PDR-04, (PDR-05 allows to text for tracks.)
Stable platter. loads with printed side down.
Hi-Fi audio quality. Caution: requires MUSIC CD-R only.

100% dependable. Built to last decades. Good for a lifetime.

PDR-04 units were dumped about 10 years ago because they did not have text inputs. Very hard to find! I wanted to buy a 2nd unit, but they just cost too much nowadays.

Unbalanced analog input and records at 1X only.
If you don't want to transfer vinyl to CD, why buy one?
Optical sync disc copy available, but why not just burn a digital copy using a computer?
I burn a Music CD and then make copies for playback using my computer. Save a digital copy when brand new, burn a CD copy and save the original as a Error-Free backup.

Play list feature I never use. I just burn a copy only with the tracks I want to play in the order I want to hear them.

I've had this deck for a number fo years, bought from MARS Music on a Silent Auction for $50 over 8 yrs ago. Used to use it a lot for live recording, backed up by mini-disk - live multi-track mix-down signal right out of my Mackie 24 chan board. ALWAYS a great recording.
Pulled it out of storage for a wedding this weekend, where I won't be able to do post production - just hand the Bride's mother a CD aferwards & have to use my laptop for playback & PA system management. (Can;t multi-task too far ;-). I can't wait. This baby fired right up after at least 3 yrs on the shelf & ran a test CD JUST like the old days!
Pioneer really put the effort in this one. I'll be using it again for my live work. Luckily, CD-R Audio media is still kicking around. I'm a bit worried about SCMA, but expect taht in this day & age, most folks will be ripping the CD's to WMA, MP3 or AAC anyway. Luckily, I also found a user manual on-line in .pdf for $free.
Old things are NEW again!
Earl G. BarkhillSound.com

Great Sound Stable Platter Dirt Cheap Good internal DAC

Remote is not very good Controls are hard to figure out without manual only does Audio CD-Rs without mod

I had originally wanted to get a Pioneer PD-65, however I managed to find this little number on ebay and picked it up for cheap. This Cd-recorder is an audiophile secret! I manly use it for CD-playback and it does a great job! I had originally planed to just use it as a transport, however the internal DAC is better then the one in my receiver. The build quality is excellent and sounds better then any other CD player I have owned. Many of these go for under $150 on ebay--Yet I find it on par with $300+ used CD players. I also have used it to record old family reel-to-reels to CD, for which it did a great job.

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Just DVD player as transport to H/K AVR-525

Great Sound Stable Platter Dirt Cheap Good internal DAC

Remote is not very good Controls are hard to figure out without manual only does Audio CD-Rs without mod

I had originally wanted to get a Pioneer PD-65, however I managed to find this little number on ebay and picked it up for cheap. This Cd-recorder is an audiophile secret! I manly use it for CD-playback and it does a great job! I had originally planed to just use it as a transport, however the internal DAC is better then the one in my receiver. The build quality is excellent and sounds better then any other CD player I have owned. Many of these go for under $150 on ebay--Yet I find it on par with $300+ used CD players. I also have used it to record old family reel-to-reels to CD, for which it did a great job.

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Just DVD player as transport to H/K AVR-525

Killer construction (Japan), killer CD playback, nice separation of the analog out connectors on the back of the deck, and oh yeah, versatile CD recording with auto fade and all the other goodies.

Does not record CDRW's. When Costco is selling 30 pack CDR's for $20, who the heck cares?

Wow! Patience has its virtues. Pioneer.com says this unit has a retail of $1970. I paid something like $270. It is a beast. I bought it originally to record LP's to CD's. What I did not expect was that it would become my reference CD player as well. It has a rock-solid stable platter mechanism -- imagine a turntable-like set-up to play CD's. It allegedly reduces jitter during playback and recording. Jitter = edginess, harshness, digital sound. I'll tell you what -- I inserted a Monarchy DIP anti-jitter filter just for kicks -- and I could not notice an improvement at all over the stock sound. This thing has boogying bass, clean highs, still can't touch the sweet sound of vinyl but it does a great job at digital. For $270 it is a world beater. I also prefer the analog out on this thing more so than using the DACs in my NAD T700 (Burr Brown 18 bit DACs). Maybe it has better op-amp circuitry?? I noticed better bass and beter resolution of the little things. Audiophiles call it "air".

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I use with a MMF 5 turntable, project Phono Box, cableplex interconnects (ebay), NAD T770 receiver, KEF 35.2's, and Audioquest Slate internal bi-wire.

Great Construction, great audio converters, and stable platter mechanism

Won't record CDRWs. Most people do not care.

The unit has Pioneer's stable platter mechanism which supports the entire CD and provides for better data streaming due to fewer read and refocusing errors. The sound is wonderful and the recording quality is great. I suggest this be bought for a recorder or as a universal CD player. It will play CDs, cdrs, and CDRW's without a hitch. Check out ebay for used unts or pricescan.com to find new old stock at a great price.

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Marantz 630

Product uses Pioneer's stable platter design and has excellent analog stages.

Will not record CDRWs (who cares)

This unit was the first broadly marketed CD recorder for the consumer market. As always, first products receive more design care and a better chassis. This unit is built using Pioneer's stable platter which provides a turntable that supports the entire CD. I really bought it for the great sound and use it as my CD player. It blows away others. It retailed for $2,000 and is available at very low prices on the web today (9/00)as it is an old model. It blows away the replacements. This is the one to buy if you don't need CDRW capabilities. P.S., the Elite version which also sold for $2000 and looks the same, was very favorabily review by Stereophile in 1997.

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Tascam CDRW 5000 professional unit