Best CD-R Recorder--Tascam, HHB, Marantz, Sony???


I'm shopping for a CD-R recorder, mainly for "pro audio" use (to make CD's from live recordings made on my Tascam DAT machine), altho I'm also an audiophile & will use it to make CD copies, & from vinyl LP's, etc.

My problem is--just can't find many reviews on these, from any of the mags like EM, S'phile, TAS, etc., or online. I'm mainly interested in audio quality. I know there was a thread about this a few weeks ago on this site, but most of the responses just dealt with what kind of blank discs to use.

Thanks in advance for any advice!
steveaudio

Showing 1 response by slartibartfast

Avoid any of the consumer machines as these use consumer CD-Rs which are less readily available, I have found to be a lower quality sounding disc, and also don't tend to make as good of a disc. Most consumer machines usually focus more on flashy features that you will never use rather than the mechanicals of the unit. Also, consumer units will have the Serial Copy Management System in it preventing you from making more than 1 generation of discs.

The HHB is a great unit and makes excellent CDs even using its internal A/Ds when recording from analog sources. The professional Marantz units have also been historically good units.

A great "add on" that isn't very expensive if you are going to be dubbing LPs is the Apogee Rosetta A/D convertor.
I also hope that your DATs were recorded at 44.1 instead of the 48 kHZ DAT standard. If they were recorded at 48 kHZ, you will need a sample rate convertor.