Did this obscure audio format REALLY sound better than MiniDisc?

Something that came up occasionally in early reviews of DCC and MiniDisc equipment was that DCC's sound quality was a bit better. The technical specifications of both formats' codecs suggest this is indeed the case, but look closer and things aren't so clear after all.

Featured music:
"Let Go Of Yourself" by Dan Mason: https://danmason.bandcamp.com/album/ill-be-alright
"All of My Time" by Seth Nova (this album is seriously underrated): https://businesscasual87.bandcamp.com/album/eternal-heartbreak
"Last Chance Branca" by Arc De Soleil: https://open.spotify.com/track/4RUhvuw2tbKCuuj8tv4GMi?si=3436bba13ed34b8c

Sources:
"Digital Recording Arrives," Popular Science, April 1993.
"DCC: The Adventure Begins," Billboard, July 25, 1992.
"Now Hear This!," The Morning Call, December 20, 1992.
DCC System Description document: https://archive.org/details/philips-dcc-system-description-draft
ATRAC whitepaper: https://www.minidisc.wiki/_media/resources/atrac_adaptive_transform_acoustic_coding_for_minidisc.pdf
The MPEG FAQ: https://web.archive.org/web/20170104010328/http://www.faqs.org/faqs/mpeg-faq/part1/
MPEG-1 draft standard proposition: https://www.itu.int/wftp3/av-arch/avc-site/1990-1996/Contributions/AVC-0095.pdf
"DCC, MD, And CD-I Expected To Drive 1st Consumer CES," Billboard, May 30, 1992.
Sony interview with ATRAC developers: https://www.sony.net/Products/ATRAC3/special/developers01.html
"The incredible shrinking disc," The Guardian, November 25, 1992.
"Sony Revives MiniDisc in Package Deal," Los Angeles Times, August 27, 1996: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-08-27-ca-37950-story.html
Dolby patent used in ATRAC: http://www.minidisc.org/patents/pdfs/US05394473.pdf
MiniDisc FAQ about Dolby licensing: https://www.minidisc.org/faq_sec_6.html
MiniDisc-related patents: http://www.minidisc.org/patents/
"Studios Cautious About DCC, MiniDisc," Billboard, February 11, 1995.
"Sony MiniDisc, Philips DCC Downplayed At Winter CES," Billboard, January 21, 1995.

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Music by Epidemic Sound (https://www.epidemicsound.com).
Intro music by BoxCat Games (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/BoxCat_Games).

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