CD, MD, MP3 - Why Me?
Jun 21 '00
I'm a battle-scarred veteran of the format wars. At this very moment, no less than 2 MP3 players, 2 MD players and one forlorn portable CD player are littering my home. Which one is the best? As anyone who ever reads my reviews knows, it always depends on what you want to do; there simply is no one best answer for something this personal. So settle in for a nice long discussion of the pros, cons, whys and wherefors of a tale of three formats:
MP3: In case you haven't opened a single magazine or newspaper during the last month, MP3 is a digital file format for music. At this point in time (but probably not for long) every song on the current top 40 and a whole Tower Records' worth of oldies are available through Napster - go to Napster.com and download the software if you wish to partake, but do it now before they get closed down by the Recording Industry Association of America.
In their native format, MP3 clips can be played in 2 ways: Directly off your hard drive or from a dedicated player (usually portable). If you choose to get a portable player, you'll need to transfer files from hard drive to the unit every time you want to change the music; capacities currently hover at 32-64MB of memory, with each MB containing roughly a minute of music (at CD quality). Here are the plusses and minuses of portable players:
+Pretty darn small - considerably smaller than CD and cassette players
+Never skips, ever
+Format is rerecordable, but don't need to buy new tapes/MDs
-File transfer can be S-L-O-W, making changing music an agony
-Sound quality varies
-Product quality is typically terrible as these units are so new
-Players can be very expensive
I'm a dedicated MP3 addict; being able to store hours of music on your hard drive is nothing short of miraculous as far as I'm concerned. However, at this point I've tossed two different portable players due to shoddy quality and poor transfer speeds. Sound quality has also been so-so. In the end, MP3s are great for anyone with a halfway decent PC and access to a fast connection. Yet portable MP3, in my mind, is only worth it if:
-You're routinely subjecting your players to so many G-Forces of stress you must have an anti-shock solution;
-You must have the smallest possible device; and
-You're willing to put up with the high costs and headaches involved with untried technologies.
MD: This solution features re-recordable optical disks that are roughly 2 1/2 inches square. Although the format has been kicked around the block for a while with limited success, it seems to have finally taken hold here in the US (and definitely in Japan), making the risk of Beta-style desertion relatively slim. Here's the pros and cons:
+Relatively shockproof - much more so than a CD, although not as much as MP3
+Sound is great, easily CD quality
+Discs are nearly indestructible
+New players are tiny: smaller than some MP3 players
-Discs are expensive
-Little prerecorded music available
-Players/recorders can be expensive
-Some risk that technology could become obsolete
Personally, this is the solution I've chosen. If you're willing to shell out some semi-major bucks ($200-$300) you can get a tiny player that is incredibly portable, and if so the technology becomes a perfect compromise between CDs and MP3. Small device, almost no skips, easily changeable music, and discs that require far less upkeep than CDs. Instead of waiting to transfer a playlist to my Yepp, I now typically record my MP3s on a minidisc, which takes a bit longer but leaves me with a tiny disc I can toss in my purse and swap at will.
Of course, there's a downside. I exclusively listen to personal mixes, but if you're used to CDs, making MD recordings is sure to be a pain. In order to do so you'll either need to get a recorder or invest in a larger, more expensive portable recorder. Finally, I've found MD players are pretty common here in the Big Apple, but they are far from mainstream. Overall, MDs are best for:
-People who need a highly portable, shockproof solution
-People who primarily listen to their own mix tapes
-People who don't mind investing upwards of $400 for playing and recording capability
CDs: At this point, I don't think I need to explain what CDs are. Here's the pros and cons:
+Inexpensive equipment
+Tons of prerecorded music available
-Devices are big
-Least shockproof of all the solutions
There's no denying that portable CD players are cheap, and certainly CDs are currently the standard format. At the same time, the size of the discs means that devices are always going to be big and skips are always going to be a problem: Because the edge of the disc is so much larger and so much further away from the axis, there's lots more room for it to jump around. And someone who is constantly on her feet, I can't even imagine carting around something so big.
SO CDs are best for:
-People who want a low-cost solution
-People who like listening to entire albums
-People who don't jump around a lot while listening to music
-People who don't mind carrying a relatively large device.
I think this is MORE than enough said on this issue, don't you? Thanks for reading!
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Girlina
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