I'd look at something like the Fostex FR-2. Records to flash card, you can pull the card and put it in a USB flash card reader to transfer files... It also has a USB2 port on it. Can record 24/192.

MD will hurt your sound (data compression) and DAT is only 16 bit and tapes are getting to be harder to find. There are a number of good hard disc recorders too, but they are pretty expensive. The Sound Devices 422 is probably the best bang for the buck in that end of things.

--Ben

You have 3 options that I can think of.

DAT, Hi-MD or a non-removable media type device (hard drive).

With DAT, you get what you're used to. It's familiar and you can use your old media. Generally you can also change things like the sampling rate (44.1, 48, etc). They record up to 2 hours of material too I think. As for editing, there really is none. You would have to record everything real time into an editing program.

With Hi-MD (MiniDisc) you don't really have any recording options, other than recording it compressed (ATRAC) or uncompressed (16bit, 44.1Khz/ CD quality). Editing can be easier because you get a better labeling system for the audio on the Minidisc system and you have direct access to anywhere on the disc. Plus you can transfer the recorded data via audio or USB. The disc is self contained so it is a bit more robust than dat. You dont get the same recording time as DAT, only 94 minutes. Although DATs are not widely available, Hi-MD discs are even more scarce.

The hard disc route, from an audio quality standpoint is the same as the minidisc. I haven't seen a unit that allows you to select different sampling rates and such. Not all portable hard disc recorders record WAV files so you need to hunt around. You will get a lot more recording time than you would with either DAT or Minidisc. You want to find out how they transfer data to for editing. the only problem here is you don't really have an archiving option other than downloading everything to some other sort of media whereas with DAT and Minidisc, you've already got it stored.

It depends on what you are using it for. If you need top quality audio, I don't think MiniDisc or Hard drive devices are there yet. They are more consumer oriented. But if you aren't too concerned about the quality, I'd say go the harddrive route. And if you like to archive stuff and label it all, Mididisc might be the way to go.

Marantz has several high-quality chip-based recorders now, with mic pres (Ok, they're not exotic, but they'll get the job done in a pinch) with 48V phantom power as well. Check out their PMD660 or the PMD 670, and the fully pro PMD 671.

ANother up and coming product (I want a COUPLE of these!) is the M-Audio Microtrack 24/96. An amazing amount of features in a small, affordable package. And with the USB connection, you can take you wav files right out of there and dump 'em onto a computer/DAW for editing and things.

Roland makes a few good models as well; cant' recall the product name/numbers, but a google search on "Roland" and portable recorders should get you going in the right direction.

Looks like they're finally getting this stuff sorted out now.

pr0gr4m wrote:
It depends on what you are using it for. If you need top quality audio, I don't think MiniDisc or Hard drive devices are there yet. They are more consumer oriented. But if you aren't too concerned about the quality, I'd say go the harddrive route. And if you like to archive stuff and label it all, Mididisc might be the way to go.

I think it depends on how much you want to spend. The Film world has pretty much exclusively gone to removable disc-based media. DVD, HD, Flash cards, etc... are all standard gear. There are certainly no sonic compromises there... The gear I mentioned all have time code brothers, but these are the cheaper versions. The marantz decks that Joe mentioned are becomming standards in the ENG world and broadcast.

Personally, I would never trust a Minidisc (even the new Hi-MD) to anything that I cared about. I have had too many discs become corrupted over the years and lost the ability to play back anything. It has its good points (for theater, they are great for playback) but always make sure you've backed up EVERYTHING with them.

--Ben

There are many hard disk/flash recorders out there that would be suitable options for you to replace your D8. These would be the 2 I would look at:

Edirol R1
http://www.cascademedia.net/products.asp?catid=94&prodid=1587

Microtrack:
http://www.cascademedia.net/products.asp?catid=94&prodid=1815

BTW, sony is out of production on DAT recorders so the D100 should not be an option. I would also stay away from Minidisk.