Price Paid:  $118.00 from Tweeter - closeout p

Summary:
I have been using MD for years. This is a great little product. I would recommend it to anyone. If I were going to record a CD from live recorded material, I would just pop the MD into a MD home deck and use the optical out to a CD burner. It's easy, I do it all the time. Why bother with the Sony software.

For recording from a CD to MD, just do the opposite. For my airplane listening MD's, I pop 5 CD's in the changer, 1 MD in the deck on LP4, hit record and walk away. Come back later and it's done. Try that with an iPod.....

Strengths:
Great sound, small, good battery life, 1 GB MD - way easier than all those MP3 players.

Weaknesses:
Software

Price Paid:  $210.00 from Sound Advice

Summary:
Do not buy this product, unless losing tracks is your goal. At first, we were very happy with this mini-disc, as the sound quality (if you buy the Sony mic) is impressive. However, when we downloaded the files (which we spent a month live recording) to the software included with the device, they were not able to be burned to a CD, and they were unable to be transferred back to the mini-disc. This came after extensive researching on the Sony web site, downloading the additional upgrade and WAV converter, etc. etc. I spent an hour on the phone with Sony support, at which time they told me to re-transfer the files, which not only was bad advice because it did not transfer again, but it then erased all of the original tracks on the mini-disc. After spending 2 hours on the phone with Sony support, they had no solutions, told us our files were in “limbo” and told us we may not be able to use these tracks and that they would have to call us back. While we waited, we came up with our own backup idea, which would lose sound quality but at least save our files. Sony then called us and recommended the same idea, only they recommended we buy an additional backup disc. We bought two. Good thing we backed it up TWICE, because not only did the software delete the first disc of music, but it also erased part of the backup disc due to an error message that came up from the Sony software (not a computer error, but a SONY SOFTWARE ERROR). Sony support gives you an event number when you call, and they are very courteous, but one event number is not going to cover all of the problems that we encountered with this software. Also, if you call after hours, they ask you ten minutes worth of your personal information and THEN tell you that they are closed and you are not given the option to leave a message. There is no telling when the software is going to fail, and we had to take a gamble with our last disc. Experimentation with tracks is unthinkable, as we were constantly in fear of losing material. We tried to get through the transfer process as fast as possible, for fear of another error message intruding and erasing tracks. We finally got the software to agree with the idea of burning a CD, only to transfer them to the CD in random order (not the order we transferred them). After throwing that CD away, we re-organized the files on the screen, and burned another CD. We had carefully purchased Sony Cds, since we wanted the quality to be top notch. We found that the ONLY Cds that did not come out with a clear recording quality were actually the Sony Cds. We tried three Cds just to make sure it wasn’t one bad CD. Maxell and Philips actually worked much better with the Sony software-- they were flawless. Sony had static throughout the entire CD. All were the same download! Another complaint is that the instructions regarding burning a CD from live audio are not complete. They lead you to the point of transfer from mini-disc to hard drive, and then you are responsible for finding out the remainder of the process (converting files and burning to a CD). Obviously, Sony has now upgraded their product to allow for CD burning, so they should include some information with their product which tells you to upgrade and to use the WAV conversion tool BEFORE you transfer the files to the software included with the product. Why can’t Sony make this compatible with Media Player, for example? Why does it have to be Sony software? Their software obviously needs to be researched further before more people lose valuable recordings. There is no safeguard against lost files. I would recommend buying a DAT recorder or another alternative if you are serious about recording live music. If you decide to purchase this product, I recommend first upgrading to SonicStage 2.3, downloading WAV converter tool (available on Sony web site), and then pray. I at least hope this advice will save you the 30+ hours we spent just at the computer, plus the additional finances that we incurred (cables and discs) just to back something up that should not have needed to be backed up.

Strengths:
Sound quality with Sony mic,Editing ease on mini-disc

Weaknesses:
Erases tracks when transferred to computer.

Similar Products Used:
Marantz recorders, DAT recorders, earlier mini-disc recorders