Marantz CDR300 User Reviews at zZounds

"Top Rate! but don't contact Superscope." submitted May 15, 2004

By a customer from midsouth.rr.com

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Music Style: Bluegrass

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Sound: The guy that low rated this unit must have expected a $50,000 studio recorder for $9.95. With a quality mic, the unit delivers quality recordings. Quality: Minor problem resolved over the phone with Marantz ( don't bother with Superscope!) Value: A little pricy, but the best on the open market. Manufacturer Support: Contact Marantz direct. Do Not contact Superscope. I called the tech support number listed in the manual and was connected to Superscope. They were of no help and exhibited a don't give a s... attitude. I had the good sense to ask for a direct number to Marantz. They were great! Problem solved! The Wow Factor: I don't buy according to "sex appeal". Overall: Great product support from Marantz and this place. I have never received service this good from any merchant or company. Top Rate! I use the CDR300 to record live music and it fills my needs completly.

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"Marantz CDR300 is great! But ..." submitted May 26, 2004

By a customer from comcast.net

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Sound: Microphone used is more likely the limiting factor. Feature: A portable CD recorder for which portable power (battery) is optional equipment at $150 or more, and connector is proprietary. Quality: I'd give this a 10, except for one problem. On a number of occassions when I thought I had a great recording ... stopped recording ... and attempted to start another recording ... got a record error message on the display. When this happened, usually the first recording was lost and the CD was corrupt an unreadable! A serious problem for one of a kind recordings ... aren't they all? Value: It is the only portable CD recorder I am aware of, and that is what I wanted, so I paid the price. The Wow Factor: It is an attractive, sturdy piece of equipment. But, more importantly, it is the only one I am aware of in the category. Overall: I hope to use this recorder for at least a few more years. I needed a portable digital recording device and didn't want to hassle with interfacing with the PC. With this solution, you just take the CD out of the recorder, pop it into the PC and rip the CD. I required portability. I wish I knew the optional battery pack was $150+ But, on the other hand, the battery pack has good life. I've recorded three full length CDs without recharging. I had the occassional "record error" problems. When there is an affordable, solid state (no moving parts) CD quality recorder with a capacity of 60-80 minutes, I'll buy it.

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"Good idea, not reliable enough for live work." submitted November 28, 2005

By a customer from yahoo.com

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The Wow Factor

Musical Background: serious audio hobbyist married to professional musician

Music Style: classical

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SPOTLIGHT REVIEW

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. 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. Manufacturer 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. The Wow Factor: 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. 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.

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"Sounds great...........when it works!" submitted August 11, 2005

By a customer from aol.com

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Sound

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Quality

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The Wow Factor

Musical Background: organist, vocalist, recording engineer, producer

Music Style: Rock, Blues, Pop

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VERIFIED BUYER

zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.

Sound: Sounds great........when it works! Mic inputs are very hissy but if you use a mixer & record thru aux in the sound is just fine. Feature: Track-a-minute feature may be useful for business meetings, but useless for music. Limiter, Automatic level control too obvious upon kick-in. Quality: You record a loud rock band. The drummer hits his kick & suddenly your recording stops. The readout reads REC ERROR. Kinda frustrating & embarrassing when you know the band's expecting a live CD at the end of the night. I own this unit 2 years. Tried acoustic isolation (auralex foam, a fat pillow) nothing helps. You'll get some of the evening, but not all. Think the vibrations knock the laser reader off its path. Asked tech support wat to do............. Value: I gave a 2 only because the sound is great. If it punks out in the middle of a song its not too dependable, or valuable. Manufacturer Support: They suggested I run longer mic cables & record further away from the band. Sure! That's really an option in small bars, restaurants, & rehearsal spaces! They all but admitted it's been a problem with the unit. The Wow Factor: Very cool idea but they haven't perfected the transport yet. Overall: I'd never have bought it if I knew of the REC ERROR problem. Better off with a system that records to a hard drive or compact flash cards. The less moving parts, the better, because if you record live music, you (and the machine) WILL be exposed to rather high sound pressure levels. This machine doesn't handle that very well.

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Marantz CDR300 Customer Review submitted March 19, 2007

By a customer from yahoo.com

Overall

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: hobbyist

Music Style: jazz

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VERIFIED BUYER

zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.

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. 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. Manufacturer 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. The Wow Factor: It's o.k. Overall: Right now I'm not sure about fixing it. May look for something else.

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Marantz CDR300 Portable CDR and CDRW Recorder

User Ratings

"Top Rate! but don't contact Superscope." submitted May 15, 2004

"Marantz CDR300 is great! But ..." submitted May 26, 2004

"Good idea, not reliable enough for live work." submitted November 28, 2005

"Sounds great...........when it works!" submitted August 11, 2005

Marantz CDR300 Customer Review submitted March 19, 2007