Great buy for creating Compact Discs...

I had been looking for a CD-Recorder for years. I collect some rare CDs. Needless to say, I really needed a recorder to copy my valuable collection, make some discs from other sources (LPs, cassettes and the like) and maybe do a few trades for those rare discs that are at times too rare and expensive.

So, I set about getting a PC CD-Recorder. When I got one, I had never been so frustrated in my life at how many CD-Rs they ruined, and the amount of pops and skips in them.

Hence, I went all out shopping for a consumer, stand-alone recorder last December. After a good deal of looking, I finally found this Pioneer model at a BJ's Wholesale Club warehouse store for a nice price (about the same price as some used ones at Sears). I got it without hesitation.

First off, I really love the connections. Coaxial input and output, optical input and output, and analog input and output. Every kind you want or need for home use, as I have a Sony MiniDisc Deck with an optical input, and a GPX DVD/CD player with a coaxial output. Plus, I just got a new Aiwa 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround system too, so the outputs will come in handy for that baby as well.

Then, the sound. FLAWLESS copies. Perfection in my mind. Sounds great on my older Teac Dolby Pro-Logic Surround system (upgrade to 5.1 is coming soon), and even better with headphones. Much better copies than a PC recorder, as not one skip or pop has been produced on a CD-R from this thing yet, and I've made several dozen of them by now. The only mistakes are from a source CD having a skip in it, but that isn't the machine's fault, the defect was on the CD.

The volume control is easy to use with a great and easy to follow indicator as well. Analog AND digital volume control, which I love. My MD deck had no digital volume control, only analog, so I love that.

You can record from a programmed list when recording from the 3 CD changer (up to 30 selections from any of the discs), and you can make SEAMLESS track separations anywhere WHILE recording from an outside source (handy for recording LPs, Cassettes, cutting up long song, or DVD isolated scores) so you don't have to pause or stop the disc and put a second-long skip between the tracks. You can make a Skip ID (in case you make a mistake or change your mind about a recorded track), which some CD players can read. There is also a synchro record feature, but I haven't used that feature yet, I don't really need it. But it's there if I do.

It is easy to use, has the same basic functions as most CD players or MD recorders, and I learned all of the features quickly, most were easy enough to find out by myself, and a few just needed a quick read of the manual.

It also can read incomplete/unfinalized discs, and read and record CD-RWs as well. It can't record data CD-Rs, but no home audio ones can, so that really isn't a negative. Headphone jack and volume control is always a plus as well, but not a need.

Perhaps the only negative was that the machine has to read each CD bin every time you turn the machine on, and every time you close the door. That's not so bad though, except when you close the door without a CD, and it takes the same amount of time to read as if there was a disc in there. The 3 CD changer sounds a little slow and clanky, but it has worked great so far, so I have no real problems with the system. It records at 1x and 2x speed, which is slow in PC CD-Recording terms, but I'll take a slow copy ANY DAY, as long as the copy comes out flawless, like this one does.

You can make a digital copy from any original, pressed CD, or a PC CD-R, but you can't make a digital copy FROM a digital copy that these machines make. It will still make a near perfect analog copy from a digital copy, this isn't really a problem anyway. Plus, since most stand alone recorders I believe are like that, there no real negative in this either. All in all, this is a great piece to a modern home entertainment puzzle.