Digital Preamp > Important To Have?

[mypointofview]

I like to do audio recordings, so I need a device with Mic-In. I noticed that some MiniDisk recorders offer as an added feature a thing called "Digital Amp" like the RH910 http://www.minidisc.org/part_Sony_MZ-RH910.html.

What is Digital Amp, and do I really need this?

Since I'm a radio lover too, and the NHF800 http://www.minidisc.org/part_Sony_MZ-NHF800.html has also a Mic-In -- I'm wondering which one to purchase.

I want to record ambient sounds for my (semiprofessional) movie clips -- but who knows - maybe I want to record more fancy stuff later too.

-- Martin in Los Angeles

PS. My only portable audio for the moment is a Sony Clie NZ90 with MemoryStick and CF Card.

[A440]

The digital amp only affects playback, not recording, which is apparently the same in all the Hi-MDs. If you are going to be uploading recordings to your computer and listening to them from computer or burned CD, then you don't need the digital amp; reviews on whether it improves the sound on MD playback or adds its own coloration have been mixed. The NH-900 (the current step up from the NHF-800) has some other features, like line-out and pitch control, that may be useful to you.

Note that with the NHF-800 you can't record the radio to the MD, if that's what you had in mind. But I have one, and except for one true annoyance--you can't make Manual Volume the default setting for recording, but have to go through 9 clicks through menus each time you want to use it--I'm quite happy with it. That annoyance is common to all Hi-MDs at the moment.

The RH series is not for sale yet, but is due next month. No one knows yet whether it has a default to Manual Volume. You might want to wait a month and see how the RH910 is received or pick up a NHF-800 when it becomes an older model and the price drops.