My twopennyworth : Yes MD is a "lossy System (via ATRAK) but it is only important if you are rerecording back to MD, where it will apply the compression again, and more detail is lost.   Also the first statement about using low recording levels is not so good a theory, cos when you then "boost" the signal as its put, you raise the noise floor up as well ( crap in = crap outx2) You should always try to record the source at as near 0db as possible, and only if recording at 26 bit and above with a low noise level card can you allow a bigger"overhead" Sorry to get technical   cheers