Sony RCD-W500C CD Recorder and Player User Reviews at zZounds

"Great sound, but watch the learning curve. Be patient and you will find this the best out there. No patience, don't Buy it" submitted December 18, 2005

By a customer from rochester.rr.com

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Musical Background: hobbyist, son of a recording engineer at CBS

Music Style: Jazz, Classical

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Sound: There was somewhat of a steep learning curve to figure out some of the nuances, but once I purchased a better phono cartridge and a good equalizer to get a good sound going in, I found that the unit produces great recordings. Very picky about which cdr's you use. No luck at all with Memorex discs on a spindle. Almost sent the unit back until I moved to individually packaged Sony discs. USE HIGH QUALITY CD'S!!! Feature: No accessories came with the unit. The title feature is very clunky, so I will be transferring the recordings to my computer cd recorder with Pro-Tools lite, and covers with Adobe Illustrator. If they could make one with a keyboard adapter for the same price, or a little more it would be an excellent feature. Value: yes it is Manufacturer Support: I have not had to deal with the company. The product works very well by itself without help from the factory. Overall: It will be a long time. I would imagine 5 to 6 years before I outgrow it. Withe 500 records, 200 casette tapes, and 20o 10.5 " reel to reel tapes it will be years. There are also some wonderful recordings still on records that make good cd's.

53 of 57 people (92.98%) found this review helpful. Did you?

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Sony RCDW500C CD Recorder Customer Review submitted November 23, 2007

By a customer from yahoo.com

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Musical Background: Live sound tech.

Music Style: Cgristian

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VERIFIED BUYER

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Sound: Doesn't sound bad, but it's hard to get it to record. I record live to it from a Mackie 20 channel mixer for church. Live music and sermons. It records pretty well except that it only is reliable on Sony brand CD-R Music cds. Most other brands only work 1/2 the time and onl;y Music cds work at all. Ita always amazes me that if I take a disc recorded on it home and use it on my computer Nero always tell me that the disc is copywrited! I ahve a soSont DVD recorder at home and it is too fussy about the discs too. I replacxed it with a Samsuing. Would replace this unit too but I can't afford a Tascam. Quality: I use mine in one place but judging by waht I have seen I would not trust it to be moved much. Value: It is worth it because of the price, but you will have to buy thr higher priced Sony Music CDs only for reliabile recording Overall: I hope to replace this with a computer soon and will record direct and edit on the computer. Then the recorder will be only a extra gadget around which I likely will seldom use.

50 of 53 people (94.34%) found this review helpful. Did you?

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"Great Home Studio Mixdown Deck" submitted December 1, 2006

By a customer from mac.com

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Musical Background: Singer/ Songwriter

Music Style: R&B, Dance, Gospel, Reggae & Soca

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SPOTLIGHT REVIEW

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Sound: I use this unit in my home recording studio and it sounds fine. The AD and DA converters actually sound more pleasing than my Kenwood CD player. The Super Bit Mapping really helps the sound. Feature: For the price of this unit, the feature set is un-beatable. You could copy selected tracks from 5 Cd's to 1, or high speed dub a CD, input CD text using the remote, plus finalizing is pretty quick too! The only downside is ...you MUST use Music CDR's. Computer CD's will NOT work !!! Nor will DVD+-R like a previous poster tried. Ease of Use: Takes a little getting used to reading the display, but Sony was wise to include the option to allow to user to change display views .... waaay cool. Quality: It's a comsumer piece... don't expect pro quality build. I take mine out on occasion to live gigs, but I know to be careful. Value: Given the feature to price ratio .... I would say, this is a really great value Manufacturer Support: I have a friend who is a tech at Sony, and he is the best !!! The Wow Factor: I'ts not a bad looking piece. It blends in nicely with my pro audio gear. Overall: This is an excellent unit for Home studio's and hobbyist's. I may upgrade to something with Word Clock and SMCS free, but I keep the Sony for my live gigs, So even if it breaks, replacing it won't break the bank !

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"Happy to own two of these." submitted January 3, 2011

By a customer from bellsouth.net

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Musical Background: Active Musican

Music Style: Country and Rock

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Sound: this unit is to supplement the first one I had bought about 6 years ago. the first one still works for a couple discs at a time, then starts to fail. I really like these units. they work well. I have made a lot of discs over the years I have owned the first. Feature: Dubs my discs really well. Works great in analog ot digital modes. Ease of Use: Easy learning curve on the first unit, and of course on the second. Quality: My first unit lasted trouble free for over six years before any glitches. Now I use it for 2 hours, of less at a time. Value: Well worth it's price. Seems like a bargain. Manufacturer Support: N/A The Wow Factor: Practical addition. Overall: Happy to own two of these, as is the case with other musical gear.

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"the sony cd recorder" submitted May 13, 2009

By a customer from hotmail.com

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Musical Background: Recording Engineer

Music Style: Gospel

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Sound: this recorde is the best that money can buy I would tell anyon to by this recorder Feature: they are eazy to use and at your finger tips Ease of Use: itput out great sounds Quality: I have never had any trouble with this player Value: cant find any thing beter fr the money Manufacturer Support: yes The Wow Factor: it loks good in my studio Overall: I expect to have many years of use

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"Great buy!" submitted August 3, 2010

By a customer from aol.com

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Features

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Music Style: Rock, Pop, Jazz, Country

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Sound: Have been using this for several years. Over 500 discs recorded. Feature: optical in/out. Program record. Ease of Use: Easy to start getting good sounds, harder to dig into it deeper. Quality: Like a tank Value: Great for the money Manufacturer Support: Never had to use it The Wow Factor: It's smart to have a stand alone music CD recorder (read wav file) instead of MP3. Overall: Haven't seen anything better

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"Sucks for making mixes from other CD's. :(" submitted August 5, 2009

By a customer from aol.com

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Musical Background: hobbyist

Music Style: multiple genres

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Sound: The sound is fine. Feature: This is the area where this unit is most disappointing. I have an 8 year old Yamaha dual deck recording unit, and it does everything that this one does, but it includes the extremely valuable "single synchro" recording option as well. If you just copy CD's for your personal use, or if you record analog sources, this will still be fine for you. If you like to make mixed discs from several CD sources, then the lack of the single synchro function makes this a worthless piece of garbage--more of a 5+1 cd player than anything else. Why did I buy this? I bought it to make mixe3d discs, primarily, and to have to manually press play on the remote once it's standing by, then to switch the remote to work the other deck, then press play on the other deck, then wait patiently until the song is over to press pause so it marks a new track is simply retarded, way behind the times, and a really poor move by Sony should they expect that to impress me enough to buy anything else they make. Ease of Use: I found the manual to be mediocre in its clarity, but I was able to use it to figure out how to do what I wanted to do. Sadly, what I wanted to do needs to be done completely manually with this machine. Quality: I'm going to give this a 6 for quality. Why? Everything else I've ever bought from Sony, except my PLaystation 2, has been junk. No kidding--I bought the stuff, treated it well, and it either worked poorly out of the box or began to work poorly within a few months. We'll see about this unit. Value: I bought this one at a discount. Supposedly previously opened at Best Buy, but it was still wrapped up and appeared unused. Manufacturer Support: No idea--haven't had to use it. The Wow Factor: I didn't really want it, I just wanted a CD recorder to replace my old one. Now that I have it, I'm just hoping it lasts long enought to justify the $170 I paid for it. Overall: I'll buy a better featured recorder when I feel like it. I would guess that to be within the year. I'd be thinking Tascam or Alesis at that point, though.

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"Failures!" submitted October 3, 2007

By a customer from roadrunner.com

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Musical Background: hobbyist

Music Style: all

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Feature: no acc. included most needed is a pc keyboard input to label cd title and tracts...very time consumiong otherwise! Writing on face of recorder is too small. Ease of Use: Extremely difficult to use, manual is complicated... Quality: This unit started failing...the dreaded TOC error...with digital audio discs... always after a live recording!!!!!. When this unit works, it is crystal...but who can afford a 66% failure rate...I've sent it back! Value: I would have paid $100 more for a cdrecorder that worked. Manufacturer Support: I'll find aout how good support is soon...Long's electronics denied that they have had any failures with this unit...search the internet 1st. The Wow Factor: I would not wish this unit on anyone Overall: It doesn't work!

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"I'm through with Sony product. Wish I had half my money back." submitted February 11, 2007

By a customer from verizon.net

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Musical Background: Hobbyist

Music Style: Country & Oldies

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Ease of Use: The manual is terrible. I am new at this and I wish I had never undertaken this hobby. I can't even get the thing to record. Keeps saying nothing but "Blank Disc". What a nightmare! Value: It's not the worth, but the coplexity of the thing. The everyday person will be lost. Sony,,, you are hurting your business by selling the every day person something they will never be able to use. Manufacturer Support: I have many Sony products and try to always buy Sony, buttttt I will NEVER have a Sony product in my home. You better be electonics literate or it is hopeless. It's a shame they don't cater to the every day person who ALSO buy their product...I'm through with Sony. The Wow Factor: For the life of me I can't see one thing sexy about this thing. I have a hard time relating SEX to this rascal. I would be able to keep my mind on what I was doing. Overall: I would never consider Sony product of any kind. I was warned but I didn't listen. I would replace with a Phillips, Pioneer, Teac, etc. Anything but a Sony.

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"BEWARE do NOT buy" submitted December 15, 2005

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Sound: PURE waste of money probably designed by deaf people sorry to be so harsh but it is just 1 point afloat of pure garbage. might as well get any cheapo chinese junk that floats b y your way, will sound same or even better. too many problems to list, using even own sony dvd-r disks sony should stick to TV and walkman, since 1982, its all downhill for them try it, before you even think of buying this me-too garbage. tks The Wow Factor: would not wish it on my enemies even. well.. maybe on the enemies..ya.

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