Marantz CDR300 Portable CDR and CDRW Recorder

Includes 4-pin AC adapter.

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customer reviews

Rate and Review This Product:

95 People rated this product : * * * * * * * * * * 7 out of 10

5 People wrote reviews

* * * * * * * * * * 5 out of 10

Feature:
Generally speaking it sounded o.k. at the start. The record, enter & record buttons provided a quick opportunity to reconsider any unforseen element before recording. The phantom supply was also great in that I didn't have to hook up a cumberson separate phantom unit. It would have been great if some dubbing features (sound-on-sound) were possible. But guess for the price, perhaps not feasible.

Quality:
As a whole, the construction was rugged enough to withstand minor stuff.

Value:
If it works, yes.

Desirability:
It's o.k.

Sound:
The sound was o.k. at the beginning, but after a short while, a slight distortion factor made the low uke strings sound very subtly "buzzy" & "thuddy" even if the instrument was o.k. The recording function gave up, although the playback worked fine. "REc Error"came on with no clue as to how to fix it. All of this despite very light use.

Support:
The Marantz service people were very helpful. This was in relation to some technical questions right after I had bought the recorder. After the recording failure came on, I did not call them because I was not sure whether I should get another brand or not.

Overall:
Right now I'm not sure about fixing it. May look for something else.

Submitted: 3/19/2007

Style of Music: jazz

* * * * * * * * * * 5 out of 10

"Good idea, not reliable enough for live work."

Feature:
A little clunky in how to initiate recording for a layperson. You first press a little button to initiate rec mode dialog, then you select minute track or normal continuous track mode, then finally rec lamp flashes ready to start. Minute track (new track each minute) is extremely useful for providing rapid access to lengthy continuous stream of material. Finalize is a little slow (around 2 min.) but faster than PC recording followed by CD burning.

Quality:
While the case etc. is fairly rugged, the recorder is extremely temperamental about making reliable CD recordings. Stops with recording error indication, no warning, no recoursee. Unnerving for critical live concert work. VERY fussy about CDR media -- I found that Fuji is one of a very few brands that is tolerated.

Value:
Price is stiff but not out of line for a digital recorder. Convenient, but unreliable operation under critical conditions is troublesome. Better to go with hard disk recorder or PC w/ sound card.

Desirability:
The concept is cool. The operation is far simpler and more convenient for lay person than PC plus recording and burning software. The CDR transport part of it is not as reliable as it should be and is a real drag for critical live concert recording.

Sound:
Sound quality is fine except for internal mic preamps which are noisy. Adequate for pair of AKG 414's (condenser mics) that I have (includes phantom power), unacceptable for EV RE-55's (older dynamics), even with use of outside bal/unbal transformers. Supports both analog and digital input which is a real boon as I use a dBx 386 pre-amp with its sexy a/d converter.

Support:
I've talked to Marantz about both mic pre-amp noise ("Gee, it is noisy with dynamic mics, isn't it?") and fussiness ("Try different brands until you find one that works for you.") Not impressed.

Overall:
This unit came out before solid state and mini hard disk recorders appeared. If critical recording is important, this is a preferred way to go, even if the time to produce the first disk takes longer.

Submitted: 11/28/2005

Style of Music: classical

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About This Product!
Description
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From Our Catalog
The CDR300 by Marantz Professional is the world's first CD Recording system designed for stand-alone portable recording. This professional CD recorder offers the functionality of a professional tape recorder, while recording directly to blank CD-R/RW media. Once finalized, recorded discs will play back in virtually any CD player.

To record, simply place the compact and lightweight CDR300 on a table-top, plug it into an AC electrical outlet, and record live using either the internal microphone or external microphones that attach to stereo XLR or ? in. mic/line inputs. Because a preamplifier is built into the unit, an external mixer or mic preamp is not required. A built-in speaker or headphone jack conveniently allows recordings to be monitored.

"There are many advantages to recording direct to CD-R/RW," says Peter Papageorge, National Sales Manager for Marantz Professional. "The media can be purchased for pennies yet offers superior sound quality compared to cassettes. And most everyone now owns a CD player that can play back CD-R discs."

High and low EQ and high and band pass filtering can be independently adjusted for each mic/line input in the preset menu. 48 volt phantom power is available for condenser microphones. The unit also provides manual or automatic level control, limiter, and digital level meters.

"We've designed the CDR300 to be as easy to use as our respected line of portable tape recorders. You can start and stop recording just like a tape, and if you use rewritable discs you can even erase the disc or last track," says Papageorge.

The CDR300 is a professional-grade CD recorder that records to both music and computer CD-R and CD-RW discs. Track titles can be input using CD-Text. It can make a perfect digital copy of any CD. The unit can also record a CD from any digital or analog source including LPs, DATs, cassettes, or MiniDiscs. RCA analog inputs/outputs and digital (SPDIF) input/output are provided on the rear panel. A 4-pin DC power input enables the CDR300 to be used with external gel-cell battery packs.

Features:

Built-in microphone and speaker

Stereo XLR & 1/4 in. mic/line inputs

48V Phantom Power

RCA line out

Stereo RCA Aux input

Digital RCA (SPDIF) input and output

Programmable mic/line EQ

Programmable mic/line high and band pass filtering

Manual or automatic level control for recording

Onboard limiter

Computer CD-R/RW disc compatible

3-band master EQ

Full function IR remote included

AC Power or 4-pin DC connection for use with gel-cell battery packs

Technical Info

General
System: Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA)
Number of channels: 2 (stereo)
Discs accepted: CD, CD-R, CD-RW
Power requirements: AC 120V 60 Hz, 21 W

Dimensions (Maximum)
Width: 11 in. (279 mm)
Height: 4 in. (102 mm)
Depth: 9 in. (229 mm)
Weight: 7 lbs. (3.2 Kg)

Audio
Frequency response: 20Hz-20kHz
ADC: 24-Bit Resolution 64x oversampling
DAC: 16-Bit Resolution 8x oversampling

CD-R Drive

Playback S/N: 85 dB
Playback Dynamic Range: 85 dB
Playback Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.05%
Output Voltage/Impedance (Line Output): 1.0 V/2K

Mic/Line Analog Line Level
S/N: 80 dB
THD: 0.05%
Input Sensitivity/Impedance: 500 mV/2K

Mic Level
S/N: 60 dB
THD: 0.2%
Input Sensitivity/Impedance: 1.2 mV/2K

AUX analog input
S/N: 75 dB
THD: 0.5%
Input Sensitivity/Impedance: 800 mV/23K

Digital Input
Sample rate: 11 kHz ~ 58 kHz

Digital Output
Output Level/Impedance: 0.5 Vp-p/75 ohm

Headphone Output (10% THD)
Level/Impedance: 70 mW/32 ohm

Speaker Output (10% THD)
Level/Impedance: 1.7 W/8 ohm

Specifications are based on measurement conditions and proper care for the machine, and are subject to change without notice.
Portable direct-to-CD recording with 2 phantom-powered mic inputs, RCA inputs, and S/PDIF digital inputs. On-board limiter, plus minute track mode.

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