Music format changes in 30 years

**spacefreak** · 08-26-2014

Originally Posted by rcarlberg

The beauty of MiniDisc (which I still have one) is that it is random access like a computer disc, which is basically what it is. That means you can start recording without rewinding or finding a blank spot on the disc. It means that you never risk erasing content by accident, or losing a recording because you run out of tape. The idea was brilliant, and I still cherish mine.

Not forgetting its editing capabilities...

**PeterG** · 08-26-2014

And who remembers the very short lived DCC that Philips launched in 92. DCC lasted only 4 years!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Compact_Cassette

**bob_32_116** · 08-26-2014

Luxury.

When I was a lad, all we had to listen to music on was wax cylinders.

**Gruno** · 08-26-2014

Originally Posted by Zeuhlmate

Remember DAT and Mini disc?

DAT was absolutely great sounding.

DAT was great. Currently, I am re-archiving Kevin Gilbert's recorded material. There are a hundred or so DATs. Unfortunately, some are non-functioning or there are some tape glitches that have occurred. Some of these DATs are 20+ years old. I've also had to repair broken DAT casings where the hinge or flap was broken.

Here is the PE minidisc thread:

Minidisc!

Originally Posted by rcarlberg

The beauty of MiniDisc (which I still have one) is that it is random access like a computer disc, which is basically what it is. That means you can start recording without rewinding or finding a blank spot on the disc. It means that you never risk erasing content by accident, or losing a recording because you run out of tape. The idea was brilliant, and I still cherish mine.

Accidentally erasing or recording over something on mini disc is very much possible.

**Zeuhlmate** · 08-26-2014

To my recollection mini disc sounded like mp3. But it was practical.

DAT had no frequency limitation like the CD and was used as the master source in many cases.
You can argue that you cant hear frequencies over 20 khz (well in most cases here, probably more likely 10 khz), but ripples above can create sounds below, and thus contribute to the soundpicture.

**rcarlberg** · 08-26-2014

Originally Posted by Zeuhlmate

To my recollection mini disc sounded like mp3. But it was practical.

Not in my experience!

Originally Posted by Zeuhlmate

DAT had no frequency limitation like the CD

Check your facts on this one too.

**trurl** · 08-26-2014

Minidisc used ATRAC, a proprietary lossy compression scheme that was in may ways similar to (but seems to have sounded somewhat better than) MP3. And it had a data transfer rate of just under 300kbs which is decent. And DAT recording was pretty much identical to CD, except most machines could be bumped from a sampling rate of 44.1Khz to 48. DAT was only useful for the fact that it was, well, a real time recordable medium in the days before CDR but other than that it had all the potential mechanical screw-ups of cassette. More maybe because the whole mechanism that pulled the tape from the housing to go around the rotating heads could jam up and eat your tape with it, just like a VCR.