bobt

If you want to do live recording and upload to your computer you have to go Hi-MD, no choices unless you want to upload real time. My suggestions an MZ-NH1 or 900, I have an NH1 and absolutely love it battery life has never been a problem,and is very solid. The 900 has the advantage of an add on battery pack, and is part metal construction. You should be able to get deals on theses as they are 1st generation, and you can still use your original MD's and record so your units can use them. Read the forums extensively, your answers are in them. Bob

I would not trust recordings on cd, I have probably lost 200 cd's due to the reflecting layer leeching out, you can actually see through them. I would trust MD far more, for the most reliable I would get a good reel to reel and copy to that, I wouldn't even trust it to a hard drive, they sieze up if not used. It is a quandry, but I find some older technology far more reliable. I have albums from the 40's and 50's that still sound good. If you like MD use it, but don't make it your only method. Good luck, Bob

Sony will keep MD's around for a while, they do not drop many technoligies,elcassette and DCC, are two that they did away with, but incorporated feature into newer units. They would rather be diversified rather than specialized, and hopefully soon a true portable recorder/uploader MD will come to satisfy the semi to pure professional. Even with it's limitations, it is far superior to DAT, and DAT's offer uploading if I'm not wrong. Just my humble opinion, but I really do believe that MD and HI MD will be around a while, but nothing is forever, haven't seen a new sony turntable 4 a while ( haven't looked either). Bob

I think the selling point was that they were able to download mp3's, who would want to record in mp3, after all these years still sounds like crap. I have 30 year old reel to reel tapes recorded at 3 3/4 ips that sound better than mp3's.

Ki kaotic, I've got an IBM 1.5 ghz 512 memory, XP Pro, no service packs, and on simple burner max 5 or 6 minutes, usually less, on an 80 min disc in HILP no more than 45 minutes to an hour to fill it up, haven't done enough on the 1GB's to find a time. Plenty fast enough for me, as I was brought up in the dark ages of real time recording, anything better is a bonus. Check your memory and hard drive. Bob

Just got back from Cuba and got an 8 cd set from EGREM covering 60 years of Cuban music from Benny More to Los Van Van and newer, just finished putting it to disc, some incredible music. Bob

you can load it from here, look at the top of the software page

I have a program called stationripper that works with Shoutcast, will probably work with others, haven't used it much, but a friend of mine uses it extensively, and loves it. Bob

Just ordewred yesterday, hopefully hee soon, Almost alive - Amon Duul2 Only Human - Amon Duul 2 Vortex - Amon Duul 2 Minimum MaXIMUM - Kraftwerk, Must be time for my krautrock fix I guess, Bob

Hi Hair Old, Nice to see someone from reel to reel days, still have my Teac and a couple of hundred reels back in Canada, maybe some day I'll try to bring them and the couple of thousand albums down here to the tropics. Heat being the killer it is down here will have to get a climate controlled room, not impossible, do miss a lot of the albums, nothing beats the feeling of taking a record out of the jacket, putting it on the turntable swinging the tone arm on (A ReVox turntable), and letting the music play. Must be why I love the minidisc system, it gives you a feeling of being part of the music. Welcome to the community, Bob

Hi There, For ruggedness I don't think you can beat the MZ-NH1, although the NH-900 may come close, and you have the bonus of the batteru pack, but I would go with the NH1 and extra battery. I've had one for a few months, and it is tres solid. You should be able to find one for reasonable money in the seel out stock of any major retailer. Good luck, Bob

Hi Captain, It seems like it could be a while, until it happens you can always use the Hi MD as a feed unit for whatever audio system you have right now( IE, use an adapter cassette, FM transmitter, or line in/out cable) Hopefully Sony or someone makes a deck soon, many would be sold. Bob

I would also recommend the NH1, I've had mine a few months, and am amazed at it's solid build. My 707 lost it's ability to record, the NH1 is miles above it. Get it while you can,, order an extra battery while you are at it, unless there is somplace in your locality that has them. I get a good two days listening out of mine. Bob

The thing to remember with the hard drive based units is that it is a very small drive rotating at high speeds. No shock absorbing mechanism is going to be able to protect a disc at all times, and when it crashes, ( and it will, as even home computers that don't move crash their hard drives), bye bye several hundred, or thousand songs. Sure, we have SS, but everything has it's bugs, MP3 isn't everything, certainly not HiFi, and with HiMD, you can get a lot of material on a disc, certainly more tha one sittings worth of listening. Get a good high end MD recorder, and you will be happy. And last, MD's are great for live recording. Choose well, Bob

Hi there, Two or three years ago when I was looking for my first unit (MZ-N707 was the final rsult, although I sent enough fund for a 909 and an N1), was doing a lot of searches for MD sites, found this one, and haven't left. A great group of people, and lots of help. To a long life, Bob

Hi Tommy Tunes, Quite a list, but here are three I have that are not on your list, and from seeing catalogues of a couple of years ago, both Roger and Miles had quite a few on minidisc. Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain Roger Waters - Amused to Death Gescom Good luck compiling, Bob

If you like progressive music, try progressivearchive.com, great stuff, I've used real for a while, but very expensive, and don't have a lot of what I like to listen to.

Hi woodgnome, I've made many recordings on my NH1, no hint of any problem, if you RTFM, you will see that there are some minor limitations, but I haven't even com clode to exploiting them. Try another unit, or get off the bandwagon, these things are great, beats any hard drive unit out there, ability to record and upload is a great feature. Learn to love your unit, Bob

just watched Shall we Dance last night, fair, but the trailer for the Japanese version makes want to go out and get it.

See if you can find a clearance on an NH1 or NH900, they are solid, dependable, versatile, and will outlast any I-Pod on the planet. With mic/line in your recording options expand, and with live recording you can upload. 5 minutes to record a cd wh cares, remeber reatime not that log ago. Stay away from hard drive units, reliability is an issue. Good luck, use the force, Bob

A New Mix Magazine The Correct use of Soap Magazine Real Life, Stranglers IV Rattus Norvegicus, Stranglers Feline The Church Heyday The Dream Syndicate The days of wine and Roses L ene Lovich Greatest Hits Nina Hagen Was Denn Luxuria Beast Box , Jonathan Elias Requiem for the Americas, Songs from the lost world, Will to Power Journey Home all in all a wierd compilation disc, but that't the way I Like em, Bob

Could also be that the wires to the record head are broken. If you have a Sony dealer around it may be worth your while to take it in and have them go over your unit. Good luck, Bob

All of them!! Could be one if it's a really long song, or many if they are short songs at low bitrates. It's a compromise, quality, listening environment, etc. Bob

Hi Aeriyn, You are very knowlegeable, and have many useful insights, but his is prmarily a minidisc site, and most people her love their minidiscs shorfalls and all. Ipods may have some advantages, but when the hard drive crashes, ouch. Agreed though, with a Mac it may have some advantages, but it is not the best by a very long shot. The best does not exist, that is why we have choices. Have a good one, Bob

Hi Rachel, The NH800 is more an entry level, and has a radio tuner built into the remote and has more flexible battery options. The NH1 is more solidly built, has less flexible battery usage, you have to use the lithium ion that it comes withn new batteries are a little pricey. NH1 has a better amp and better recording options. I have an NH1, and love it, it is a vast improvement over the MZ-N707 I have. If you go to the main page under equipment you can see some of the differences. Given the choice, I would go NH1, boils down to dollars. Good luck Bob