Well I've got a recommendation, but it doesn't meet all your requirement: The iRivier ifp 700 and 800 series. They have a built in mic, but it isn't very good quality. You can built a good quality stereo mic though for surprisingly little money. Here's an article I wrote on how to do it with an old pair of heaphones for about $4: http://art.simon.tripod.com/stealth.html The ifp700 and 800 series are the only flash based mp3 recorders that can power a mic that has electret condenser elements. The iRiver ifp 700 and 800 series record mp3s upto 320kps, which for many purposes is fine. They've developed something of a following among video and blog producers: http://www.geekfishing.net/media/podcast/2005/03/16/iriver_ifp799_recording.html http://www.videouniversity.com/iriver.shtml http://todmaffin.com/blogs/radio/?p=912 While they've been discontinued, they are still cheap. You can get the 128Mb ifp-780 for $59.95 from the iriver store right now: https://secure15.nexternal.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=iriver&BusType=BtoC&Count1=402218043&Count2=319358468 The downsides are that the user interface is very confusing and they have a reputation for being fragile. And no built in compression per your requirements. On 3/27/06, 3nki <3nki@modaldub.net> wrote: > hello list! > > i am looking for a cheap and portable digital audio recorder. i've > seen some nice ones, but they aren't cheap at all. perhaps some > people on the list have ideas? ;) > > important qualities: > - built-in mic > - USB or Firewire connection to computer > > desirable: > - built-in compression > - decent audio quality > - stereo recording > > thanks for any advice! > > -3nki > > -- Art Simon simart@null.net http://art.simon.tripod.com http://artsimon.iuma.com