Sony introduced the MZ-R37 in 1999. It's very durable and reliable.
Here's a link to the manual:
http://www.minidisc.org/manuals/sony/sony_mzr37_manual.pdfSee page 12 of the manual for instructions about how to switch to
manual control of the recording level. The default is automatic level
control.
The MZ-R37 has digital optical input, but no digital output. The way
to transfer files is (unfortunately) to play them back in real time.
Go line out from the R37 to a line input on your computer.
The latest Sony Hi-MD recorder, the MZ-RH1, has the unusual ability
to upload tracks recorded on standard minidisc machines like the R37.
The transfer uses a USB connection under the control of Sony's Sonic
Stage software. So the tracks transfer in digital form, and at high
speed. If you have a library of standard minidiscs, I think it's
worth buying the $300 RH-1 just for this feature.
Flintstone