a million cds, keyboard input, control a1 II (to go with my str-de935)

takes a little while to switch disks

Sure it's big, but it freakin holds 300 cds you moron. Got a pretty good deal on it, 240 out the door, everything i'm looking for in a cd changer

Good Price. Eject feature pushes the ejecting CD slighly forward for easy removal.

No "Open door" on remote on remote.

I like the unit very much. Only don't move it around after you loaded your CDs. I bounce a CD out of place and it jammed. Poping the cover off and putting the CD back in place was an easy 1,2,3.

Sound, price, capacity, flexibility

Limited title input

My wife got me this for Christmas, and I love it! I'd never planned to get one of these CD megachangers, but now that I have it, and have it all set up, I wonder why I'd never bought one before. I used to spend too much time searching through bins for CD's, and often could never find the one I wanted. Now, the're all in there and ready.

The sound is excellent (better than my fairly expensive Denon player of yesteryear) using quality RCA cables to direct source in my receiver. Performance is good, with reasonable change times.

Complaints? None really. I'd like to have more characters for title input, and CDDB access would be sweet, but this isn't necessary or easy to rig up yet. The biggest problem was the realization that I had so many CD's! I have about 400, and never realized it until I started loading this thing. Next year, I'd like to get another player to store more, and take advantage of the relay play feature too.

All in all, hightly recommended, and fantastic value for the price.

Similar Products Used:

None. Replaced 10 year old Denon 5-disc changer.

Huge capacity, PS/2 keyboard input for text labels, jog dials make selecting a disk and track easy.

Somewhat slow to change disks (but aren't all mega changers?)
CD disk memo behavior is a bit counterintuitive.

This was a Christmas gift to replace my old 5-disk Sony CDP-705 carousel changer that served me well for 10 years.

Pluses:

-- Fairly quiet operation
-- Huge capacity
-- Twin jog dials on front for selecting disk and track are easy to handle and make it a snap to find a disk and track quickly.
-- Ability to search for disk by name (memo search) -- find what you want without worrying about what slot it's in.
-- PS/2 keyboard plug on front to enter text labels for disks and groups.
-- Colored light inside is helpful and looks cool (don't dismiss this as cheese, it would be sorely missed if it weren't there).


Minuses (mostly minor nits on a very nice unit):

- Somewhat long time to change CD's (can be 20 seconds or so). It won't work well by itself to keep the music pumping at a party -- get a couple of them linked together to enable the cross-play and fade functions. They're not that expensive so if you have that requirement go ahead and get two, you won't regret it. 8-)

- Would be nice to be able to assign a disk to more than one group.

- Disk labeling behavior is different from my previous experience with Sony. In this unit, you're actually assigning a label to the **SLOT**, not the CD. In my old Sony 5-disk carousel, the player would associate a disk's "memo" with the disk itself so when it was inserted the label would be loaded and displayed. I assumed that this unit would act the same way so that I wouldn't have to worry about moving disks around... but it doesn't do that. You have to manually enter the memo for the disk in its new position if you put it in a different slot. The only disks that "carry" a label around are those with CD-Text on them. If you do a lot of disk-swapping then this probably isn't the unit for you. You can find what slot the disk was in by looking for its memo. When you open the changer the proper slot will be presented for reloading.

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Miscellany:

This thing is **BIG**, especially in front-to-back depth. If you've got a component shelf that's enclosed in back or has a door on the front, make sure you've got room before buying this. The depth in particular is something to watch out for -- mine has only about 1/4 inch of clearance in front with the rack door closed.

Sounds great to me, at least as good as the one it replaced.

The slots inside are very close together - don't try to load this thing in the dark. A small light illuminating the loading area that comes on when the door opens would be a useful, easy-to-make improvement.

Plays burned audio CD's with no complaints.

Would be nice if Sony included a binder to hold CD case inserts like JVC and Toshiba do with some of their mega changers.

All in all this would make a great changer for someone tired of pulling and replacing disks.

Similar Products Used:

Sony CDP-705 5-CD changer (vintage 1990)

continous music

would like more programming options

I did alot of thinking and planning before I decided on this system, and this way to program it. I diligently spoke to Wintrax, Nirvis and Greywolf (all bad businessmen) and decided against them due to their unavailability and arrogance about answering a potential customers questions (if its bad before I buy - how will they act AFTER they have my money?). I went to Best Buy and looked at Tecnics, Pioneer, Kenwood and Sony - but the Sony features and reliability were clear advantages.

I purchased #1 cx-335 a bit less than a year ago and cx-335 #2 for my system from Best Buy a month ago. I loaded 200 cds into the new one from the older one, hooked the 2 units together (roughly 350 cds total) and have achieved personal music perfection. Fade and no delay are both great features using 2 machines -and the music never stops.

I've read the reviews below, and IMHO those people who have had carousel trouble (disks getting stuck) do not have their machine on a level table or use off brand or very used cds. The humidity - or lack of it - in the room may also be a contributing factor (see the manual) to the cd changer performace. Also your bad cigarette smoking habit may also hurt these machiines. Personally, I beat the daylights out of my units without ANY trouble at all.

I get a bit concerned at shut off so I open the doors to both so the cdss are removed from the player mechanism - then close the doors and it is fully shut off with all cds in their proper slots.

Over the course of about 2 years I burned all my own cds (Office Depot and IMation brand)with about 4000 songs (from big bands through 1985) total in alpha order by (first name of) artist. Using MusicMatch. I have created a binder listing all songs by which cd, by artist or by title (by length is coming soon) I dont need any software to program these units as group and random make it sound like a radio station that plays my favorite music without hype and without commercials (my goal).

To make the cx-335 better cds could be assigned to more than 1 group and custom programming and hit list could hold more than 32 steps. This is very minor. I absolutely LOVE the 2 cx-335's I own.

I have over 25 years of experience in radio music programming and my personally designed "music play system" for these machines plays some songs in heavier rotation, plays Sinatra/Como/Streisand/Cole about once hourly, and Christmas music about every 5th song (in season). This system came from tracking (and logging) the "random" play of various slots for a few months and taking advantage of the fact that RANDOM is really only pseudo-random. In random mode some slots ARE played far more than others -but I use than info to my advantage.

I will probably buy a third unit in a year or so.

Similar Products Used:

one cx-335, radio station automation, lots if stereo eq

holds 300 cd's, ease of programming through keyboard

quit operating after 1 month

did the typical research and decided the cx335 to be the best choice for the money. After it quit working I contacted Sony who directed me to a Sony authorized service center...well 2 weeks later still no player...Sony quality control and their customer service needs some serious improvement.

Flexible and Impressive

Text fields

I have had this CD changer for over a year now and all I can say is wow!! Other reviewers have covered all the technical issues so I will leave those alone. From another perspective this gadget has changed how I listen to music.
By randomly shuffling around CDs I hear songs I would never have heard before. I also got a great deal on a 100 CD set of classical music and loaded them up in a couple of hours. It is really good night-time listening and good for soothing the baby - maybe the next Mozart. However, the Sony really comes into its own during social events. No more fiddling with CDs and covers, just press the shuffle and play and off it goes all night. Not only are guests really impressed with it (if your single get this - it's a great talking point), but guests cannot fiddle with my CDs and put them back in the wrong boxes. I also have burned my own CD-Rs from various sources (ahem..) and put together some really great groups with concentrated hits from the sixties or whatever. One final advantage is space, all those CDs boxes that cluttered up my space are long gone into the bin. Freedom to listen to music! I'm getting a second 300 SonyCD Changer next week and then the small delay betweens songs will be removed. Heaven! I just heard the door slam, is that my wife leaving me ?........

EZ to use - bought it solely for the keyboard input - this worked super - didn't care for Sony, but this one is great!

Would like to have more character letters on disc input, but learned to abbreviate. Works fine.

I wanted to buy the Pioneer to match the rest of my equipment, but too many people said it erased all the text input for the 300 discs for no apparent reason. Don't know if this is true, but I didn't care to chance it. In any event, I'm thrilled with the Sony. I plugged my keyboard in and made shoprt work of inputting a 275 disc collection. I bought it for $179 + $29 postage from videodirect.com in FLA. What a deal! When you stack the unit with 300 discs, it takes its time switching from disc to disc, but 300 makes it understandable. I did the optical connection and it sounds terrific! I give it the strongest recommendation. The only caveat is to be sure to measure: these babies are big and deep. I wanted the 400 unit, and it was 1" too large.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer, but too many people said it dumped, erased the text input of 300 discs. Couldn't take a chance.

sound quality, random play, grouping of music, this whole idea of all your cds in one box.

may take 25 seconds between songs. Wish it would play mp3's on cd.

This is a great idea. I shopped for 6 months and looked at all the mega changers. I brought cd-r's I burned to Best Buy and tested a few changers myself. I also considered buying GreyWolf, NIRVIS or WINTRAX to "program" the music. In my experience, I found these software people to be over-egoed uncaring, greedy snobs who only care about a fast buck, and I hear on the internet that at least one is not trustworthy enough to back up his product. These guys even have trouble answering questions from a potential customer -so I can only imagine what happens AFTER they get my money.

I would much rather deal with Best Buy, who I have found to back up what they sell and Sony. If I had trouble with Wintrax I'm dealing with a yawning man on the phone about 800 miles from here. Best Buy and Sony both have guarantees and Best Buy is a local dealer-not mail order. I bought Best Buys service contract for 2 years.

I have 25 years of radio programming experience, but find RANDOM and GROUP to work very well- much better than I expected. In Random (unless you interrupt it) it plays EVERY SONG before repeating -I have over 4000 singles and 2000 additional Christmas songs - virtually every hit from 1940-1985 -and put them all on cd-R, (just over 200 cds) using MusicMatch software and Office Depot and IMation discs in alpha order by artist - and find it programs the music as well as if I used one of those software products.

I have a binder listing all the music in several ways (thanks to MusicMatch)but do not use the binder often, as the cx-335 does a good job of programming.

In a few months I will add a second (50+1 Sony)changer and eliminate the 25 seconds between songs problem. I have not had any equipment problems and the sound out of my Marantz amp and 16 inch stereo speakers is outstanding to say the least.

I would wholeheartedly recommend the Sony cx-335 - but not the software products to control the changer.

Similar Products Used:

radio station automation and Technics and Pioneer cd changers in the store.

Easy of Use, clear sound, digital outs

takes too long for disc changes

This is definitely worth your money. I love the fact that you could input the CDs using a keyboard. I put in 165 CDs and it took me less than 4 hours. Overall, the sound is excellent, and the machine is easy to use. As with any machine with mechanical components, it will break, that's why I decided to buy the extended warranty for 4 years. So far this machine has gave me chance to listen to music that I have not heard in years.

My other component:
Sony 335 CD
Outlaw Amp
Kenwood Receiver/preamp
Paradigm 9seII Mains
Paradigm cc300 center
Paradigm monitor 3 rears
Mitsubishi 65 in digital TV
Monster cables
Panasonic VCR

Similar Products Used:

Denon single disc CD player