smooth, silky sound: HDCD sonic advantages: a true 'best bang for the dollar (or in Italy, Lira)

none for the price that I can come up with

Denon has done it again! I love this player! I was lucky enough to have been able to pick this up on the net when I was living in the states recently. This has got to be one of the best sounding and constructed changers without doubt. It is surprisingly 'musical' with good, weighty, LP like sound, yet retains the somewhat analytic and detailed nature of digital, but without the harshness. If you have not tried HDCD, you are missing out. The imaging is phenomenal, and the sonic quality of HDCD's is very evident. Most of my normal CD's don't sound nearly as good as most available titles on HDCD. Most of my HDCD's sound like my very best regular CD's. Highly recommended even for the discerning ear! My measly system consists of the following components-

Musical Fidelity A3cr preamp and power amp
Denon DCM-370
Hales Design Group Revelation Three speakers
Kimber HERO interconnects

Similar Products Used:

NAD, Cambridge, Rotel, Sony ES

HDCD; Very transparent; Very dynamic; Good imaging; Not bright; Very good sound overall; Excellent price.

No display dimmer; Weird remote and front panel button inconsistancies; Must be warmed up and left on to keep from sounding cold and overly tight; Slightly analytical highs.

This is an update on my year old review. First off, I was wrong when I said HDCD "approaches 20 bits when played back through a decoder." It actually *is* 20 bits when it exits the PMD-100. But I was correct in my assumption that it only uses 18 bit DACs, albeit 2 of them. They are the highest quality ones, though -- unlike the ones Harmon Kardon uses.

I also have a gripe with the ignoramuses using this thing as a transport (ie: using the digital out) and then saying its sound is only average. If you use the digital out you're not using the 370's DAC. You might as well use a $90 jvc/phillips/pioneer changer with digital out if you plan on doing that.

With my Etymotic Research ER4S earphones, headphone amp, and , I have an excellent insight into just how incredible sound can be. The only sound that's equaled this combination has been in the best night clubs, or at an IMAX theatre. HDCD is THAT good!


My next audio player: 5 disk changer, HDCD compatible, Automatic upsampling to 24/192, DVD-Audio(24/192)/Video Player. But until someone makes one, I'll be very content with my 370.

Sound.

Functionality. Quality. DENON CUSTOMER SUPPORT.

This is a follow up review.

After several months of flawless performance, my unit began generating an error when the tray is opened (whether or not a CD is playing). The error causes a playing CD to stop playing.

The error occurs when the tray is opened and the carousel goes to its default position, only my carousel continues past this point, moving so slowly as if the carousel is going to die.

I've been trying to get in touch with Denon support for over an hour now and NOTHING. People don't work at Denon.

My new rating:

Sound: 5
Quality: 1
Value: 2
Overall: 2

A player made by a company of Denon's supposed status should not have this type of problem. It's not like carousel CD players are a new, untried product. They've been around for years.

Excellent sound quality

Poor Build quality. Two units DOA, waiting for a third.

I purchased my first unit several weeks ago. The sound was great, especially with HDCD's. The sound stage was well defined and accurate.

However, my first unit suffered from a noisy drive mechanism. The gearing was stripping during the disc changes. I sent this unit back to The Sound Approach and they replaced it with a second unit. This player had intermiten sound in one channel. Sent back again. I'm waiting for my third unit. The Sound Approach has been very helpful and the units are sealed with all warrenty information. I'll give it one more try then I'm going with something else.

Similar Products Used:

Sony es

Great sound, HDCD. Incredible sound and economical.

No random button on player, NOISY, long seek time, tends to overlook or not see a disc. No digital/optical out for CD or MD recording. Difficult to load/remove discs--have scratched discs.

Held on to my Onkyo Integra forever as it seemed irreplaceable. I brought home the highly rated Rotel RCD-951 and found it accurate, but VERY unexciting. The sound on this Denon player is detailed, very present, alive. Am experiencing the phenomenon of hearing things on my CD's I haven't heard before. I am not entirely happy though because of the weaknesses mentioned above. The unit has some definite eccentricities. Fantastic sound is not entirely a satisfactory trade-off for the oddities of the player's operation. Have a 180-day upgrade arrangement with dealer and when the new Denon units come out I will listen, learn, and swap this for another Denon HDCD with more features, easier use.

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Onkyo Integra DX-5700 single, Onkyo CD changer

Very inexpensive. Very clear. Very clean. Great spatial recreation. Very high resolving power, overall. HDCD is kind of neat.

Middle and upper midrange seems a little quiet. So-so recreation of cohesive high frequency textures and harmonics. Treble lacks finesse and litheness. Poor 'inner detail,' I think. Not as musical as some.

A good buy if paired with rolled-off, musical or tube equipment, or if you want to hear absolutely everything on a disk. On its own, sometimes it sounds like the emotion has been engineered out of the audio. It could have used dithering options like the more expensive hi-def units, such as the Rotel 971. Just my opinion...

Excellent sound quality

Weak changer mechanism/chassis, no power controls from remote

This is probably the best sounding CD player out there for under $500. Its sound is very clean, detailed, well balanced and compliments any system well. Any complaints that can be made are minor at best.

Similar Products Used:

none

HDCD, volume control on remote, price, quality

None yet

So far I love this player. I had an old Pioneer single disc and it died after 9 years. So I went to my local dealer and he recomended this model to me. I knew I wanted a Denon, but was unsure of this model or a higher one. He gave me a fairly good deal, $250, eventhough I know I could have bought it cheeper on the Internet. I feel more comfortable buying off of a local dealer just in case there are any problems. I replaced the factory RCA cables with a pair of Monster Cables Interlock 200's and I think that these made a hell of a differentce in the performance. All in all I believe that this is an excellent player for both the cost and options. I have read some peoples reviews complaining about the loud tray noise, but the mechanism seems sturdy so what does a little noise matter.

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None with HDCD

Accuracy. HDCD. Smoothness. Volume Control.

No Dimmer.

This is one incredible bargain. And to think, I thought it sounded good with my Bose speakers sitting on the edges of my tv stand. I bought some Studiotech S1 stands and now I have what can only be described as a complete audiophile setup for under $600! Make sure you check out Econoline Crush's "The Devil You Know", Stabbing Westward's "Darkest Days", and Orgy's "Candyass" in HDCD.
My Launch Site

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None

HDCD for the price

Sound quality

I'm a 'casual listener' headed towards the 'audio enthusiast'. Based on the other reviews I'd seen I thought I'd upgrade my system to the Denon DCM-370 CD changer. Well, when I did I was sorely disappointed.

My Denon DCM-370 CD produces a weak and flat sound. My old Aiwa XP-R650, which I'd always considered to be a cheap unit, produces an absolutely wonderful sound in comparison. The Aiwa unit produces a much warmer, and fuller sound.

I'd advise any other 'casual listeners' considering this unit, to be very catious.

Similar Products Used:

Aiwa XP-R650