Bigaloe

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
This machine is a bargain!I paid GBP160,copying cd's is simple,I record using the coaxial cable input for the best quality,playing copied cd's back through my Meridian 588,I can't really tell the difference,maybe a bit of digital glare on certain busy sections of music.Obviously cd's played back on the Pioneer lose out to the Meridian,and so they should considering the price difference,however it is the recording of cd's which is truly excellent on the 609. The featurelist is impressive,and the machine is easy to use once you've read the instruction book.I enjoy using this machine,and making cd's for friends etc,it even copies vinyl well,although some care is needed on recording levels (couple of coasters now)

Strengths:
Excellent copies,ease of use,remote.

Weaknesses:
Bit lightweight but good for the price.

Similar Products Used:
None

Price Paid:  $190.00 from Richer Sounds,Glasgo

Summary:
Bought this beauty about 9 months ago,and have never looked back. It is used every day,and never complains. I use the co-ax connection to make copies of cd's from my Marantz CD48,which are perfect. It sounds great on playback,better than the Marantz. I use the optical connection to make copies of cd's onto my Sharp MD-MT190 personal Minidisc recorder.These sound great also. I use the analogue connection to record bootleg recordings from minidisc to cd.The level control is useful here.I also record from vinyl,radio and audio tape using the analogue connection. This machine is close to faultless.For anyone wishing to transfer old vinyl and tape recordings to cd for safekeeping,you won't do any better for the money. I'm looking forward to transfering the other 3000 or so audio tapes. The only time my Sherwood D480 twin tape deck gets used now,is for transferring recordings onto cd.The D480 was only £40 cheaper than the Pioneer 609,and I thought that was a good buy. This machine is an absolute bargain,and the price is actually dropping.Buy one,you won't regret it.

Strengths:
Versatility.Build.Sound

Weaknesses:
Takes a little while to get ready if you have to change discs during a radio recording,but what do you want for this money,the moon on a stick ?

Similar Products Used:
Computer cd burner

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I picked it up because I wanted to transfer my LP albums to CD. Initially I was very pleased, but over time I realized that it is easy to ruin a CD-R or two. The auto track is one thing. If the recorder doesn't find the gap between tracks you are lost. If you don't find set the level control for the strongest part the CD is ruined. On my PC I can try over and over again until I'm pleased with the result.

Strengths:
Sound quality. Easy to use.

Weaknesses:
Slow recognizing what type of CD is loaded. Only accept the more expansive audio CD's. You can't use data CD's. The serial copy protection can even stop you from making legal copies.

Price Paid:  $122.00 from ebay

Summary:
After a couple of auction letdowns('new' Tdk without a remote or manual which I received a refund for and a PDR-05 that was damaged by Mr. Mailman but was insured), I picked up a 609 for a very reasonable price. This is my first stand alone recorder and the results are terrific! I wanted a recorder for copying vinyl to cd without having to lug my Oracle and Rotel preamp across the room to my computer burner each time. Previously made vinyl recording to my computer were actually pretty good but the Pioneer sounds just as nice if not better without all the hassle. It's as easy to use as a tape deck; set the recording level while in pause mode, and hit pause again to record. Just hit pause between each song from there on and finalize the disc when finished(table of contents takes about 2 minutes). I haven't tried any digital recordings yet but the few discs I've made so far have turned out awesome! No pops, clicks, skips, or any other 'recording flaws' have ocurred. Recordings have great depth and sound quite close to the original. There is a very slight 'digital-edge' to the sound when finished but overall it still can sound better than a factory cd of the same album! I'm guessing any glare(and the Pioneer's is neglible, could just be my picky ears) could be reduced by adding on a higher quality outboard Analog-to-Digital converter and then recording through the digital input. I don't really know what a higher priced recorder would offer over a unit like the 609 with recordings this accurate. If you are going to dump money into something get one of these recorders used and use your leftover cash for a turntable/cartridge upgrade or for a nicer preamp. This is by no means an audiophile player for listening, but that's not really it's intentions. Really nice recorder at the price I paid and it seems like it's still in high demand in the auction market. Next I am going to try recording casettes and maybe some soundtrack music from a dvd source.

Strengths:
Very open and accurate sounding recordings, very easy to operate in manual-track mode. Results sound so good I can't wait to find other albums to record next!

Weaknesses:
None so far. Default mode is 'auto' rather than 'manual' for recording analog sources and needs to be switched, but that's just a preference thing.

Similar Products Used:
Computer cd-r

Price Paid:  $250.00 from bestbuy

Summary:
I use this cd burner primarily for mixing down my music. I've burned some vinyl and cds as well. I've had it for over a year and it has not malfunctioned on me once. The recordings are extremely good and I found it easy to use. It also has a lot of cool features like automatically marking a new track number when there is silence between songs.

Strengths:
easy to use and very reliable. Like I said, not one malfunction or coaster in over a year of service.

Weaknesses:
can't really think of any. very reasonably priced, reliable and sounds good. what more do you want?

Similar Products Used:
More reliable than some computer based cdburners i've used. better sound too.