New consumer digital recorders from Sony and Philips recently hit the market, and neither one of them works with your current collection of CDs. What were they thinking?
MD stands for MiniDisc - the latest Big Product from Sony. Digital Compact Cassette (DCC) is Philips's new entry, with help from Tandy/Radio Shack and Matsushita/Panasonic/Technics. The MiniDisc looks like a slimmed down 31/2-inch floppy, while the DCC looks like a cassette for a tape back-up system.
Did I just hear you sigh, "Another new format?! I just changed from LP to CD." Well, I feel the same way, and nobody knows which format might survive. On the plus side, these are digital recorders, so you can make recordings that sound as good as your original CD. And they are being supported by the Big Record Companies, so you can purchase pre-recorded versions of (some of) your favorite artists.
Now, I was born in Missouri, and like the mules from that state, I am reluctant to be pulled in a direction I haven't already started in. So, when I heard "new digital recorder" a few months ago, I thought some firm was fooling around with DATs. You remember DATs, don't you? That's yet another format - one that failed because the Big Record Companies got nervous about consumers making recordings in the privacy of their own homes with essentially no quality loss.
How are DCC and MD different? Both include an anti-copying circuitry called the Serial Copy Management Code, and both charge a small royalty on both blank media (MDs and DCCs) and the hardware recorders. Part of the royalty fee goes to the record companies and part goes to artists, publishers, and others as compensation for "lost sales" due to copying. It's a long story.
Very preliminary listening evaluations show that the MD system has some kind of flaw in high-pitched sharp transients, such as those made by a harpsichord or maybe a brass instrument. It sounds like the recording's been through a chorusing or doubling machine. The Philips system sounds okay to me, with no easily discernible artifacts.
Prices are still too high - except for the most rabid of the electronically deprived - and neither format has all the standard locations (home, car, and portable) covered. My advice is wait. By Christmas, there will be enough models and titles for you to evaluate whether you want to take the new standard plunge.
Just remember, the CD's success as a Big Product was a fluke. Both color TV and the VCR took more than a decade before they gained full retail acceptance. And just last month, the beta-tape rental store down the street closed for good. So wait.
MD MZZI, $749-$799, Sony of America: 800-222-7669, +1-212-371-5800. DCC 900, $799.95, Philips Consumer Electronics: +1-617-475-0317.
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