Sony revamps MiniDisc for niche users
posted June 23rd 2004 10:55AM
Sometimes the title says it all, the NY Times has a story- "Sony revamps MiniDisc for niche
users". SONY WHAT ARE YOU DOING? To us Sony is now officially in bizzaro world, where up is down, left is right and
where people might still use Mini-Disc. We hate to say it, but here it is, Sony- we think you had a shot at reclaiming
your birthright that Apple yoinked away, the Walkman, any day now we were expected a 100 GB MP3/Ogg player with an
amazing sleek design, way less expensive than an iPod, we expected Sony to take the bold step and say "Hey, we're
done with Memory Stick, ATRAC and Mini-Disc for music, here we are now, check out our new device". But no- Sony
is running around updating the Mini-Disc. C'mon Sony, you dumped the CLIE how about killing off Mini-Disc, the
world will cheer you on, well maybe not the dozen or so die hard Mini-Disc folks, but if you're going to market share,
there are more people who buy vinyl than Mini-Disc, at least consider a cool record player or something. Maybe Sony
plans to send back the QRIOs back in time to hunt down Steve Jobs- Sarah Connor style once the
QRIOs get more AI, we really can't figure it out. Okay, we're done with our rant,
here's the article, the new Hi-MD can send through USB now,
woo, still can't play MP3s without making them ATRAC though and it won't upload the records from the old Mini-Discs to
a PC.
Yes, MD is a niche product, but there are far more than 10 users. Sony MD player sales account for some 15% of the whole portable audio market -- far outstripping any single mp3 player out there. I agree that Sony dropped the ball on introducing a killer MP3 player.
MD has a huge installed base among people who do lots of recording, from live music, to news and documentary. It's cheap, convenient and has great sound quality that rivals CDs. Portable MD units are very light, portable and sturdy.
Sure, you can buy pro portable CD-R and Flash memory recorders for thousands of dollars, which all are several times the weight and size of an MD. And that's fine for folks with thousands to burn. But MD is the choice for people with a little less money.
Finally, MP3 players have consistently lacked any good way to record live audio onto them. Some have very crappy mic inputs or crappy built-in mics, and you can put a crappy mic input onto an iPod. But none of them will record with even half the quality of MD.
The new MDs are a step forward because they'll allow recording in full CD quality - uncompressed -- which can be uploaded to a PC by USB for editing and processing. Aside from multi-thousand pro recorders, there is no other portable audio device that will do that.
Sure, they're not a salvo in the mp3 player war. But that's not what people are using them for.
I bought my first MD player/recorder in 1996. At the time I couldn't believe no one else was jumping onto these things (I'm from the US). They were CD quality, more portable than CDs, had the random access seeking of CDs to jump to the next song - something that drove me nuts about my old mixed tapes, and the discs themselves were immune to scratching (unlike CDs) and sound quality degradation (unlike tapes). The discs could also be rewritten millions of times. In 1996 this was the perfect solution for audio enthusiasts that wanted to combine the best features from tapes and CDs but who couldn't afford DAT machines.
I heavily (and happily) used the MDs until Apple released their iPod in 2001. The iPod was not designed with the mentality of 'how do we combine the best features from several product categories into one product.' It's purpose was/is to simply let people listen to as much music as possible as easily as possible.
Sony needs to stop looking at things as a linear progression (even if they have tons of capitol tied up in the MD industry) and do two things: short term, introduce an iPod clone (I think the 'VAIO Video Pocket is heading in the right direction, but seems a bit unwieldily, long term they need to *really* think out side the box.
please also consider that sony also has to worry about copyright issues with mp3 players as they do own a large stake in the record industry. and u wonder why they are still pushing their atrac standard (not so much of a standard, but whatever)...
I always thought that Sony Music was the reason that Sony Electronics didn't release an MP3 player. Sony Music is afraid of formats that lack DRM so they are blocking Sony Electronics from providing a player for non-DRMed MP3s. At least that's the rumor I heard on the Internet, so it must be true.
I to own MD equipment, but it has fallen to the wayside in favor of my Dell DJ.
I think the problem is Sony has a long history of shooting themselves in the foot where MD is concerned.
Back in the days before ubiquitous flash drives, before the proliferation of CD burners, yeh even before the venerable zip drive, Sony had an MD data format that was fast, reliable and rewritable.
And what did they do with it? They priced the drives out of the market of everyone except niche markets, and the product died when zip came and stole the market share that could have theirs.
Fast Forward a few years when mp3 players were just starting to creep on the market, and you see Sony releasing NetMD recorders that can directly be connected to the computer.
And what do they do? Require a proprietary codex (still), proprietary software with few features, and certainly none of the ones the geeks want. (Like the ability to use my flippin USB connected NetMD as a data drive.)
I know understand why my uncle still langusihes over his beta-max... it could have been so good...
I'm traveling, have a lot of recording to do and won't be able to download to a computer for a while what could I use beside MD or Tape? Is there another removable media recorder available?
Sure I have to re-record content, edit for tracks and retype name & information in the computer.
But at the moment there is nothing else available that I know of.
I'm traveling, have a lot of recording to do and won't be able to download to a computer for a while what could I use beside MD or Tape? Is there another removable media recorder available?
Sure I have to re-record content, edit for tracks and retype name & information in the computer.
But at the moment there is nothing else available that I know of.
iriver ihp100 series does voice recording might be worth a look if u sing MD to record
i feel the sony article, they should have released an iPOD killed a year back, seems too late now!
I do feel in the dwindling minority of minidisc owners in the US, but when I got to Japan they're all over the place. Maybe the iPod and others will supplant them soon there, but as of my last trip in March, minidisc still seemed to be the player of choice in Tokyo.
...and without add-ons from Belkin? I like my MD player/recorder because I can record from any stereo source available, and the optical in is sure nice, too. Not to mention the 50+ hour playback on one AA (I use rechargables too, so the cost of playing is tiny for me.), so no worrying about flaky internal batteries.
Unfortunately my old (4 years or so) MZ-R500 stopped working a few days ago, probly because I leave it in my car all the time and use it in the kitchen where I work, lots of grease and nasty junk in the air. I'm thinking about a new HiMD player/recorder, since it's backwards compatible (Sony seems to always be good for this, with the PS2 and such, listen up Microsoft!)
Sony intended MD to replace the cassette tape, and for that purpose, it rocks. To record CDs, I need a computer or a big old CD-R deck, and I still only get just over an hour of music (any CD-R decks do MP3 discs?). To record to MD, I can use a computer (sure NetMD is weird, but it gets it done), OR record analog from any stereo source, OR record digitally from and S/PDIF optical source, AND get up to 5 hours on a disc that I can edit at my leisure. Sure I'd love an iPod for 1000 songs in one package, but my MD case that hold 24 discs doesn't weight much and holds a pretty good about of music.
Christmas 2002, my wife buys me a netmd mz-N707. I wanted an ipod (or at the time, an archos 'cause the ipod didn't do windows yet). But I was damned happy that she went to Best Buy all by herself and spent the $200, which is a lot for her. I couldn't return it because I didn't want to discourage her from buying me more electronics, but initially I resented it.
Once I started using it though, I really began to like it. The ATRAC format really does sound great, especailly if you go from a CD. But I also find that the conversion from mp3 isn't too bad on a fast PC. Plus, it weighs next to nothing compared to hard-drive based unit.
The only thing I'm missing is a way to move data around occasionally. I'm going to seriously consider upgrading just because it's so cheap: $200 for the unit, the new media holds 45 hours per disk, and it runs on a replaceable aa battery. It may have its drawbacks, but I think it's worth looking at...
Unlimited Capacity: where as HDD has a fixed capacity, Hi-MD offers you the flexibility of choosing the capacity you want, from 1GB to 200GB.
Battery Life: Hi-MD uses a removable AA battery that gives you 27 hours of life, compared with around eight hours from HDD, a figure that diminishes as the battery ages.
Music and Data Recorder: Hi-MD allows you to record directly from your hi-fi, giving you high quality microphone recordings. HDD doesn't give you this option.
Shareable Media: HDD has a fixed capacity, embedded disc where the Hi-MD offers removable, low cost and variable capacity discs. With HDD, if you lose your hard disc, you lose everything but Hi-MD gives you the opportunity to store your data safely on removable discs.
Robust Media: if you crash your hard disc by dropping it, the HDD format means you lose everything. Hi-MD is very durable, scratch proof and shock resistant.
Sound Quality: HDD offers MP3 sound quality but Hi-MD offers Sony's unique ATRAC3Plus high sound quality, reducing the size of the files, but maximising the purity and tone of the recording.
Unlimited Capacity: where as HDD has a fixed capacity, Hi-MD offers you the flexibility of choosing the capacity you want, from 1GB to 200GB.
Battery Life: Hi-MD uses a removable AA battery that gives you 27 hours of life, compared with around eight hours from HDD, a figure that diminishes as the battery ages.
Music and Data Recorder: Hi-MD allows you to record directly from your hi-fi, giving you high quality microphone recordings. HDD doesn't give you this option.
Shareable Media: HDD has a fixed capacity, embedded disc where the Hi-MD offers removable, low cost and variable capacity discs. With HDD, if you lose your hard disc, you lose everything but Hi-MD gives you the opportunity to store your data safely on removable discs.
Robust Media: if you crash your hard disc by dropping it, the HDD format means you lose everything. Hi-MD is very durable, scratch proof and shock resistant.
Sound Quality: HDD offers MP3 sound quality but Hi-MD offers Sony's unique ATRAC3Plus high sound quality, reducing the size of the files, but maximising the purity and tone of the recording.
Simple, I bought an ipod color 8/05 and the sound quality is crap, the eqs destort even the quietist of sounds.
The ipod is so easy to use beats the crap out of most hdd player for reliability and ease of use. The bass responce on ipods is terrible to say the least.
I want a hdd player but have sold my ipod and won't touch one till they can give me good sound quality and GAPLESS play back.
Yess I know in itunes you can 'join tracks' and the karma with it's crappy HD could sort of do this.
Minidisc is fairly reliable and whats the point of having a hd player if the music, even at lossless quality or even wav., sounds rubbish. People who think, rio, iriver and pods have good sound quality have never owned or used minidisc.
Minidisc will prob fade out and we will all be forced to listen to better featured hd players with rubbish sound quality.
Now I understand why people still carry those huge cd portables.
IT COMES DOWN TO SOUND QUALITY FOR ME AND ALL THE HD PLAYERS I HAVE HEARD, RIO KARMA, IRIVER 320, IPOD COLOR DON'T EVEN COME CLOSE, MOSTLY DUE TO THE RUBBISH HEAD AMPS IN THEM, EVEN WITH WAV. FILES IN THEM.
Come on Apple sort out the sound quality and I'm yours. At £195 for a 20gb color I'll buy again when you sort out the rubbish bass response, a EQ you can use yourself and that doesn't sound rubbish.
Simple, I bought an ipod color 8/05 and the sound quality is crap, the eqs destort even the quietist of sounds.
The ipod is so easy to use beats the crap out of most hdd player for reliability and ease of use. The bass responce on ipods is terrible to say the least.
I want a hdd player but have sold my ipod and won't touch one till they can give me good sound quality and GAPLESS play back.
Yess I know in itunes you can 'join tracks' and the karma with it's crappy HD could sort of do this.
Minidisc is fairly reliable and whats the point of having a hd player if the music, even at lossless quality or even wav., sounds rubbish. People who think, rio, iriver and pods have good sound quality have never owned or used minidisc.
Minidisc will prob fade out and we will all be forced to listen to better featured hd players with rubbish sound quality.
Now I understand why people still carry those huge cd portables.
IT COMES DOWN TO SOUND QUALITY FOR ME AND ALL THE HD PLAYERS I HAVE HEARD, RIO KARMA, IRIVER 320, IPOD COLOR DON'T EVEN COME CLOSE, MOSTLY DUE TO THE RUBBISH HEAD AMPS IN THEM, EVEN WITH WAV. FILES IN THEM.
Come on Apple sort out the sound quality and I'm yours. At £195 for a 20gb color I'll buy again when you sort out the rubbish bass response, a EQ you can use yourself and that doesn't sound rubbish and TRUE GAPLESS playback where you don't have to join tracks.
there seems to be no other semi professional recording device on the market...so much is possible on an md unit...hard disk based mp 3 players do just that play mp3's...sony's himd tech is great....it could have been really good if it hadent been terminated...
mp3 players(hd) are like fancy toys for the mass consummer market...which sony is already catering to by introducing hd mp3 players..they should have continued with himd to also cater to pros/recordists/musicians......
or make mp3 players with better features..with recording capabilities,lin in,mic in...all the features that md comes with...
instead of following in ipods footsteps..
they could easily make better players/recorders than ipod..they have years of experience in audio devices...
why not think BIG ???
penny wise pound foolish.......