Is anyone familiar with the ARCHOS JUKEBOX RECORDER 20GB USB 2.0? Worthwhile alternative to a typical minidisk?
http://www.compuplus.com/insidepage.php3?refer=cnet.com&id=1000450

As far as I can see this device only records in MP3. Personally
I wouldn't do that. This means you are working with a lossy
(ie, you LOOSE information) compression format and you are
therefor reducing the quality of your audio. If it can also record
in uncompressed or PCM encoded then it is another story....

Since I'm not into these kind of things I cannot offer you
other options. A good friend of mine is an audio engineer so
I could ask him if you want. Ofcourse everything depends on
budget and personal preferences. If you think you can live with
MP3 recorded audio and you can't get better for this kind of
money then it might be the right choice for you.

Rob,
I've held of responding unitl I got a chance to record with it a few time...and all I can say...(and everyone else thats heard the audio capture with this device) is AWESOME...unbelievable low-end response. Had a recording of a pipe organ made my subwoofer really work for once.....

There is additional firmware (free from Rockbox) that lets this baby scream)....
Mark

Mark,
Does it record in MP3 format, or some kind of raw format?

Does this unit have a MIC input? I did not see it in the specs.

It has a line input...if you use a mic, must use a pre-amp....records in MP3

Any recommendations for a quality battery operated Mic Pre which also provides phantom power ?

Here is the one I bought for the Archos...goto: http://www.techdepot.com/pro/product.asp?productid=1647893

FYI...The Archos becomes awesome with tree firmware available from Rockbox...goto: http://rockbox.haxx.se/

Marty, some of the best preamps are those from Sound Devices (http://www.sounddevices.com). Check out their MP-1 (http://www.sounddevices.com/products/mp1master.htm) or MM-1 (http://www.sounddevices.com/products/mm1master.htm) if you want headphone monitoring. Both of these are single channel but some of the best and most durable you can buy. They do have stereo versions and of course their mixers are considered standard for field recording. The downside? They come at a very high price.

A friend of mine checked with Zotz Digital recently - one of this site's sponsers - and informed me that they are selling it well below retail. I believe it was around $285 for the MP-1, which is a lot better than $420! These are good investments. They'll last a long time, they're rugged, and come in handy in all manner of situations.

Mark, Does the Archos Line-in record mono, or stereo?