Dual Tray CD Burner for copying and ALSO listening needed. Recommendations?

I am seeking recommendations for a stand-alone, dual-tray cd player/recorder. I want to be able to copy cds, make mix cds, and record from cassette and vinyl sources. However, I also want to use this unit as a primary cd player for critical listening. Are there any machines that meet this criteria and also have superior rendering of audio playback?

I've been listening to this NAD 522 for a while and liking it as a temporary player. I also have a Marantz SA-11S2 that I really like, but I want to free up space for a dual tray device and I've been loaning the Marantz to a friend who's probably going to buy it. I also like the Sony Playstation 1 okay for audio. I prefer a very warm and smooth sound, but also with a fair amount of resolution. My goal is to have natural sound without glare or harshness.

Thank you

 

bump

 

I myself have never seen or read about a dual-tray CD player/recorder. And, unfortunately, stand-alone CD recorders seem to be a thing of the past (and I do mean unfortunately).

But allow me to suggest an alternative, even though you will no longer find one new. The Alesis Masterlink ML-9600 would actually fill your stated needs, even though it only has a single tray. What it does have, rather than a second tray, is a built in hard drive. I've had one for quite a while now, and I've gotten some pretty tremendous use out of it. It was intended for professionals, but it can be used in most any typical home stereo system. It has digital ins and outs, but it also has unbalanced and balanced analog ins and outs. The rack ears you might see in some photographs are easily removed with a screwdriver. It cannot read or write rewritable CDRs, but it reads standard CDs and reads and writes write-once CDRs. If it's in your stereo system, you can record cassettes or vinyl to the internal hard drive, do some simple editing of the hard drive data, read in individual CD selections or entire CDs via the CD tray...and once you have things set to your liking on the hard drive, burn the results to CDR. You don't need special "audio" CDRs, and you don't have to worry about the serial copy management system...this is a professional unit. And the electronics are pretty high quality. Should you wish to, you can also record in 96k/24 (or lesser data rates) and burn special 96k/24 CDRs that the Masterlink can play back...there are also computer programs that can read the 96k/24 CDRs.

Here's the Alesis page on the Masterlink: http://www.alesis.com/masterlink

Two reviews: http://www.stereophile.com/hirezplayers/605/ and http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr00/articles/alesismlink.htm

And, finally, eBay as a source for used Masterlinks: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...is+masterlink&_nkw=alesis+masterlink&_sacat=0

Even though it doesn't meet your "dual-tray" desire, I believe one of them would do what you need.

 

A bit like the Masterlinks, Yamaha made a range of more "domesticated" CDR/HDD combo machines. They'll handle CDRWs, but need to be fed with the more expensive royalty-paid For Music blanks rather than just computer-compatible CDRs, and don't do hi-rez, just redbook. Here's an eBay example, although not having a remote would be a bit of a pain:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-CDR-...t=US_CD_Players_Recorders&hash=item3ce4e82b9a

I own and adore a CDR-HD1500, although it sees more use as a DAC for my Apple Airport Express than it does for its CD burning and needledropping abilities nowadays:

http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/hifi-components/cd-players/cdr-hd1500_black__u/

 

Why would a computer not meet your needs?

 

Not everyone has one near their system. Not everyone can do so. Sometimes you need to record on the fly without booting one up. I still have my reliable Tascam CD-RW 750 in my rack, it still gets regular use.

 

Put this in your equipment rack:

http://www.overstock.com/Electronic...1-inch-Laptop-Refurbished/5119220/product.htm

$269. Disk Utility, iTunes, or an old version of Toast will allow you to do anything you'd want to an audio CD.

 

Yeah, something like this would work. I will check it out. My initial hesitation would be to question that Alesis would have produced a good sounding cd player. I've not been impressed by their digital products in the past. Are you telling me the audio playback of this machine is worthy? Good even?

 

Again, friends, the goal is to have superior audio playback as well in addition to cd burning capability. I'm searching for a special, stand-alone machine if one exists.

 

Exactly.

 

Standalone recorders were required by law to only work with Music CDRs (which still pay a royalty to the RIAA). I'm not certain, but I think they have some kind of codex that prevents making a duplication from a duplicate. I bought a unit that purported to be a "pro" model, but was actually a badly modded commercial unit, and using media blanks burned out the laser.
I'm not certain that you'll find or why you want a two drawer unit, when all recorders would have optical inputs that will allow bit perfect recordings to be made from any other DVD or CD player.

Anyway, http://www.sweetwater.com/shop/studio/recorders/ has several Tascam units, including one that has a cassette and cd drive.

 

I don't have a single burner left in my house that still works. I'd like to have one again.

 

I believe you will not be able to find for what you are looking. The fact that these decks never sported anything close to audiophile playback capabilities would have doomed your request 10-15 years ago when they were still in production, much less now when they are scarce. I know what you want, but there's simply no such thing right now on the market with which I am familiar.

 

i *always* found stand alone cd recorders a bit more trouble than they're worth. i don't think the product you are looking for ever existed. my HHB burner (800? 850? 880?.. don't even remember) was the best one i ever used, but it was dead as far as burning after ~2 years and ~4 years as a player. i do recall some low end player/recorder combos, but never saw one in action.

good luck on your search!

 

I had a Harmon K. CD2, great performer if I remember correctly, years ago but quit working, still have it in the basement, as stated above it would only work with MCDR's, did a very nice job, I used it to create mix disc's for my auto

 

I hadn't even thought of being tied down to music cdrs. On second thought, you guys are right. This is a bad idea. It would be better to do something computer based. I have a Toshiba Satellite C855 laptop. It's a cheap piece of junk, but a good workhorse. I've used the included cd burning program and I cannot make it stop burning discs that have gaps in them. I've also used Windows Media Player, yes I configured the resolution settings properly, and the discs are noticeably lower fidelity than using the other program! This is why I stopped using my computer for burning. So:

1) Is there a very easy to use program for burning cds that will create images and burn high resolution copies that I can download for free?

2) Is there a USB soundcard that is of excellent quality I could plug into for doing needledrops and what would be the simplest, quality program to use for recording vinyl? Straight transfers with track markers are fine. I don't want to get into any fancy editing or noise reduction functions.

 

Consumer decks did (and do, if they are still being made…not sure about that) but pro decks do not have any such restrictions.

What you are referring to is SCMS (Serial Copy Management System, I think it was). A recording can be made from a commercially sourced disc, but that copy would not be able to be used as a source to make a 2nd copy. The recorder would not permit it. In practice it was a lot less of a PITA than it would seem to be, since I was not planning to enter the bootlegging business.

As for double drive decks, I am not recalling one, but they may have been out there. I have a Pioneer single drive deck that I have had for well over 13 years. Works great, and I bought a lifetime supply of Music only CD-R's. I use it now mostly for needle drops, and record on CD-RW's, then rip to my Mac for portable use. I have one disc that I have been using for the entire time. It still works fine.

 

To the best of my understanding, that was true only of standalone recorders intended for general consumer use. And from what I've read anyway, such consumer standalone models with an internal hard drive erased the data on the hard drive when the first CD was written out...the hard drive data could be built up once more from original CDs, the unit's "written" CDs could not be read to the hard drive.

The Alesis Masterlink I referred to above is not at all like that. It really does write to standard "non-Music" CDRs (though it also writes to and reads Music CDRs...I know all this first hand), the internal hard drive does not self-erase when a CD is burned from the data (any number of CDs can be burned from the built-up data set), and it's perfectly happy reading in CDs it's written and has no problems storing such second generation (or third generation, or fourth, or ...) data on the internal hard drive. SCMS activation or deactivation is not even provided as a switch on the Masterlink. It's stated purpose was to serve to build up professional master disks, and for such purposes any SCMS aspects whatsoever would have just been a stupid interference with real work to be done.

 

The Masterlink is impressive but I'd much rather throw a used $300 Mac Mini that's a few years old and a decent ADC and DAC or something that can do both into the mix for the added fliexibility. Editing will be so much easier. Leave it on 24/7 like I do. It's been on 98% of the time for the past 4 years with ZERO problems.

 

My HHB was SUPPOSED to be a pro deck... Now it won't finalize anything, and only works as a player. I'll probably toss it soon. The reason I'd like to have a working standalone drive is so I can make CDs from the analog outs of my Oppo from SACDs and DVDAs. It's way too much of a PITA to disconnect the unit from my main system to bring down to the basement so I can run it through my analog/digital converter.

 

I think it's quite good, though I will admit my primary CD player is a Marantz CD/SACD player.

I understand you are looking for a high quality player, as anyone should be, and while I suggest the Masterlink would fully meet your needs, I cannot say that with certainty. Your ears are your ears. For sonic quality considerations, the Stereophile review I provided should give you the best insight. But let me paste two excerpts from that overall review...

From the review's main body:

"As a CD player, the Alesis MasterLink ML-9600 was pretty good, but few Stereophile readers will buy one as a primary CD player. I compared it to my reference Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 3D, which costs more than three times as much (five times as much at MasterLink's lowest street price), and it was somewhat muted on top and drier overall. Cymbals didn't have the same sparkle, and the overall presentation wasn't as spacious or as gracious, but it wasn't embarrassing either."

From the concluding paragraph of the review's measurements section:

"Even just five years ago, you would have had to pay tens of thousands of dollars to get this level of measured A/D and D/A performance. To get it thrown in for free—in what would be an extremely versatile, useful, and inexpensive hard-disk recorder even if it had only digital I/O—makes the ML-9600 a superbly engineered bargain. Alesis may have changed ownership, but a product like this demonstrates that the pedigree it acquired with its multi-track digital recorders continues."

 

My dual tray Sony RCD-W10 cd burner still works, close to 20 years old I think, but I doubt it would be considered audiophile quality in play back

 

Is this the unit you're talking about?
http://www.audioreview.com/cat/digi...s/harman-kardon/cdr-2/prd_123884_2740crx.aspx

 

Get a pro unit, bypass the silly consumer toys. The Tascams also make excellent playback decks. So do the Marantz.

 

Well apparently this particular Harman Kardon unit doesn't use exclusively music cdrs, unless i'm not understanding the specs.

In my experience, the sound of many pro units, Tascam, Alesis, Marantz, Technics, etc is very poor. I bought out a radio station a couple years ago and had the chance to review many of the rack mount pro decks. Huge disappointment.