ATRAC v ATRAC Lossless

[martin]

I recently bought a Sony NWS706 MP3 player and have been transferring
a few of my CD's to it via its own SonicStage software (I should
mention here that I'm a complete beginner when it comes to MP3 and the
like).

I used ATRAC 64kbps at first, because my player only has 4Gbytes of
memory, and I've lots of long works, like symphonies.

The quality seems fine, but according to so many people I've read on
the Internet, 64kbps is such a low sampling rate, quality *should* be
pretty bad.

Today I transferred a few short works using both ATRAC 64kbps and
ATRAC Lossless, and have been trying to hear the difference between
the two. I can't say I can detect any, but the few seconds needed to
switch between them makes comparison difficult. Also, I'm wondering if
I'd suddenly notice a difference should I happen to buy a better pair
of headphones in the future.

The convenience of having a lot of music on my player, and not having
to fiddle about transferring stuff as I need it, is very attractive,
but I want good quality as well.

With this in mind, I'd like to hear people's opinions on these two
formats - is the quality of ATRAC Lossless worth the extra space?

[Malcolm Stewart[_2_]]

"martin" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Today I transferred a few short works using both ATRAC 64kbps and
> ATRAC Lossless, and have been trying to hear the difference between
> the two. I can't say I can detect any, but the few seconds needed to
> switch between them makes comparison difficult. Also, I'm wondering if
> I'd suddenly notice a difference should I happen to buy a better pair
> of headphones in the future.
snip
> With this in mind, I'd like to hear people's opinions on these two
> formats - is the quality of ATRAC Lossless worth the extra space?


I've been using Minidisc for some years, and ATRAC Lossless is a new one on
me.
I'm happy with music and other recordings captured in HiSP (one of the HiMD
ATRAC modes) on any of my Sony HiMD recorders. I've also used the lossless
PCM mode, and recently I've tried a 9V battery box so as raise the electret
mic clipping level, and to remove any distortion from the built-in preamp.

--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK

[Ron Capik]

Malcolm Stewart wrote:

> "martin" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> > Today I transferred a few short works using both ATRAC 64kbps and
> > ATRAC Lossless, and have been trying to hear the difference between
> > the two. I can't say I can detect any, but the few seconds needed to
> > switch between them makes comparison difficult. Also, I'm wondering if
> > I'd suddenly notice a difference should I happen to buy a better pair
> > of headphones in the future.
> snip
> > With this in mind, I'd like to hear people's opinions on these two
> > formats - is the quality of ATRAC Lossless worth the extra space?
>
> I've been using Minidisc for some years, and ATRAC Lossless is a new one on
> me.
> I'm happy with music and other recordings captured in HiSP (one of the HiMD
> ATRAC modes) on any of my Sony HiMD recorders. I've also used the lossless
> PCM mode, and recently I've tried a 9V battery box so as raise the electret
> mic clipping level, and to remove any distortion from the built-in preamp.
>
> --
> M Stewart
> Milton Keynes, UK

Sony's Sound Forge 9.0 comes with a number of ATRAC codecs including
lossless and surround/multi-track.


Later...


Ron Capik
--