Tag: PC

Though the MiniDisc may have faded away from popularity, there is still marginal use in some parts of the world. Known today as Hi-MD, the format has come a long way in respects of its usability. Originally released in late 1992, MiniDiscs were intended to replace the analog audio cassette. First, however, Sony had to battle two other new formats that were also contenders in the attempt to replace the analog cassette tape.

The MiniDisc Wins the Format War But So What

The Digital Audio Tape (DAT) was doing well in professional recording studios but never caught on with the general public. Only a small number of prerecorded music DATs were produced and sold to the public.

Philips took the logical step of offering backwards compatibility by introducing a digital tape format called the Digital Compact Cassette. The DCC met with direct competition from Sonys MiniDisc and both prerecorded DCCs and MiniDiscs of popular artists were released and marketed to consumers. The magneto-optical disc technology allowed for random access of music, and withstood shock better. Although DCC was backwards compatible with the standard audio cassette, the market clearly favored MiniDiscs, and DCC was discontinued in 1996.

MiniDiscs however were never able to achieve a high level of success and were no real threat to the compact disc or even the analog cassette. Both MiniDiscs and standard cassettes were no match for the CD once CD-R technology became available. People were then able to record their music collections to CD. In the end, the compact disc moved on to become the undisputed king of the music sector. The MiniDisc floundered, then attempted a comeback of sorts, floundered some more and has now fallen by the wayside.

Limitations of the MiniDisc

Consumers were slow to adopt the MiniDisc for several reasons. Although more popular in Japan and Europe, only a limited amount of prerecorded music became available in the US – mostly new releases from Sony Music Entertainment labels. Also, recording on the MD format was notably frustrating for many people. Initially, there was no way to transfer the audio tracks from a PC to the MiniDisc and vice versa.

Sony responded to this problem by introducing software specifically designed for the purpose. This software also had issues in early releases regarding security and copyright locks that prevented the song from being further copied after being copied from the player. The newer Hi-MD has sought to address these issues, although sound files are still encrypted and decrypted when transferred, unlike standard files that are transferred directly. This means that the software must be active for all playable music transfers, which has been inconvenient to some consumers.

Even after the MiniDisc format received a makeover in the form of Hi-MD technology in 2004, not all of the issues that plagued the MiniDisc could be resolved. The Hi-MDs themselves can only hold one Gigabyte of music, and solid-state MP3 players simply had them beat for storage capacity and play times.

Conclusion

The MiniDisc is something of an oddity in audio history. Its innovation came at a time that made it almost obsolete before it was ever able to get off the ground. It failed in the music market because the older generations preferred audio cassettes and CDs, and the younger generation loved compact discs and eventually mp3 players. MDs suffered limitations with storage capacity that solid-state music players rapidly out paced. The inability to copy music to ones computer and vice versa also led to difficulties for the MiniDisc in popular use. At this point in time, MiniDiscs are pretty much gone. If you have any personal or family speech or music recordings, now is the time to get them transferred to a different format.

In as much as the audio book phenomenon isn’t too new, there are still lots of people that don’t know certain things about it.

I must confess that I was also ignorant about certain aspects of audio books myself.

During my early days of audio books, I had to ask certain questions and today I hear a lot of people asking the same such questions.

Who knows, you might also have such questions and you really want to find the answers to them.

If yes, then below are some of these questions and their answers:

What is an audio book? An audio book is simply a book in audio format. Instead of receiving a physical hardcover or paperback book that you have to read, you will receive a CD, cassette or MP3 version of the book.

What formats do audio books come in? Audio books come in normal cassette formats, CD formats and MP3 formats which can be played on cassette players, cd players or MP3 players respectively.

What is an MP3 audio book? MP3 is simply a compression technique that makes it possible for reduction to be made to audio books so that they use less space (sometimes as little as 80%) compared to that of cassettes or CDs.

How can MP3 audio books be played? MP3 audio books can be played on any new version of CD players that support the MP3 technology – mostly those that can accept a 4.75 diameter disk.

They an also be played on any PC that has Microsoft’s Windows Media Player or other related software.

What is an unabridged audio book? An unabridged audio book is one that was narrated word for word. In such an audio book, nothing was removed from the printed book. It has the exact content with that of the printed book, albeit in audio format.

What is an abridged audio book? An abridged audio book is one that is shortened and doesn’t contain the exact word for word narration as the printed book.

What is a dramatized audio book? A dramatized audio book, as the name implies, is a dramatized “play-life” version of the printed book, with usual full cast, music and sound effects.

Go online to find that book you have always wanted to “read” but have never had the time to. Now you can V with audio books!

Latest wireless audio gizmos such as iPods, wireless headphones and cell phones support new wireless protocols. These protocols are supposed to eliminate the cord and provide perfect high-fidelity audio. We will examine some of the most recent devices to figure out which applications they work for.

Several products come with wireless already built in while others, particularly streaming audio products, frequently have optional wireless functionality. Modern cell phones and MP3 players already come with support for wireless. iPhones and touch-screen iPods, for instance, have Bluetooth and WiFi.

The Bluetooth protocol is a fairly low-cost solution. Still, its limitations have an effect on high-quality audio applications and are often overlooked.

1) Short range

Bluetooth usually just provides a 30 foot range. This is sufficient for single-room applications. On the other hand, this limitation does not permit multi-room streaming utilizing Bluetooth.

2) Audio compression resulting from limited data rate

Bluetooth will use audio compression because it does not reliably offer a high-enough data rate for uncompressed audio. The audio will be degraded to some degree as a result of the audio compression. For this reason higher-end audio equipment generally does not use Bluetooth wireless audio.

3) Signal latency

The signal broadcast via Bluetooth will undergo a slight delay of no less than 10 ms. This is mostly due to the audio compression. While being uncritical for MP3 players, this delay may be a dilemma for video and other real-time applications.

4) No support of multiple headphones

Bluetooth is relatively limited in regard to supporting streaming to multiple headphones. Streaming to multiple headphones is useful for numerous people wanting to listen to the same transmitter. This is less of a problem for MP3 player applications.

Uncompressed audio streaming is supported by WiFi. WiFi is a very widespread protocol. Yet, WiFi also has limitations regarding simultaneous transmission to several receivers. Due to the high availability, WiFi is suitable for streaming audio from a PC. However, WiFi products have relatively high power consumption. Because of this wireless headphones usually do not utilize this technology.

Wireless speakers and wireless amplifier products for home theater speakers typically utilize their own proprietary protocol. Entry-level wireless headphones and speakers usually still utilize FM transmission which offers low cost but is prone to noise and audio distortion.

More advanced wireless protocols are based on digital formats which eliminate audio distortion and incorporate sophisticated features including error correction to cope with interference from competing wireless devices.

Latest-generation wireless amplifiers employ uncompressed audio transmission. Recent protocols also allow streaming to an infinite number of receivers. This allows whole-house audio distribution.

Some of these protocols support low-latency audio transmission which ensures that the audio of all speakers will be in sync in a multi-channel application. Wireless audio transmitter products typically operate at 2.4 GHz or sometimes in the less crowded 5.8 GHz frequency band including Amphony’s wireless audio devices.

Wireless amplifiers are available with different levels of audio quality, power consumption and standby power. Getting a high-quality low-distortion amplifier is fundamental for good sound quality. Digital Class-D amplifiers offer high power efficiency of a minimum of 80%. They also have low standby power, typically less than 5 Watts. This reduces heat and keeps them cool during operation. Some digital amplifiers, however, have fairly high harmonic distortion. It is vital to select a wireless amplifier with low audio distortion. This will ensure good sound quality. High-quality amplifiers have audio distortion of 0.05% or less.