Good sound and after one month still working well.

This was a replacement for my JVC recorder which died after only three years (I certainly did not overwork it).

First, let me say that I have had no problems finalizing disks. The last one done was 79 minutes and 9 seconds. Also note, I do not use the text labeling or SBM features. I suspect that the former may be the cause of the finalization problems.

From looking at a partially recorded disk, CD recorders record from the hub outward and leave a portion near the hub blank for the table of contents. If you look after finalization, you will see this part recorded. My guess is that the text labels are added to the main body of the disk outside the TOC. So if you record close to 80 minutes, there is nowhere to put the text and the finalization process dies.

Leaving this, I can say that after a month the unit is working well and does an excellent job of recording from analog sources and from CD's. The only exception was on one track where one channel recorded at too low a level, though this could be due to the CDR or even the original CD(my old JVC had trouble with some disks and had to use a slower dubbing speed).

The audio on the recordings from my old vinyl is excellent. Also, I like the design of the record level control. It allows for more minute adjustments where the JVC only allowed changes in one decibel units. As for the SBM feature, I used it only once to make a comparison and noted very little if any difference -- I'll have to play around with it some more.

Another added feature is the ability to adjust the recording level for digital dubs. A nice feature when making a compilation.

The downside of the unit is its inability to dub at 4X on single or programmed tracks. This is not too big a drawback since its primary use is for transferring my old records and tapes. Also, add the inability to disable the auto stop of the record function when it is paused too long and to disable the new track function caused by a pause (JVC also did this with a pause).

The latter is especially a nuisance if you are editing, though this can be circumvented by leaving no time between tracks and then playing the tracks and doing an analog recording to splice them.

As for the display, it would be nice if it showed accumulated time when you are programming a compilation.

All in all, I would give it a good rating.