Thanks everybody for your helpful replies. I have decided for now to go with -- tape. My reason is idiosyncratic and may annoy some of you. Sorry. Here's what I was thinking: I really love great audio, but find myself in a lifestyle that doesn't allow for a lot of quiet, reflectic, analytical listening in a subdued, dedicated listening room. It's more like Can I hear something new as I'm driving the kids to daycare? Can I pick up a bit of sonic joy as I'm cleaning up the living room and washing the dishes? Can I get in a funk groove while grabbing a precious few minutes to exercise? Whatever I would get would be used in the car and on an exercise bike as much as in the living room. I would buy a recorder in anticipation of buying a new system for my car as well. (The existing CD player is on its last legs.) So here's the cincher for me: I went to my downtown library branch yesterday and saw they have literally hundreds of tapes available to borrow. Everything you can imagine. Music, of course, but also great fiction and nonfiction books. I just finished Doris Kearnes Goodwin's book on FDR and Eleanor during WW2. So sitting right there on the shelf is a tape that has FDR's Fireside Chat speeches during that time. I open up the box and see it, along with every other tape I inspect, is in great shape. It hasn't been abused by your typical library patron. Do I see any CDs around that I can borrow? A few. Any MDs? No, not a one. I realized that at this point in my life, I'd rather hear something completely new -- like FDR's speeches -- that makes me think and feel differently than something that is pleasant but expected. Yes, CD and MD would sound better, but what am I going to do -- check out the FDR tape to record it onto an MD or CD so I can play it in my car? In sum, I've decided this is a quantity of info vs. a quality of info decision, and I'm opting for quantity.
MD vs. tape
Realizing that neither of these formats are considered audiophile quality, I'm still interested in a comparison between using a minidisk recorder vs. a cassette tape deck for basic recording purposes. My use would be primarily in the car or for taping FM broadcasts, with an occasional home playback of recorded, borrowed CDs/vinyl. I have no substantial investment in either format, but would be interested in a comparison of buying an MD deck vs. a (probably used) tape deck for these purposes. I assume that both formats will become obsolete within a matter of, say, 5 years. So my expectations are only for a temporary system.
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- 12 posts total
- 12 posts total