Denon DCM-370 CD Players

Denon DCM-370 CD Players 

DESCRIPTION

DCM-370 CD Changer with HDCD

USER REVIEWS

Showing 11-20 of 162  
[Feb 03, 2004]
Reticuli
AudioPhile

Strength:

Still sounds better than a lot of junk out there.

Weakness:

Just not by much. My tray is not as smooth as it could be. No dimmer. Harsh until you disconnect the internal cable going to the headphone jack on the top right of the circuit board. Slightly heavy and constricted sound after you do. Poorly insulated internal circuit board.

You have to remove that internal headphone cable to get rid of that high frequency distortion. Sounds pretty good after all these years. Fairly well built. Had a problem with the left channel becoming intermittent, but I broke off the corner of a cassette tape case and nudged it between the ciruit board and back of the chasis next to the outputs inside, and now the hum and intermittence is gone. My problem is that the unit sounds extremely dry on a lot of recordings, even HDCD's. There's a tendency for the lower mids and upper bass to sound constricted. While the macro dynamics are excellent, the low level resolution is not quite what it should be. With many CD's (even HDCDs) the sound has a gray scrim over it, in addition to the constricted quality. Certain overly loose masters end up sounding excellent on this unit. Any HDCD from Silva Recordings gives SACD a run for its money, with an internal glow that is second to none. Many electronic disks also sound fabulous. But there's a great deal of stuff that just doesn't quite sound right. I doubt it's the mastering, because some of them are known to be of high quality and sounded very resolved before. I suspect perhaps that high frequency distortion, while harsh, was also causing low level detail to pop out more than the DACs and model 1 HDCD filter would normally exhibit. I think that's what a lot of people are talking about when they go on and on about their CD's sounding completely new. But with this flaw removed (and it most definitely was a flaw), the Denon 370's contricted lower mids, upper bass creates a conjested, heavy sound that just isn't as musical as it could be. So yes, this still sounds better than my Pioneer DV-655A and Numark Axis 8, but there has to be something better out there for most CD's. If you like film scores, buy a used 370 and get some of those Silva HDCD's, though.

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
3
[Dec 20, 2003]
mwmaker
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Music is all about the details and this unit really brings them out.

Weakness:

Described above.

I don't know what all the fuss is about. I liked the first one I got for my main home theater/music setup so much I bought a second one for my bedroom system. I have never had a cd stick, nor have I ever had one that would not play. The only time a cd skips is when one of my daughters gets a little too excited about the music and starts dancing right in front of the shelving system holding the unit. Second floors in townhouses are not as solid as one would hope for, but a plus side to having weak floors is how much they move when watching movies with lots of subwoofer effects. If there were somethings I would pick on the units for they would be: 1. Not having colored in the numbers on the tray so I wouldn't have to bend down to see what disc tray I was putting a disc in. This is a hastle when I'm programming the discs to only hear the songs I want to. I took care of this by using a crayon. At least the engineers had the forsight to make the numbers depressed a little. 2. Not having a random play button on the front of the unit. Having children and remotes invariably leads to the remotes being misplaced for a time. That time usually includes those when I want to random play the discs in the player. I'm not into what makes the CD player a good player other than I wanted something to go along with the Denon A/V reciever I bought and I wanted a multiple CD player. Whatever electronics make the CD player an HDCD player has made many of my older CD's sound sooooooo much better. I have heard things on most of my CD's that all the older cheaper cd players have never let me hear. I havn't bought any HDCD enhanced CD's so I can't really say anything about that capability.

Similar Products Used:

Too many to list and all not worth the time.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Oct 25, 2003]
Greg
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

The HDCD compatibility is welcome but not essential.

Weakness:

Noisy. Poorly constructed. Prone to jamming.

I would recommend you look elsewhere for a CD player. My experience mirrors that of several other reviewers in this forum. The turntable on the Denon DCM-370 is obnoxiously noisy and fussy! The disc has to be set in place absolutely perfectly or the it becomes jammed, and lately the jamming has become quite severe (I recently had to rap hard on the side of the player to dislodge a CD that had become wedged in the turntable. This is the result of poor design (the individual pockets are too wide) and apparently shoddy construction of the gear mechanism. Sure, the Burr-Brown DAC is a nice feature, but you have to wonder why Denon is willing to put its reputation on the line with a piece of junk like this. My Onkyo was a tad shrill but the contstruction was light years beyond this clunker and it lasted for years.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo Harman Kardan

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
3
[Aug 27, 2003]
osbuc
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Easy to use. HDCD capability. Looks, and most importantly soud.

Weakness:

Tray sounds like unit is going to break. Have had one minor problem (see above) that was easily fixed.

Very nice sounding player for the price. I did encounter one problem. After about 18 mo. of listening the CD player would not play latter tracks on CD's with the 18-20 song range. After checking into the problem I found out it was not the track count but the overall length of the CD. Most CD's I listen to are older LP's converted onto Cd. As you know a CD laser reads CD'S from the inside out. The laser rides on a guide arm which, when listening to 40-45 minute CD's never travels the whole length of the guide arms length. The result is a guide arm which has a "sticking point" where all the debris and lubricant ceases travel. There is a very easy fix to this. Take cover off, and use cotton swab ( and a very, very small amount of 3-in 1 oil to clean guide arm). While in there it won't hurt to put a VERY, VERY small amount of the oil on the motor. This 10 minute, < $3 fix saved me about 6 bills, the price of a NAD C541.

Similar Products Used:

SONY CDP 235, Pioneer Elite PDM-51. My Sys: Marantz SM6 AMP Marantz SC7 PRE Dennon CD B&W 602 S2 Sound Organization speaker Stands Vantage Point Altus Component Stand Monnster Z-1 speaker ca

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Aug 15, 2003]
Jay Lee
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

burr browns' soft sound

Weakness:

Not liquid - so mate them with an amp with a heavy effect.

There is a tweak everyone should/can do to this fine find. Take the cables to the phone jack off with a something long and sharp, and the sound improves! The distortion is now gone. This is an economical way of avoiding that CD steely sound.

Similar Products Used:

marantz 432 (better), NAD 5100 (deeper sound stage), Parasound 88 (more liquid)

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Aug 05, 2003]
amandahifi
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

none

Weakness:

for 280 cdn,are you kidding!

very balanced,natural sound.adds no character of it's own.premium burr brown dac's.stereophile class d rated component.

Similar Products Used:

philips,sony,marantz.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 24, 2003]
Steve Tanti
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

The dcm370 does sound great with hdcd encoded discs (if they don't skip)

Weakness:

Tray opens too far to allow 4 disc changing.This causes it too droop and rub on the track while closing,creating an ugly scraping sound.The turntable is clunky.

Not long after purchasing the dcm370,I had problems with the unit skipping on the first two tracks within the first minute of each.This problem started in random mode.After servicing, the problem persisted immediately upon return (the ribbon wire was supposedly replaced by the technician,yeah right!)It's been three years now and it is worse than ever.The player scans discs and refuses to recognise them at random.I took the liberty of opening up the unit and found that it is actually scanning the discs backwards! that is counterclockwise.What a waste of money!

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Jul 20, 2003]
James Rhee
AudioPhile

Strength:

Tamed CD sound different than the steely sounds of most CD players under $400

Weakness:

Cannot deliver that 3-dimensional round tone that many artist strive for.

Like many other reviewers like the color of the sound thanks to burr-brown DAC, however, it is n o t!!! an audiophile quality - it lacks depth of sound. Sound stage is not 3 dimensional, producing flat unsatisfying mimic of music, and not the full live music it-self. It's like seeing a picture of a beautiful scenery, and not like beeing there. If you are serious about ataining sonic nirvana, and bringing home the good times music can offer, I would invest $699 and buy the ah.Njoe Tjoeb at www.upscalesaudio.com The denon is good for taming the CD steely quality, but it does not offer full musical expression that is on the CDs you buy - especially not for classical music. I would buy this if you want a HDCD 5 CD playing tray with a smooth plush sound, but don't expect a musical excitement from it.

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
4
[Jun 30, 2003]
tsomyak
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Supposed sound quality, if you can get it to play.

Weakness:

whir, click - click, whir, click-click, (ad nauseum...)

The following is the text of a note I sent to Denon. It pretty much sums up my feelings on the product. In researching a new cd player for my son, I decided to purchase a Denon DCM-370, based on Denon's reputation and the associated features, especially the use of quality DAC's. I was disappointed when my son informed me that he could not get the unit to read any cd's. I returned the unit to the dealer, who informed me that this was the last 370 in stock, but he could have a 380 shipped to arrive in a few days. I decided to get a refund and consider my options. I was curious if this was a common problem with Denon cd players, a friend suggested I research www.audioreview.com to see if others reported the same problem. I was shocked to see that in fact that this problem is reported OVER and OVER. The only reason I'm considering ordering the 380 is the fact that those who have not had skipping problems are very pleased with the sound quality. My questions are: 1. Has the skipping issue been adequately fixed in the model 380? I would like specifics here. What was the root cause of the problem and what design changes were made to correct it. Does field data support the assertion that the problem has been fixed? 2. Are the same DAC's used in the 380 as in the 370, or has some cost reduction been performed in the design? Your promptness and completeness in reply will determine if I will purchase a Denon product.

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
3
[Apr 15, 2003]
sfmittels
AudioPhile

Strength:

Great DACs. Remote-controlled volume attenuation.

Weakness:

The remote is impossible to use in the dark - buttons are all the same size with no backlighting. A little pricey.

Great unit with excellent sound. Onboard DACs are very much up to the task. I keep mine under my bed, connected to a tubed Antique Sound Labs headphone amp feeding Sennheiser HD-600s. I've had none of the reliability problems mentioned by other reviewers. One exceptional feature missing from most competitors is a limited volume control on the remote. The unit boots up at maximum volume; you can then reduce the volume, although the amount of attenuation is limited. However, for a setup like mine, it's perfect - I can alter the volume downward to suit my mood without needing a remote volume control on the amplifier.

Similar Products Used:

Integra and Sony.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
Showing 11-20 of 162  

(C) Copyright 1996-2018. All Rights Reserved.

audioreview.com and the ConsumerReview Network are business units of Invenda Corporation

Other Web Sites in the ConsumerReview Network:

mtbr.com | roadbikereview.com | carreview.com | photographyreview.com | audioreview.com