Well, forget what i said about analog sounded good - i just finished digitally dubbing Everclear's "So much for the afterglow" CD with a friend's PS2. Digital recordings sounds soooo much clearer, and the sound opens up - loud parts are loud, soft parts are soft, and there is no audible hiss - at least, not to me. Now, my analog dubs sound as if some sort of satanic AVLS feature created in hell was in place - everything stays at roughly the same volume - some rock and jazz pieces REALLY got hurt because of that. So....ignore what i said about analog recording of CDs to MD - it's ok, but digital kicks azz. Also, analog recording would probably benefit from a source better than a circa '93 Sony minisystem.
Also, LP2 is, frankly, EXCELLENT sounding. Unless you get some non-portable cans, like Grado 80s, to use @home in a quiet enviroment, i think it would be really hard to tell the ATRAC and ATRAC3 LP2 apart.....especially when used portably.
People who think that LP2 is terrible, because you sacrifice detail, and such, are two things - annoying and slightly foolish. ONLY SLIGHTLY. I say that because LP2, and, for that matter, MD, are all implementations of technology for creating a PORTABLE audio device. PORTABLE! Not some sort of be-all, end-all, this-pairs-with-stax-well -type device. For me, CDs stay @ home now, and MD goes on the road. That means my MD will be used 70% of the time, now...
More later.....(i'm workin on that review)