About a year ago I, I made the same transition (from MD to Solid State). I went from the Sony MZ-RH1 hi-md recorder to the Edirol R-09HR. ... I have to admit, I was a little skeptical prior to purchasing the Edirol, but after receiving it and using it multiple times, it's hard to imagine that I was once even using MD in the first place. I say go for the R-09HR, most definitely! You'll never look back. :-)