| Brand Name: | Philips |
Product Specifications
Technical Details
- 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
Product Details
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Product Description
Amazon.com Review
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:
- No fade-in/-out command
Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
58 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A solid, user-friendly, high-quality product.,
By David B. (Cleveland, OH USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Philips CDR785BK 3-CD Integrated CD Recorder (Electronics)
I'm extremely happy with my Philips CD Recorder. It is simple to use, yet has a wealth of advanced features and the ability to record from just about any source that you can think of. I use this CD Recorder to record continuous DJ mixes off my vinyl records--it's fantastic because I can assign track numbers as I mix--that way, listeners don't have to fast forward through one long track to get to the part of the mix where they left off. The only weird glitch that I encountered was a skip in a CD-RW that I recorded; however, when I made copies of the CD-RW, the skip disappeared on the copies. Other pluses include the volume control on the headphone jack, which is not available on the cheaper models. Also, when copying continuous mix CDs, there are no gaps placed between the tracks, as often happens when duplicating mix CDs on a computer--you get a perfect bit-for-bit copy. Please note that you need to purchase special digital audio CD-Rs and CD-RWs for this machine, so don't stock up on computer-grade CD-Rs (the correct CD-Rs say "Digital Audio" in the CD-R logo). The CD-RWs can be hard to find at electronics stores--easiest thing to do is run a search on Google.com for "CD-RW Digital Audio".
42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
great for the money,
By A Customer
This review is from: Philips CDR785BK 3-CD Integrated CD Recorder (Electronics)
I've had previous Philips products before,so when I heard they were comng out with a 3-cd changer, I had to have it. Much to my suprise it was so affordable compared to its competitors with the same options. This certain model is loaded with features like: Mic record, program record, cd text, high-speed recording on interal and programing mode. This can also record off of any audio source. I recently recorded a live track from a home video. It sounds great! Overall, This model has it all: The right external connections, various internal recording modes and features, and it's so easy to use. Basically the directions are in the display. Great buy for the buck!
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Very Nice Unit Overall,
By
This review is from: Philips CDR785BK 3-CD Integrated CD Recorder (Electronics)
Absolutely the worst owner's manual EVER! But, with help from a really cheezy video Philips supplies with the CDR785 I was able to get started. This is the first CD recorder I've owned and, unlike some reviewer said, you don't "select the type of recording you'll be making, then you hit Record". It is so NOT that simple. However, once you figure out what you do have to do (Thanks again, Philips, for that literary masterpiece!) it is relatively simple to make fantastic sounding cd's. I scrapped 3 or 4 CDR's "discovering" the many features of this unit and I'm sure I haven't found them all. But, hey, at a buck a piece that's a cheap education. Since then I've been able to compile about a dozen great sounding cd's using the unit's 3 CD changer, my turntable, cassette deck, and my VCR, and they all play in all of our other cd players (portables included).I would have given this unit 5 stars if it weren't for the (lack of) manual. Oh, and to the owners of this unit, to adjust the analog record level you depress the "REC LEVEL" and rotate the jog button while keeping the button depressed! Now, if I could just get a really good deal on 3000 DA-CDR's!
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