Device to record & playback music ?

I suggested the MD primarily because I thought it was probably closest in functionality and interface to a tape deck, at least to a cassette deck. It's capable of making a perfect digital copy so the sound of it will be as good as the digital original played back through the same system.

A reel to reel deck would be a great way to preserve the analog character if you're recording from a turntable and that sound is important to you. It would be less convenient but if leaving digital out of the equation is what you want, it's a good way to go.

I haven't used the Tascam, Korg or Alesis units recommended by Ajahu and Dopogue but I'm sure they have their own advantages. CDR and CDR-W blank media are going to be easier to find and cheaper than minidiscs.

DAT - Digital Audio Tapes, see panasonic (professional) and Tascam, along with others.

Follow Dopogue's suggestion. The only thing I will add is if you want higher resolution than Red Book CD, go for Tascam's DV-RA1000 high res. digital recorder. I will plug into your system just like a cassette deck or CD recorder would. As for CD recorders, there were a number of them offered to the consumer market. If you go that route, stick with the CD recorders used in the pro market. Besides Tascam, there is HHB (made by Pioneer), and the well made Sony units CDRW33 and CDRW66.

best of luck

JOhn

What;s the difference in all the Tascam models? What brand and model is the best? The best for the money? And why. Many thanks, stuart.meyers@comcast.net

If you are not concerned with taking the music with you on portable cassette or CD, and you want to "recycle" a piece of gear that probably hasn't seen much use since the advent of DVD and Tivo, you may want to consider dusting off your trusty HiFi VHS deck.. They don't call-em HiFi for nothing! It will record near-CD quality stereo audio that will trounce the cassette format for signal/noise and you get a minimum of 2 hours of music per tape. Many decks even have VU meters so you can set your own recording levels. You could record in EP mode and get 6 hours on a standard T-120 tape which would still sound very good for mix tapes/background music. The tape counter would make it easy to index and find your songs. Just set the VCR's input to "Line" and you're good to go.

I can't help you with that blinking "12:00" though.. :)

-jz