Features:
- 3-CD changer, 1-CD recording deck
- Microphone input for karaoke mix recording
- High-speed (2x) recording
- Coaxial and optical digital-audio inputs
- Text entry
Description:
Philips' CDR785BK CD recorder offers karaoke and full CD-changer performance, making it a useful CD player as well as a fun, convenient recorder. Whether you're shuffling songs between the four decks (three playback trays and one record tray), drawing songs from three decks to record on the fourth, or recording your own voice over instrumental karaoke backing tracks, the CDR785BK is one potent, music-making machine. The CDR785BK is equally happy receiving data from either of the two established means of digital audio transmission (optical or coaxial), and its analog inputs let you feed the recorder from external devices such as a cassette deck or a turntable--though a turntable must first be routed through a phono preamplifier, such as the phono input on a receiver. You can customize your CDs by recording at either normal or double speed from any or all of the three player decks to the recorder deck. Double-speed recording can only take place during internal digital dubbing, however. CDs made from analog or external digital sources--or discs made from copies of digital recordings (see the accompanying FAQ for more detail)--must be made at single speed. All recording falls into one of four categories. In any category, the process is the same: first you select the type of recording you'll be making, then you hit Record--it's pretty much that simple. With high-speed (2x) recording and automatic finalizing (preparing it for use in standard CD players), the CDR785BK will make a CD from another CD or from a programmed sequence, initiating simultaneous recording and playback and then finalizing the finished CD (please see the accompanying FAQ for more detail on finalizing). No sound can be heard while the recorder is operating at double speed. Alternately, you can opt for the second recording mode, high-speed recording, which lets you add subsequent music before finalizing--perfect for recording short albums that let you add extra songs at the end, or for making compilations on a track-by-track basis, when you're not sure what goes on until you record it. You can even isolate a segment of a track and record that. The third recording option is normal-speed recording, which allows you to hear what you're recording while you're recording it, whether it's a whole CD, a track, a program, or a track segment. We found this mode captures the sound most faithful to the source recording. Lastly, the CDR785BK lets you record the sound of your own (or someone else's!) voice, with or without mixed-in music accompaniment. Any microphone with a quarter-inch jack will work here, and the CDR785BK lets you adjust the relative level of voice to music. A headphone jack is a huge convenience, and Philips thoughtfully stations a volume control alongside it. The only real drawback is the absence of a fade-in/-out button, whose absence forces you to record from the analog inputs and perform manual fades if you want smooth transitions between cuts from live albums or if you want to squeeze a three-minute song onto the end of a disc with only 2:45 remaining. In our view, however, the many conveniences far outweigh the unit's shortcomings. With karaoke, the ability to alter the level of the digital input, the ability to alter the balance between the left and right channels, and the presence of a safety feature called automatic level control (which prevents incoming analog signals from exceeding the maximum signal level), you'll have nearly unparalleled freedom to customize your music. --Michael Mikesell Pros:
- Can be used as a 4-disc changer for playback and programming
- Convenient recording of tracks from 3 discs to 1
- High-quality analog-to-digital converters
- High-speed dubbing
- Headphone jack with volume control
Cons:
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