Listen Up, Copycats
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday February 11, 2002
The latest CD recorder from harman/kardon shows the company has learned its lessons from earlier-generation models, which some consumers found difficult to operate. On the CDR30 it's now as easy to dub a single track onto CD as it is to copy an entire disc, and all copying can be done at four times normal speed. The new machine can also play (but not record) computer discs containing MP3 music files.
CD recorders with two disc trays make it easy to copy from a CD in one tray to a blank CD-R or CD-RW in the second tray, but there are other benefits. You can, for example, play two discs sequentially using the "relay play" option, or play back discs in both wells simultaneously, routing the output from one CD to one amplifier, and from the other to speakers in a different room. What you can't do with the CDR30's two wells is what users do most often, which is program playback sessions using tracks from two discs. For some reason h/k has arranged it so only one disc can be programmed at a time. The random-play mode is similarly limited. You can play tracks at random from one tray or the other, but not both at the same time.
In the Guide's sessions, recordings made using the CD-to-CD-dubbing circuitry worked perfectly, even at the super-fast 4x dubbing speed. Digital information transferred bit for bit, so the copy was identical to the original. Things didn't go quite as smoothly when we used the CDR30's external analog inputs to copy the tracks from an LP onto CD. The CDR30 occasionally failed to recognise when one track ended and another began, and ran two tracks into one. This can be fixed by inserting track markers manually or, if you don't want to hang around for the entire recording session, by recording to CD-RW. Because CD-RW is rewritable, you can correct any track marking problems before the final transfer to CD-R.
The sound quality of the h/k CDR30 is exceptional. Many manufacturers of CD recorders focus their attention on the recording processes and overlook the replay circuitry. The analog output circuits in this machine are almost identical to those used in harman/kardon's top-line CD players, with high-quality op-amps used throughout, along with audiophile-grade 24-bit/96kHz AKM digital-to-analog converters. The result is a clean, dynamic sound, an extended frequency response and great stereo imaging.
Although the CDR30 can play back computer discs containing MP3 discs, this is about all it does. You can't program MP3 tracks for playback in different order or fast forward through tracks. Navigation is difficult because the display does not show folder names.
However, if you need to copy CDs at high speed or make your own CDs from LP at normal speed, harman/kardon's CDR30 will do the job in style.
INFOFILE
harman/kardon CDR30 CD-R Recorder
Price: $1599
Convoy International Pty Ltd
Unit 7, Discovery Cove, 1801 Botany Road, Botany, NSW 2019
1800 817 787
info@convoy.com.au
www.e-hifi.com.au
© 2002 Sydney Morning Herald