CD Recorder with Surprising Playback Quality

Earlier in the year I set out to revamp and upgrade my audio systems. Many purchases were made affecting virtually every aspect of Home Audio and one of the many items involved in my system upgrading was the CDR20. It was purchased directly from the HarmanAudio website for 40% of MSRP and came with the original H/K warranty...a virtual steal.

Like a great many people, I had previously been using DVD players for CD play and had generally been happy with the results obtained. Most of the DVD units involved had the latest and greatest in terms of DAC's. Using either digital or analog output had given me a somewhat satisfactory level of 'Musical' playback quality. This was especially true with the analog path which while proving lighter in bass was more detailed in the mids and highs. But when improvements were made to the receiver/amp/speaker setup in the main system, it was clear that there was possibly a good deal more to be gained from CD playback.

There were many candidates to pick from but it took only a little thought to realize my additional need for a quality recorder had now become just as important over time. Burning CD's on the PC was always an easy process but I was limited to whole disc copies and could not make custom compilations. So I began to research the player/recorder market to see what kind of 'all-in-one' solution might be found. I seriously considered various Marantz, Denon and Pioneer models but finalized on the H/K CDR20 hoping that the issues that had plagued it's predecessor, the CDR2, had been worked out. I'm now gratified to report that in terms of my experience with the CDR20 this has been done.

This unit has proved to be an absolute delight in many respects. While not perfect by any means, the CDR20 has something meaningful to offer to virtually anyone in the market. The most obvious surprise to me personally was the CD playback quality. To my ears it rivals most of the sub $500 player-only units I have heard. Of course, this includes only Solid State designs and excludes any tube based models which IMO are generally superior. But the high quality of playback with either of the two decks on this recorder is to my mind it's greatest and least likely asset.

It would seem to make sense that any unit designed with high grade recording technology would also provide high grade playback. But this is not always the case and much depends on the overall circuit design and implementation of each function. 'Musically', I am very pleased with the sound provided by the AKM DAC's in the CDR20 allowing me to continue my preference for the analog path. With my previous DVD playback, the digital path always delivered greater bass over the analog but now with the CDR20 they are equal in this regard. This has allowed me a much greater flexibility in terms of system setup for various inputs.

In matters of recording this is an easy player to use with only a few quirks. It has an impressive level of analog input sensitivity for those wishing to record LP or tape based material. Synchro recording from external sources is extremely easy as well. Internal whole disc dubs can be done at 4X speed with no discernible loss, as reported by Ken Pohlman in his Sound & Vision review on the CDR2. This is something routinely accomplished on PC's but difficult for recorders outside of the PC environment. My ears have not been able to detect any changes from source to copy, no matter the chosen transfer speed.

When making a disc compilation, however, the higher speed options are not allowed. The process of track selection and programming is no more idiosyncratic with this recorder than with most others though. There seems to be only one way to 'make soup' in this regard and it is something we have to live with in order to avoid making 'coasters' out of perfectly good CD-R blanks. Of course CD-RW's can be used instead, providing a useful measure of insurance but at a significantly higher cost. Certain processes such as 'finalization' have their own quirky procedures but whatever negatives exist in the CDR20 are few and a small price to pay for such excellent quality.

Lastly, all of the supplied accessories from the remote to the manual and quick start guide are well executed. I'm particularly fond of the remote's design and confess I prefer to use it over any of my more expensive universals even when simply playing CD's. All in all I have to say that H/K delivered a high grade component with a surprising (to me) level of sound quality which has far exceeded my expectations.