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Call for ATRAC SP (Type-R) test recordings

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Serge Smirnoff

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Hi All,

SoundExpert starts new experiment which needs attention and possible participation of Sony Insider forum members. Hope it will be interesting as well.

The experiment has two purposes:

  1. To test our new time warping technology.
  2. To try preparing of test material outside SoundExpert (including verification and selection procedures).

We chose ATRAC SP (Type-R) as an experimental candidate (details are in SE news article) and would like to ask people on this forum who have MD equipment with ATRAC SP (Type-R) capability to record digitally SE test file and then record it back to PCM format digitally as well. This is in short. In detail:

  1. Download a single test file - http://rapidshare.co...1351/secd01.rar (WAV, 44100, 16, stereo, duration 5:15, size 29.7 MB). It consists of three identical groups of nine SE test samples (with trailing samples). Three groups are necessary to verify the consistency of recoding. The test file can be played back on computer directly or by mounting virtual Audio CD. Also it can be burnt as real Audio CD and played back on CD/DVD player. CUE-sheet for burning/mounting applications is included.
  2. Using S/PDIF, TosLink, AES, USB or other digital interface record the test file to MD (Type-R) as a single track.
  3. Playback the recorded MD track through digital interface and record it back to computer or other recording equipment capable of recording PCM 44100. If you record in 32bit format, leave it as is to avoid additional processing.
  4. Archive or losslessly compress resulting WAV/AIFF 44100 PCM file and upload it to some file hosting service.

As we never did this before we don't know how many such recordings will be sufficient. We'll process all received files with our time warping software to eliminate wow-and-flutter and other time distortions. For every file submitted we'll upload corrected (warped) versions along with difference signals. So the whole experiment will be openly covered on SE site and could be discussed here on the forum.

The most consistent and representative recording will then be added to SE rating system as ATRAC SP (Type-R) device under test. Although this format is not developed anymore it is still used for home and semi-professional recording. It will serve as a benchmark for SE rating scale, let alone the possibility to compare it to other audio compression algorithms at various bit rates. Also if this experiment is successful the above scheme could be used for adding other audio equipment to SE rating system.

Thank you in advance,

Serge.

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Hi All,

....

Thank you in advance,

Serge.

Yes, Serge, hope that you get a few offering to record in SP (Type R) via digital connection - this will show what a good codec it was, especially when we remember that it was one of the earliest developed (from) 1992 to, say 1998.

This codec really does deserve to be in your charts - Sony did an excellent job in hardware, which, I predict was only surpassed by the very much later software projects. Let's find out for sure!

I've already submitted my samples (as you know) -but I was only using an old portable; shame I haven't got one of those nice Type R decks! Maybe someone here can give Type R the best submission possible with, say, a late JA or JB deck.

Oh, and don't forget to inform the forum of the results!

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I've already submitted my samples (as you know) -but I was only using an old portable; shame I haven't got one of those nice Type R decks! Maybe someone here can give Type R the best submission possible with, say, a late JA or JB deck.

Oh, and don't forget to inform the forum of the results!

Yes, Thank you once again. Your recording is the first on Analysis of submitted ATRAC SP (Type-R) recordings page. Another one was submitted by Numinos from MiniDisc Forum. Time warped versions and artifacts signals are available.

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