Customer Reviews

Denon CDR-W1500 Dual-Drive CD Recorder

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I did a lot of research on cd recording devices and read customer reviews all over the internet. It all boiled down to the Denon CDR W1500. It seemed too pricey direct from the "qualified" Denon dealers, and no discounts from them. I found one on-line that included the warranty and a good discount - so I finally got one in my hands. For the past month I've been transferring my old vinyl LPs to cd, either in whole or a track here and a track there.

After I made the first one I played it back and also tried it in my car cd player and it was - AWESOME! (a word I rarely use.) This process will not remove the background clicks, blips and noise from worn records but if you are recording from fairly well kept albums it will amaze you with the fidelity.

I had some trepidation in preparing for the first recording since many reviewers found the process and the menu tree to be unbelievably complex and difficult to master. I don't know what their problem was but I read through the instructions once and made the first recording with very little effort and no mistakes. After that it gets even easier.

For LP transfer I would recommend using the manual mode to insert track changes, otherwise background hiss can prevent the auto mode from recognizing that the song has ended. I really like the advantage of dual tray recording, allowing a direct recording from an existing cd.

Denon advises using only music cds and that is what I did, bought in bulk. I had also read that some folks had problems even with music cds and it could be that the best is Memorex 32x (I think it says 40x on the label). They have worked for me.
I've had and still have other Denon audio products and have been a happy with all of them. This is one more I can add to the list.

Considering the volume of LPs I have to record, this has been well worth the money and I have been more than satisfied with the results.

I HAVE OWNED THIS RECORDER FOR MANY YEARS AND IT IS THE BEST
PURCHASE I HAVE EVER MADE. THE RECORDINGS ARE PERFECT. IT IS
EXTREMELY EASY TO USE AND IS A GREAT PLAYBACK UNIT AS WELL.

IT MAY SEEM PRICEY, BUT BELIVE ME IT IS WORTH EVERY BIT OF THE COST. IT IS ALSO VERY DURABLE, I HAVE ONLY NEEDED TO HAVE IT
LOOKED AT ONCE. THAT WAS MAINLY FOR CLEANING.

YOU CAN'T GO WRONG IT IF YOU WANT TO MAKE PERFECT COPIES OF YOUR
FAVORITE MUSIC. I HAVE RECORDED OVER A THOUSAND DISCS WITH THIS UNIT AND THEY ARE ALL PERFECT.

THIS IS TRULY A BEST BUY!

I wanted to be able to copy my old 33 records to a CD-R. This recorder is doing a good job of that but the instructions were not in the best format for me to understand without lots of trial and error. Also I wanted to be able to make Ballroom Dance music for continuous play for group dances. This machine does a good job after you understand all of the procedures.

This CD recorder is very nicely engineered and has a robust CD burner.

One major problem is the total lack of any meaningful technical support.

The owners manual was apparently translated directly from Japanese. So, many parts of this are extremely difficult to understand. Worse, if you call or Email Denon tech support they are unable to answer even simple questions.

My machine will record fine off an outside source (record, tape etc) but will not copy CDs of any type or any length. I keep getting the same error message "CDR-short".

Denon customer service knows nothing about this product and the manual does not address this problem.

I have never been able to copy a CD with this machine, although I have made hundreds of copies using other CD recorders.

Prospective buyers are cautioned that you are on your own if you have problems with Denon equipment.

I love this CD recorder. Everything with one exception is totally awesome. There is no shutoff on the remote. It is solid state and I do leave it on for days sometimes but I really would like a shutoff switch on the remote. As far as quality and ease of use...mine was a refurbished unit and I've never had a single glitch. The recording quality is superb and the sound level and metering is dead on with my two Sony MD decks and my other Pioneer CD recorder. The Pioneer has a few more features but the Denon is my go to machine. I use the pioneer mainly for playback now. There is a learning curve but I myself found the Denon to be very intuitive. It dupes wonderfully and if you have some copy protection you have to get by you can do a completely analog dupe in real time.

Has worked perfectly.
Easy to use, easy-to-understand user manual.
Very good sound quality, and plays and copies HDCD too.
Plus, it has a volume-controlled headphone jack output.
Absolutely worth the price.

This CD recorder has far too complicated a set-up to be user-friendly. The instruction manual is utterly useless, leaving it to the buyer to figure out how the machine works. Once the unit is hooked to the amplifier, transferring records to cd isn't easy and tracks need to be separated manually. Machine can only operate with music cds. Headphones are needed to check the CD sound coming from the recording tray. Digital display is also confusing. Maddening, frustrating, and very expensive. The only plus: recorded sound quality is good.

I bought this equipment thinking I could record my LP's until I read on page 7 under notes: Do not make a connection to the PHONO jack of the amplifier. Doing so will lead to breakdown. All I needed was my turntable, amplifier and a cd recorder which were not too popular at that time. The Operating Instructions Manual is thorough and complete.