Thanks Ed and dklein, that's the response I was looking for. Now I know it's a real problem and not a fluke. This board rocks.
So yeah, dklein, that's basically my problem then, is I don't have a preamp (and can't get one right away) so I am stuck with either recording on MD or a jb3 with analog in that's probably a worse situation than recording with MD. I might be able to get a DAT like was suggested on my other thread, but I'm really hesitant about DAT--the constant need to shell out cash for new tapes and batteries, the fact that DAT is slowly disappearing altogether, etc. One way or the other, I don't see myself using DAT in the long run, so I don't want to invest in it right now.
As far as ATRAC goes--here's a basic rundown of what I do with my MD recordings. I will transfer them to my computer via iMic (which offers a quite nice transfer, even though it's analog>USB). I usually do some moderate editing in my computer, mostly eq and compression. I will then burn the audio to CD and take it to my car, where I really have my best playback abilities--I have an Alpine deck, PPI amp, JL Audio component speakers. Those tweeters are really honest (and brutal) about the quality of my recordings. The "lossy compression" that people talk about with ATRAC becomes painfully obvious at that point. You hear it in the high frequencies--especially cymbals. It's not a gross ugly noise, it's kind of hard to describe, but it's there and not natural. The cymbals shimmer more than they are supposed to. The sound has a slightly grainy quality to it, if that makes sense. And I am tired of hearing it in my recordings. If I get the chance to post some recordings, I will. Also, don't assume that's it's my audio software on my PC that's introducing the noise--the editing is all done with internal 32 bit precision. And, even if I don't do any editing at all, I will still hear the same noise by the time it gets to my car stereo.