MD vs. tape


Realizing that neither of these formats are considered audiophile quality, I'm still interested in a comparison between using a minidisk recorder vs. a cassette tape deck for basic recording purposes. My use would be primarily in the car or for taping FM broadcasts, with an occasional home playback of recorded, borrowed CDs/vinyl. I have no substantial investment in either format, but would be interested in a comparison of buying an MD deck vs. a (probably used) tape deck for these purposes. I assume that both formats will become obsolete within a matter of, say, 5 years. So my expectations are only for a temporary system.
michaelb

Showing 3 responses by ramstl

I would not say that MD sounds better than any 2 track analog. That, in my opinion, is not true. If your not looking to spend much money, and I'm assuming your not. MD might be the way to go. It will sound good in a compromised environment,i.e., your car and it is flexable. By the way the cost of a disk is lower than a good tape. However, you can buy a CDR for relatively cheap. That might be a better option because, "alright all you MD nuts", cd's sound better and everyone has a player.
I don't want to debate what is better sound, MD or CD. In my opinion CD is better. However, that will depend on the system, the environment and the listener. Each has their advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, each person has to decide which is best for them. In a car the environment is compromised, therefore, the differences can be masked to a certain degree. To answer the question about mistakes on CD's, if you use CDRW you can record over the last track. However, not all decks can read CDRW. One reason that I would not buy a MD, besides the sound qaulity difference, is that the last thing I want is yet another format! This format offers nothing for me accept: 1) added expense, new hardware and software 2) lack of present compatibility with hardware 3) no sonic improvements. Therefore, in bailing out of the cassette format I would go to CD. Not only does everyone own a CD player but the sound is better. You can even upgrade to better A to D's down the road for even higher rez! Here is an example: If you have a great musical experience recorded whatever software and you want to share it with others how many people out of ten would you be able to share it with if it were on CD? Maybe 9 out of 10. How many on MD. maybe .25 out of 10. That means you can enjoy it almost anywhere. Now I'm sure that Sony would also like it to be 9 out of 10 for MD and I'm sure that they will continue to improve the sound but I don't need no more stinking boxes taking up my $ and space. That is unless it increases archival and sound quality. Well, I know I said I didn't want to debate but I did. Sorry!