Great build quality.

Pulsing static distortion with many blank CD-R media.

I just got my Pioneer PDR-509 CD recorder deck back from the repair shop. Under service performed it reads "Soldered Q408, R432, Q407, R431"…What does this mean? I asked the guy at the desk but his answer was just as technical. My question here is, did they REALLY do any meaningful work on my unit or is this "soldered" thing just a way of saying "yeah, we worked on it". The repairs were covered under warranty, parts and labor.

The deck is in the same state, pulsing static noise is heard on recordings…and some finalized discs can’t be read by my CD player.

No one seems to know what this problem is, I’ve read other complaints regarding the pulsing static noises with the Pioneer consumer CD recorder decks, even a call to the Pioneer "customer service" 800 line didn’t serve me well.

I’m not the only person with this very obnoxious pulsing static distortion problem.

It seems to me that the guys over at the service repair shop couldn’t identify the problem, since some recordings don’t exhibit this problem, they only tested it with ONE recording, and ofcourse, that recording came out fine…so they probably just did some "soldering" just so they could report to Pioneer that they "worked" on my unit to collect on the fees.

I used to own the PHILIPS CDR770 deck and never had this problem with that unit, it can’t be a defective disc issue, the Pioneers have some sort of compatibility issue with many blank consumer CD-R media.

Also, is it normal for burned CD-R discs to have what appears to be warped "rings" on the burned side of the disc? When I had the PHILIPS deck the burned discs didn’t have this characteristic, they were smooth and clean.

I spent $380 on this thing, I’m feeling very ripped off here.

Similar Products Used:

PHILIPS CDR 770

Manual track indexing without a 2-3 second gap.

All pioneer remotes are too complex/small.

The first cdrw I bought was the Magnavox CDR560. It's horrible! When using a re-writeable cd it would record for about 2 minutes and then stop. When I tried again it would record for 4 minutes and then stop, and so on. Very frustrating! I took it back and got the Pioneer and have been very pleased with it.
I have a cdrw in my computer for "backing up" cds but I wanted to record myself while djing a continuos mix with records and I couldn't do that without moving my pc into my living room and getting an expensive sound card. The cdrw in my pc comes in quite handy, though. What you do is buy a three pack of the digital re-writeables and record your music. Then you place the digital cdrw in your computer and copy it to a cheap computer cdr. That way you don't have to buy the expensive digital cdrs. You can use the cheap computer ones and have the same quality.
It was very important to me that I got a cdrw that didn't place a 2-3 second gap between tracks while manually tracking because that would ruin the whole idea of a continuous mix and this one does not place a gap between tracks. Having a cdrw also makes it easy to erase my screw ups and not waste an entire cd.
The remote, as with many of Pioneer's products, is too small. The remote for the pioneer home theatre receiver is too complicated. No biggy, though.
Overall I have been very pleased with the Pioneer cdr 509 and other pioneer products. For the money, it's hard to find anything better.

Similar Products Used:

Phillips Magnavox CDR 560

Analog Recording Level; Auto/Manual Track Number; Remote Control; Digital interface to Optical and Coxial. So far, I've done mostly Analog Recording from Live Speech/Singing events. The Analog Record Level is definitely a must have feature.

Auto/Manual Track Numbering light indicator doesn't remain on after PMA REC. I made this a weakness because I always forget to turn it back on when I go to record again. Pressing [Pause] doesn't pause in the middle of a recording. Rather it stops recording and moves to the next track number.

I made my decesion to purchase this Pioneer PDR-509 based on the prior reviews of this product. I actually got this PDR-509 for the great price of $250.00 because it had been previously returned. I was shopping for this model and I new from my reviews that it was pretty good. So I took a chance and grabbed it for that bargain price. Currently, I use the PDR-509 to record Live Speeches/Singing captured by several microphones connected to a PA system. I connect the PA system to the Analog outlets on the PDR-509. For Analog Recordings, the FIRST great function of the PDR-509 is the Analog Record Level. Thank Goodness for the "Analog Record Level (ARL)". Even if the person is several feet away from the microphone, I just increase the ARL to maintain sound level. My first Analog Speech recording was very distorted because I set the ARL to high and did not adjust it to compensate for the high and low Speech levels. For Live Speech/Singing Analog Recordings, you definitely must monitor the incoming signal and adjust the ARL to have a consistent sound level on the CD. Once I realized this, my Speech/Singing recording have been FANTASTIC. The second great function of the PDR-509, that also goes with the ARL, is the ability to Turn on the [Auto/Manual Track Number]. Turning this function on allows me to perform "Continous Analog Recording". As you know, when people speak they tend to pause alot. With this PDR-509, any pauses of silence greater than 2 seconds, automatically writes a new track number. This sucks! But, the work around is to enable [Auto/Manual Track Number] and Viola!. With this function on, you record everything and remove the 2 second pause restriction. One of the mistakes that I find myself making though, is forgeting to turn this function on when I do the Live Speech/Singing recording or between recording sessions. I use the Remote Control mostly for doing Fading IN/OUT, Manually writing Track Numbers and Stopping. I've used both TDK and MEMOREX digital audio CD-R and CD-RW without any problems. I also like the PDR-509 interface to 1) Optical and 2)Coaxial digital devices. For Analog Recording from Live Speech/Singing, I've made several recording without any problems with the CDR-509. My next task to check out how the Digital Synchro Recordings work.

Similar Products Used:

None.

bit perfect copies everytime(for me)easy to use .Excellent analog performance with added gain.Better than average dac's

no 2x dubbing..

when i got this it was the 509 or the philips and the 509 had much better reviews.Ive waited to review the 509 as its the type of product that requires a long period to really appraise its reliability .Ive seen many subsequent postings which are less than glowing.I must report ive had none, (problems of any sort)and am happy in all respects.Along with replay tv id say the medium(cdr) are the 2 greatest advances since vcr.With access to 57 libraries most with cd's and several sporting sizable collections and many of the new releases coupled with the drop in prices of music only cdr media(last spindles at 40-66 cents}.needless to say im not buying a lot of cds these days.Major no brainer purchase.Seen as low as $250 of late(discontinued i believe}

Similar Products Used:

none

Good, accurate recordings (both CD-R & CD-RW). Easy to use interface. Ability to record from analogue sources. Quality construction. Ability to NOT RECORD on data CD's.

Playback is reasonable, but not what one would expect for the price, however what's important in a CDR is the recording quality, no?.

I've been using the PDR-509 since February 2000 and haven't had any problems so far. Some discs do skip but I think that's more down to the quality of the recording media rather than the actual recorder. I generally use it to reproduce my latest CD's for in-car use.

I have it connected to a NAD C520 player via the digital coax port which makes syncronisation and recording of a complete disc a snap. Both the Pioneer and the NAD are hooked up to my Denon AVR-1800 through which a noticable difference in playback quality can be appreciated. The NAD win's hands-down.

I have even recorded (for backup purposes) several cassetes and the results are astounding, the analogue-digital conversion of the Pioneer even seems to improve sound quality. Tip: For recording tapes use a CD-RW disk as this helps when editing inter-track spacings. Later play the CD-RW in your DVD and record the finished disc to CD-R on the Pioneer. The disk can then be used in any CD player.

For those of you who complain about not being able to use data CD's (you'll notice I've included this in "strengths" above!), try reading the user guide. This unit only accepts disc's which are "For Music Use Only" or "Consumer" branded. It's simply a code on the disc which indicates that a small percentage of the disc's cost goes to an artists fund, thereby protecting their rights in some small way. Data disc's don't have the code and therefore are not accepted.

Resumen: A great, easy to use, well built CD-R/RW unit which produces excellent copies (it's pricipal function). Playback a bit iffy, but since it's not a dual-deck unit you MUST have a CD player connected in order to copy discs. I would certainly recommend it without hesitation.

5 stars overall - due to playback not really being an issue.
4 stars value - what the hell, *everything* should be cheaper!

Similar Products Used:

HP PC based systems.

Easy to use, when working properly, recordings have a nice sound quality.

Copy protection discriminates against musicians, weak auto-track function, skips horribly, cds are expensive

Hi...

I just got my Pioneer back from the service center
since it randomly skipped and waved in and out on
random songs. It burned one cd properly and then went
back to the same old tricks. I have wasted lots of money
on coasters. I read the reviews here and I am going to
do some tests for interferences by turning on and off
devices nearby like my stereo and tv. I am also
going to buy a few different brands of cd-rs to
test the results. I am trying to figure out
if my unit is a lemon or if my unit is working fine
but I keep getting bad cd-rs.

But, I don't think it is bad cd-rs. Since I recored
like 9 cds with it just fine and then moved to a new
place. I used a cd-r from the old batch that produced
9 other cds and it skipped badly. I thought I might
have knock the alignment out of whack in moving but
having gotten it back from the service center, it still
messes up. I really do not look forward to spending
months taking this thing to and from Best Buy when I
should be recording cds.

But it looks like lots of people have been having
trouble with this new technology and that I may
just have to live with substandard equipment until
the technology is perfected.

The copy protection suks since why should the major
labels have ANY influence over whethere I can make
a master cd-r to reburn for copies to hand out to
my friends of my original music. Anyone who says
the major labels are not out to stifle competition
with nearly illegal tactics is wrong.

Now I have to find a way around this "feature" in
order to make copies of a copy. NOT TO RIP OFF
ARTISTS but to make my music available.

Dan H.

Similar Products Used:

none

It's cheap.

Good to make copies to listen in the car.

Here in Italy computer CD-r and music only CD-r cost about the same, so this is not a big problem. The problem is that for sure this is not a pro machine. You can note this listening to the poor s/n ratio of the analog circuitry -- the hiss is high; more: recording an old LP you have a still usable digital copy, but the good and warm original sound has been lost. It doesn't happen (so strongly) with pro recorders. And don't say that analog is impossible to copy digitally: try to copy a digital source via the analog circuit, you will find the same problem.
There is something other I don't understand: recording old CDs, say 1987-1991, the recording process suddenly stops at about minute 20-30, with the "Check disc" warning. Does someone have had the same problem, and some ideas to fix it?
I suggest to spend a little more for a CD recorder, for exemple there is the new Tascam -- it costs about $200 more, but one more time: it's better to avoid these entry-level machines.

I'm afraid I was too hasty in my previous rave review.

After using the PDR-509 for 2 weeks, I noticed that some CD-Rs recorded with the machine had a pulsing white-noise distortion on several tracks. The problem was intermittent. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the distortion: it happened at the beggining, middle and end of CD-Rs and it would sometimes swallow entire tracks in white noise yet leave the rest of the CD-R well-recorded. The distortion happened in both analog and digital recording modes, and when dubbing from CDs and cassette tapes.

To add to the mess, playing the dubbed CD-Rs on different CD players yielded different results. My Sony 7ES and C365 CD-players revealed the distorted tracks. However, the Pioneer 509 played the same tracks perfectly; as did my Pioneer laser disc player, D503, my Panasonic A-110 DVD player, and my Philips portable CD player! (Unfortunately, I listen to my CDs on the 5-disc Sony players.)

When I took the CD-Rs into the local Good Guys where I purchased the 509, none of the salesmen had ever experienced such a problem, nor could they figure out the cause -- they suggested the cause might be my electrical wiring or even my refrigerator turning on! (The Pioneer manual mentions interference from a TV, but my TV was not playing when the CD-R was recording.) The second 509 I received last week had the same problem and, tonight, I just discovered that the third 509 is distorting tracks as well.

I don't know if there is something wrong with the Pioneer CD-R recorder line (can I really be the only person this is happening to?) or if there is something strange going on in my house (though every other video/audio device -- 2 DVD players, 3 CD players, laser disc player, 4 VCRs, computer, 3 TVs, cassette deck and electronic keyboard -- works fine).

It now looks like I will have to purchase a Philips CD-R -- and I am not a fan of their products. As one can tell from my previous rave review, I think very highly of the design and function of the 509, but my frustrations are many at the continuing distorting of recordings. (Adding insult to injury, I cannot tell there's distortion until I finalize a CD-R. Thus I waste a CD-R everytime I find distortion. It's cost me over $50 so far.)

Nice looking.

Compatibility issues with many blank CD-R media!

I've had quite an interesting ride regarding consumer CD-Recorder decks. I currently own the Pioneer PDR 509 that is at an authorized PIONEER service center shop getting checked out as I type this now.

The first deck I purchased was the PHILIPS 770 (single tray recorder), I returned and exchanged these decks THREE times and all of the decks I got in exchange had the same problem. About 1 in 5 recordings would be ruined. This happened after the recording was complete, the player would freeze up prior to finalization turning the disc into a coaster.

So, after seeing that getting THREE different PHILIPS decks didn't help, I decided to go with the PIONEER PDR-509 to escape the glitch ridden PHILIPS decks...but to no avail it seems.

I found that the PIONEER PDR-509 had it's own problems as well. When I bought the first PIONEER deck, the first few recordings on MEMOREX CD-Rs came out excellent. Then I started getting these in and out phasing distortion noise that popped up near the beginning, middle and end of the recording...the distortion worsened at times towards the end. I then returned the deck in exchange for another PIONEER PRD-509 deck, the same problem. Then I decided to switch CD-R brands...the MAXELLS seemed to work flawlessly for a little while...then the annoying distortion popped up yet again on the MAXELLS. Finally, I tried the FUJI and TDK brands...no luck! The TDK exhibited the WORST distortion I've ever heard, nearly covering the entire audio with static. My TECHNICS 5-disc changer couldn't even read the finalized TDKs!

This problem manifested itself in BOTH analog and direct digital recordings. I have no sources near the recorder that would cause this problem.

I wonder why this unit has such a horrible compatibility issue. The PHILIPS decks, despite their problems, never had this type of CD-R compatibility issue.

I really wish someone in the know would shed some light on this. As I said before, my PIONEER unit is currently at a PIONEER authorized repair shop. I hope they can find out why this deck has this problem.

Similar Products Used:

Philips 770/Pioneer PDR-509

Easy to use, looks good. Great for analogue recordings.

Goes into pause mode after 5-second silence.

Although I am very pleased with the Pioneer which I purchased last week, I have noticed on a couple of recordings done with the synchro-recording mode (known as All-Synch recording), that a second or so is missing from the start of some tracks. Of course it only happens sometimes! The only reason for this I can see is that the recorder goes into pause-mode after detecting 5 seconds of silence (if there is a large gap between tracks on the source) and doesn't quite have time to resume copying if the next track starts just as the machine has paused.
I wonder if anyone else has had this problem? It's annoying as I'm wary of recording a whole disc which may have long gaps between the tracks. I don't really want to have to record each track separately (1-synch as opposed to All-synch). I would be very interested to hear from anyone with similar experiences. Thanks!