play.very.very.good.the. cd-r.very.clear

none.so.far.no.problems

for.the.prise.very.good.109.plus.s&h.137.from.ubid .it.play.very.good.the.cd-r.for.the.prise.i.give.5.star. .for.the.cd-r. .5 .for.the.music.4.star.overall.5.star.thanks.the.ubid

Similar Products Used:

toshiba.dvd.3205.hdcd.no.cd-r

play.very.good.clear.cd-r

none.so.far.

.prise.109.s'h.136.no.problems.sound.good.for.the.cd-r.play.very.clear.5.star.for.the.prise.5.star.-for.the.sound.4.star.overall.5.star.thanks.the.ubid.=

Similar Products Used:

toshiba.3205.dvd.hdcd.but.no.cd-r.

gain control on remote

many

i bought this as a play deck for burning cds to an HHb 830. figured i might as well get a changer since my older sony changer is getting on in years. bad move. first off, the features were sub-par. not many controls on the front panel. the player itself feels cheap and light. i didn't like the design of the tray and sometimes it wouldn't rotate a full 360. the play options are few. and to top it off, the transport has failed (i beleive). it has been playing a distorted, unlistenable sound that i have never heard from any piece of equipment. cds that i have burned also have these errors on them, leading me to beleive its a bad transport.
i disliked this cd player before it really started failing, and now its over. it's only been 6 months.


morrison ELAD pre
meadowlark kestrels
Rotel rb 981
hsu 1220 500W
sony pcm r500 dat/tascam da20 dat
HHb 830
kimber 4tc

Excellent sound quality, UPGRADABLE TO SUPERB SOUND QUALITY,
low price.

Mass market mechanical quality, headphone amplifier is less than excellent, remote unit is awkward.

This is an update from my first comments in this forum dated: 1/4/01 12:10:57 PM.

After my first review, I upgraded my system with better cables, a "Class A" amplifier, and some exotic headphones. It gradually became clear to me that the stock sound of the Denon DCM-370 is not quite as smooth and clear as the more expensive HDCD players. My engineering buddy finally tracked this problem down as a favor to me. He found that a "headphone protection" circuit puts distortion into not just the headphone outputs, but also the main stereo outputs on the back panel. The good news is that he was able to "fix" the problem by just unplugging one little cable. This is the three-conductor cable which runs from the right rear corner of the main circuit board over to the small circuit card next to the headphone jack. Of course my engineering buddy has the experience to do this safely. But he says any repair technician should be able to do it easily. He says just be very sure to release the strain relief catch on the cable connector, whatever that means.

So now the headphone jack on my DCM-370 doesn't work, but the little cable can be put back on whenever I want. More importantly, the sound going to the amplifier now seems perfect to me. I've never heard better sound from any player, including a model costing nearly three times the price of the Denon DCM-370. Needless to say, I am now even more enthusiastic than ever about this product.

Similar Products Used:

A recent Harman Kardan model, and an older Denon model.

When it works, the sound quality is nice.

Terrible intermittent distortion (ouch) and awful tray mechanics

Because of so many great reviews on this model, I bought two, one for home and office. What a regret. One of the players just groans each time the tray door closes. I'm just waiting for the moment the mechanics die altogether. The other unit's tray opens and closes flawlessles and when it plays, I like the sound. Unfortunately, about once every month or so, without any warning the player generates this awful distortion that is so bad, I'm afraid it will damage my speakers (axiom M80). I don't know much about the electronics inside, but the distortion seems to happen when the changer switches between CDs. I haven't found a pattern as to a particular CD.
This is all the more unfortunate because I really like the sound of this player (and the cost). Still, I should have listened to the bad reviews. Two out of two of these units is seriously flawed.

I love my NAD amp and Axiom speakers, but I've purchased my LAST Denon product. I wonder if the Denon folks ever read these things or even care to know they have some problems. Good sound, but terrible terrible engineering, workmanship, or quality control. Someone at Denon needs to wake up.

The 4 stars for value assumes the darn thing actually works. Since neither of mine actually do, I give it an overall rating of only 2 (still perhaps generous).

Superior DAC's, HDCD sound, Denon brand, inexpensive price for all you get.

None heard. This is a killer player for the price!

This CD player is a true bargain for the price. We're talking true audiophile quality sonics for 'a song'. The sound is very smooth, warm, and analog-like, with great detail and air. I am a concert violinist, and tend to be very critical and demanding of timbral accuracy to begin with. The clincher for me, though, when considering purchase, was HDCD. Although HDCD may not be as sonically superior as SACD, it does come close on a good, revealing setup. HDCD is most certainly a very viable competing format nowadays. Most of my HDCD's sound much better than my conventional CD's, which incidentally, this player does play well, in case you are concerned. I believe that the whole HDCD recording and mastering process results in a sonically superior product overall, as compared to conventional 'redbook' CD's. A true, bargain audiophile CD player, to say the least! Great job Denon!

My audio setup (2 channel) as follows:

Magnepan MMG speakers
HSU Research sub
Legend 'Starlet' integrated tube amp
Denon DCM-370 HDCD player
Audioquest cabling and interconnects

Similar Products Used:

Cambridge, Marantz, H/K, Rotel.

When it was working, the sound. HDCD sounds great!

See below; please e-mail me if you are experiencing problems with your DCM-370, as I want to get a group of people to contact Denon so they can give us our money back, or a new player that works!

This player worked great for a few months, then started suddenly and intermittently skipping on some of my CD's! The problem got progressively worse over time, to the point where now it cannot read ANY CD's, and skips disc tracks like a Kangaroo on speed (no, it's not the laser lens- it is clean)!! There is nothing more frustrating than firing up your high-end system that you care for meticulously (I have dust covers) and looking forward to some soothing tunes, and having your lousy CD player quit on you. This is totally unacceptable, and I expect Denon (or AudioCraft here in Ohio) to give me a new CD player or to reimburse me fully for my unecessary headaches. I spent too much money overall for my high-end system to have a supposed reliable source component like a CD player malufunction like this! And it figures the warranty is for one year only, and the player is now shot just a few months after the warranty expired! I figured Denon was a quality and respected name in audio... man was I wrong!

Denon, if you at all read online consumer reviews of your audio products (since I can't seem to get through to your customer service people), I would hope and expect one of your customer service agents would contact me via e-mail to offer a full reimbursement check for the purchase price of this lousy player! And moreover, how about quality-checking your product designs BEFORE you release these players to an ususpecting consumer?!!! There are far too many owners of the DCM-370 that have posted various problems the unit has here on audioreview.com

Similar Products Used:

Does it really matter? Any other CD player would actually WORK!

Apparent build quality(weighs alot for a CD changer).Denon reputation.

Poor sound

First off let me say that I do not want to run a component down especially since an earlier reviewer said there is a easy fix.However in it`s current state this player is all but unlistenable to ME with MY current system.Apparently there are people who enjoy the sound and like the player.I had a system that consisted of a Carver CT-6 Pre-amp/tuner and a Rotel RB980BX power amp,and the first listed Sony CD changer.This combination sounded good,very good in fact. With Paradigm Monitor 9s this set-up sounded more expensive than it was.Well when the Sony went belly-up I was told by a repair shop to buy a new player.Enter the Denon DCM-370 that I assumed would be be an up-grade to a mere Sony.Well the entire sound changed, for the worse! The treble was way too harsh and shrill,it actually hurt my ears especially at mid to high volumes. At this time I decided to invest in home theater and bought a Rotel RSX-972 surround receiver(see review for that if you want)and a Sony ES CD changer after explaining the situation to a Hi-Fi salesman(not the box store where I purchased the Denon).When I got home first thing I did was do A-B tests with both CD changers using the old system and exact same cables(Monster 400s). My God what a difference between the two! They were/are complete opposites.Next I hooked both of them up to the new receiver both using analog AND digital connections.So now I had 4 ways to evaluate(I should say that the Denon uses a coaxial out-put while the Sony uses a Toslink one). Either way the Sony sounded WAY better, I mean no comparison.Now that there seems to be a way to fix the problem it may sound o-kay. Please email me with more details on how to fix this player whoever knows how.My value rating still remains high because if properly working with the HDCD decoding this player would be a great buy.Thanks and sorry this is so long.

Similar Products Used:

Sony CDP-345 CD changer.Sony ES CDP-CA70ES CD changer

Transparent, precise, and clean sounding. Resolved. HDCD.

Incoherency between the mids and treble. Mids lack detail and that perfect reproduction of voices my digital cable box and music choice channels can pull off. Emmerging technical problems.

This is also an update. I've had this player for over 2 years...

As you can see from the above comments, my views on the sound have changed. It's still great sounding, but the mids are now not as stellar to me as they once seemed. In addition, I've now got a problem with the left rear out. I have to wiggle the connection to get it to work and it's getting more difficult each time. There's also an odd, though still light, abrasion noise when the tray closes. It's not getting any worse, but is worrisome. I'm going to try unplugging that internal headphone cable to see if the mids and mids-treble continuity improves. I wonder how much it will cost to get the left output permanently fixed...

Similar Products Used:

Denon 270, JVC player, Sony DVD unit, panasonic and radioshack portables

Thanks, Charles!

I unplugged the internal headphone connection in the upper right corner of the circuit board and, WOW, what a difference! There's no extra hardness or hash to the treble, and the mids sound more focused and cohesive with the rest of the sound. It can also be turned up much higher without fatigue, now. The T's, S's, P's, D's, and especially SH's sound oh-so nice, with that special finesse I've been missing. To think, for under $100 you can get one of these refurbished and turn it into something so lovely sounding with just one simple mod. I highly recommend trying your favorite HDCD's on this. Snake River Conspiracy always had great detail but seemed a tad bright and harsh. Now it's quite simply orgasmic! Oh, and I just noticed the Planet of the Apes samples and references in the song "Breed." Star Trek and Planet of the Apes double meanings all on one album, now that's my kind of music!

The left channel is also working somewhat better for some reason.