Quote:
Originally Posted by Quoth
The Hi-MD was too late. It allowed digital reading of the media and alternates to ATRAC, inc uncompressed. Sony deliberately made it impossible to digitally read even your own live recordings from mini-disc.
The MD-LP Atrac must have been 10:1 bit rate compression as it doubled play time. So standard ATRAC was 292 kbit/s, and LP 132 kbit/s. Later there were other ATRAC versions.
They also later had improved encoders producing files compatible with the earliest players.
Sony media execs just about crippled every Sony HW product.
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Sony did the same thing with their digital audio players (DAPs) for a time. Sony made some excellent DAPs but they were badly hobbled by Sony's attempt to maintain complete control. As an example: You were mandated to use Sony's SonicStage software and without it your computer couldn't "see" the Walkman DAP when you plugged it into the Computer. Also, their DAPs didn't play MP3s, instead you had to transcode your MP3 files to Sony's ATRAC codec using SonicStage which would then load the files on your player.
Eventually, Sony relented and in 2007 they released their first DAPs that didn't require SonicStage and could play MP3s natively. You were also able to use any Music Management Software with their DAPs. Unfortunately, what they did with their first DAPs cost them the chance to compete with the iPod.
I still use a Walkman DAP (I bought my first one in around 2007) because they are excellent music players, although they do have their quirks (the album art must be in a specific format or it won't display). But if they were still as hobbled as their first DAPs I would never had given them a try.