great sound, looks and build quality

cd text, although not a big deal for the audiophile.

Okay it is christmas time for all those that are having trouble with recording a single track at 4x the speed..

All you do is on the play deck go to the track that you want to record. Then press the 4x button and press the dubb button and you are on your way to a fast recording.

I have used this product since its debut and has performed very well. I have been able to record a single track at 4x on many different players and it works every time.

The sound performance is fantastic when playing cds. I have recorded many HDCD and 5.1 DTS cds and have found a flawless recording. This is an excellent product and I recommend it to all.

Along with its great sound performance, the CDR2 has a stellar apearance....

This product isn't flawless; however, what product is?
If you buy the CDR2 you will enjoy it....

A perfect match with the HK AVR7000 and HK DVD5

Similar Products Used:

pioneer and phillips

4x dubbing

poor playback performance compared to the price

Initially I bought the HK CDR2 to get a single component for everything, recording my analog tapes, dubbing CD , listening CD.
I was impressed by the 4x speed, the 24bit-96 khz DAC.

After a 3 month experience with this unit, I must acknowledge that I am a little bit disappointed :
1/ the 4x dubbing shall only be used with clean source CD and reliable CD-R. with "old", slightly damaged source CD, a 4x dubbing sometimes creates a CD-R with high distorsions / quantification noises.
2/ the playback quality does not compare well with a half priced CD player. My marantz CD67SE does a better job, and I do not speak about the fabulous ATOLL CD100, which is priced around the same as the HK CDR 2(but does not record) and which is really impressive when playing CD. I will definitely keep my CD player.

As a conclusion, this is a good machine for creating/dubbing CD.

Similar Products Used:

Computer CD-R recorder
Marantz CD 67SE and ATOLL CD100 as playback

This is an update of my initial review - 2 posts earlier

This is an update of my initial review - 2 posts earlier

Some time has passed now since my less than favourable review on the HK CDR2.

I am pleased to report that my dealer, Audio Synergy, spoke to the Sales Manager of the Australian distributor regarding my experiences. Although the specific problems with the unit were not discussed with me, the distributor offered to take the unit back and exchange it with the new model (CDR 20) at no cost to me.

I was pleased that this solution was offered, and naturally I accepted. The new unit has been working well so far, but I have not ventured into the dreaded Hi-speed dubbing, or programmed track dubbing yet.(Only had it one week).

I am happy that HK's distributor wants to satisfy me, but I think they missed an opportunity to get valuable feedback from me as to what was wrong with the unit.

Will post another update when I try the Hispeed and programmed dub facilities.

Similar Products Used:

This is an update of my initial review - 2 posts earlier

Easy to use and optical output

Sound quality and design flaws

The first thing that really bothered me was how bad the sound output was. This wasn't the A/D at work on recordings, but the overall analog OUTPUT while listening to prerecorded CDs or digitally, bit for bit, CD-R/Ws. The sound was not harsh or grainy as with some mass market players. It was just to laid back. like it had loss the definition and dynamics. Even the Pioneer decks sounded better.

Recording was very easy and this was the decks strong point. As always, more features lead to a more confusing and more frustrating use. The lack of digital recording level was great. No need to ever worry that it would be used to create NONE bit for bit perfect clones.

The unit does record over 20 tracks, so the manual is flawed. The 20 track limit is only for PROGRAMMED TRACKS, not recorded tracks.

While the unit is nice with it's gimmicky dual mode(acts as 2 separate cd players), this feature has flawed the unit terribly. One of the reviews down explains in depth, but you can't monitor your recording while even doing a slow dub, if you connect the unit using it's CD-R connections. To monitor "BOTH" external and internal dubbing, you must use this unit as 2 separate players. This uses unnecessary cabling and receiver inputs, where other CD recorders do not. An extreme design flaw to only add to the bad sound quality.

The Pioneer decks and Philips both offer monitoring in any mode. They show the importance of monitoring while dubbing, that it deserves. HK seems like they've thrown out the R&D on their components. I was thinking about buying their new DVD 5 DVD changer, but the CDR2 quickly put an end to any further purchases of HK gear. I guess from all the bad receiver reviews explaining of poor operating, I should have known that would extend to other products with their name on it. My fault for not showing caution.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer 739, Pioneer 509, and Philips CDR 785

when it works, it is wonderful

external records from MD's

The final and last of my reviews. I'm glad some people are having success with their units. I have had none. I just finished with my third and last. I've unplugged it and its going back for good.

The first unit didn't external record at all. The second would accept external CD's only, not MD's. The last would not external record from an MD via the analog input, only the digital..... not to mention failure of the 2x and 4x dubs.

Joe at Harman has been wonderful at helping me out, so their service has improved in my eyes, but the product has been maddening. Its a shame because I love the look and feel of the unit and liked the sound. Since I have gone through three failed units, I have no choice but to give it one star on both ratings.

Similar Products Used:

computer burners, philips CDR 785

4x speed. Great Looking Unit.

none

I got this unit for $450 about 4 months ago. Where else can you get 4x record speed with no loss in sound quality? I have recorded brand new CDs and could not find any audible difference between the two. I have burned over 100 CDs using 4x most of the time for myself and friends. Never had a problem.

Similar Products Used:

Philips cdr 775, 770

A fine name (formerly) and sturdy appearance (looks are deceiving)

After three months of use the unit simply turned itself off and that was it. Prior to that the time I spent using it were somewhat frustrating. The manual must have been translated in a dozen other languages before they got to English...it's pathetic. I used Maxells and TDKs and always got disc errors at 4X while making montages on about 25% of tracks from pristine original discs which led to the stop of the song in the middle, a 4 second pause and then restart of the tack again. This of course renders a CDR disc trash. There is NO VOLUME CONTROL!!!! when making copies of CDs. Forget fades on those live cuts you wanted to slip into the montage. How about recording tracks 2 through 8 since you hate the opener from a live album? That's great, just be prepared to have 4 second pauses between each trach without fades...it's horrible! Want to make a montage from lots of different discs, great, just relax, it takes hours. You can't use 4X as I noted above and the machine takes about 30-45 seconds before it reads the disc and is ready to record. The disc drawers are so flimsy you will definately think you broke them on a weekly basis with the most minor bumps. I've seen better on crappy portable machines

Now the kicker, it is over a month since HK recieved my unit to replace and I'm still waiting. They can't keep up with all the returns apparently. The stall tactics are comical. The discs that were stuck in it when it burned out, came back a few days ago. The discs look like they were the favorites for the end of the night from a drunken frat party. They sent them back wrapped in bubble wrap, covered with fingerprints and scratches! I saw several people refer to "lemons" but beware of this machine and the companie's customer service. I must have clocked in over two hours in phone calls to these inept folks.....maybe there are lots of lemons!!!!!!!!! What happened to Harmon Kardon being a reliable, high quality audio company?

Sound quality,solid nice look.

Perhaps not as easy to record cd's than to record cassettes.

I'v been recording almost everything by now with my cdr2,casettes,radio-tuner,cd's,and some video-casette,videogames,and dvd soundtracks.For my personal pleasure that is.

At first,i was nervous cause i had enormous reading problems with my old HK710 cd player that have been arrange by now.But it's looks like harman have fixed those problems cause my cdr2 works flawlesstly.Ok,it don't reckonise cd as fast as a normal cd player but thats a minor setback if you compare to pure sound quality the unit delivers.

It's not as easy to record a cd than a cassette cause with recordable cd's,you don't have any marge for error.And the principles difers a bit from a tape recorder.But the final result is outstanding.my first reaction after listening to my first recorded cd was,HO MY GOD I DON'T BELIEVE IT!I was amaze how the sound was good as the original cd.And above all,after i'v recorded my old cassettes on cd,the cd sounded not as good,but even better than the old cassettes.

A must for those who enjoy mix of their best song or putting old music memories on cd,all that with quality sound.

See note below

See note below

I haven't had the unit long enough to give an objective review, however, my limited experience has been positive.
The unit is easy to use (despite the very poorly written manual)and I have easily dubbed from a remote cd carrosel at 4x speed and have made several copies of phonograph albums (my main reason for buying this unit). I have only used CD-r digital audio discs but will update this review after trying the Maxell CD-rw discs I recently purchased.
Please consider this review cursory.

Similar Products Used:

Various CD and DVD units

In the short time that I've owned this, I truly love it. Haven't had any problems with disc recognition. Only minor complaint is that the 4X feature only works if you record the whole disc. Otherwise, it's great.