I use a Sony ECM-MS907 and I like it, but it's fairly expensive and, I think, overkill for most situations where I use the recorder. Les has it right re: getting great recordings of conversations going on around you or people eating, crumpling wrappers, etc. One nice thing about the ECM-MS907 is that it has two settings, one for 90 degree coverage and one for 120. If I can get close enough to the performer(s) and use the 90 degree setting, I can usually cut out much of the extraneous sound. But I still mainly use the recorder to record music that I'd like to learn for myself, so the quality only needs be good enough for me to get the tune.