Customer Reviews

TEAC GF-350 Turntable / CD-Recorder

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(43)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(26)

 

 

Here's a new electronic wonder that could have been truly great, but isn't.

On the plus side, it's great looking and very easy to use. Put in an Audio CDR or Audio CDRW (it won't take blank computer discs), adjust the recording volume, push a button and voila... you have a CDR of your old favorite record album or cassette. It can automatically insert track breaks as well, but it is probably better to use the manual track break insertion method (as recommended by the instruction manual), as many original musical sources have quiet spots that can "trick" the Teac into adding one where you don't want it.

Now for the negative... as previous reviewers have stated, the playback sound is disappointment, and by this I am referring to what you get when you put your newly created CDR into your stereo system. The bass response is not adequate. This is the result of Teac chosing to use a ceramic cartridge for the tonearm. This otherwise great machine would have been better served with a magnetic cartridge. Yes, it would have cost more, but would have been worth it.

A few lesser negative points include the fact that Teac chose to include an AM/FM radio rather than a cassette player. My guess is most people would buy this machine to transcribe their old collection of LPs and cassettes that have not been received official release in compact disc format. So why the radio instead of a cassette player? You can record cassettes using the input jacks and provided cables, but you also have to "tie" the Teac to your stereo system in order to do so. Also, what's the story with having input jacks, but no output jacks? You have to listen to the records on the okay, but small speakers provided in the unit, but you cannot listen directly through your stereo system.

In summary, this is a fine machine for those who are not audiophiles. Again, it is easy to use and after a couple of "practice" recordings, you can burn CDRs as fast as it takes the records to play. But if you're expecting CD-quality results, you'll have to use the input jacks to connect to your old magnetic cartridge turntable. This could have been best electronic invention since the advent of the CD, but it falls a little short.

Like most people considering this unit, I have loads of old vinyl LP's I want to record to CD. Prior to buying this unit I bought a Phillips CD recording deck for my stereo that has yet to record a single sound. I should have known - all the reviews on that unit mentioned the first units being returned due to not working - my mistake. This unit is far different in that respect - it arrived late yesterday afternoon vis UPS and I'm using it this morning successfully. As mentioned in other reviews, the sound quality out of the speakers is terrible - thin and tinny, no bass response. I did a lot of online poking around before buying - most info states it uses CD-R's, it doesn't - it requires audio CD-R's, often harder to find and not as cheap as a CD-R for your PC. A valid comment is that it would be better to have a built-in tape player instead of an unneeded radio tuner, but do you really still use your tape deck on your stereo much? I don't, and it's being moved to be connected to this unit permanently via the input jacks. It records to standard audio CD format so if, like me, you want to get MP3's off your records you'll need to rip the CD on your PC. I'd recommend ripping to WAV format so you can use a WAV editing program to clean up the sound a bit and maybe restore a bit of bass (depending on the ability of the WAV editor you use). All told, this is an effective and intuitive all-in-one unit that gets the job done. The CD recorder is a bit slow in reaction times. You can't hit pause betwen tracks on most records to create individual tracks because the pause function is too slow in its reaction time to stop/restart quickly enough to keep up with the LP. Also finalizing isn't terrifically intuitive. You must stop, switch from Phono to CD mode, reload the CD and start the finalizing process which gives no indication of when it's complete. With a bit of use and practice you'll "get it" pretty quickly - stock up on audio CD-R's - you'll go through a lot during the learning phase. I'd recommend this to most who, like me, are tired of trying to re-build their LP collection by buying a CD. For the same or less money than a component CD recording deck, this is pretty darned good. Do not think it can become the turntable for your primary stereo - no output jacks and not the planet's greatest turntable. TEAC is definitely not who they used to be back in the day. It's not totally crummy junk but distinctly not true "component quality" anymore.

I am currently in the process of recording my LP collection, 100's, on to cd's. This little machine really does a good job without all the bells and whistles and needing an engineering degree. I have been able to listen to records that I hadn't heard in 30 years. No, it is not as good a sound as digital, but clearly beats the old cassette recordings. The only improvement I would suggest is the bass tone needs to be upgraded. That little clitch can be overcome by simply turning up the bass on whatever you play it on, car, home stereo, etc.

I set this up and recorded one of my LP's on a CD. (Caution: It requires special audio CD's not the usual computer CD's.) The CD played on the TEAC machine, but not on any of the 3 other CD players I have in the house. And I couldn't load any of the tracks onto my Ipod. Sending it back for something else.

I purchased this unit with 2 major ideas in mind. 1. I liked the look. 2. Convert all of my LP's and cassettes to CD. I did my homework including reading other reviews here. So there was really only a few surprises. This unit will not record onto computer cd's. It requires special audio grade cd's. These are a bit more difficult to find and I am concerned that with the emphasis on DVD's these days, the recordable audio cd will rapidly go the way of the 8-track.

Although it is clearly not up to audiophile standards, the unit functions well enough for my purposes. There are a few things that Teac could have done to make it a better buy. They could have installed output jacks to allow separate speakers to be used. The built-in speakers are too small & don't have the range. They cause the sound to be tinny with not nearly enough bass response. Fortunately this doesn't effect the recorded cd.

The automatic track division function doesn't work on any analog source. So unless you recording cd to cd, don't use it. You will have to monitor the recording and manually select where to put track divisions. No "set it & forget it" here.

The use of a ceramic cartridge turntable does have a major impact on the quality of recordings. Especially on the low end. You will have to make adjustments to the settings of your playback equipment to conpensate. And although the turntable is 3 speed, the needle is not 2 sided with a 78 needle in addition to the regular one. No 78 rpm needle is provided. DO NOT PLAY 78'S WITH A MODERN LP NEEDLE. YOU WILL DESTROY THE RECORD! I think providing a 78 needle for a turntable capable of playing 78's would have been a no-brainer. but then I am an old fart that is not locked into the digital mentality. Hey. I still listen to the radio.

Better still - locate the Phanstiehl P-226D cartridge with the flippable, dual needle as a replacement for the original cartridge. Easy replacement & it allows playing 78 records and is a BIG, HUGE improvement to the turntable.

I prefer the manual tuner. Radio signals, especially AM ones, tend to drift a bit and the digital receivers have a hard time bringing in a weak signal to lock in on. An external antenna jack would have been a nice addition but no such luck.

This unit costs about as much as a mid-range cd burner. But I would have payed another $100 to get a unit with the line-outs and a better turntable. The 78 needle should be a gimme. But the unit is functional as is and I will make much use of it. Finally, I think if they were going for the retro, stand alone radio look, a woodgrain cabinet would have been better suited.

UPDATE:
I now have this unit wired into my Marantz (analog, top-of-the-line in 1978) stereo system and use it only to play & record my 78 collection and to record CD's from the stereo sources. Using the turntable, cassette player, tuner, etc. from the stereo vastly improved the quality of my CD's. And I can record from the stereo's CD/DVD player because the copy guard signal isn't recognized by the amplifier. (old analog amps don't know copy guard and don't have the circuitry to use it or pass it through.) So now I have a CD recorder that also plays & records 78 records. None of the other functions are ever used anymore.

Like many others, I have a huge collection of L.P.'s and have been looking for an easy way to turn them digital. I thought this was the way to go.

No such luck. Two different machines were unable to read the CD's I tried to burn (three different brands, all of which were readable by my Pioneer Cd burner). The manual was of no help, saying the error code I got meant to use audio, as opposed to computer Cd's (duh!).

Trying to reach the TEAC Tech Support people was even more frustrating, as theyir "system" offered no help at all. Just the all-too-typical "Press 1 of calling from a touch tone phone, press 2 for this, press 3 for that". At the end, the final recording is that "Everyone is busy, call back later" right before the perfunctory disconnect. Even tricking the system into getting a live person is no help, as she just yawned "This means there are fifteen people ahead of you. Do what they say and call back later".

I have had a bunch of TEAC equpiment over the years, and will never again send them a dime.

This thing was a waste of a day and half a dozen phone calls. Save yourself.

As others have said, the quality of the turntable is really poor. I can't believe that a reputable company like Teac would turn out such a cheap quality product. The tone-arm is far too heavy on the record, and there is no way to adjust it. If all you really want to do is get your vinyl on to a CD, well, this will do the job without being too complicated; but at the cost of having good quality sound.
I am returning mine, and buying an Ion USB Turntable that plugs straight into the computer.

I've looked for a machine like this for about 2 years, ever since I realized how much it would cost me to replace my treasured LPs (over 200) with CDs. When available, it would cost $15-25 each, and many will never be released on CD. Using a computer, a turntable and some various software, apparently you can record your LPs to CD, but as far as I know, this is the only machine that does the conversion all by itself, definitely a plus for the techno-challenged. It does a fairly good job, though as the previous reviewer noted, the bass response is very poor, both in listening, and on the recorded CD, and the unit has no tone control or equalizer. Also, you must manually insert track changes between songs; even well-preserved albums usually have too much noise (hiss, pops, etc.) between cuts for the recorder to insert track changes automatically. I'd also have preferred the controls to be a little more professional, and they could have dispensed with the AM/FM tuner, since there are many other combo radio/phono/CD units out there for the casual consumer. In the end, I'd buy this unit again, but only because it's the only game in town.

My wife and I have over 1000 vinyl records from the pre-CD era and have been looking for a way to archive them and make them useful again. I saw this product advertised elsewhere, and decided to take a chance.
Bought the product from Amazon, and using Memorex music CD-Rs (also from Amazon), have found the product to perform absolutely flawlessly. The ease of operation is remarkable, and the resulting CDs are as good as it is possible to get, starting with vinyl recordings.
We are 100% satisfied with this product.

All I can really say is - So far, so good! THe Teac GF350 has worked well, and allowed me to upgrade some OLD vinyl to CD. In some cases has been impossible to find CDs of many old records, and the Teac, while a bit simplistic in operation, allows me to FINALLY get some great music onto CD that I couldn't access any other way.

The controls work pretty much like an "old-school" tapedeck: hit record; drop the needle in the groove; then manually increment each song (tedious, but simple, I suppose) by pressing a button on the Teac's front panel.

The overall quality is good - at least as good as one can expect from vinyl-to-CD recording.

Two items keep the Teac from getting 5 of 5 stars... The "Finalize" and "Erase" buttons are WAY too small, and WAY too close together - I've managed to lose one full CD, and nearly lost a second by pressing the "Erase" button when I meant to hit "Finalize." The second item is the manual "Increment Track" button. It's a very basic feature, but it will get annoying if you have a great deal of recording to do (as I have). And this second item is really rather trivial when compared to the "Finalize/Erase" faux pas (bad designer - no Mocha Latte)!

Overall - a recommended purchase for those of you who would like to archive all those old records you've had in orange, and milk crates for years!