blackdot1

Just about anyone recording live shows in PCM with a Hi-MD portable would love to take the disc home, kick back in his best chair, and do his editing with a remote. I would think that Sony could double its sales to a high percentage of RH and NH owners. I bet Sony is waiting for dealers to finish clearing their shelves of JE480's before committing. Which is too bad, I bet the 480 is a really great machine, but no way in heck I'm buying a deck that won't play my Hi-MD discs! Sony could produce a really successful deck, with rack ears available as an option for mobile pro use. Pretty much a JE480 with digital and analog ins and outs, a usb plug, the usual editing features, and the very latest version of SonicStage; make the list price $199 and you've got a winner. Used rackmountable E-series pro decks are bringing huge prices on Ebay-- and Sony isn't getting any of that revenue. I'd buy a sturdy deck that's not too esoterically priced and overengineered. Where I think Sony has really missed the boat is in their effort to promote Hi-MD as the answer to iPods and mp3 players. The first HiMD product packages had "45 hours on 1 disc!" splashed across the front (translation: you can get 45 hours of the worst possible compressed audio quality on 1 disc!), and no mention that 1 1/2 hours of full CD quality had been achieved. Minidisc has a loyal following that appreciates high quality and portability, not to be confused with the lowest common denominator of joggers, etc, for whom mp3's are just fine.