CD, DAT or Mini Disk

[Declan]

What do you think is the most reliable player?

Basically I want something of vey high quality but with no chance of sticking or skipping.....

[tavenger5]

DAT walkman all the way. It's about $800 from sony, but it's a good buy. You can literally record concerts at digital audio quality.

That is, if you want something small and recordable. What kind of application are you going to be using this for?

[Big C Style]

a DAT would be good if you were recording in a studio

[xoIRJIox]

i would have to agree with Big C Style

[tc_chicago]

dat is the obvious choice, but its expensive. mini disc would be my second choice, cd last.

[lostdave]

It all Depends on the application.

Minidisc has it's advantages and DAT has it's advantages. I wouldn't use DAT on stage...but I use it in my studio...

Dave

[The Keeper]

minidisc, for live, it seems to compress and enhance the sound a bit(then again it might just be me)

[lostdave]

I use MD Live.....no nasty's that I have noticed......
the only time it compresses is if you drive the input to high and set your gain to <0dB

Dave

[jessicag]

I prefer mini disks as they do not get scratched and jump like CD's and are less prone to being stolen like CD's as not as many people have them - or they don't where i come from anyway. Also you can fit more on them and name them so your song name appears on the screen before it begins - this is a big bonus for me so i know what i am playing next!

Plus the disks are littler and cuter and easier to transport. I have even spilt a stubby of beer on one and it survived - although very sticky

[burtrum]

Do you really want a player or a recorder? For player I'd do solid state mp3, recorder MiniDisk by far...

[VlAtY]

Its true that MD uses compression. It's comparable to MPEG-2 compression. MPEG-2 compression is used by radio stations to digitally play and manage their songs. MPEG-2 makes more bigger files than MPEG-2 layer 3 (MP3), but it is not hearable that compression is used. MD uses even a little less compression. The only parts that are not coded onte the disc are that frequencies that we humans cannot hear. If you want to make a really good recording, those frequencies can be needed. Therefor use DAT. But is you dont need that good quality use MD. MD is also a lot easier to manage without thirdparty hardware.

VlAtY

[theainges]

If you want to use this for backing tracks while playing live, bear in mind that unless you have a spare MD or DAT player, you run the risk of being left high and dry if something goes wrong with your player, which can easily happen as most venues have dodgy power. Nearly every venue has a CD player somewhere that you could borrow to finish your gig, making CDs the safest option. Also don't forget that as the crowd numbers change, so does your sound (room acoustics) and the difference in quality between DAT, MD and CD becomes unhearable unless you have a sound engineer working the desk for you all night.

Cheers
theainges

[skippy]

It's too bad that with all of the progress of so called technology that we've had to sacrifice sonic quality while we get there. DAT was so close to making an inroads with consumers via SONY but they didn't market it correctly! Alpine the car stereo manufacturer even made a DAT in-dash! That wouldv'e been awesome. No need for minidisc or CD or MP3 in the car. It's just too bad.
DAT is killer! NO COMPRESSION and ORIGINAL MASTER QUALITY... it just doesn't get any better.