So close...
If you're tired of the MD "sound", I just picked up a really neat little recorder. It's made by M-Audio and called the "Microtrack 24/96". It records stereo audio onto compact flash cards. It can record mp3 files up to 320kbs and .wav files up to, well, 24/96. Best of all, you can "drag and drop" the files you record right onto your computer. It's very slick and sounds way better than any minidisc I've ever heard.
More info:
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MicroTrack2496-main.html It sells just about everywhere for $400.