Re. Mini discs recorders (we still have one we use for out and about recordings) - Am I wrong in thinking the discs for these machines (not the standard minidisc) are getting hard to find? I've noticed most of our suppliers here in the UK have dropped them.
Have always added a analogue stage in recording process to add warmth to the sound even though the main recordings are digital.
As said above many 4 track digital recorders (and some 8 track) use smartmedia to record to in MP3 format, which is ok for notebook jottings but too compressed for using for Audio CDs.
The Tascam, and Yamaha are both nice hard drive recorders - the Tascam being a little less involved re patching etc. The price on both of these is also very keen at the moment.