The Edirol R-1 24-bit DAT/MD-recorder killer

We don't know anyone but the most seasoned bootlegger who's going to drop five and a half Bens on this thing, but how very, very much we wish we had one of these for when The Ramones were still alive and playing. The Edirol R1 has just about everything you could ever want in a portable digital recording unit that DAT, MD (which actually doesn't even really count, since most any consumer MD won't do digital output), and a handful of portable audio players (like the Nomad Jukebox 3, for instance) haven't gotten together: 24-bit/44.1kHz audio processing with loads of effects and tweaks, MP3 encoding, a USB 2.0 port, S/PDIF optical out, and two integrated mics and line-ins (stereo, man) all in a 4 x 5.5-inch box that runs on two AA batteries and stores on CompactFlash. Unfortunately the largest supported CF card is 2GB, so if you're planning on taking it to a Sonic Youth show and doing 24/44.1 raw, it's probably best to bring a couple of cards to change out at the second or third intermission.

[Via DAPreview]