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Re: MD software

Subject: Re: MD software
From: "stoatwizard" stoatwizard
Date: Fri Mar 9, 2007 11:04 am ((PST))
--- In  { brad brace } <> 
wrote:
> Why is there no software available to directly play MD
> recordings? or is there? or am I very confused?  /:b

Evil control freakery by Sony. MD was introduced about 10 years after 
CD. Despite the fact that home taping didn't kill music in the 1970s, 
Sony thought 'What a good idea if we cripple our digital recordig 
format so people can't copy their compressed copies of uncompressed 
CDs'. Digital recording was so terrifying for them in the hands of 
the proletariat despite that fact the the original MD (not HiMD) had 
inherent generation loss built in due to inbuilt compression. So they 
used a proprietary disc and data format, keeping it closed and not 
letting anybody else make the software by keeping the details secret. 
A hardware form of DRM. 

We can only thank our lucky stars that CD was invented in a more 
innocent age where people were trying to improve signal quality 
rather than control what you do in your own home with stuff you've 
bought. It seems that all other media have to go through the DRM-
hacker cat and mouse game. Not enough people were interested in 
hacking Minidisc so you still have to use Sony software to access the 
digital data. This policy probably stiffed the adoption of MD as the 
defacto consumer digital recording medium and will hasten its demise 
when somebody learns how to make a CF recorder for $150 with low-
noise mic preamps to match HiMD.

The only correct use for that Sony software IMO is to get the data 
off the MD into something you can play with anything. However, if you 
really want to play your compressed omg files in something else 
without expanding them, and if they don't have Sony's DRM (ie you 
have recorded them yourself on a HiMD recorder not via the digital 
input and are using SS3.4 or later) 

http://www.infoanarchy.org/en/ATRAC3

seems to claim there is a winamp decoder. I've never pursued playing 
the .omg files in anythign else as I record uncompressed PCM. If you 
record compressed I guess keeping the compressed files and playing 
them in something less user-hostile that SonicStage might be 
attreactive.





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