Conference hips::uk_audioo

441.0. "If it's digital I'll take it!?" by RDGENG::FRY (Brent) Tue Sep 14 1993 10:52

Consumer preferences for digital audio formats.  Interesting,
but sad, from the point of view of purist sound quality, especially
for us vinyl junkies.  Brent.

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 Title:            DQ Perspective Consumer Audio:  DCC vs MD 
 
 Source:           DQ MONDAY REPORT 
 
 Date Published:   07 SEP 1993 
 
 
 "If it's digital I'll take it!" 
 
 Consumers have a new word and a shiny platter that they identify with it. 
 The word is digital and compact discs represent a new standard of quality 
 by which all new audio technologies will be measured.  CD-quality means 
 "the best" sound to most consumers.  This benchmark is used to market 
 consumer stereo equipment, car stereos, sound cards, CD-ROM titles, home 
 video games, interactive networks, DMX (digital music express), HDTV...etc. 
 Consumers have become comfortable with the word digital and they use the 
 technology everyday but they don't truly understand what it means. 
 Specifically, it's not clear that tape based digital formats can offer 
 sound quality comparable to the benchmark CDs. 
 
 This has become a marketing problem for manufacturers who develop digital 
 products without the shiny discs.  Two examples are Digital Audio Tape 
 (DAT) and Philips' recent entry Digital Compact Cassette (DCC).  DAT also 
 referred to as R-DAT uses a rotating head while DCC or S-DAT uses a 
 stationary head. DAT which has experienced widespread use in the 
 professional broadcast and studio markets flopped miserably when introduced 
 to consumers about five years ago.  Partly because music publishers and 
 record companies wanted a protection code built into the machines which 
 would prohibit making multiple copies of a digitally produced copy.  Both 
 DCC and MiniDisc use lossy compression schemes so this is less of an issue 
 and should not deter sales. 
 
 In addition, last year the Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA) was passed which 
 protects  consumers from copyright infringement lawsuits concerning digital 
 and analog audio recording for private, non-commercial use.  Some insiders 
 believe companies should bring back the consumer DAT even though new AHRA 
 mandates the inclusion of the Serial Copying Management System (SCMS), 
 developed by Philips, in all consumer digital audio recorders.  Regardless, 
 with final passage of the AHRA and increased cooperation between software 
 and hardware vendors, future digital recording technologies which yield 
 results similar to DAT, such as DCC and MiniDisc, have a better chance of 
 success in the consumer market.  This article will focus on DCC and 
 MiniDisc as the two latest competing digital audio consumer products with 
 the belief that DAT will remain successful in the pro audio market. 
 
 What is digital? 
 
 Put a DCC, MiniDisc and CD-player and the software they record on in front 
 of a consumer and ask them which one uses digital technology and they will 
 immediately point to the CD-player or the disc it records on.  No other 
 format exists which is more widely recognized as being digital than the CD 
 player. This is the battle linear tape based digital recording products are 
 fighting. In the consumer market, tape-based systems are associated with 
 the quality and longevity of analog cassette technology. 
 
 DCC 
 
 Digital Compact Cassette (DCC),a version of S-DAT and developed by Philips 
 and Matsushita, is designed to replace the analog cassette as the home 
 recording device of choice and provides backward compatibility which allows 
 the large installed base of analog cassettes to be played on the new 
 machines.  DCC achieves it sound quality by using Precision Adaptive 
 Subband Coding (PASC), a compression scheme which enables near CD quality 
 audio to be encoded on tape traveling at the same speed as required by an 
 analog tape transport system.  A thin film head is used for digital 
 recording and playback  for both digital and analog.  Prerecorded DCCs have 
 the capability of providing some 400 characters per second of data for text 
 such as song lyrics, translations, or anything else the record companies 
 might use as a value add.  DCC is a very innovative product, backwards 
 compatible with regular cassettes, and offers arguably the next best sound 
 to CDs. 
 
 Problem?  DCC is a contact based medium. With broad consumer acceptance of 
 CDs, an optical, "non-contact", based system, consumers have come to view 
 tape transports as inferior.  Marketeers of optical systems have exploited 
 these seeded notions of inferior tape systems.  And it seems to be working 
 even though new technologies like Philips DCC use sophisticated transports 
 and newly designed shells to protect the tape from the abusive environment 
 of the consumer marketplace where tapes left out of their cases and on the 
 car dash are the norm. Philips is planning a "relaunch" of DCC for the 2nd 
 half of the year and has dedicated the greater part of its audio 
 advertising budget to do so.  DCC decks will be available under the 
 Panasonic, Tandy and Magnavox brand names in the fall. 
 
 MiniDisc 
 
 Sony's latest plunge into the consumer market is the MiniDisc, Sony's 
 replacement for the analog cassette in terms of recordability, portability 
 and sonic fidelity.  MiniDisc is similar to a standard compact disc (CD) 
 player in looks and features but it offers much improved portability and 
 the ability to record at slightly less than CD quality, and Sony concedes 
 the product is not intended to replace today's CD but to be its portable 
 counterpart.  MiniDisc uses a compression technique know as ATRAC, Adaptive 
 TRansform Acoustic Coding, to fit 74 minutes of near CD-quality music on a 
 2 1/2-inch optical disc, which is about a third the size of a standard 
 compact disc.  Like Philips' PASC, ATRAC is designed to remove frequencies 
 the human ear is less sensitive too and therefore least likely to notice 
 missing.  Shock proofing is achieved by incorporating a RAM buffer.  If the 
 laser does mistrack during play the music will continue to flow for up to 
 ten seconds.(good for mobile applications) 
 
 If the MiniDisc proves to be durable, look for MiniDisc-walkman type 
 products to multiply and portable boom-boxes to make the shift as well.  As 
 for prerecorded tittles, any plant currently manufacturing  CDs has the 
 ability to manufacture MiniDiscs right now.  All that is required is 
 changing the molding size and spec of the Disc.  The Disc then inserted in 
 a protective shell thus resembling a 3.5 inch computer disc only smaller 
 (some 300 titles are available now).  Car audio enthusiasts are excited 
 about the MiniDisc because the plastic casing eliminates the housing that 
 CDs and cassettes must be stored for protection from scratches, dust and 
 heat.  Also for CD-changers in the car the reduced form factor of the 
 MiniDisc allows a head unit to hold several discs within an arms reach of 
 the driver.  Portability also eliminates trunk-mounting of cumbersome full 
 size disc players. 
 
 So far, 13 electronic firms have acquired Mini-Disk manufacturing licenses 
 from Sony.  Kenwood, Sharp, Sanyo and others have jumped on the MiniDisc 
 bandwagon but say they will be ready to make DCC products if the market so 
 warrants.  Aiwa OEMs "play-only" MiniDisc units from Sharp but said it was 
 having trouble getting record/play models from Sony.  Sanyo sees demand for 
 MiniDisc at 300,000 units in Japan alone in 1993.  Philips, by the way, has 
 announced its plans to introduce its own version of a recordable CD player 
 sometime in 1996. 
 
 MPEG quality 
 
 The compression schemes used by both DCC and MiniDisc yield similar results 
 as MPEG and are often referred to as such.  Interestingly, although DCC 
 edges out MiniDisc in terms of sonic integrity (it sounds better), 
 MiniDisc, is currently more successful.  Why?  Because it appears "more 
 digital" or to be more sexy-high-tech since it uses CD technology. 
 
 Replace the cassette 
 
 The cassette has been extremely successful because it is recordable 
 affordable and portable (RAP) The CD player has superior sound but is not 
 recordable or truly portable.  Philips and Sony see an opportunity to offer 
 near CD-quality sound in a portable format, hopefully eventually replacing 
 the cassette. Currently the portable audio market hot.  Compared to system 
 and component sales, which have been down or flat over the last few years, 
 portables have steadily climbed and will show a 30% increase in unit sales 
 in 1993 alone, according to the EIA. 
 
 MiniDisc and DCC have their respective advantages.  DCC is backwards 
 compatible. MiniDisc offers random access.  A DCC portable using digital 
 tape will play for a couple of hours.  A MiniDisc will run for about 20 
 minutes less.  The standout features of the MiniDisc player compared to the 
 cassette is its quality, random access and longevity.  For DCC, quality is 
 the main difference. 
 
 The table below compares the key features of the two major consumer audio 
 products, cassette and CD,(around 53 million units in 1992) with the two 
 new technologies, DCC and MiniDisc, which are targeted at replacing the 
 cassette and becoming the CDs portable counterpart. 
 
                      Analog Cassette      CD           DCC       MiniDisc 
 Shock Resistance         X                              X            X 
 Quality                                   X             X            X 
 Caseless                                                             X 
 Random (CD like) Access                   X                          X 
 Recordable               X                              X            X 
 Affordable ($300)       X 
 X Portable (jogging)     X                              X            X 
 Longevity                                 X                          X