Just came back from vacation where I had a lot of fun recording tunes on my brother-in-law’s Sharp MD recorder. It seems from the reading I’ve done that users are happier with the Sharp MDs than with the Sony ones. Problem is, Sharp does not make MD recorders for the US market any longer and the only ones available come from Japan (meaning one has to use a converter).
Has anyone bought a “japanese” Sharp MD Recorder, and if so, what is your feedback on using them with a power converter?
Thanks!
I have a Sharp DR-7 minidisc recorder that I bought in Japan. It’s great. It’s my second Sharp. They have the advantage over Sony for recording live sounds that you can alter the recording levels while recording. On the sony units, you must be paused to change levels. I’ve never had a problem with either unit.
You have a few options now that sharp has pulled out of the US minidisc market:
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A Japanese domestic model. This will come with a manual in Japanese with an English “quick start” chapter, and a 100V 50/60Hz power adapter. If you get this, it will probably work OK with this adapter, but you might be safer to either order a 120->100 converter, or go to Radio Shack and get the correct voltage adapter - you pick the transformer and the little pin connector separately. This works well.
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An “international” model. This will come with a multi-language manual, and probably a 100-220V 50/60Hz adapter.
www.minidisco.com probably has both flavors of recorders. I ordered my first recorder from them about 3 years ago now. They also carry a decent range of microphones. There are other US sources for these “grey market” imports. www.minidisc.org probably has some pointers to these.
Too bad that minidisc is pretty much a dud in the US market. I think it’s great. Very popular in Japan. Here, only musicians seem to know about it.
MP3 recorder are starting to appear around here that might kill MD.
I have a Sharp MD-SR60 MD that I bought on ebay used. I have really liked it and it does a wonderful job. My only complaint about it is that I wish it had automatic recording level control - it is manual. Makes it a bit interesting when I am trying to record a workshop and have to play and watch the volume level at the same time. Anyway, you might check eBay for used Sharp MD.
I don’t know which way I am going to go when my MD player gives out. I hear the new Sony MDs are nice and have digital transfer capability now. But, then again, I keep drooling over the Creative Nomad Jukebox 3. 
So, time will tell. One positive though about digital though (whether MP3 or MD) is the ability to transfer directly to the computer without real-time analog transfer (like I do today). That would be a big time saver…