Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!ames!pacbell.com!tandem!zorch!xanthian From: xanthian@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Kent Paul Dolan) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech Subject: Re: CD-ROM vs. CD Players Message-ID: <1990Dec2.073639.22387@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> Date: 2 Dec 90 07:36:39 GMT References: <90335.112615AXN100@psuvm.psu.edu> Organization: SF-Bay Public-Access Unix Lines: 37 In article <90335.112615AXN100@psuvm.psu.edu> AXN100@psuvm.psu.edu writes: > I have a Pioneer (sp) 6pack player. On the back there are two pin-outs > for a receiver to take control of the player. I was wondering if there > was anyway for me to use these pin-outs to let my amiga take control > of the CD player; thereby, making it into a CD-ROM jukebox. I'm no world class expert on CD-ROM, so take this with a grain of salt. Both digital CD-ROM and audio CDs use binary data on the media, in the sense that it is either on or off, with no intermediate states. However, if I understand it right, in audio CDs, it is the _length_ of the "on" area or "off" area along the track, rather than its mere presence (as in the data bit on a digital CD-ROM), that is important, sort of like the zero crossing distance, rather than the amplitude, is the real signal in an FM radio signal, and it is this ability to ignore signal amplitude that lends the audio CD its enhanced sound reproduction ability. As a result, there is a profound incompatibility between the data storage signal recovery methods for audio CDs versus digital CD-ROMS, even though the mechanics of reading with a laser and so on are very similar. If this is right, you can't use a CD player to read digital CD-ROMS without a whole separate signal extraction "mechanism" behind the read laser. If I'm all wet here, I'm sure someone in the group can correct/expand on this. None of this says you couldn't let the Amiga work to control the CD player as a CD player, which might be a fun project in itself. Kent, the man from xanth.