can hold 400 cds, thats a lot(still filling it) Price Ability to add another one and use it as one Naming cds Remote

Sound isnt the best No backup for names Cant input track names(very dissappointed on this one)

To start things off i love this unit for its size. its a good buy and fits in well in any system needing a large cd player. to the people that do not like this unit you should have demo-ed it before you bought it. and another thing if you wanted with extremely accurate sound you should have bought the ES series cd player. this is a budget one made for people like me in college have have lots of cds

Capacity Group/Artist options Keyboard data entry On screen display

Sound quality No backup for data entry

With the caveat that this player has just been set up and only a few hours of listening time put in, I will offer the following review as a middle gorund between those saying this is the best player ever and those saying the sound quality is "unlistenable." Connected through RCA jacks (will be hooking up digital this weekend so may see a change then), the sounds quality from this player is at best on the low end of average. I have very good, accurate speakers (Monitor Audio Silver 8Is) and a solid receiver that plays neutral to ever so slightly warm (Onkyo TXSR600) and I agree that this player does lose a lot of the depth and nuance from recordings. In a direct A/B comparison to my 8 year old Kenwood carousel it is about the same, maybe slightly worse but compared to running CDs through my Panasonic RP-82 DVD/DVD-A player (which has great audio processing) it's weaknesses are immediately evident. Everything in the music seems to be "there" technically but it just doesn't feel alive. The sounds seems to be pushed out to me versus drawing me in. It feels compressed, like it is struggling to recreate everything at the same time so some detail gets marginalized. Highs are less acute, midrange is too blended, and lows lose disntiction way to soon with no clarity in the deepest registers. The result is a less engaging musical experience. I have yet to "lose" myself in a favorite album with this player. Now for the other side of the coin, if you want 400 CDs in one spot, it would seem that you must sacrifice quality since I haven't heard any other jukebox of a similar size do better. So until Rotel or Marantz wants to enter the mega changer market, we have to choose between convenience and accuracy. Since I don't like that choice, I will do both, just not with the same player. I will continue to use the 450 for everyday background music for its convenience (especially random play within artist/group) but will rely on my RP-82 for my more critical listening sessions. Not ideal but it is a compromise I can live with until a better solution is available.

Similar Products Used:

No mega changers, older Kenwood 5 disc

Good, easy-to-use controls. Older Sony model has proven very reliable.

Shamefully bad, unlistenable sound quality if used with decent equipment.

I heartily agree with the previous reviewer re the sound quality of the current Sony jukeboxes. I own a six-year old Sony 200 disk changer, which puts out excellent sound, BUT ONLY WHEN USING THE OPTICAL OUTPUT. The sound through the analog outputs is awful. This unit has preformed reliably for over six years, requiring only one modest repair (new laser pickup, $90). With this in mind, I've tried a couple of the new models for the purpose of greater capacity and the ability to input information from a keyboard. None of the current models provides sound quality that I find listenable, and I've returned all of them within days after purchase. I'm sure I'm not imagining this, since I've hooked up the new unit to the same system as the old, and can perform very quick AB comparisons. I thought that all CD players should sound much the same through the digital outputs, but I can assure you that this isn't the case! The people who say this is a good sounding unit must be using some very low end equipment not to hear the difference. I'm going to a more high end system with analog inputs only, and there's just no way my Sony will provide adequate sound quality. I'll probably buy a good single or five disk player for serious listening, and a Pioneer Elite jukebox for more casual use. While I dislike the controls of Pioneer equipments, at least they produce acceptable sound.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer CD jukeboxes

A Few features

SOUND! SOUND! SOUND!

I have this product for about 2 years it has some good features but not great features. This unit is a good storage cabinet for your CD's THE PROBLEM! the sound STINKS! It is the absolute worst! Sony should be ashamed that they put their name on this product. Beleive me if you want one piece of good junk then buy this product. It has loads of distoration, It has a lousey 93 db dynamic range, and even the cheapest CD player will make your CD's sound steller compared to this junk! Even with its optical output to my Amp the sound stinks. I have a Sony CDP-725 5 disc which blows this thing out the door, and out the Window! But I also have a Phillips CD recorder which blows this way away. I also have a cheap $100 teac cd player which blows this thing away. Do your self a favor and stay away from these big storage units the sound on them STINKS! and go with a 5 disc player. Don't know if a ES storage unit would even sound much better. SONY you should be ashamed!

Similar Products Used:

Sony CDP-725 Teac CD players, Phillips CD Recorders

The 450 coupled with my system (H/K AVR-320, JBL Studio Towers, JBL 400 Watt Sub) really is a sight and sound to behold. The 450 Rocks!

I guess the only weakness is that you can't enter individual track names... but that's why I maintain a library of my CD cases.

In short, the CX450 kicks butt! Exceptional value for what I paid. I've noticed on several sites, talk of what to do with your jewel-cases after placing your CD's in the player. As for me, I continue to maintain a library of my cases. All my CD's are entered in a database, numbered by their location within the 450. I've also numbered the cases with the same number. So... if I ever want to play a specific track, it's nothing more than locating the case and playing the track. Perhaps I'm a bit anal, but this really works well. Plus, if I ever want to take a CD on the road, it's quite easy to locate the CD and the case.

Similar Products Used:

My first multi-disk player.

Well, after a year and a half, wouldn't you know it?--my "slave" CX450's right channel suddenly quit working: i.e., now there’s no sound from the right speaker (except for some intermittent static). Since the unit's yearlong warranty is long over, I'd likely have to pay a very hefty repair bill to get the right channel functioning again. But is it worth it? I found an alternative "band aid" solution that only cost $3.79. Just go to Radio Shack and get a short "Y" adapter (cable) with one male and two female plugs. Connect the male plug to the "still-functional" channel's jack on the back of the CX450 (in my case, the left channel). Then plug your existing (regular) "RCA" cables into the "Y" adapter's female plugs; connect the OTHER ends of your regular "RCA" cables into your receiver OR (as in my case) to your “master” CX450's appropriate rear jacks. The end result, of course, is a sort of "mono" sound from BOTH speakers. For some pop music this “all left-channel sound” probably would be unsatisfying; but, if you're somewhat more a fan of CLASSICAL music, as I am, you probably will notice relatively little difference with most recordings. Certainly not enough difference to warrant spending a penny more than the trivial cost of the "Y" adapter from Radio Shack! Because of this right-channel defect with my "second" CX450, I'm decreasing my previous "five star" rating. I should note, however, that both channels continue to function flawlessly on my "first" CX450. I've had other brands of sound components fail utterly on me (necessitating far more expensive measures than a mere "Y" cable). So I hesitate to complain too bitterly about this one Sony unit's trouble after more than a year and a half. With such products, you win some and lose some. Other than the aforementioned right-channel failure, I have no new complaints about either of my CX450s, and, overall, would still recommend the CX450 to others.

This may sound like a big hassle, however, since music is my hobby, this didnt bother me. Here is what you can do to get the most out of your player. 1) Back up all your CD's to Microsoft Media Player, if you are connected to the internet, it will automatically store Artist, track titles and album names for you. 2) Use Roxio CD Creator Platinum - to burn the disk from you hard drive. When doing so, the text will automatically be recorded to the disk if you choose that option. 3) Load you CD player - It will read the Artist and the Track info automatically any questions? you can email me at kentlawstudent@hotmail.com

- Capacity - even with over 2000 CDs in my collection I find the 400 CD capacity enormous. - Visual referencing between monitor and/or remote is now a requirement for me - expandability with chaining to other supported changers is good forward thinking

- OK, agreed & understandably - it''s freakin'' HUGE - CD Text feature has 2 major drawbacks (noted above) - Remote''s IR interfacing is limiting (line of sight between unit and remote is particular) - Manual makes my A.D.D. flare up ;)

This player does much more than I thought I''d ever want from a CD player. I was originally looking for something to replace my Pioneer 18 disc changer, but unfortunately, nothing worth the trouble between 5 and 100 exists on the retail market anymore. Since 100 is more than I wanted I turned to features - hence the CX450. The remote was initially a strength, but as it turns out, I have the unit connected to my video card on my secondary computer thus negating the immediate need for the LCD readout. Besides, the player is situated so that I cannot establish a 2-way link with the remote. The text input is a nice feature too but there are 2 drawbacks: 1) no track title input, and 2) the information you enter is linked to the SLOT - NOT the CD''s unique identification. So, if you spend the hours entering in all your titles and names and then decide to swap out a few CDs you''ve got to update your database immediately or your info will be inaccurate (CDs with CD Text will autodetect the changes - most of the time). The CD load times for shuffle mode is a little longer than what I''m used to, but quite reasonable. I don''t find myself wondering where the music went, or anything. The manual is not exceptionally well-written and makes me wish I could just buy a CDP-CX450 for Dummies (and I consider myself to be reasonably adept with electronic devices/components). I wish there was a feature to adjust audio levels so that quiet and loud CDs would be averaged like with my Pioneer changer. With a 400 CD capacity you''re bound to have to manually adjust the volume when certain CDs are loaded. Features such as Grouping, the potential for cross-fading between 2 units, keyboard input, and CD Text (espeically great if you enter your text in properly when burning your own CDs!) make this unit a contender for one of the best changers on the market - my humble opinion based on the limited research I did prior to choosing this one. Despite the few drawbacks you might find with this model, the bottom line is for the money and features I can''t see going with any other changer in this class on the market. And this is coming from someone who had previously opted to stay away from Sony products. For me, brand name is somewhat irrelevant as value and features take priority.

Similar Products Used:

Sony CDP-CX400 (for about a week prior to upgrading) Pioneer PD-F605 (25 disc changer) Pioneer PD-TM1 (18 disc changer)

Holds 400 CD's, OSD and Search

No track entry, SIZE.

With over 300 CD's, I needed to create some space by getting rid of the housing cabinets. What a great solution!!
Sounds okay through anlogue connection, have not tried digital yet. Being able to search by artist (only limited to 200) as well as disc name and group is great. OSD is okay but a bit limited.

The big problem is having stored all the CD's (quite a delicate operation, dont kick the player after they are loaded!!) I need something to store the booklets/inserts.

Sony used to supply these, but not in this product.

Does anybody know where I can find them, part number web site forum ?

Similar Products Used:

Old Kodak 5CD Changer

Holds 400 CDs, has S-Link capability.

Giant size, text limits for internal data, limited song title information, 2-way remote is a little clunky, moving between far-away disks (ie, disk 1 and 200) can be very slow.

This is a great machine, but Carol is right in that its native data entry methodology is not useful. Do you really want me to type in (or even worse, pick out the letters on the remote) the titles of 400 CDs? Please.

The catrax software is neat, but there is a much cooler solution, although it will cost $200 plus require the use of a laptop.

Nirvis (http://www.nirvis.com) has an interface called the Slink-e which connects between your laptop (or desktop) PC and a Sony CD changer with S-link. Using their free CDJ (CD Jukebox) software and you are freed from nearly any kind of manual work.

Load the CDs into the changer, and the CDJ software reads the codes from each disk, goes to CDDB on the web, and downloads all the title, track, notes, etc. information about that CD. It is stored in the CDJ software, and then downloaded into the changer. It also automatically downloads the cover images (about 80% of the disks in my changer had art available) and lyrics (around 50% of the songs I tried to download lyrics for were available).

You can create random setlists, thematic setlists, etc. Store them on the PC.

The SLink-E can run multiple devices of each type (so 4 or 8 changers) removing Sony's daisychain limit. If you have two changers hooked up, CDJ will arrange your songlists so that songs alternate between changers, and even fade together, to eliminate gaps between songs!

The Sony 400-disk changer is fantastic, but the SLink-E was the missing link that made me buy it. No doubt future versions of the changer will include an Ethernet port so that they can hook up directly to a server to download information, but until that comes along there is this solution.

The 400-disk changer and the SLink-E together are the coolest pieces of consumer electronics I've ever seen.