CD dubbing quality

Will only allow you to use more expensive audio CDs, (that have the same quality as computer data CDs).
CD tray does not open every time.
Has required more service than any other piece of audio equipment I've owned.

I bought this CD player/recorder in 2001 because it was one of the first CDRs available. The build quality is similar to most other CD players/recorders on the market. The sound quality is slightly better than others that I've used (Denon, NAD, and Panasonic). It worked fine for the first couple years and then starting giving me problems. The first sign of trouble was when it intermittently would not play CDs. I would have to turn the unit on and off multiple times before it would play. The left CD tray will not open if you shut it without a CD in it. There is a release button on the underside to open it manually but not ideal for getting it open frequently. The service message has shown up twice on the unit. The first time it cost me $117 to have it brought back to working order.

I expect more for $348. I don't think that for that amount of money it should have the problems that it has. I won't consider Harmon Kardon CDRs again unless I can find something ridiculously cheap. I would recommend paying a bit more for a Marantz or Denon CDR. I think that their build quality is superior and the sound quality is similar or better depending on the model.

Customer Service

Expensive to repair but it's fairly easy to find people to service the unit.

Similar Products Used:

Denon DCM-370, NAD, Panasonic CD/DVD player

Just an all around, straight forward, great sounding unit.

None

Easy to use Excellent high speed recording. Excellent D/A converter Excellent sound quality. The 4x dub feature is very nice! Have been using as a recorder and a playback unit almost daily for over 2 years without a single hic-up.

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Philips

recording quality, d/a converter, durability

horrible sound out of the first tray when playing back

I have mixed feelings about this product. I have never had a problem recording from cd to cd. I always record at 4x speed and I am happy with the sound quality of the recordings. My problem with this unit is the quality of the playback. When using the second tray the sound quality is incredibly good. When looking for a cd burner I wanted one that had a good d/a converter so that I would also have a decent quality player. This one has an excellent d/a converter. When using the first tray to playback, the sound is just plain awful. There is an incredibly annoying hiss at about 2khz. It makes that tray totally unlistenable. All and all I am happy. I have had the unit for about 2 1/2 years and it still plays back some of my most roached cds without a problem. Yay HK for a durable laser lense system.

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sony cd players

Sound quality, ease of use

disc recognition?

For the first 2+ months of use, I had absolutely no complaints about this machine. Sound quality is wonderful. It's easy to use. Internal disc-to-disc dubbing and recording from other sources are a snap.

Disc recognition takes a while, but not too much longer than most CDRs. Definitely longer than the average CD player.

My one major concern is this:

I have experienced some problems getting the CDR2 to recognize Maxell CD-RW's. For whatever reason, the record deck will not recognize them 90% of the time. I haven't been able to get my hands on CD-RW's by other companies, and when I do, I'll post my findings. The CDR2 has recognized every CD-R I've used, regardless of make (including Maxell, TDK, Memorex, Kodak, etc.), but it's had some problems with the CD-RW's.

I've also had a problem with the record deck of the CDR2 not recognizing 'bootleg' CD's. The play deck reads them fine, but the record deck does not.

This makes me worry a bit that what I've read about Harman Kardon CD players---that certain models are prone to not recognize discs after a few months of use (the FL8350, I think)---could hold true for the CDR2 as well.

We'll see. I find myself wishing I had paid the extra $60 for the service plan...

Similar Products Used:

Various Philips CDRs

See below.

See below.

I had high hopes for this machine. The Harman Kardon press release made it sound like it was exactly what I was looking for: a dual-well CD recorder that could also double as an “audiophile” CD player. The $800 list price certainly suggested that it could fill both of these roles. Although the CDR 2 was brand new and I could find no independent reviews, I decided to try it, so I ordered if from Crutchfield.com for $650.

My initial experience with the CDR 2 was generally positive. With about 50 hours of burn-in, it sounded like a very good CD player with a nice sound stage and strong channel separation, balance, dynamic range, etc. I did have a problem making dubs with Mitsui CDR’s (they didn’t play well in my car player and on friends’ CD players), but the Kodak CDR’s worked very well ($1.95 each from ttapes.com).

About two or three weeks into my use of the CDR 2, I began experiencing various problems which ultimately led me to return the player to Crutchfield. First, it starting switching itself into “dual” mode whenever I was dubbing. This meant that I could not hear the CD while it was being dubbed. (I may have been able to hear it if I had run a line out from the CDR analog outputs, but I didn’t have an extra input on my receiver.) Despite this problem, the dubs still sounded exactly like the original source discs.

The most significant problem I experienced concerned playback on the CDP side. I began hearing intermittent split-second sound drop-outs whenever I played a CD on the CDP side. There was no such problem playing discs on the CDR side. Here again, I feared that this problem would affect the dubs, but it did not. Even though the CDP played discs with drop-outs, it passed a drop-out free signal to the CDR deck for dubbing.

In the end, I concluded that the dual-mode problem and the drop-out problem were more than I was willing to put up with on a $650 deck within the first 30 days of use. I could have tried another one, but I did not want the hassle and frustration of having to ship back a second unit. I would say that, absent the two problems, the CDR 2 would have been a fine machine. It dubs at 4x speed with no problem (on Kodak CDR’s), sounds like a high-level mid-fi CD player, comes with a decent remote control, looks great, and makes nice recordings of non-CD sources through its analog inputs.

Who knows, maybe I got the one lemon out of the bunch. If you are going to try the CDR 2, make sure you order it from a place like Crutchfield.com, which offers an unconditional 30-day guarantee. Also, make a lot of dubs during the first 30 days. If you don’t, you may find it failing on you after your return period has expired.

This is a tough rating for me because, but for the two major problems I encountered, I liked the CDR 2. If I hadn’t had the above-described problems, I would have given the CDR 2 four stars. However, in light of my experience -- which may not happen to you -- I am constrained to give it the lowest rating.

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None.

High quality, easy to use

can only dub hole discs at 2X or 4X

I am very satisfied with this machine. The cd player sounds excellent and it is very easy to use. I have made about a dozen discs with it and have had no problems whatsoever. I have used Kodak, Maxell and no name Taiwain discs and have had good luck with all. The only thing I wish it could do is high speeed dub on single tracks or programmed tracks off a disc. You can only high speed dub a whole disc. It does take a few extra seconds for it to read a disc when you first put it in but this is no big deal. I paid $508 including shipping from Soundpro.com.

looks,sound

programming single songs a challenge

i can honestly say that i love this machine, i have not had any problems with it either. it seems the people having problems are having problems with the cdrw's. i use regular cdr's and all is fine.my recomendation,buy one ,use cdr's and enjoy.

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friends phillips

Sounds great. 4x recording speed is great convenience. Has been totally relaible

Lacks digital recording level control

This unit has been totally reliable and I've seen it at J&R at $399 on special sale, making it a great value. The 4x speed allows you to record a full cd in 12 - 15 minutes. Plus, and this amazed me: I had scratched a cd severely enough that it skipped badly on one track. I tried to repair this with one of those rub-out-the-scratch kits. Although I reduced the problem, it still skipped a little on the damaged track. I then recorded the damaged disk at 4x... and the copy turned out perfect. I'm sure an optics expert can explain this. I can't, but am really happy to have a perfect cd.

The lack of a digital level control makes it hard to do a great job of creating a professional sounding compilation from several source cds. This is annoying, but you can do the job if you record in analogue and are careful enough to avoid distortion.

This problem would only reduce my rating by a 1/2 star, so I'll give it 5.

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Phillips 880

Excellent Sound,

Break In

I purchased this unit solely to copy CD's. In spite of some if the negative reviews at the price and 30 day return policy I thought it might be worth a shot. At the time I was in the process of upgrading from my Rotel 950 CD player. I had home tested the Arcam, the Adcom, and a Mistral, and auditioned the Rotel 971 in the store.
After a couple of weeks most of the little quirks disappeared. No more sound skips etc. For the recording I was doing I had no problems. The big surprise was the sound quality. It surpassed all of the above. On all measures except bass, and it was at least equal to most in this area. I was no where near thinking of this unit as my main player. But after a couple weeks it became rather obvious there was no need to look any further. The detail, the isolation of instruments and voices and soundstaging were all a stunning development. The money I was going to spend on a mpre expensive can now go toward other system upgrades. Perhaps interconnects and cables. Or maybe trying an higher end DAC.
Initially my listening was through Golden Tube amp and pre-amp. Connected through Synergistics Research Master Couplers; which no system should be without. I have upgraded to the CJ PV10L. Will upgrade the amp later. But due to the success of the HK CDR 2 I am not in as much of a hurry.

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Phillips, Arcam Alpha 9, Rotel 950,971, Adcom 750

Hi Speed (4X) Recording, Lots of Digital IN/OUT, Good Looks

To this day, I haven't found any.

Before the CDR2 I had a Philips. The Harman Kardon is superior in every respect. I am very happy with this unit. I love its flexibility and great quality of recording and playback, not to mention great looks.

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Philips CDR870