md user Posted July 11, 2012 Report Share Posted July 11, 2012 Yep, I haven't posted for a while, but I'm still 'investing' in minidiscs! After some other 'excursions' I thought that I'd share some knowledge (well, that worked for me!). I've gone through many dap's now, and headphones, and amps ... my findings are: 1. the output amp is MOST important! (ok, presuming that the headphones are at least reasonable). - I find that only 'wide-dynamic range' headphone amps can start to hide low bitrate (LP2,4) artefacts, from a listening experience point of view. 2. ALL dap's are all a muchness (i.e. good enough) in terms of sound-quality (as a line-out) nowadays. 3. crossfeed is a good idea (but not essential). I know that the above revelations may seem 'lame' but so much of the discussion on this forum is about sound quality of the MD vs. daps (and its demise) that I now feel that the FORMAT itself was not really to blame - perhaps sony designed and tested it all with the very best amps in order to refine their algorithms What do you all think out there? Agree? Whatever, enjoy MD's, I am!BTW, I'm still interested in downloading an ATRAC 1.0 recording ... doesn't anybody out there have an MZ-1 (or R2 say)? (I'd love to know how good sony's first attempts were.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDietrich Posted July 12, 2012 Report Share Posted July 12, 2012 BTW, I'm still interested in downloading an ATRAC 1.0 recording ... doesn't anybody out there have an MZ-1 (or R2 say)? (I'd love to know how good sony's first attempts were.) Me too, I´ve never heard an ATRAC 1.0 encoding. It would really be nice if someone could record something with an MZ-1 and post it here. If it´s really that bad 30 seconds of material should suffice (so that it stays legal). This is a great suggestion btw... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilippeC Posted July 13, 2012 Report Share Posted July 13, 2012 maybe Jimma who own a very special MD : Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arr-Nine-Hundred Posted July 13, 2012 Report Share Posted July 13, 2012 Yep, I haven't posted for a while, but I'm still 'investing' in minidiscs! After some other 'excursions' I thought that I'd share some knowledge (well, that worked for me!). I've gone through many dap's now, and headphones, and amps ... my findings are: 1. the output amp is MOST important! (ok, presuming that the headphones are at least reasonable). - I find that only 'wide-dynamic range' headphone amps can start to hide low bitrate (LP2,4) artefacts, from a listening experience point of view. 2. ALL dap's are all a muchness (i.e. good enough) in terms of sound-quality (as a line-out) nowadays. 3. crossfeed is a good idea (but not essential). I know that the above revelations may seem 'lame' but so much of the discussion on this forum is about sound quality of the MD vs. daps (and its demise) that I now feel that the FORMAT itself was not really to blame - perhaps sony designed and tested it all with the very best amps in order to refine their algorithms What do you all think out there? Agree? Whatever, enjoy MD's, I am! BTW, I'm still interested in downloading an ATRAC 1.0 recording ... doesn't anybody out there have an MZ-1 (or R2 say)? (I'd love to know how good sony's first attempts were.) Welcome back, good to see your continued interest in MD :-) Ah, the voice of experience - I respect that over most other things in life. 1. Agree - and am I right in assuming the output amp in a typical Sony MD player/recorder is part of what makes the sound much "fuller" and richer compared to a typical DAP? Can you explain more about what you mean by "wide dynamic band" headphones - do you mean those with rated frequency stats or do you just mean quality headphones like Grado-brand ones? 2. All the ones I have ever owned have been. Not really used "expensive" ones like iPod Classic though. 3. No idea what you mean by crossfeed, sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
md user Posted July 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2012 Can you explain more about what you mean by "wide dynamic band" headphones - do you mean those with rated frequency stats or do you just mean quality headphones like Grado-brand ones? 3. No idea what you mean by crossfeed, sorry. - yep, I put that phrase in quotation marks; I think I mean '(frequency) spectrally-precise' amplifiers optimised for headphone use; 'wide' meant precise in the frequency domain, dynamic meant precise in amplitude, 'band' implied also high bandwith. also, dual mono's give a final touch (in stereo separation, if not cross-feeding). BTW. I should have said "external amplifiers" - none of my MD's have sufficient power to drive my larger headphones accurately - when not out-and-about, of course! - (3) crossfeeding to simulate external speakers on headphones. All in all, though, I'm trying to say that to perfect the end of the chain makes the encoding shine; I'm not an authority on the technics, so am using language poetically in the hope that I might be right!. Anyway, I am now convinced by ATRAC SP musically, on my arrangement; and need no more (stereo) encoders! With Regards, mdmad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
md user Posted July 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2012 1. Agree - and am I right in assuming the output amp in a typical Sony MD player/recorder is part of what makes the sound much "fuller" and richer compared to a typical DAP? Yep, for smaller phones, I haven't found a better output amp on-board than my MDs; albeit, I can't afford a COWON to compare. maybe Jimma who own a very special MD : I second that! go on Jimma, do a rapidshare! pleeeaase! (if convenient). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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