mikerophone

All -- While I've been recording to Minidisc since 2000 (I still use my trusty MZ-R37 for live recordings and my MDM-X4 for recoding music performances) I just recently purchased a MZ-M100 Hi-MD for live recording. The idea of being able to download recordings directly to my Mac without having to do it in real-time through the audio-in was just a bit too alluring. I'm trying to get a handle on which recording modes to use. I know the PCM is the best it gets, but the downloads to my Mac are deadly slow (USB 1.1...what was Sony thinking?), so I was considering using the Hi-SP mode. Can anyone tell me how the quality compares with the old Minidisc format (ATRAC whatever?) that my MZ-R37 records in? Thanks in advance for the assistance -- and my hats off to the site creators...it is always a big help! Mikerophone