AudioFormatWars By: Sheldon Khan Before buying a new car,
getting married, or adopting a new audioformat it is wise to ask a few
questions, peer under the hood, and ask the advice of someone you trust.
Will the new format satisfy your needs not only now but, also in the
future? Will it look (and sound) as good on all the mornings after you first
met? The analogue cassette is an old and trusted versatile friend
that went with you on those morning jogs and cruised in the car with you
on Friday nights. However, the powers that be, have declared our trusted
friend to be in the last phase of the life cycle. It's successor must sound
better, work better, and have new features such as a digital display for
song titles. There are currently two formats competing to be the
consumers next choice for sound on the go. They are Philips' Digital
Compact Cassette (DCC) and Sony's Mini Disc (MD). What exactly
is digital recording? The definition is, "An electronic format that is
designed to duplicate sound, while affording extremely accurate control
over any changes you might wish to make in the recording" (Mclan &
Wichman,1988). In simple terms it means that the digital circuitry
samples the signal and then reproduces what it has seen. The quality of
the recording depends on the sampling rate of the machine. The
sampled signal is then encoded to the tape or disc in 1's and 0's, just like
a computer disk drive would encode information. However, the biggest
advantage of digital recording is the fact that it eliminates tape "hiss" that
is usually found present in analogue recordings. In the
Eighties, a Philips invention captured the limelight. The Compact Disc
introduced us to a new era of digital sound, or "perfect sound." In the
nineties another Philips invention has taken centre-stage, the Digital
Compact Cassette (DCC). DCC is the marriage of the analogue cassette
to Digital Audio. Together they form a union that combines perfect sound,
high convince and greater versatility. " DCC is a medium on which audio
information is digitally encoded and which reproduces CD quality sound"
(Philips Electronics, Sound & Vision, 1995). A number of features have
been incorporated into DCC tapes and decks to achieve CD like sound
and convince. DCC decks can locate a chosen track on either side of the
tape because track and time codes are recorded on the tape. This
combined with autoreverse, which is standard on all DCC decks, makes
track access effortless but, not as fast as a CD. Another attractive
feature of DCC is the text mode. Text mode allows the deck to display
support information about the recordings on the tape such as the album
title, a complete list of track titles, names of the artists on each track, and
lyrics (displayed in sync with the music). Television screens or remote
control units can also be connected to the deck to display more extensive
information. The tapes have recording and playback times of 60, 90,
and 100 minutes. "The well known durability of cassettes is enhanced by
the use of videochrome tape: chromium dioxide- or cobalt- doped
ferric-oxide" (Philips Electronics, Sound & Vision, 1995). With the new
tape shell, the tape and tape drive wheels, which are exposed on the
analogue tape, are concealed by a metal sliding panel called a "slider".
The slider helps protect the tape from dirt and dust which contributes to
tape breakdown. This along with the videochorme tape and DCC's digital
error correction system help prevent tape dropout. Numerous digital first
generation DCC to DCC copies can be made. Any further copies (ie.
2nd, 3rd, etc generation) made from the first generation copy will not be
digital. The biggest advantage that DCC has over the competition is its
compatibility with its analogue predecessor. Sony's Mini Disc is a
miniature version of the compact disc that comes in a plastic shell like
that of a 3 1/2 computer floppy. "Unlike CD's, MiniDiscs can be recorded
using magneto-optical technology" (Dmytryk, 1993, p. 62).
Mageto-optical technology allows a MiniDisc to be recorded on many
times. A MiniDisc is smaller than a DCC tape and has random track
access like a CD. It also gives the user the capability to edit songs, and
the order that they appear in on the disc. To record on a partially full disc,
simply hit Record, with no concern for cueing. Recording starts
immediately and the new material is added as a new track. It is also
simple to remove dead air and unwanted material. The deleted time is
added to the total time remaining on the disc. All of this makes it very
easy to create your own custom compilations. The MiniDisc, like the
DCC allows the user to make multiple first generation digital copies. But
second and third generation copies will not be digital. One of the biggest
advantages that MD has over DCC is it's small slim size and durability.
By comparison the sharp edged DCC cassette seems a bit clunky and
less durable . Both MD and DCC use data-compression techniques
to squeeze digital audio data into a fraction of the space required by a CD
or a Digital Audio Cassette (DAT). " DCC's Precision Adaptive SubCoding
(PASC) achieves slightly better than 4-to-1 compression. While Mini
Disc's Adaptive TRansform Acoustic Coding (ATRAC) is slightly worse at
5-to-1" (Dmytryk, 1993, p. 65). Both developers justify the use of
compression with these statements, "The human ear only hears
sounds above a certain loudness (dB) level, called the hearing
threshold. The threshold of hearing depends on the frequency of the
sound. Therefore, only sounds above this dynamic threshold
need to be recorded."(Philips Electronics, Sound & Vision, 1995) Loud
sounds can completely mask softer sounds that are close in frequency.
Because our hearing is far more acute in the mid-range than at the
high or low end of the spectrum, what you hear is defined by the
frequency content during each time slice." (Dmytryk, 1993 p. 65). In
other words no one will know the difference if certain frequencies are
missing. What will all of this new technology cost the average
consumer? Well, a Philips DCC deck cost about $600, pre-recorded
DCC tapes cost about $20, and blank tapes cost about $8. While a MD
player cost about $500, the pre-recorded discs cost about $20 and the
blank disc cost about $10. Of course as the popularity of the format
grows, the cost will drop. Manufacturers are trying to give the public a
more durable and better sounding medium for those of us that are always
on the go. However, since their introduction about three years ago very
few MD and even fewer DCC players have been sold. Some audio
experts feel that the reason they have not sold many units of either format
is because the average person thinks that there is nothing wrong with the
sound quality of a good CrO2 (Maxell's XLII) or metal (Sony's CDit IV)
analogue cassette. Many people still live by the old saying, "If it ain't
broke, don't fix it." Manufacturers have built up these new formats as "the
greatest thing since slice bread," in the hopes of changing the way people
listen to music. Yet, the public has not jumped on the band wagon of
either of these new formats. However, one thing is certain, the days of
the analogue cassette are numbered. It is only a matter of time before
either MD, DCC or some new digital format such as the recordable CD
takes the place of the analogue cassette.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Ballou,
Glen. Handbook For Sound Engineers (2nd ed.). Indiana: Sams,
1991.Davis, Don & Carolyn. Sound System Engineering. Indianapolis,
Indiana: Howard W. Sams & Co Inc, 1975. Dmytryk, George.
"Digital Debate." Electronic Musician, Vol 9 No.8, 1993, August:
62-70.Mclan, Peter & Wichman, Larry. The Musican's Guide To Home
Recording. Toronto: Simon & Schuster Inc, 1988.Robertson,
Patrick. The Book Of Firsts. New York: Bramhall House, 1974. Sony
Home Page. www.sony.com. e-mail: webmaster@sony.co.jp Digital
Compact Cassette. Philips Electronics N.V. (1995).
. Audio Format Wars By: Sheldon Khan Before buying a new car,
getting married, or adopting a new audio format it is wise to ask. Digital Audio. Together they form a union that combines perfect sound,
high convince and greater versatility. " DCC is a medium on which audio
information