From: utzoo!decvax!wivax!dyer
Newsgroups: net.audio
Title: Re: car cd etc.
Article-I.D.: wivax.18230
Posted: Sat May  7 12:31:12 1983
Received: Wed May 11 04:52:14 1983
References: watmath.5011

It is indeed true that Sony specified the dimensions of Compact Disks
to fit the footprint of most car stereo cutouts.  This comes to me from
David Ranada, an editor at Stereo Review, who's followed the medium's
development from the start.

Mr. Newman's flaming isn't completely off-base.  The dynamic range
afforded by the CD system just isn't suited for the automobile.
Soft passages will be completely drowned out by car noise.
Many people recommend using a DBX compressor (NOT the noise
reduction system) when transferring disks to tape for car use.
This is saying that CASSETTES already have too much dynamic range
for the car.

So, right now, a automotive CD system is wasting money.  But, we can
expect the price to go down significantly in the next 5-25 years,
to a point where the CD player is competitive with cassette players.
Then, add some optional compression in the automotive player, and
given that we now have one no-compromise interchangable format for
both home and car, you can see why Sony/Philips is taking the far view.

/Steve Dyer
decvax!wivax!dyer