This may help a bit. I have a 5gb Seagate Microdrive, that I picked up on ebay, and it was really cheap. (I cannot recall the price, but it was easily a steal compared to what was out there at the time.) I have used it many times now with my Microtrack 24/96, but always at 44.1/16 bit which I am guessing what you mean by average cd rates. In that capacity, it has been flawless, live loud noisy venues, quiet venues, etc. I am very happy with it. If I have one negative, it eats power, probably more than a CF card, but I have a small battery box I use to make this a non issue.