Rack mount, durable, +4 balanced outputs, as well as -10 unbalanced "consumer" and digital outputs. Parallel remote control for interfacing to studio equipment.

No major weaknesses, although programmed play takes a bit of getting used to. Price might be an object to users on a tight budget.

I purchased these machines for a couple of college radio stations to replace failing units. I also have an air shift at one of the stations, so I have plenty of "hands on" experience from the user standpoint. The DNC635 players were a bit on the expensive side, but this is what you have to pay if you want a rack mount CD player with professional +4 balanced outputs and remote control that is easy to interface with professional on-air consoles. One feature that I really like is being able to "lock out" the eject button when the unit is playing. No more inadvertently knocking yourself off the air because you get absent minded and hit "eject" on the machine that is playing! Instead, you get an "eject lock" notice on the display to remind you of your goof. Note that this is not the factory default setting, but it is pretty easy to custom configure the unit for your exact needs by following the instructions in the manual. Custom settings are stored in non volatile memory so you won't lose them in case of a power failure. The manual also has a clear diagram showing the pinouts for the remote control wiring. We just use the remote start function, but all the major functions of the player can be operated remotely. I didn't think I would like the rotary shaft encoder for selecting tracks at first, I was used to the keypad entry on the Techniques SL-PG440 that the Denon units replaced, and I was afraid that it would take forever to get to the last cut of those gridcore discs with 25 short songs on them. But you can start by turning counter clockwise if your selection is number 18, and it goes pretty fast. The only thing that took a bit of getting used to is setting up programmed play. This requires a fair amount of button pressing, and it is the one area where the manual is not very clear, you just have to get your hands on the machine and start "hacking". The procedure for setting up and using programmed play goes like this. Push "program in" button. Display will say "select" Turn knob to desired track. Push rotary knob in again. To program another track, you must push the rotary knob again (which I personally don't find to be that intuitive), then dial in the next track. Repeat until all cuts have been programmed. Push "program in" button again. Now you must remember to put the machine in "cont" mode or it will only play one track and then stop. But you do get an indication if you forget this last step, as the right hand display will only show the first track, if you have it done correctly, you'll see all the tracks listed in your program to the right of the main time display. One caution. If the disc has more than 20 tracks, the higher track numbers are not displayed as being programmed, but they will still be there. The DNC635 defaults to single play, cue to music and time remaining on the display, but as I mentioned, these options can be custom configured to your needs. Like most recent machines, the DNC635 has no problem with playing custom discs burned on home computers. It figures out the disc upon loading and seeks the tracks selected as fast as any machine I've used. The Denon unit also flashes the display when the last song in the program is about to finish. Audio quality is on a par with most CD players I've auditioned in this price range. I didn't notice anything particularly outstanding, nor any glaring deficiencies in the playback. Two samples have been in service for over a year now with no problems, even with college students at the controls. I now specify the Denon DNC635 for all my broadcast clients looking for a good quality CD Player.

Similar Products Used:

Gemini CDX601, Technics SL-PG440