Leon

Have you tried turning up the volume on whichever program you're receiving the stream in? (Real Player, WM Player, etc.) Some streams are inherently low in volume, and you can't fix them if you use NetMD. One solution is to record in real time (both digital and analog input is fine) and use the rec level control on the N505 to increase volume.

It depends on your value system, really - virtually everything will have some advantages over something else, but you may or may not consider them advantages. Some reasons MD are often preferred over an MP3 CD player: 1. MD is smaller than even those 8cm/3" CD-R's; 2. The MD disc is enclosed in a cartridge so you don't have to handle it with so much care; 3. MD allows you to edit its contents, with greater flexibility than CD-RW; 4. ATRAC encoding is often considered as better-sounding than MP3s of similar bitrate; 5. Some CD-R's don't last for more than a few years, MD seems to last much longer than that in general; 6. Manufacturers have often paid more attention to MD portables (over their CD portables), which results in better materials/parts, better user interface and often better sound; 7. Many MP3 CD player makers are inexperienced at portable audio, which means their user interface and features may not be as convenient as the MD portables' ; 8. If you want audible FF/REW within a track, there are many MP3 players that won't let you do it... some CD players also take ages to read the folder tree on a disc, and MD portables typically do that in less than 7 seconds... Those MP3 CD players also have advantages over MD (e.g. less capacity limit). I struggled for months between MD and two iPods, I think it really comes down to what you want and need out of your walkman. While I have stuck to MD, I really don't like the way NetMD attempts to protect copyright. It makes me feel like certain Asian immigrants in the US during world war II, needing to argue that I'm "white" so I can avoid discrimination :roll:

I don't know if you want to use MD for this purpose, because NetMD won't let you transfer from MD to the computer digitally.

Yes they should... I'd like to propose a 2-page spread with Yuming and Hikki together (they share birthdays, their music have thematic commonalities IMO, and are relatively representative of their respective era, both in Toshiba EMI albeit under different management/labels) It's a good thing we're beyond the Da Pump/Kinki Kids phase for ads... or is that just low budget? :roll:

Too bad "simple and clean" (the song) must've been written before the DS8 came out, LOL

Old Kenwoods are positively dazzling for me - DMC-G3, G5 for example. Used to be that they understood "cool" better than Sony. Beyond that... Sony E30, E50, R50 (all respectably uncluttered and conveys quality) Sharp DS8 (simple and clean) The N10 would be much better if Sony didn't have to "squeeze" out the 12.9mm thickness, so it won't have all those bulges underneath, and the top surface could also be different. This is probably one of the reasons Apple's designs are attractive - they don't work *that* hard trying to get their products to measure smaller. None of the Panasonics are as interesting as their best cassette portables IMO (I love the SX60, among others), so

I've been rather sane since I stopped going to Minidiscussion a couple years ago. There you go, Leon at his bluntest 8)

I think the decision completely depends on how long you're willing to put up with not having music We don't know exactly when Sony's going to bring a proper international-spec N10 out to the world for official release. It might come out before the three months are up, or it might not. If you can survive not having music, my opinion would be to wait and see what happens.