Might future generations of MD encode MP3 as well as ATRAC?

[Neil]

Is LP4 as good as it gets in terms maximum playback time? 320 minutes (LP4) on one Minidisc just isn't enough for me.

I am trying to decide whether to buy an IPOD, MP3/cd Walkman, or wait to see if MDs will someday hold more music per disc.

Is it conceivable that MDs could someday encode MP3s rather than/as well as convert them to ATRAC? If so, I'll wait until they do.

Hope this makes sense.

Thank you, Neil

[Sugo]

Technically sony must have been capable of doing that for a long long time. But because of sony music dilemma, sony electronics tries their very best to make digital music transfer as difficult as possible. My best guess is that mp3 on a MiniDisc will never happen.

[Neil]

Thank you! (However, I'm disappointed).

Neil

[Bazirker]

Well, it is rather unlikely, but it is technically possible for sony to make an md player that is capable of reading everything from the current atrac format all the way to ogg vorbis. Now recording, that's a little different; they might have to pay for liscence using fees or whatever for the codec. Or maybe not. I don't know. But, I doubt that'll ever happen...although I suppose it would be kinda neat if we could transfer mp3 directly to md without conversion. Personally, I'd hardly ever use that function because I hardly use mp3 at all.

[1001_NiGHTs]

if you could play vorbis on an md you could definately squeeze some more playing time for your buck out of the disk. has anyone heard the quality of a very low bitrate ogg (< or = 64)? IT KILLS LP4 ANY DAY 8)

[Andy]

320 minutes (LP4) on one Minidisc just isn't enough for me.

I'd be interested to hear what it is that makes 5 hours not long enough. Care to elaborate?

Just one thing to watch out for though - if you do go for another type of player, make sure the battery life is > 5 hours (that is, unless you are always using it connected to AC). Many mp3 players have terrible battery which I'd guess is also a concern for you.

[Guest Anonymous]

OGG RULES!

thay should have dual 96kbps (of ogg) streams for quad sound on an md unit. i could get those quad mixes of countdown to ecstacy (by steely dan) i have wanted for a while now.

[Guest Anonymous]

Is LP4 as good as it gets in terms maximum playback time?  320 minutes (LP4) on one Minidisc just isn't enough for me. 

I am trying to decide whether to buy an IPOD, MP3/cd Walkman, or wait to see if MDs will someday hold more music per disc.

Is it conceivable that MDs could someday encode MP3s rather than/as well as convert them to ATRAC?  If so, I'll wait until they do. 

Hope this makes sense.

Thank you, Neil

I had the same questions. I eventually went with MD because:

1. iPod and other hard drive based players. Although I have a Mac and am a big Apple fan, I am not a fan of hard drives bouncing around in my pocket. Can you say Failure Rate?

2. Flash players. The prices are too high for the space. Period.

3. MP3 players are completely reliant on a host computer. Forget that. I'm interested in music, not lugging my computer around every 10 hours something needs to be recharged or new mp3s swapped.

4. MP3 format isn't going to be around forever. I'm ripping my CDs now as AAC.

Let the geeks have their MP3s, I just want the music.

[doclloyd]

I think what would be nice is the ability in SonicStage or OpenMG (for the NetMD users out there) if the software allowed for importing of more filetypes, especially those like OGG. Since it's an open standard, there should be no licensing concerns there by providing a plugin for it. Otherwise, using digital out to your portable of course works with every format.

But as far as playing other formats directly on the MD, it'll never happen... there's been lots of discussion on it on this forum and others as well...