An earlier review (July 9, 2002 by "an electronics fan") states that "you can't turn off sync mode." This is not true. You can record from any source, including a microphone, with or without sync mode.
When I first read the July 9th user review, I almost refrained from buying the SR60 because I intended to use it for live recording. Fortunately, I did a little more research (you can even download the user manual from ...) and was glad to learn that the unit would be suitable for my purposes.
I recently purchased an SR60 and have not been disappointed. It does an excellent job of recording live music.

i don't own this md player but i have an older sharp md15. In general, minidisc players are the best portable gadget i've ever owned. Perfect sound quality, convenience and compact too. ANd talk about cheap - 74 minutes of music (a blank disc) costs about a dollar (bought in packs of 20). Forget about the MP3 players where you have to buy expensive memory to get anything more than 2 hours of music. Make as many mini-discs as you like or record over old ones without degradation of sound quality. Easy to record mp3s onto discs or copy your CDs. I copy mostly mp3s downloaded from the internet, but also some CDs and some news programs (selected shorts, marketplace, etc)right off the computer so i can lsiten to them later. Here's my tips for you: * get the best and longest extended warranty you can. Mine has broken and had to be replaced under warranty once. * if you run with mine it will skip unless you hold it in your hand while running, then it works fine. get the nickel metal-hydride rechargable batteries, anything else drains too fast * don't drive with the headphones on - $75 fine in Washington State (and saying you know Jeff Bezos won't get you off, either) * easily plugs into your home stereo or computer to play atCD quality. You can do anything with these things. All with one portable player and a couple of cables. * check out a website by a MD officianado called Houston Viper. He will answer your questions about mini disc players. Very helpful.
These things are so much fun, it's makin a kid out of me again.

my problem has been with the battery--much shorter life between charges. otherwise it's an ok tool that handles well.

The mini discs were supposed to be the next big thing when they came out around 2000. They combined the convenience of a cassette tape with the sound quality of a CD and were more durable than either one. The mini-disc players were going to replace the walkmans and Discmans. Of course, that lasted all of a couple of years until the mp3 players and digital recorders hit, and then by the time smartphones killed those off, mini-discs and their players were relegated to the dust-bin of history. For those of you old enough to get the reference, mini-discs were to the CD what 3.5-inch computer discs (for gen-z think the save icon) were to the 5.25 floppy discs. They were smaller than a CD, could generally hold more data than a cassette tape, and would not skip if you hit a bump while driving as the Discmans did. The players came with a mic port so you could attach an external mic, which I used to record my law school class lectures, and an aux port so that you could transfer music to it from a CD or computer (to make a mixtape) and/or connect it to your car stereo.

I actually still have this, and it still does work. Obviously, I do not use it at all anymore, but if there are any holdouts from the era of physical media and really want to be obscure with their physical media choices, these were awesome for the short time they were around.

I am somewhat of a gadget freak, and this is my most prized posession. I teach music and record all of my own concerts and the quality is incredible. Sharp has made this unit user friendly and sturdy! What a great gadget. 5 stars!