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andrzejpw:

shouldn't it be "denon 370 -> cmoy -> hd580s"?

I don't have any NetMd unit so I can't comment on that. Based on my extensive experiences with MD, it is a great format. However, if all his music is in an mp3 format...cd/mp3 is one nice solution. I used to own the Sony D-CJ01 and was very impressed by it. It has a good line out and good battery life. The design is also very classy. If "sound quality" is the most important, recommend your friend for sharp md recorder units.

Purk

MD is great for sound quality, portability and battery life but it may not be convenient for a person with a MP3-oriented music collection. The idea of NetMD was awesome and was supposed to level was playing field with MP3 players in regards to direct digital transfers from computer to the portable device. Unfortunately, Sony did a crappy job as usual and is not as hot as it could've been. However, I for one have no problem with real-time recording, and I currently have 0 MP3's on my computer (and quite proud of it), so all my music is on CD or vinyl. I do all my recording and editing on my Type-R Sony MD deck and listening on my Sharp MT77 portable. When I get some spare time I'm going to make a PC ->IR interface to make titling easier on the deck. My deck doesn't support a keyboard.
Anyway, for me, real-time recording is no problem but for the average Joe, that's just too much trouble. It all depends on whether or not he wants optimal sound quality or not.

What's his budget? Is he considering any iPod or iPod-like devices? If he can afford it, I think that'd be perfect for him....

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Well yes, 4x dubbing could be fun, but I ain't got the cash so bleah.

Thanks guys,
I'll give this post one more day then print it out.
thanks,
md

Millerdog,
Here's the list of some of the older mds, and they are the best ever made:

Player:

1)Sharp MD-SS-323
Pro: Aluminum chassis with slot in mechanism, 13 factory presets DSPs (first and only DSP md), 2 modes bass/treble adjustment, super cool backlit LCD on the unit, LI-IOn battery, and super cool design. Charge & Play simutaneously. This unit is arguably the best MD players every made. To my ears, with the 13 DSPs and 2 user define and surround mode, this is the D-555 of MD. It is the best sounding portable audio devices I have (through headphone out only).
Con: A bit bigger than today's standard (20.1 mm thick). 14 hours of batt life. Very hard to find (impossible now in Ebay) b/c of the Japanese Domestic unit.

2) Sharp MT-831
Pro: Very classy chasis, beautiful LCD design, great headphone amp (10 mw x2), great for live recording, fade out features, strong X-bass system (leave the muddy megabass in the dust), Li-ion battery, slim & compact desing, and charge & play simutaneously. Great for rocks, pops, and bass heavy musics.

Con: 12-14 hours of batt life, not as great as Sony's for female vocal music.

3) Sharp MT-821
Pro: Similar to the 831...
Con: U-TOC Errors!!!, bigger than today's standard, 10 hours of batt life.

4) Sony MZ-R50
Pro: Magnesium chassis baby!, super built quality, one of the most reliable unit out there, delicate line out, very classy design, titanium tray, li-ion battery, charge & play simutaneously, and jog dial for easy titling. The line out is great and comparable to those of D-E905.
Con: Big but not thick!, distorted sound (megabass), and medicore batt life (7 hours max).

5) Sony MZ-R900
Pro: First MDLP recorder/unit, great design, good battery life (NI-MH), great for vocal musics, small & compact, and very reliable.
Con: Sound thin with rocks and pops music, no charge & play simutaneously, a pain to navigate the menu (compares to the r-50, and older mds), not as solid as the older recorders (built quality).

.................................................. ..................................................
That's all I have to comment. Please, add if you agree/disagree.

Millerdog,
Hopefully, your friend'll like my recommendations.

Purk


P.S.
These are the player/recorder I have. I can't comment on the sound quality of others model. I've been through at least 15 md player/recorder and I'm very familiar with Sharp and Sony sound.

Those of you looking for r-50s need to spend a little more time on ebay. I snagged one in mint condition a few months ago for something like 72 bucks. Well worth it.

I know you said your friend could not burn cd's, but I just thought I would mention that cd-burners are very cheap and blank cd's can be had very cheaply as well. Since md players are usually very expensive.....just a thought.

Ray

okay, the facts.

cd/mp3
pros:
a cdr can hold a lot of mp3's
cdr's are cheap.
high end unit not as expensive than high end md unit.
fast cd burning
cons:
mp3 sound quality is more lossy compared to md atrac encoded songs.
cd burner dependent (ripping mp3's).
large and bulky compared to md's (you need a bag if you want to go out).
no unit so far has better sound output quality compared to md units (but these are unperceptable if you don't use good earphones).
discs are sensitive and susceptible to scrathes.
quite combersome when changing discs (can't be done with one hand or when running)
can't transfer songs from your cassette collections or your vinyl turntable.

minidisc
pros:
minidisc blanks are also cheap, very stylish, small and portable. (great if you're a minimalist)
you can get a cheaper md unit for $150 bucks more or less
unit is sooo small you can jog or do active activity with it in your pocket.
if you want to record you 5 year old daughter's songs or your guitar playing, you can do it with far better sound quality compared to cassette recording. (digital)
sound quality (the same or better than cd quality in sp recordings).
you can step on your minidisc blank and you can still play it without any difference
can record from any audio source whether it be digital or analog. you can even record your phone conversations.
you can record and rerecord on your blanks for hundreds (or millions as sony claims) of times without any sound degredation on the blank. (you can only do this with a cd-rw which costs a bit more than a regular cdr)
etc.
cons:
lesser songs in a single blank compared to a single cdr
expensive units if you want the best ones
netmd ripping is not as fast as burning a cd
*can't think of anything else

thanks all!
I will print this out from here.
I think there's enough to think about.
If not, then email me, so I can print it out.
thanks again!
md

Although I agree the MZ-R900 is a 'modern' classic MDR, the R909 outdoes it with on-the-fly recording and a three-line LCD display. I can't get into the new MZ-N1 and MZ-R910, as both of these high-end recorders look sort of cheap, and don't have that 'feel' to them as do the R900/909 series.

I simply can't see how anyone could want anthing but a MiniDisc recorder for truly portable applications, plus the ability to make field recordings.

"Real-time" recording isn't so bad, if you do have some mp3's in your hard drive.(and who doesn't?!) It's not worth all the effort to get a Net MD unit just to have the Open MG software, as so many people seem to find it cumbersome; hopefully, the 'next' generation packaging will be an improvement. We'll see.

i agree with Superbaldguy that the software is cumbersome. but i totally disagree that the n1 "sort of look cheap". i own a slim-x just before i had my md. when i got my n1, the slim-x had been gathering dust on my desk. i don't even use it in recording to my md since it doesn't have an optical out (only analog) and my brother has a sony pcdp that i could use for that purpose.

anyway, in the pictures, yes, the n1 looks cheap but if you'll get to own one and get used to the excellent features, you'll know what i mean. i kinda understand that the r909 and the r900 has a more solid feel and built. i totally agree with that. but the n1 has a certain character on it's own. well, i think it's just a matter of opinions.

as for my previous post that md music sound quality is same or better than cd quality in sp type-r atrac recordings, i stand corrected. i was hoping somebody could have corrected this so i could have asked more questions about it (like if the person has access to graph testing etc.). md ripping from a cd, even if it's done by an expensive minidisc hi-fi deck, could never surpass the original cd music quality since the writing method of md is compression. yup, i think it's the highest form of compression at 5:1 that even high quality and expensive headphone and surround speaker equipment, may notice a very small difference, but the qualiity is almost same. you can verify this little difference using graph test. so forgive me, it's not "same as cd" quality but the fitting term could probably be "near cd" quality. so guys, take care of your cd's.

now, if only my sl-ct570 is as small as my n1.

cheers.

I'm looking forward to seeing the next generation of Net MD units, just to see if they look more "professional" than the MZ-N1/R910. Maybe I'm just hung up on the more traditonal style MD recorder.

i'm withe you there. funny, i have the n1 but i still stick to the traditional real time optical sp recordings coz i'm a sucker for sound quality. for the next generation of the net md, most of the people would love to see file transfers to and from the pc. as for me, i would rather hope for them to be able to make use of the type-r codec via usb in real time encoding. did i mention i'm a sucker for sound qual?

cheers.

whew. things are happening fast. in reference to my previous post above, i've just read just now in minidisct forum that sp recordings done via usb in openmg software is actually no as bad as i thought. one person tested the data and found out that even though the data is first decoded to lp2 then transfered to the unit which encodes it to sp.

now, the person testing out found out that the data encoded to sp turns out to be actually a raw, uncompressed format which is quite close in file size to PCM.

now that's something.

i hope a few of you can try to get an md unit and take advantage of this wonderful format and the small and very convinient portable. just a friendly suggestion to all audiophiles.

stay sane.

p.s. i'm gonna get my beyer 770 soon then i could make comparisons on sp and original cd's and tell you guys about it.