Price Paid:  $179.00 from hificiti.com

Summary:
The CDC-685 is the Camry of CD players--competent and reliable but unexciting. I bought it to replace an old, tired Sony CDP-215 in my downstairs system. Since the newer Sonys have recieved poor reviews for reliability and sound quality and I didn''t want another Denon--sounds great but unreliable--I relied on the reviews here to point me to Yamaha. The sound is O.K. but not as good as my Denon DCM-370. During the past three months I''ve used it extensively and the only problem has been a CD that skated and got lost in the inner recesses of the unit when I fat fingered the loading of one of the rear disc positions on the tray. The controls are not ergonomic laid out. Play and eject buttons are small and easily confused with buttons for other functions on the panel. I still need to read the labels to know which one to push. Size or shape or color differences would have helped a lot. Bottom line: it gets the job done. PS thanks to all who have added reviews to this site!!!

Strengths:
Solid build quality (for the price).

Weaknesses:
Ergonomics of front panel controls.

Similar Products Used:
Sony & Denon.

Price Paid:  $98.00 from Used on ebay

Summary:
I owned the 575 for a couple of months and was so impressed I kept an eye out on ebay for a used 675. After a month or two I found one sans remote. For an extra $35 for the remote I had a like new 675 for just over $100 total. This thing sings, it's simple it's sweet, it plays all formats, it smoothes scratches it does everything but make my breakfast. Rock solid, if everything electronic were built to this standard I'd die happy. Optical out, smooth full sound, play exchange, all the bells and whistles. I love this thing. If you can get one used, buy it. You wont be sorry.

Strengths:
Simple to run, ease of use. Silent tray, well built, rock solid. Excellent sound, optical out, plays really scratched CD's.

Weaknesses:
None that I can see....

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha CDC-575

Price Paid:  $300.00 from ultimate electronics

Summary:
I bought the cdc-685 to replace my tired old Yamaha cd-x3...
Granted the cd-x3 is old and quite used, but the cdc-685 simply blew it out of the water....scratched cds I've kept "just in case" are now usable again....Sound quality is excellant, especially love hearing my Ultradiscs through my system.
Used with:
Sony STR-V55 Receiver
Kenwood KX-550 Cassette Deck
Yamaha NS-100M monitors
(stuff is old, but matches better than anything newer I've tried adding in)

Strengths:
"Play-XChange" allows 4 discs to be changed while one is playing....varible output level

Weaknesses:
wish the remote had a on/off button...must agree the back 2 cds are more difficult to change (very minor complaints)

Similar Products Used:
Tested many.....liked the Yamaha features better,plus owned a yamaha cd-x3 that has lasted forever

Price Paid:  $275.00 from Audio King

Summary:
I originally bought the Denon and returned it because I wanted optical out for minidisc recording. Now I use it as a CD player hooked up to seperates with DH Labs cable all around and it sounds great! Very natural, detailed CD player. Very surprised of the sound quality from a 5 disc changer. The remote is ideal for kicking back and listening. All the pertinent controls (play, skip, pause) are within thumbs reach. I love the smaller two-way buttons and they are very easy to push. I have also used the CDC-775, but that played some of my discs a bit strange. I'm assuming it is the pro-bit technology used in that model.

Strengths:
Clear natural sound, good D/A converter, great simple remote!

Weaknesses:
No way to switch power on/off with remote.

Similar Products Used:
Denon DCM-270, Yamaha CDC-775

Price Paid:  $200.00 from tweeter

Summary:
this review is for the new 685 model that replaced the 675. i have had this unit for 2 weeks and this one is better than my sony cdp-445 that just died on me recently. the two biggest advantages the yamaha has over my sony was: 1. the abilty to change 5 discs at once with one press of a button. with the sony, you could change only 2 at a time. the yamaha's tray comes out farther to access all 5 discs. with the play/exchange function the yamaha can change 4 at once while 1 is playing. with the sony, only 2 at a time. you got all that? 2. more stable lens tracking than my old sony. i jumped up and down in front of my av rack and no skipping from the yamaha. the sony failed this test in the past. i like the styling of the 685 versus the 675. sleeker looking to me anyways. the main advantage the sony had was it's ability to play shuffle modes from it's faceplate. you have to use the remote on the yamaha. big deal! i am using the optical out to my onkyo receiver, as with my sony, so the sound quality is comparable. i can't comment on the yamaha's internal dac since i'm using the one in the onkyo txds-575 dolby digital receiver. however, with the digital connection the sound is excellent. i think i found a winner!

Strengths:
build quality, tracking,


build quality, appearance, quiet operation, stable tracking

Weaknesses:
you have to use the remote for certain functions

Similar Products Used:
sony cdp-445 carousel