cd players

I'm revisiting to update my earlier 1-star review. Since posting a few months ago, I, too, figured out that the finalization problem only occurs when you try to record over 74 minutes of music onto a disc. Since that realization, I've been able to successfully finalize every disc I've recorded.

I'm still only going to give the unit 3 stars (and I'm leaving the earlier 1-star review) because a) the unit should be able to record up to the full capacity of the disc, and b) given that it can't, the instruction manual should clearly point that out. You shouldn't have to fumble around wasting time (and wasting discs) until you stumble upon the fact that you have to keep the recording time below 74 minutes. A very bad documentation flaw. Luckily I figured it out before I returned the unit in disgust.

Beyond the finalization issues, the only other problem I have is the unit's multi-disc playback capabilities. When I'm playing multi-discs randomly (this is how I listen to the unit 90% of the time), it's VERY annoying that the unit has to re-read each disc every time it reselects it. Causes loooonnngg silences between songs. No, not the worst problem in the world but annoying nonetheless.

Overall, a great unit for recording, an okay unit for multi-disc playback. Three stars.

Folks, I have had mine for a few weeks, and after many calls to Sony I believe I sorta understand the mystery about the love hate relationship of this product. It appears that if one tries to burn over about 74 min of material (and this varies due to disc to disc variations) on a 80 min disc the machine freezes up after the recording process and will it not fianalize. Sony says that this normal for this machine. I know one needs to leave room for the TOC, but this is more than anyone elses home burner specifies. I like the changer and the ability to program and burn from multiple discs all at once, very nice! Keep your recording time down to around 72 minutes on an 80 min disc and it always works.

I was attracted to try this unit, but was also concerned, given some of the above reviews. Today I bought it, read the manual, tested almost every function, and it all worked great. Finalizing and unfinalizing, copying, recording direct from disc AND from my analog turntable was fine. There was even a feature that enhanced the analog recording, making it sound better than the original. This is my first cd recorder, and I'm no techie, but managed fine with a couple of thorough reads through the manual. Very nice to have 5 bays, for easy compiling, although that does make for more moving parts to eventually break. I'll update at a later date if I run into problems, but I am PEACHY pleased right now.