East to use and very well built and very well layed out.

I just love this CD Recorder and player with two trays make it very easy to make Cd's for my other players. All the controls are very easy to use and controls are set up very well. I stopped to write this review because I notice a few of the people writting reviews paid very little or bought them used with troubles and find that unfair. I know I bought mine brand new on the web and mine was bench tested and certified perfect when purchased which makes a big difference. Bottom line you get what you pay for and when you buy from the junk yard, you most likely will get junk. Like all my HK Audio products it does everything perfect as stated when bought! If someone if looking for a first class CD Recorder this one is Awesome.

Similar Products Used:

Denon, Pioneer, Phillips,

It is a beautiful CD Recorder and player that is very well built and does everything very easy

I have owned a few CD Recorders but I would have to say this Harman Kardon is by far the best built, finest sounding and very easy to use. But then again one gets what they pay for and I would buy another one of these in a minute!

Similar Products Used:

Phillips, Sony

Fantastic CD Recorder and works flawlessly and excellently built. Easy to use if one follows the instructions!

This is by far the best Cd Recorder I have use with very easy to use controls. I really believe it records better then the original. I also noticed mine was bench tested and certified perfect, I guess that make a big difference and it was a birthday Gift! Can't go wrong with this unit!

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer, Denon

This is one of the finest Cd recorders I have owned and very easy to use.

I read the manual before using my new HK Cd recorder and I have never had a problem and find it very easy to operate and records perfect. Would buy another one without question?

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer,

Very well built and very easy to use excellent recording!

I have owed allot of cd recorders but have to say this is by far the finest and very easy to use. Having two cd trays also make it allot easier to record and this is real awesome Audio equipment! If one is looking for a great cd recorder look no father then this you will love it!

Similar Products Used:

Denon, Sony, Pioneer

Easy, very easy to use. Very easy to use.
It does do 2x record of single tracks.
It sounds great.

For $350 I can't complain, but it would be nice if it removed my pops from records. ;)

I am terrible a gidgets, anything too complicated I give up on. 1/2 hour after getting home I was dubbing records on to CD and it sounded wonderful. Compared to my friends setup with his PC the sound is night and day. In fact friends couldn't tell which was the CD and which was a tape I just copied.

READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. Almost all the complaints listed below are clearly either noted in the instructions or have very easy work arounds in the instructions. They don't take that long to read!

My Grateful Dead collection is quickly going from tape to CD. Bought thinking I would return it, but I am very happy with it. $350 isn't easy to part with, but I am glad I did.

Beautiful sound, very simple design, very easy to use, no auto record level altering with compression, no analog record synch(positive or negative?).

Produces bit for bit accurate copies from 44.1Khz sources in any speed, sampling converter is bypassed.

High sensitivity level which is great for low voltage sources as analog tape decks, magnetic phonographs, satellite receiver analog outputs, and FM radio.

Still has same problem as the CDR2, does not allow monitoring through the CDR deck outputs when doing an internal dub on 1X speed. When you only connect the CDR side connections only, you simply will not be able to listen to the CD while your dubbing it. This problem is also inherent on the CDR 30 according to sales people and the CDR 30 manual descriptions.

No analog record synch(positive or negative?).

Screwy set up with a separate power switch on the remote and a separate power switch on the main panel. They are not the same and main panel power switch has priority over the remote power switch.

Exactly like the CDR 2 "EXCEPT" that no optical output is offered for the CDR deck. Since the optical output is offered on the CDP deck, this component will send signals from either deck to "ALL" outputs when in "SINGLE" mode. When in dual mode, outputs will only be available to the correct deck. So you still have full use of an optical output when playing either deck in single mode. When recording, the deck is forced to "DUAL" mode, and external recording monitoring can only be done through the coaxial digital and analog outputs. For over $100 cheaper street price than the CDR2, I'll take this one exclusion, especially since the CDR 20 supposedly has all the CDR 2 bugs fixed.

No skip ID(as with the Pioneer 739 and JVC 5000) or A B editing(as with the Philips 785).

No text input or display(most decks don't support this anyway, and this wastes a lot of time inputing the information).

Overall, I'm pleased with this unit. Although it most likely is only a revision to the HK CDR2 with all the bugs fixed and the CDR side optical output deleted, it's also $150 less in MSRP.

It does NOT sound like the CDR2. I was very displeased with the CDR2's sound, but my unit did produce a screeching out the analog outputs when powering off. That could have been the cause of the laid back, muddy sound output.

The CDR 20 sound is simply excellent. It's sound is just as good as my Yamaha CD changer, Panasonic DVD changer, and my old Philips CDR785. To say the least, the HK CDR2 was NOT. For further explanation, read my CDR2 review.

My main problem with the unit is the lack to monitor a dubbing CD through the CDR's outputs. No monitor of internal dubs is possible. If you want to "listen not monitor" the source disc, then you must connect the CDP side connections also. I wish they would had done away with the stupid dual mode, to make monitoring possible in "ALL" recording modes.

While the above is a design flaw, I was told that HK has no intent to design any differently. They were aware of my frustration back on the CDR2. My dealer asked HK about this on the CDR 20 and CDR 30, and they said they would be sticking to this design, for unknown reasons.

In all fairness, after using most the popular CD recorders, I feel this is the least worst among engineering flaws in these CD recorders.

Here's a list of all my flaw findings:

Pioneer 739 and 509: Sampling rate convertor is somehow incompatible with Dish Network Satellite. This must be due to component ID which the Pioneer SRC uses: MD, CD, DAT, DVD. Every other deck I've tried has accepted the digital satellite receiver output without problem. Sound was better than the HK CDR2 but worse than the Philips CDR785

Philips CDR785: Reliability, reliability, reliability. I spent more time unplugging the thing for resets to get it to work, than I spent on making CD recordings. VERY, VERY DIFFICULT TO USE. VERY, VERY, VERY BAD MANUAL. Most dubbing modes invoke automatic record level compensation which uses dynamic compression. Recorder had a very hard time recongizing CDRs and CDRWs. Quirks and other difficulties are just to numerous to go in depth. First unit didn't work correctly out of the box. Second one worked for months, then started having problems, which lead to it's dismissal.

JVC 5000: Never used for any significant amount of time due to bad sesitivity. The manual uses a non standard way of rating sensitivity(most likely to confuse people into thinking it'll record standard analog sources). It's sensitivity is rated at 330mV(full scale -12db) using math to find what the "ACTUAL" sensitivity is at "0dB", that equates to 1.3V. So to record any analog source at 0db, the output voltage must be 1.3V. Most tape decks are 500mV. Satellite receivers and Phono preamps are about 350mV. Receiver FM signal output has been roughly about 750mV to 1V on receivers I've owned. As you can see, the sensitivity circuit does not have enough gain to record most analog sources. After orginally thinking this was a printing error, I tried recording LPs to find I could not record any higher than the -15db indicator level. Simply unusable on analog sources. Be warned: Denon's new CD dual recorder was tested around only 500mV by Sound and Vision magazine! What good is a CD recorder if it can't record basic analog sources. If I wanted to only dub other CDs, I'd use my computer CDR!

I was reluctant in buying a HK product after my first HK CDR2 experience, and after reading of all the quality control problems with their DVD players, CD changers, and receivers in this review section. Then again, I had a bad Pioneer 739 out of the box. The second seemed good until I found it couldn't record my satellite receiver's digital output. I also had numerous problems with Philip CD recorders, again the first one being bad out of the box.

If I had it all to do over, I would had stuck to minidisc as CD recorders "ALL" seem plagued with design problems and reliability troubles. I have my fingers crossed on this HK CDR 20!

I'm giving this a high rating, as I have not found an other recorder that offers great sound, simplicity, decent price, and fewer design flaws.

If I have reliability or other troubles in the future, I will swiftly submit a review update.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer 739, Pioneer 509, Philips CDR 785, and JVC 5000

I have found that this machine ,so far is excellent I have found only a couple minor things wrong with it

when you program one song from the play deck and try to record it at 4x on the recorder it automatically puts it in as 2x therefore you can only record full length albums at 4x speed.

From only using the Phillips and HK I think that Harmon Kardon is more advanced in CD burning technology.Overall a real good buy.

Similar Products Used:

Phillips Oh my god is that dual well a piece of dung. I tried two of them when I finally put 100 more dollars into the Harmon Kardon. The Phillips when i put the blank CD into the record deck it would flash opc and say disc error when I now use the same discs in the HK I reccomend you to not waste your money on Phillips They're NOT smart Very NOT smart.

Easy to use.

Doesn’t record individual tracks at single speed, you must use 2x or 4x. Doesn’t recognize that a CD-RW disc has been recorded on.

I don’t recommend this product. It doesn’t work as it suppose too. I tried two brand new CDR-20s and both malfunction repeatedly.

Similar Products Used:

None

NONE

After owning the most frustrating piece of audio equipment I have ever purchased, the Pioneer cdr739 which was in the repair shop almost as much time as on my shelf, Pioneer refunded half the purchase price. I bought the Onyko cdr 511. I love everything about this unit including the instruction manuel

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer cdr 739.