I returned the 460 because it had been a demo and sounded clunky when the tray opened and closed......However when I try to find out what replace it...no one seems to know...and many places that carried it...do not carry it any longer...does anyone know why?....is denon going out of the cd carosel business...all I can find is the DCM 370...which is Ok...but doesn't have the features the DCM 460 has...

Programming Features, Remote, Digital Output

Noisy Tray, Alpha Processor

Most CD changers are not made of very good build quality and hence the bad reputation in the audiophile community. So when Stereophile came out with a positive review of the Denon DCM-360, I went out and purchased what I thought was a step above that with the DCM-460. I was impressed with the features such as all the programming capabilities and the F.T. File which had great potential and convenience. The sound though was another story, it was thin, grainy, and bright like others have mentioned before me. Don't even think about using the variable outputs directly to the amplifer because it only gets worst. However all is not lost, it does have a digital output so I called Audio Advisor and purchased the X-DAC along with the X-PSU power supply for like $350.00. WOW! What a improvement, what was mediocre at best is now one kick-ass CD changer. Anyone who has this player should take advantage of the digital out and add an external Dac, it will take this player to a whole new level. Now not only will you still have all the bell & whistles, but great sound to go along with it. Try it and you'll be glad you did. I'll give it 4 stars as a transport ONLY but a 2 overall.

price

everything else. Maybe if your comparison if junk mass market crap from onkyo/sony/teac.pioneer - then this cd rocks, but really, guys, it SUCKS. Poor soundstage, bright and forward, against a hazy, grungy background. You all who love this thing should be ashamed of yourselves!

as above

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none- they all blow

Decent bass

I have to agree w/ Rob, it had a comressed sound, lacking clarity and is rather forward in its presentation. Very thin sounding!

A friend of mine has this player, and we did some extended listening in his system (a decent mid-fi system) w/ his player and a few others (namely my rega and an other friend's rotel). The differenec in just the player was HUGE.

Having had this A/B experience, I think a far better investment (in a similar price range) would be to buy a USED rega planet or rotel player, for a more refined, smoother sound.

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Just purchased this player a couple weeks ago, and I like it a lot. It is my first CD changer. I demo'ed a Harmon Kardon changer but settled on this one for two reasons: it has FT (favorite track) memory for 100 disks, and the remote has a volume control on it. My NAD receiver has no remote. Also, the H-K was poorly designed, ergonomics-wise.
The Denon sounds great, and has all the features one could want. I can't really talk about the "Alpha Processing" whatever that is, or 8x oversampling (?). It does a great job playing CDs. The one thing I don't like about the Denon is the front panel display lights up all 5 disks even if you've only put in 1-4 disks, until it gets to each disk, then it reads whether or not there is a disk in that slot. So if you've only put two disks in the changer, you don't know which slots they're in by looking at the display. Pretty minor detail, I realize.

So let me tell you about this player and my system. After the usual fiddling around, and upgrading components, and so forth, I've put together what is - to my ears, and relative to my (admittedly) limited experience - a very nice-sounding system. On the digital side, it consists simply of the variable outputs of the DCM-460 directly feeding a Pass Labs Aleph 3 amp, which in turn drives a pair of Linn Tukan speakers. Denon to Pass interconnect is Tara RSC Master Reference Generation 2; speaker wire is Linn K400 bi-wire. The sound is tonally pure and harmonically accurate; stringed instruments and human voices are especially realistic; recording venues are well reproduced. I'd love to plop a jilla-buck CD player in, just to see what if it makes a difference, but the Denon sure sounds good to me as is. A reviewer for Fanfare (who's also a friend of mine) recently listened to the system at some length and agreed that it sounded excellent.
So, the Denon DCM-460: versatile (digital coax out; fixed analog out; variable analog out; headphone jack), good sounding - even paired with "audiophile" amplification - and inexpensive. Yeah, the drawer's clunky and slow, but for the money, so what? 5 stars! (PS - and the amp - gotta write about that - 10 stars if I could!!)

Quick Facts: Denon DCM 460 CD changer. 5 CD changer, ALPHA processor, 20 bit DAC, favorite track file, volume control, digital out, remote. $450.
About 3 weeks ago, I upgraded my (outdated & underpowered) compact stereo for a Denon AVR 1400 (see review under receivers), a Denon DCM 460, and a pair of Polk RT7's. The Denon DCM 460 provides outstanding sound quality for the price.

I had only two items on my "wanted" list for a CD player: (1) excellent sound, and (2) 5 disc changer. Excellent sound was my first priority, and the Denon does not disappoint.

Denon uses their ALPHA processor in the DCM 460. It's a chip for reproducing 20-bit sound from 16-bit recordings. 20-bit recordings preserve more of the analog signal than 16-bit recordings do, preserving more of the real sound. Asa result, with good equipment you can detect the short comings of 16-bit recordings. The ALPHA processor attempts to circumvent this. Exactly how the chip performs this, I don't know, but most of my CD's have come out sounding excellent. For 16-bit CD's, it sounds like it processes the sound to soften the treble and warm the mid-range, giving extra depth to the recording. In comparison with the Denon DCM 360 (sans ALPHA processor), the sound from the DCM 460 was very warm, very enveloping, and very life-like. Unfortunately, it does bring out the flaws in a few recordings I own (I'm amazed these recordings ever made it out of the studio with the sound quality problems they have...). In 99% of the cases, however, it makes the recordings more enjoyable, easier to listen to, and smoother.

It does have a true 20-bit DAC. I don't own any 20-bit recordings, so I can't really comment on it's performance in comparison with a 16-bit DAC. The 16-bit CD's do sound great, though, and I haven't heard a single flaw in music reproducing due to the CD player. You can sum up it's performance in one word: clean.

Denon's top of the line CD changer is the DCM 560. It's the same unit as the DCM 460, except the case is constructed of metal instead of metal and plastic. It feels sturdier, but since I don't throw my components around the room, I don't think it justified the extra $100. The DCM 460 feels solid and is well constructed, and I don't anticipate any problems with the construction.

The remote and front panel have direct-track access, which make them both a bit cluttered. However, I'll take the clutter in exchange for the ability to pick a specific track without having to shuffle manually forward or backward through a CD. The important buttons (play, stop, forward, back, and eject) stand out on the unit, but get lost on the remote. The remote includes a remote volume control, which I haven't used.

The display panel is clear and bright, and has the usual selections: total time, time left, time left total, etc.

The favorite track feature allows you to program specific tracks to skip on up to 100 of your CD's. I haven't used the favorite track feature yet; I tend to listen to the entire CD.

My only complaint lies in the speed of the changing mechanism, which is very slow (about 10 seconds or so). It turns out the music isn't quite uninterrupted, but it's only a small flaw that doesn't affect anything really.

I paid $450 retail in a local electronics store (United Audio). I'm not particularly a mail-order fan, but I imagine you might be able to get it for $50 cheaper.

Overall, the product is excellent, and I any very pleased with my investment. In the three weeks since I made the purchase, the Denon DCM 460 has brought me about 90 hours of high quality listening pleasure. 5 stars for sound, 4 1/2 for convience and construction.

carousel, linear outs alpha processing

18 bit, not 20 bit, as advertised

had this unity since '94. Still playing strong, never had any probems reading discs. Skipped maybe twice in 6 years.
I got pissed when I found out from as denon tech guy that this is an 18 bit player that is "upsampled" to 20 bit.

Since a year ago the drawer will open & then close without me telling it to close. Does this 1 out of two times I open the drwaewre.
Highs & mids are adequate, lows tend to be muddied up a bit, but then again I listen to acoustic jazz, & its hard to replicate that acoustic bass.
AMC d9 was way bright, surp[rising coming from Engalnd., but very well defined, just not as musical.
Need another jbeam & water....

PS am looking to upgrade to a $5-800 player...IDEAS?

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features

clunky tray and carosel

I am not really sure what product year it was....I returned it,,,,I found the tray t be very clunky and noisey.......I liked the features and thought it was just what i was looking for....but the noise and slow tray turned me off.....I bought a DCM 370........which is good , but it doesn't have the features that the DCM 460 has......anyone have any idea if Denon is coming out with a newer and better model soon.......????????

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