HDCD, burr-brown dacs

Ugly, internal mechanics

This is one ugly beast, if you ask me. It also doesn't search quick enough for an impatient person like myself. The clunky tray mechanism leaves you wondering how long it'll last before it craps out. But wait there's good news. HDCD sounds phenomenal. The difference in regular CD's is a little more subtle compared to mass-market players, but it is a little smoother and warmer. BTW, thanks Charles for the tip on the headphone jack connector cable. I actually heard an audible hiss until I yanked that baby out. A real bargain for $216, but if I had more money I'd get a better looking HDCD player.

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sony

HDCD,warm,smooth sound,Burr-Brown dacs, Denon reputation

Its behemoth size for starters!! Small unlit remote, bright display

Like many of you, I finally decided on the 370 because of the reviews offered here and elsewhere on the internet. I picked it up for $385 CAN at a local retailer after listening tests between products such as Yamaha's 775, Pioneer's 525 DVD player etc, etc. However, the Denon revealed a more musical, less digital sound than similarly priced cd players within my budget.

While the dimensions of this machine astound me still, I have no complaints otherwise. The treble is silky smooth and the bass goes pretty low. I find a decent "air" around both vocals and instruments alike. Timing is very good; soundstage and imaging are above average. But oddly enough, I found a distinct change in the sound after yanking the headphone connector--and you don't need a technician for this. Trust me, I'm technically challenged and managed to do it without difficulty. I agree: the treble has lost its harsh edge, which I did not notice existed previously; and the mids are just slightly more balanced. Without the added distortion from the headphone/stereo outputs, listener fatigue is a mute point.

The tray noise and the lack of a display dimmer are respectively a pain in the ass, but function is not affected. Really, remember that this is not a high-end player, but a cracker for the money! My setup is extremely basic at this point:

Denon DCM 370 cd player
Rotel RA 971 integrated amplifier
Paradigm Reference Studio 20's
Pioneer 440 DVD player

In the future, I'm looking to make a change, but I'm not sure what to focus on: system synergy, single disc players, a better amp... Any further suggestions on tweaks, compatibility or reasonable upgrades would be greatly appreciated.

Buy this player new out of the box and save yourself some headaches. Regardless, for money this player is unrivalled in my humble opinion. Now if it was just a bit smaller...

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Pretty much a Denon fan

HDCD sounds great, in fact better than most of my non-HDCD discs.

Build quality of drawer mechanism is sub-par. My player skips a lot on various CD's!

I've had this player for over a year, and originally my opinion of it was quite high. Lately though, the player has been skipping a lot and not reading discs! It worked phenomenally well for about a year, then started acting up. Come to think of it, the drawer is very chincy and not put together very well. I would have given this 5 stars had it not been for the premature malfunctions it has experienced. I am now very frustrated with this player, and Denon only provides a one year warranty on it. Besides, let's face it, even if it was covered, most products, once sent out to the repair lab, never come back as tightly aligned as they were from the original factory or manufacture process! Considering the strong malfunctions of this player, and inferior Denon warranty and customer service, I must rate it 2 stars only.

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Sony, Nakamichi, Technics, Cambridge, Marantz.

Very neutral sound. HDCD. Nice DACs.

Poor remote. Cannot change disk from front panel. Eye searing front display.

Ok, first thing: "Earl" is somewhat correct in his assessment of this unit. The Denon is extremely neutral in it's playback. If you're looking for a unit with punchier bass, this isn't it. Then again, it doesn't have shrill treble either. The biggest gain I found with this unit over my old Technics is the midrange. It comes alive with this unit. The Technics has a very noticeable lack of midrange, especially after hearing this unit. The detail present was also refreshing.

Further, I noticed that the unit is quite a bit quieter during playback. Absolutely no background noise or "hiss" while playing.

If you prefer neutral sound (don't confuse this with a lack of soundstage), then get the Denon. There are other brands that favour the upper range, lower range, etc. I myself prefer neutral, balanced sound.

What else? The remote is smallish, but useful. There is no backlight on it. There are no "Disk 1, Disk 2", etc buttons on the unit itself, which is somewhat annoying.

As for the tray, yes, it is somewhat noisy. It is quieter than the Technics. It's quite a bit noiser than HK and Sony units I have seen.

Overall, I'm very impressed with the unit. 4 for value, 5 for overall.

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Technics SL-PD6

HDCD, Denon name, sound

For $300, with HDCD decoding as an 'extra', nothing!

This is one honey of a CD player, and with HDCD to boot! It really does impart a softer, analog sound without sacrificing detail and accuracy. In addition, HDCD does make a difference sonically. Don't kid yourself that it does not. Some Mark Levinson and Cary Audio ultra-high end CD players that cost thousands have HDCD decoding as well. The more revealing your speakers and electronics are, the more you will hear a sonic improvement with HDCD. Vocals sound more present and forward, and there is more palpability and soundstaging/separation of instruments. I have had my player now for months, and even with daily use, I have had absolutely NO mechanical or other problems with it. Which is whey it is surprising that a few others have had some problems with their units. This CD player is such an audiophile bargain and giant killer at it's price, that in my book it is one of the best audio bargains out there, period!

Phase Tech Teatro 7.5VDT speakers
McIntosh MC162 amplifier (with those sweet blue meters!)
Sound Valves VtP101i tube preamp
Denon DCM-370 CDP with HDCD
XLO interconnects

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Rega Planet, Rotel, Sony ES, Audio Fidelity, CAL

I have now been using this player day in,day out for five months and it continues to operate perfectly.Played through a Marantz SR19EX the sound is simply beautiful.For fans of HDCD have a look at WWW.RedTrumpet.com,they have HDCDs that aren`t even listed on HDCDs own website!For those of you who have had bad experiences with this player,you have my sympathy;but for me personally this would have been cheap at twice the price!

Fantastic sound, good features ofr the money, solid construction

tray is a little noisy

I bought this cd player for $89 dollars at UBid. When I recieved it the remote sensor did not work on it. Luckily Denon's westcoast center is only 45 min. away so I dropped it off and within 3 days they had it fixed and ready to go free of charge and it has worked beautifuly. The sound of this player can be described with one word, WARM! My old player was a was a Sony ES 222X. This player was alittle brighter than the Denon but was a lot more liquid sounding. The Denon produced a more accurate and clearer sound, especially in the low end. The bas was tighter, warmer and more accurate than any other player I've heard under $600. It's high's are open without the harsh transient signature of most cheap cd players. I am absolutely taken with the value of this piece of equipment. An absolute bargain. Fair Warning!!!, I love this player, but this is the second b stock item that I have received from Denon with a problem. So if you live in New Jersey, or Southern California order from UBid or another internet seller that has a warranty. Denon will fix you up, plus perform cleaning and algnment of the unit free of charge with a smile. If you live a ways from these two facilities, I would think twice. Shipping can get expensive.

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Sony ES, Integra, Pioneer Elite

Very simple to operate, headphone volume control, digital out, variable line-out, ok remote, HDCD decoding, uncluttered front panel.

Font display is too bright, remote could be better, sounds is rather bright for my taste, clunky drawer, ugly.

This has both good and bad about it. I bought it on accomodation, so I got it for half retail (NO, I won't buy you one, so don't ask). I'm going to replace with the new Sony SACD changer pretty quickly, because it's too bright and a tad harsh. I don't know whether its the PCM conversion or what, but I'm ready to go to SACD.

The digital coax line out is really nice if you have DTS-encoded cds. Also, the RCA jacks are very solid, and don't wiggle around like on many cheap components. HDCD decoding is also nice, since I have quite a few HDCDs. The front panel is also very logical, though boring.

There are a few things that could be improved- the remote, though full-featured, is completely impossible to use in low light since the buttons are all the same. They could also stand to make the display dimmer, and tweak the sound a bit. I certainly wouldn't give it 1 star, like a previous reviewer did. It really isn't terrible sounding, and if you have speakers with recessive treble, this changer might help them a little.

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Yama CDC-575

VERY transparent. Excellent, precise soundstage. Extreme resolution highs and lows. Very dynamic. HDCD decoding. Mine's been very reliable. High quality 3.5mm front jack.

Highs are a little hard. Mids aren't as resolved as the rest of frequency range. Display is too bright for a dark room. Needs to be warmed-up and left on for optimum sound.

I don't know about the problems people have been mentioning with the tray. I've had mine for over 2 years and it works fine. Every once in a while it gets to the end of a disk and doesn't go to the next one, but usually it doesn't even have that problem. The only time it has made weird noises was after I accidentally bumped the open tray and for the next couple of days it made an odd sound when it closed. The sound went away and it's back to normal. Every transducer I hook it to sounds very different, so it must be a very neutral source component. It has a tendency towards hard highs, and if you want the most gentle and fluffy of treble this might not do it for you. Usually if I just correct for room reflections this isn't noticeable, though. The highest quality CD's, like Flaming Lips' The Soft Bulliten, sound like the best CD's, and the worst mastered CD's sound like the worst. I'm not sure why there's such a sudden increase in tray and recognition problems. Are you new buyers getting the cheaper, refurbished units?

HDCD Decoding, Burr-Brown DAC's, Neutral sound with no emphasis on either end of the audible spectrum.

Mechanical construction. Loading mechanism exhibits jerky and somewhat erratic operation. Unit developed problems after 1-1/2 years of operation. Did not recognize certain CD's and would completely skip over them as if they weren't in the carrousel. Developed a harsh glassy sound.

Overall I was apprehensive about purchasing a Denon entry level CD player. The HDCD feature was the main feature that I was after having several HDCD CD's in my collection. Overall the DCM-370 player did not perform as I had expected. This player lacked the build finesse of some comparable SONY and other CD changers that operate much smoother and with quicker and surefooted mechanical response, I get the impression that the Denon design is better electrically than mechanically. The platter motions are jerky and track search times are rather slow. Recently, my DCM-370 player developed problems. It started to sound harsh and suddenly refused to read several of my CD's that played perfectly well on other players. After a $90 dollar out of warranty repair bill (the unit is 1-1/2 years old), I have this player back home. The repair ticket reads "Modification of Disc Sensor". It sounds much better now and the CD reading problem is gone. Overall I would give this product 2 stars on build quality, but with it's neutral sound presentation I add another star overall, I like a CD player that is low in musical coloration. My conclusions: The DCM-370 neither delivers quality in manufacture or longevity of service. Next time I am in the market for a CD changer I will stay away from the Denon low-end. I believe their strengths are in their high-end product lines.

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Sony CDPC-525 Player and other similar carrousel players.