Price Paid:  $289.00 from HK Outlet

Summary:
I originally purchased the CDR 30 on a complete impulse, but I am glad that the desire hit me when it did. I purchased the unit at my local HK Factory Outlet store at an incredible price and couldn't be happier.
For starters, the player itself has been completely reliable with no problems encountered. Granted, the mechanism which spins the CD's in both trays could be a little less noisy, the layout of the controls on the face of the unit could have been labeled and laid out in a friendlier manner AND the manual is somewhat of a novel (READ IT!), the overall performance of the machine leaves little to be desired. The unit has options bordering on too many, and the recordings made in the 4X mode sound fantastic. Of the 40 or so CD's I've created with this unit (don't tell your friends you have one or you'll be burning CD's as a second occupation), I have had only one CD which was rejected from the burner tray for some reason. I tried that very same CD on a burner in my office and it worked fine. Strange. Anyhow, if you can get one for a good price, I would suggest buying it as you can't go wrong with this unit. But like I mentioned, read the novel enclosed with the unit. It starts to make sense after about the 3rd time through. Good job HK!

Strengths:
Great sound repoduction, 4x recording, reliable, good looking! Easy remote!

Weaknesses:
Slightly noisey CD spin mechanisms for both trays, confusing control layout.

Similar Products Used:
None

Price Paid:  $399.00 from Huppins Hi-Fi (same

Summary:
This unit sounds good, on both playback and recording, right out of the box. I expect a long-term burn into only increase quality.

After reading many reviews and doing long in-store testing of all the available models, I was expecting a lot of difficluty in making mix CDs. This is was not the case. You pop in a disc, pick a track, hit '1 track dub' and play, and the unit does all the rest.

I think the complaint that it doesn't do everything for every operation automatically is really a lame duck. If you're going digital to digital, you can do 1 track dubbing or whole disc dubbing quickly and easily. If you're digitizing old bootlegs or LPs, you have to push one extra button to mark each track you want to have. This isn't too much trouble, and it's easy to figure out from the manual. The unit never bills itself as the end all in MP3, but simply states that it will play back MP3 discs, which is does flawlessly.

The manual is clear and well written. When you buy it they supply entry-level cables so you can use it right away, along with batteries for the remote. It was actually easy to understand the 1 page warranty.

My complaints are fairly minor ones given my overall favor of this unit. The buttons for each CD tray are mirror opposites (e.g. the stop button for the playback unit is all the way on the left, but for the recording tray is all the way on the left). The open tray button for each deck could have been a little further away from the tray itself, but this is a small complaint.

Also, if you are recording in 2x or 4x speed it is very difficult to reliably monitor the record level and make necessary adjustments, but this is only really an issue when making compilation discs. And while not necessary, a mic input would have been nice, but the front panel digital in's make up for this.

I'd also recommend Huppin's Hi-Fi (and their online store onecall.com for anyone near Spokane, WA. The unit was $200 off on sale, and the service folks were helpful.

Strengths:
Good sound on playback and recording; headphone output with volume.

Weaknesses:
Some button placement and operation a bit awkward. No mic input.

Similar Products Used:
Tested all major CD recorders on market.

Price Paid:  $450.00 from 6th avenue electroni

Summary:
I have had this product for well over a yeah and a half and have burned well over 1500 cd's of live concerts for trading purposes. This machine has never even burped. I get one coaster out of every 200 discs and run Memorex, Maxell, Sony, Fuji, JVC, and TDK discs. No problems. The SCMS feature is frustrating at times when I want to rip in 4X but them's the breaks.

I use the machine religiously to convert concerts recorded on my Sony TCD-D8 (DAT recorder) and find it to be a joy to use. if the product died tommorrow I can say I got my 450 bucks worth!!!

Strengths:
The availability of optical, analog, and digital inputs in the front and rear. Makes dubbing a snap!

2X and 4X times recording.
HDCD
plays MP3's
easy to operate

Weaknesses:
Would love to turn the SCMS off!!!
no ability to use computer grade discs

Similar Products Used:
TASCAM CDRW700R
HHB 850

Price Paid:  $599.00 from Crutchfield

Summary:
Search for "Billy" below, and read about his very similar experience: About six months old, my unit has begun to randomly reject discs on the record side (in the record "well"). I mean, flawless factory-recorded CD's which play fine in all other players. Sounds exactly like what Billy's unit did. The CDR-20 had terrible reliability problems, so HK should have super-tested the CDR-30 before release. By the way, at half the price the Aiwa XC-RW700 (yes, I own two burners -- don't ask!) has been preferable in every way (except no HDCD): Nicely styled, large, logically-laid-out buttons, much quieter mechanism, intuitive remote and controls, equally good sound to my ears, and 30% smaller chassis so it complements most other audio components.

Strengths:
HDCD etc.

Weaknesses:
RELIABILITY! Watch out - the recording "well" may stop responding within 1 year. Awkward, counterintuitive controls. Really tacky, outright weird styling.

Similar Products Used:
Aiwa XC-RW700

Price Paid:  $350.00

Summary:
I love the unit, although it can sometimes be noisy during recording. No real complaints though. Good piece of equipment.

Concerning the Brian fella down below who is complaining. He just got the wrong piece of equipment. If you wanted an MP3 player, you should have bought an MP3 player. This is a cd recorder. Sure, it allows for MP3 playback, but it is not an MP3 player.

Strengths:
Recording/playing cd's, sound quality.

Weaknesses:
no backlighting on the direct control features of the unit, no recording level adjustment when recording digitally.

Similar Products Used:
Aiwa,JVC,Phillips recorders