MD equipment query

[Paul B. Garrett]

Hi All,

I'm in the early stages of setting up a linguistic anthropology
laboratory, and am shopping for recording equipment.  For
audio-only recording, I want to go with MD (MiniDisc) technology,
about which I've heard and read many good things (some of it here
on linganth).  I've never actually used it before, however--hence
this query.

I'm trying to determine exactly what hardware and/or software one
needs (besides the MD recorder itself) to do the kind of work
that linguistic anthropologists do.  The technical specifications
invariably go on and on about how wonderful MD recorders are for
downloading sound from the Internet and other digital sources,
but nothing at all is said about going in the other direction,
i.e. uploading one's recordings (made in the non-digital, a.k.a.
"real," world) *from* the MD *into* a computer (for analysis,
editing, etc.).  The lab will be Mac-based, by the way.

Can anyone offer advice?  I recognize that detailed technical
discussions are not necessarily appreciated by those who don't
use the technology in question (or who have already mastered it),
so please contact me off-list at pgarrett at temple.edu.  (Anyone
who *is* interested is of course welcome to contact me as well
for a summary of responses.)

Thanks,
Paul

Paul B. Garrett
Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA  19122

pgarrett at temple.edu