Superscope PSD230 Performing Arts Portable CD Player
No longer available at zZounds
zZounds Gear Experts Say...
Change tempo without affecting key. Voice reduction circuit.
Overview
Music educators who have seen the new Superscope PSD230/220 CD players are buzzing with excitement. That's because these innovative products are ideal for music and dance practice, with controls so intuitive that even beginners can operate them.
The PSD230 is a portable, professional-quality CD player that lets you change the key and tempo of any CD. Never before has a CD player provided these capabilities. Simple button controls let you quickly decrease tempo by 33% (in 50 1% increments from the previous setting). Slow down a music track as a valuable practice aid. The PSD230 also lets you change the musical key in 1/16th note intervals (as much as one octave), without changing tempo. This makes transposing an accompaniment a snap. So it's easy to play or sing along with a popular song in the key of one's choice.
For even more control during practice, a segment of a track can be selected and continually replayed until mastered. Step through an entire track or CD by making the endpoint of one loop the beginning point of the next one. In addition, a voice reduction system within the unit effectively reduces the lead vocals on many CDs, allowing a practicing musician to better hear the instrumentals or a vocalist to sing along as the new lead.
A mic/line input on the PSD230 that accepts either a 1/4 in. or XLR connection allows a microphone or an instrument to be plugged in and mixed with the CD, enhancing the practice performance. An optional foot pedal allows easier control… read more when hands are occupied with an instrument.
The PSD220, at a lower price, is specifically designed for those situations that require tempo change only, such as aerobics, dance, and instrument practice. Both PSD220 and PSD230 include many other professional features, such as analog and digital stereo outputs for connection to powered speakers or a recording device, 3-band EQ for tone balancing, CD-TEXT display, 3-way power, as well as built-in speaker and headphone jack with volume control. Play compilations recorded on CD-R or CD-RW discs.
Features
Music practice made easy.
No software or computers required.
Change tempo without affecting key.
Change key one octave without changing tempo.
Voice reduction circuit takes out lead vocals on many CDs.
Step-through A-B loops.
Take the battery-operated PSD220 or PSD230 anywhere in its (optional) hardshell carrying case. read less
The PSD230 is a portable, professional-quality CD player that lets you change the key and tempo of any CD. Never before has a CD player provided these capabilities. Simple button controls let you quickly decrease tempo by 33% (in 50 1% increments from the previous setting). Slow down a music track as a valuable practice aid. The PSD230 also lets you change the musical key in 1/16th note intervals (as much as one octave), without changing tempo. This makes transposing an accompaniment a snap. So it's easy to play or sing along with a popular song in the key of one's choice.
For even more control during practice, a segment of a track can be selected and continually replayed until mastered. Step through an entire track or CD by making the endpoint of one loop the beginning point of the next one. In addition, a voice reduction system within the unit effectively reduces the lead vocals on many CDs, allowing a practicing musician to better hear the instrumentals or a vocalist to sing along as the new lead.
A mic/line input on the PSD230 that accepts either a 1/4 in. or XLR connection allows a microphone or an instrument to be plugged in and mixed with the CD, enhancing the practice performance. An optional foot pedal allows easier control… read more when hands are occupied with an instrument.
The PSD220, at a lower price, is specifically designed for those situations that require tempo change only, such as aerobics, dance, and instrument practice. Both PSD220 and PSD230 include many other professional features, such as analog and digital stereo outputs for connection to powered speakers or a recording device, 3-band EQ for tone balancing, CD-TEXT display, 3-way power, as well as built-in speaker and headphone jack with volume control. Play compilations recorded on CD-R or CD-RW discs.
Features
Music practice made easy.
No software or computers required.
Change tempo without affecting key.
Change key one octave without changing tempo.
Voice reduction circuit takes out lead vocals on many CDs.
Step-through A-B loops.
Take the battery-operated PSD220 or PSD230 anywhere in its (optional) hardshell carrying case. read less
Specs
Tempo Control: ± 50% in 1% steps, without altering the key
Key Control: ± 1 Octave in 1/8th note steps, without changing the tempo (PSD230 only)
Voice Reduction: reduces lead vocal (PSD230 only)
Program Play: programmable track selection/playback
A-B Repeat: create practice loops between selected start and stop points
Disc/Track Repeat: repeat 1 or all tracks
Single Track Play: automatically cues tracks to audio, and, after playing, cues up the next track
Button Lock: prevents accidental Tempo/Key adjustment
Built-in Speaker: for instant playback
3-Band EQ: bass, mid, and treble controls
Headphone output: 1/4 in. jack socket
Mic/Line Input: XLR/1/4 in. jack socket (PSD230 only)
Analog Output: RCA stereo outputs
Digital Output: Coaxial out
Foot Pedal Input: 1/4 in.
CD-RW Playback: compatible with CD, CD-R, and CD-RW
Anti-Shock: 10-second memory buffer
CD-Text: displays text if present on CD (PSD230 only)
Built-in Infra Red Receiver: accepts RC5 remote control commands
Optional Infra Red Remote Control: RC300
Optional Rechargeable Battery: RB430
Playback System: Compact Disc Digital Audio
Number of Channels: 2
Compatible Discs: CD-DA, CD-R, CD-RW (8CM and 12CM)
Sampling Frequency: 44.1 kHz
Quantization: 16-bit linear/channel
Tempo Control: ± 50%, ± 0.5%
Tuning Control (PSD230 only): ± 2%, ± 0.1%
Key Control (PSD230 only): ± 1 octave, ± 0.1%
Frequency Range: 20Hz ~ 20,000Hz, ± 3dB
Wow and Flutter: Precision of Quartz
Dynamic Range: >68dB
S/N Ratio: >68dB
Channel Separation @ 1kHz: >50dB
THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) @ 1kHz: <0.1%
Mic/Line Input Level XLR / 1/4 in.(PSD230 only):1mV/500mV RMS
Analog Output Level (RCA): 500mV RMS
Digital Output Level (RCA): 0.5Vp-p (75W)
Speaker Output Power: 400mW (Dist. 10%)
Power Requirement Input: 6v, 1200mA
Power Consumption: 6.8W
Alkaline battery Life: 3 hours, approximately
Optional Nicad Battery Life: 4 hours, approximately
Dimensions (W x H x D): 9.76 x 2.13 x 7.20 in.
Net Weight: 2.4 lbs.
Operating Temperature: +41 to 90 degrees F
Operating Humidity: 5 ~ 90% (without dew)
Key Control: ± 1 Octave in 1/8th note steps, without changing the tempo (PSD230 only)
Voice Reduction: reduces lead vocal (PSD230 only)
Program Play: programmable track selection/playback
A-B Repeat: create practice loops between selected start and stop points
Disc/Track Repeat: repeat 1 or all tracks
Single Track Play: automatically cues tracks to audio, and, after playing, cues up the next track
Button Lock: prevents accidental Tempo/Key adjustment
Built-in Speaker: for instant playback
3-Band EQ: bass, mid, and treble controls
Headphone output: 1/4 in. jack socket
Mic/Line Input: XLR/1/4 in. jack socket (PSD230 only)
Analog Output: RCA stereo outputs
Digital Output: Coaxial out
Foot Pedal Input: 1/4 in.
CD-RW Playback: compatible with CD, CD-R, and CD-RW
Anti-Shock: 10-second memory buffer
CD-Text: displays text if present on CD (PSD230 only)
Built-in Infra Red Receiver: accepts RC5 remote control commands
Optional Infra Red Remote Control: RC300
Optional Rechargeable Battery: RB430
Playback System: Compact Disc Digital Audio
Number of Channels: 2
Compatible Discs: CD-DA, CD-R, CD-RW (8CM and 12CM)
Sampling Frequency: 44.1 kHz
Quantization: 16-bit linear/channel
Tempo Control: ± 50%, ± 0.5%
Tuning Control (PSD230 only): ± 2%, ± 0.1%
Key Control (PSD230 only): ± 1 octave, ± 0.1%
Frequency Range: 20Hz ~ 20,000Hz, ± 3dB
Wow and Flutter: Precision of Quartz
Dynamic Range: >68dB
S/N Ratio: >68dB
Channel Separation @ 1kHz: >50dB
THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) @ 1kHz: <0.1%
Mic/Line Input Level XLR / 1/4 in.(PSD230 only):1mV/500mV RMS
Analog Output Level (RCA): 500mV RMS
Digital Output Level (RCA): 0.5Vp-p (75W)
Speaker Output Power: 400mW (Dist. 10%)
Power Requirement Input: 6v, 1200mA
Power Consumption: 6.8W
Alkaline battery Life: 3 hours, approximately
Optional Nicad Battery Life: 4 hours, approximately
Dimensions (W x H x D): 9.76 x 2.13 x 7.20 in.
Net Weight: 2.4 lbs.
Operating Temperature: +41 to 90 degrees F
Operating Humidity: 5 ~ 90% (without dew)
Reviews
Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars.
(16 ratings)
Submitted March 9, 2005 by a customer from comcast.net
"Love it/hate it."
Verified Customer
zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
This unit does some things so well and others so bad. I was surprised at how small it is. It's obviously made for portability and designed to not eat up batteries. If you're toting it around it could be a plus but it's bad for people like me who use it plugged in. To start, the built-in speaker is all but useless. It's tiny and at max volume can barely be heard. If you're trying to copy a guitar solo you can't hear it well enough. So count on investing in some good headphones. If more than one person is playing/singing along, you absolutely have to run a line out to an external amp/speaker. Next, the digital readout is really hard to see. It has a button to press to light up the screen and that helps, but to save batteries it cycles off after only a few seconds so you have to keep pressing it. Annoying. Perhaps I missed it in the product description, but I did not understand that you have to choose between either changing the tempo or changing the key. You can't do both at once. Annoying. Also, the switch that is supposed to take out the vocals so you can put your voice in, like karaoke, works only part of the time. I think it depends on how many tracks in the recording carry vocals. It frequently does not kill them all.
Now that I've complained, let me tell you why I won't be parting with it. There is nothing like it if you're trying to copy a solo or polish a passage. You can set it to loop over the same part again and again and listen/play along until you…
read more
get it. When you pull out the vocals and slow it down, you hear stuff you didn't know was in there. If a whole band is learning a new song and you need to change key, it's a snap to set it up and play along. It has significantly shortened our rehersal time at nailing down new material. It has a lot of features and it's quite easy to get the hang of. It simply is a wonderful learning tool, even with its rather significant limitations. However, I think it should be priced lower for what you get.
Features
Lots of features but not all of them work as well as they could.
Quality
Very plastic and small. I would plan on treating this gently.
Manufacturer Support
Have not used.
Musical Background:
Hobbyist
Musical Style:
Rock/blues read less
Features
Lots of features but not all of them work as well as they could.
Quality
Very plastic and small. I would plan on treating this gently.
Manufacturer Support
Have not used.
Musical Background:
Hobbyist
Musical Style:
Rock/blues read less
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