MiniDisc - The versatile recording format If you're unfamiliar with MiniDisc, you may be wondering what the buzz is all about. Well, how's this for starters: It's versatile (great for home, car, and portable use), ultra-durable, easy to use, ultra-compact (74 minutes of stereo audio fits onto one tiny 2-1/2" MiniDisc), and it sounds great! Minidisc is now using it's sixth generation of ATRAC processor and now even more popular then ever.  With a great selection of affordable recorders and players to choose from, and cheap blank discs, it's no wonder  why MiniDisc is capturing the minds and ears of music fans everywhere. MiniDisc is the digital recording format that makes a perfect match for CDs (the way analog cassette made a great recording mate for LPs). MiniDisc's compatibility with compact disc is obvious: You get crystal-clear digital sound from a laser-read optical disc that offers instantaneous access to any track on the disc (no more waiting for tapes to rewind and fast-forward). You even get CD-type features like shuffle play, and optical digital input for convenient and ultra-accurate direct digital recording from CD players that have an optical digital output. The Pros and, well ... More Pros of MiniDisc! With MiniDisc, you can avoid many of the disadvantages of tape-based formats, such as limited shelf life, susceptibility to breakage, and sound quality deterioration over time (Sony has quoted that you can re-record a blank MD up to a million times without the disc degrading). But at the same time, you retain the key features that helped make cassette so popular: small size, easy portability, and versatility (MD is perfect for making mix recordings from CD, FM, etc., or for archiving LP and cassette collections). MiniDisc has total penetration on all areas of music listening.  It's available not only for home and for portable use, but also for use in your car as well — in-dash MD players and multi-MD changers let you take your digital recordings on the road (just the thing for those long trips).. MiniDisc recording also offers a number of convenient and incredibly useful editing features that cassette and other analog formats will never be able to offer. Thanks to a user-editable table of contents and easy character input, you can: change the playback order of tracks without having to re-record them divide or combine tracks any way you want instantly erase any individual track or an entire disc add disc and track titles that appear on the player's display panel (great for labeling mix MDs with artists, titles, and other reference information that could never fit on the outside of the cartridge!)   CD-to-MiniDisc Recording Do you love the digital sound quality and instant track access afforded by your CDs, but still settle for recording them to cassette? Well, it's time to step up to digital recording: It's easier, sounds better, and it's more or less foolproof. You can record to MiniDisc via digital or analog input. Either sounds great, but digital transfer is especially easy (the sound flows as digital data, like in a computer, so there are no levels to set!). Just connect your CD player's (optical or coaxial) digital output to your MiniDisc recorder's matching digital input. It's that simple — you're ready to record. Do you ever record mix cassettes for a party or the car? Mix MDs are much better! Suppose you get tired of track 3. Just push a button and it's gone! MiniDisc lets you erase and replace that one track without having to re-record the entire disc. You can even change the song order without re-recording. That's just not possible with a cassette!

MiniDisc Analog Input Lets you connect an analog source, such as a tuner, cassette, or phono. This connection is most commonly made through your receiver's "record out" jack. Analog Output Lets you connect your MD player to any component with an analog input, such as a receiver or cassette deck. Analog-to-Digital (A/D) & Digital-to-Analog (D/A) converters In A/D conversion, analog audio signals (from cassette, LP, radio, microphone, a CD player without digital output, etc.) are converted into digital data by high-speed sampling. The A/D converter takes samples, or "snapshots" of the analog signal's amplitude at regular intervals; MiniDisc recorders have a 44.1kHz sampling frequency, which means the audio signal's amplitude is sampled at an incredibly rapid 44.1 thousand times per second! These amplitudes are then represented and recorded in binary digital code as "1" and "0" pulses. This binary digital data is an accurate, noise-free reproduction of the recorded signal, however in digital form it doesn't sound like music to your ears. Your MiniDisc player uses a D/A converter to convert the digital 1s and 0s back into analog audio signals. ATRAC Short for Adaptive TRansform Acoustic Coding, the ATRAC system is the digital data compression technology that makes it possible to fit 74 minutes of high-fidelity stereo digital audio onto a tiny 2-1/2" disc. Ultra-compact MiniDiscs can hold only about 1/5th of the data of a CD, but thanks to ATRAC, MiniDisc offers CD-like specs for dynamic range, frequency response, and low distortion. CD Synchro Lets you start a CD playing and start a MiniDisc recording by pushing one button. This feature requires a compatible CD player. Digital Input Lets you directly connect digital sources such as a DVD, CD, or other MD, giving you the cleanest possible signal. Can be either coaxial or optical, or both. Digital output Digital audio transfer is flawless; direct digital recording yields a crystal-clear copy of the original. Also, digital recording is easy since you don't have to set record levels. You'll need a special type of cable to connect to the digital inputs/outputs of your MiniDisc recorder, CD player, DAT deck, or external D/A converter. MiniDisc recorders may include optical (Toslink) and/or coaxial digital connections.  Direct track access Just push a button for instant access to any song on a disc. For example, to hear or program track 7, just push "7." Editing The MiniDisc format offers a number of powerful but easy-to-use editing features: Recordable MDs have a user table-of-contents (UTOC) area where the start and finish addresses of every track are stored. These numbered "track markers," which identify and let you instantly access the beginnings of individual tracks, can be renumbered in any order in a matter of seconds. You can easily change the playback order of songs without having to re-record them; and you can add or erase track markers during playback, which lets you divide and combine songs and sections of songs at will. "One Erase" and "All Erase" functions let you instantly erase a selected track or the entire disc (only on recordable discs). Disc and track titling with easy character input lets you label your homemade MiniDisc and every individual track on it. Your titles then appear on your player's display panel. Frequency response Like CD, the MiniDisc format accurately reproduces the full range of frequencies audible to the human ear. Level Control The MD recorder will set the record level (automatic) or you can set it (Manual). A proper recording level ensures that your recording will be as free of distortion as possible. Program Play Select and store in temporary memory the order tracks on a disc will be played. This lets you hear your favorite songs in your desired order. Sampling rate When an analog-to-digital converter digitizes an analog audio signal, it rapidly samples (or takes "snapshots" of) the analog signal's amplitude at regular intervals. These amplitude measurements are then converted to binary digital data -- 1s and 0s -- for storage on a CD, MD, or other digital audio medium. The sampling rate, or "sampling frequency," is the number of samples taken in one second. The MiniDisc format uses the CD-standard sampling rate of 44.1kHz (that's 44.1 thousand snapshots per second!), so it's a perfect match for recording from CDs.

Sampling rate converter Converts incoming digital source signals at other sampling rates to the MiniDisc-standard 44.1kHz. MiniDisc recorders with this feature give you more options when recording from digital sources. You're not limited to signals that use the CD-standard 44.1kHz sampling rate -- you can record DAT material at 32kHz or 48kHz, or DIRECTV digital satellite audio at 48kHz. Shock Resistant memory An important feature for car and portable MiniDisc players, shock-resistant memory helps eliminate skipping due to shock or vibration while you're in your car or on the move. These portable MD players have a 40-second shock-resistant memory for virtually skip-free playback. The laser scans ahead on the disc and stores music in a memory buffer. If the player is bumped or jarred, the music from the memory buffer continues playing while the laser tracking mechanism quickly returns to the proper place on the disc. Normal playback resumes, skip-free. Shuffle play Also called random play, this popular feature lets your MiniDisc player select the order in which songs play. S/N Ratio The measure of the musical signal relative to background noise. The higher the rating, the cleaner the sound. The dynamic range among current models is 92 - 119 dB.

 

For an overview of the Minidisc format.  Your questions can be answered in the Minidisc FAQ. For the ultimate Minidisc resource site on the net, pay a visit to THE MINIDISC COMMUNITY for the total experience.

 

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Mick Evans 1999-2001

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