhile, Sony advanced from MD to Hi-MD, which will play back your old discs but also adds new possibilities. Sony gave up on them, too, so prepare for minidiscs to be obsolete.

Here's a list of all the minidisc units. You could seek out some of the later Sharp units if you want, like the much-loved DR77, but they will be old, used and/or hard to find.

http://www.minidisc.org/equipment_browser.html

The current unit you want is the Sony MZ-RH1 , which is also sold as the MZ-M200 when it's bundled with a Sony microphone. Although you have to send mp3s to the unit through Sony's SonicStage software, it does not convert them, so you get their full sound quality.

Other minidisc units either have to convert mp3 to ATRAC, losing quality in the process, or play back unconverted mp3s badly (MZ-RH10, MZ-RH910) because Sony was stupid.

Here's an explanation of the bits.

http://www.tweakheadz.com/16_vs_24_bit_audio.htm

The Sharp, if it really was 24-bit, was applying 24-bit resolution to compressed files, because that's all that minidiscs could play at the time. And compression--throwing out sonic information to make the files smaller--makes a lot more difference than the resolution. A perfect reproduction of an imperfect source is still going to sound imperfect.

The MZ-RH1 is 20-bit, but if you want to use a lot of disc space, it will play back CD-quality .wav files--better than anything on your Sharp. And for mp3 files (which are compressed), it will sound excellent. Also, as a bonus, it should allow you to upload your old MD recordings to a PC (not a Mac). No other unit does that.

But....it is very expensive if you just want to use it as a player. It's really made for portable recording. For an mp3 player, you could get something as inexpensive as a Sansa Clip to have good sound.

[Strungup]

24 bit vrs 16 bit

The Audio bitstream contains packages of information . Each package contains a certain amount of information .

In this case 1 package contains 24 bits of information , and 16 bit contains 16 bits of info for each package .

The Sample rate determines how many packages per second ( 44.1Khz , 48 khz , 96khz etc)

44.1 khz means that Packages of info are sent 44,100 times per second

48 khz means 48,000 times per sec .

etc......

as you can see , the bit rate and package size will determine how much audio info is delivered , so that will show how wide the Audio Image will be .

Hope that helps.

[bobt]

Best thing is throw the advertising numbers away and let your ears be your guide. Unless you are recording on a reel to reel at 15 inches per second and using audiophile grade components you are not going to be able to tell the difference. Get an RH1, you will love it.

Bob

[Strungup]

No ,.... get an an Old TEAC 3400 in good shape and marvel at just how good analouge CAN sound , or Studer Revox , or ...God forbid the Nakamichi CR7A .

The Black Orpheus of Cassette decks .

[bobt]

No ,.... get an an Old TEAC 3400 in good shape and marvel at just how good analouge CAN sound , or Studer Revox , or ...God forbid the Nakamichi CR7A .

The Black Orpheus of Cassette decks .

I've been ebaying through a friend in the states on some Revox R2R's, but always lose by a couple of bucks in the last seconds. Don't have enuf money to do an outrageous bid to get, hopefully soon. Forgot about the Nakamichi Dragon, what a beautiful deck.

Wish more young people had an opportunity to listen to a good analogue system, sound you cannot get out of earbuds, no matter what the cost.

TTFN

Bob

[Strungup]

Ahh he know's it by its Proper name , The Source is STRONG in this one , yes Jedi of Audio he is indeed hmmmm. !

[Strungup]

I like the SACD , if you have a system capable of reproducing what it can put out , My DVD player is SACD compatable , but my other CD players end up downsampling the SACD's that I have .

1 wont even play them , I have Andreas Vollenveider , Caverna Magica , in 20 bit SACD and the detail is phenominal

[Strungup]

Well the Beatles werent recorded in a HD format to begin with so you wont get a truly appreciable difference there.

The Vollenvieder was recorded Hi Def from the very first string pluck all the way thru to mastering. I am just using a pair of Edirol Powered speakers that have Optical and coaxial inputs . MA 10D's 10 watt digital amp inside .

It isnt power that gives detail( although it really helps ) but the amp and speakers being balanced well, and the efficiency of the speakers .

When I put in the Vollenvieder the look on freinds faces change with the sound in the room , eyes open up , and "wow" is quite often the expression heard.

The 10d's sound better to me than the big brothers , the 20 's were to boomy and boxy sounding , but the 10's are pretty balanced for a small room. and not too expensive . I bought them used for 70 dollars . Add a sub , put a longer connector between them and get them up and spread out a little , and they are quite nice .

[bobt]

Ahh he know's it by its Proper name , The Source is STRONG in this one , yes Jedi of Audio he is indeed hmmmm. !

Any Dragon's in Hardoff ???

Take care,

Bob