Minidisc [Paperback]

Jan Maes (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0240514440 | ISBN-13: 978-0240514444 | Publication Date: March 14, 1996

This book is based on a series of training courses run for Sony personnel in Europe. It is essential reading for audio engineers, students of electronics and anyone with a technical background who wants to keep updated. The Minidisc explains the new technology clearly and succinctly so that even non-technical people can learn enough to enable them to understand what the MiniDisc is all about.

Since the MiniDisc includes several innovative features, the book relates MD to its predecessors - CD, CD-ROM, CD-WO etc. - and, starting from that perspective, introduces and expalins each new technology included in it.

Psycho-acoustics are covered, as are the technologies relating to existing digital audio electronics and data processing and storage, including the compression and decompression methods which are vital to this new format.

Written by members of the Sony Service Centre (Europe) team - the same team who wrote Digital Audio and Compact Disc Technology.


Written by Sony's own technical support staff
The definitive first book on the subject
Essential reading for audio engineers and students

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press (March 14, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240514440
• ISBN-13: 978-0240514444
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,521,397 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A look into what makes MiniDisc technology tick., January 9, 1998

By 

"roccoc" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Minidisc (Paperback)

Not for the technically illiterate, Jan Maes' "The MiniDisc" is based on a series of training sessions developed for Sony personnel in Europe. The book attempts to explain the technology behind MiniDisc from it's similarities to other optical formats (CD, CD-ROM, CD-MO) to it's distinctions (ATRAC compression, disc size, etc). Persons interested in what makes a MiniDisc system tick will get a lot out of this book. A glossary would have been helpful for those of us without degrees in audio engineering. Probably the only book of it's kind. Overall impression: favorable.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not great, January 14, 2000

By 

Eric A. Woudenberg "ewoudenberg" (New York City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Minidisc (Paperback)

Gives good mid-level technical coverage of the MiniDisc system, but unfortunately provides neither the general story of MD's development and marketing, nor the important technical details of the system. Some parts are not completely accurate (such as the description of the MiniDisc UTOC layout).

A reasonable purchase for someone trying to collect all the publicly available information about MiniDisc. Note that the definitive MiniDisc work -- Sony's "Rainbow Book" specification describing the entire system in detail -- is available only to MiniDisc licensees.