Hi Steve. Since your message I have had a word with one of the best informed minds on digital recording that I knowand he has settled the argument as far as I am concerned. I was wrong of course in my assertion that the Olympus was a better device than the Ederal, but his comments are worth listening to. He states,... were I having a discussion with a real audiophile about which would give me the best quality sound, I would have to say that the Edirol would be the choice. Of course, I didn't buy one and I did buy an Olympus. Reason, the noise of the mike pre-amps in the Edirol are way too noisy for my taste. That alone was the killer for me. I have a Zoom which is not very accessible to people who are blind but makes a very nice, quiet high fidelity recording even on 128 KBPS MP3, and this MP3 recording is much better than what the Edirol will give you in MP3. the Zoom will also record in 44.1 and 48 sampling rate and in 16 and 24 bit. I purchased an Olympus for note taking and for interviews that I will be transcribing to paper and electronic format and not as a recorder I will use for podcasts, etc. Other people certainly will use the Olympus for that and some will have success. Others who don't happen to have the mikes that work well with the Olympus will get distortion and a lot of limiter pounding. Bottom line, in my opinion, technically, he may be right, but he doesn't have to be such a jerk about it. So, be glad you have something you like, make recordings you like, and enjoy listening to them and sharing them with others and let the other people who think they have to badger people go right ahead. As long as you like what you have, that's what counts. Just my 2 cents worth. ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** and in the Subject line type ** unsubscribe ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the ** immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] ** or send a message, to ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq