i liked the MD route for a couple years, but was always frustrated by the optical IN/analogue OUT. so i opted for a 'stand-alone' CD burner (pioneer) - now i record directly to CDRW, then if i like the mix, burn the RW to a CDR using another CD player. the CDR copy is now a perfect recording (using an optical cable) from the original RW.
the downside is that copy cannot be copied due to factory encoding (i believe this is the result of a deal w/major label record companies) - however, you can always use the original RW to make repeat digital copies (without the track marks that were so thoughtfully put onto the CDR copy!)...another minor problem is the CD burners are very sensitive to record volumes (not like tapes that can be pushed)...if you go over too much, the result is an unpleasant distortion. ...not perfect, but not bad.
