Fat Tires

Maybe you should look for a decent higher model MD recorder from last year on a clearance rack. You may be able to find a MZ-S1 or a MZ-N510 for less than $100. Wal-Mart and Sears are rumored to still have some on their shelves. I've also seen very low prices at Target, but I doubt that you'd find a MZ-N510 there now. Both of these models have a Line In/Optical port on them, in addition to the USB port. I personally own a N510 and I love it, I bought a NE410 prior to the N510 and I'm very glad that I returned it. You may feel that the R500/NE420 is a good one, and it may be, but a MZ-S1 or MZ-N510 on clearance would be a much better choice.

Congrats on your new MD recorder. You're right, at $75, you got a good deal. Enjoy it. Heh, I drive by Kenosha all the time. I live in the Chicago area, but i have to go out to Milwaukee all the time.

even toothpaste and underpants?

The "box" is actually a drawer in a two drawer cabinet from Ikea. The benefit of the design in the link I posted is that it can be modified to your needs. You can also make more than one if you want. I plan on making two of them.

Just convert the MP3s and listen to them on your Hi-MD unit. If YOU are happy with how it sounds you'll be alright. Remember, it's your ears.

You could make your own media rack as well. Some instruction on how to do it cheaply are available at: http://www.kahunna.net/MDrack.shtml I'm about ready to make two of them for myself. My minidisc drawers is too full.

Oh yeah, how could i miss that one?

Simply put, there are no Hi-MD compatible decks, mini-systems, or car audio gear out yet. At least one minisystem I've seen does play ATRAC3Plus CDs. You can make an ATRAC CD from Sonicstage from your existing files.

That's a good point. I use NIMH AA batteries with all of my portables that use AA. I do get crazy battery life with a gumstick and an AA on my Sony MZ-E710. Add the slim and small size of the player, even with the AA attachment connected to it, the long battery life, removable media (and cheaper than SD or CF cards), and great sound quality with or without EQ, and you've got a winning combination. My recorders aren't that much bigger either and have all the same benfits.

That's true, and also part of the reason why I'm waiting to jump onto the Hi-MD bandwagon.

Battery life, battery life, battery life.

Hello to my new MD recorders. I already love my "new to me" Sharp DR480, but the R50 hasn't really grown on me that much. I'll see if that changes, otherwise it's going to certainly go to a new home with a person who'll appreciate it more. I hope that Zombietycho enjoys his iPod as much as I'm enjoying this DR480.

For $80 - 100 USD, I'd suggest the Shure e2c. I'd also consider the Shure e3c or Etymotic er6i if you can stretch your budget a little, by about $20 - 30 bucks. I own the e2, the identical twin of the e2c and it's a fine earphone. The phones are great for rock and with the foam earplugs their isolation is top notch.

This model will be okay if you only wish to copy music to a minidisc form your PC. This model is a very low end unit (as you know) it doesn't even have an AC input, so you'll go through batteries a little more quickly. I'd recommend that you buy a nice used unit rather than get this one. That's just my two cents.

I dunno why, but the link doesn't work for me in Firefox or IE. [EDIT]DOH, it just worked in Firefox. [/EDIT]

I'm not really using my MZ-R50 at all. I find that I have too many LP2 discs lying around that aren't compatible with the R50. It's in good condition and will come with the remote, AA battery case, Li-ION battery (I don't think that it'll hold a charge though), and a felt bag. I'd like to see if anyone is interested in taking this fine MDR off of my hands. I'm taking offers at this point before I set a price. I'll even throw in a few blank and an optical cable too. Please PM or email me at nismo96(at)gmail(dot)com.

Here are my minidisc units. My N510 was my first MD recorder. I still use it to title tracks in SimpleBurner My E710 came next, it's still my main travel unit. It's so slim and light. I got the R50 to see what the fuss was all about. I admit that the line out is stellar, but this recorder really does little for me overall. My newest, and best sounding unit. I just love this DR480 so much, it's easliy one of the best sounding portables I've ever used.

I've got a pair of black Audio Technica ATH-EM7 for sale. The clip on phones will come with the neoprene carry case, and a Sony brand headphone extention cable. My asking price is $60 USD including shipping to the US. I'll ship elsewhere for an additional shipping cost. SOLD. Thanks for looking.

If you are using a version of Sonicstage prior to v2.0 then you have to deal with a check-out limit of 3 times per track. Upgrade to Sonicstage 2.2 and you'll be able to put a track on as many MDs as you'd like.

So... you steal?

There probably are hardware issues on all the current and older NetMD models. Sony even has to do some sort of upgrade (firmware?) to the NW-HD1 and NW-HD2 hard drive players too. It's be nice to see 1gb of native MP3s on a Hi-MD disc.

Yes, Ray has made me a remix or two. I do like them. I agree that his posting style is off the charts, but he's done his fair share of cooling me off before I rip into someone or another at the other forum. Sadly, there are a few people who love to argue, threadcrap, and generally annoy you. Other than the lack of updates to the site and it's content, that's the main issue with that site. BTW, where are all the mods at that site? I only see a few of them regularly posting anything.

...but he is THE most entertaining poster, ever. Really.

I travel a great deal for my job and often buy CDs while I'm on the road. I wanted a decent PCDP for playing them when I get them. I use the D-NE900 primarily for Rebook CDs and then for ATRAC CDs that I burn. The MP3 CDs that I use are usually given to me. The benefits of the D-NE900 to me are the nice CD playback quality, ATRAC compatibility, optical output, slim size, and battery life. The MP3 playback is a nice extra feature for me. There's a nice review at Head-Fi that lists the benefits and flaws of this player quite nicely. http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread....ghlight=d-ne900

Although you have been unhappy with the D-NE900, not everyone will have the same experience. A lot of folks may choose to rip their music in Sonicstage so that they can use gapless with their ATRAC files. They may also choose to not put additional files on their discs. I've been a happy user of a D-NE900 for months. I have used some MP3 CDs in it, but I admit to primarily using 256kb ATRAC3Plus files for the most part. The excellent battery life from just one gumstick battery is incredible. It's compact size is nice as well, it is almost the smallest player ever. I see that any Sony ATRAC CD player would be a bad choice for you, good luck in your search for a model that will meet your needs. The Sony models will work out very well for anyone who chooses to use Sony's software to rip their music. In fact, Hi-MD and NetMD users can even share these files between CDs and minidiscs. That's a nice thing in my opinion.