MD vs. tape

Thanks for the reply, Taraszki. The limitation with DAT is that I can't play it in the car or through a Walkman, right? I'm not looking for ultimate fidelity here, but rather overall flexibility balanced with halfway decent sound. Maybe this is too much of a mid-fi or a low-fi question for this board, but I would imagine others have thought about how to hear music somewhere other than in their living rooms. Unfortunately for me, I have very little time to sit and listen to my main stereo, so I've got to grab it on the run -- driving to work, washing the dishes, working out. So everybody, what's YOUR solution to that problem?

You will almost undoubtedly have much better results with a tape player. You can get decent used tape players for a song, and you might even get paid for taking a used car tape player. One of the main drawbacks with MD's is the digital compression and minimized bandwith. Basically, you will find yourself losing the most at the extremes (lousy highs and no bass) if you use an MD player. I toyed with idea about 5 years ago and found the MD's to be completely unacceptable. I have a couple of female friends who do prefer the newer MD players for jogging since they're lighter and smaller. You will also likely find a better selection of chioces if you choose to buy tapes from your local record store.

You could get a portable MD instead of a deck. Portability is a plus. Digital has more convenient playback. MD's last longer and are reusable. the audio in your car or headphones will suck anyway. BUY VINYL!

I have Denons' MD-1000 . I have not used a tape since I got it. Don't even think about using tape again, Home Theater had a review and stated that it was almost indistinguishable from their best DAT recorder and way, way more convenient. Do you really want to wait for tape while fast forwarding or rewinding ever again? I have 28 years of experience in recording and the Denon Minidisc recorder sounds better than most analogue 2 track sources I have used.

I would not say that MD sounds better than any 2 track analog. That, in my opinion, is not true. If your not looking to spend much money, and I'm assuming your not. MD might be the way to go. It will sound good in a compromised environment,i.e., your car and it is flexable. By the way the cost of a disk is lower than a good tape. However, you can buy a CDR for relatively cheap. That might be a better option because, "alright all you MD nuts", cd's sound better and everyone has a player.