kubladrum

Thanks a lot rirsa -- I'll check these out.

Thanks for the insightful response Classicalgas! I owned an MD previously until it gave out on me. I was very pleased with the excellent quality recordings. But in deciding whether to replace it or not, it seems that the performance gap with the HD recorders is quickly closing. As I said, I don't need super high quality recording capability -- I never really even pushed my MD to the limits of this -- just want to playback rehearsals and gigs to for my own review and critique. Can I get a decent, listenable recording from an HD recorder like an Archos? Regarding storage, I basically have unlimited capacity either way by uploading files to my computer. But I like the idea that I could carry around the bulk of my CD collection on an HD recorder when I travel. No discs to keep track of -- I still have a shoebox full of those little things that I need to label and upload to my PC. Being able to drag-and-drop from the HD is pretty cool, rather than going through file conversions or uploading to my PC in real time. I know what I want to be able to do, it's a matter of whether an HD recorder will do it. From what I can tell, the good HD's like the Archos seem to be able to do just about everything I ever wanted from my MD. Really, I think the recording quality is the only thing that would keep me from switching formats at this point. Does anyone have experience with live recording to one of these portable HD players?

I'm also debating going the harddisk route versus buying a HI-MD unit. I don't need super hi-fidelity. Just enough for reference recordings on gig. The new Archos gmini 400 looks like it overcomes many of the previous drawbacks of a hd recorder ... i.e. adjustable record levels, recording in WAV format, drag-and-drop file upload/download, recording editability. You can also store 20gig, any file format. And no proprietary software. Still no dry batteries which is a drag or mic input, but can't I get around that with a powered mic into the line-in? Has anyone else seen these? Can anyone convince me why HI-MD is still the better alternative? Please help! Thanks!