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Q: Should
I buy a single-disc player, a carousel changer, or a mega
changer?
A: If you're the type of person who rarely
listens to more than a single CD or a few songs at time, a
single-CD player may be all you need. But we've found that
most people opt for changers. They provide hours of uninterrupted
music, and make it easy to program music for parties, or to
record custom "greatest hits" MDs, CD-Rs, or tapes
with songs from several CDs.
If you like to keep a mix of music
ready to go, consider a 5-disc carousel changer. Most models
let you change four discs while the fifth continues playing.
Your tunes will just keep flowing without interruption. And
a carousel's rotating platter makes it easy for you to read
each CD's label when the player's drawer is open.
With mega changers (also known as
"jukebox"-style changers) you load and store your
entire CD collection in the machine. No more fumbling through
stacks of plastic jewel cases. Mega changers make it easy
to locate and program your personal listening selections.
Some models even let you categorize your CDs by type of music
or artist, or group each family member's personal favorites.
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Q:
What does a digital output do for me?
A: CD players have built-in digital-to-analog
converters (DACs) so they can deliver a regular analog audio
signal to the input of your receiver. If your CD player has
a digital output, and your receiver is equipped with a compatible
digital input, you can bypass your CD player's DAC and send
the digital signal directly to your receiver. Depending on
the quality of your receiver's DACs, this may result in better
sound for all of your CDs.
The two most common types of digital
outputs are coaxial and optical. Although coaxial connections
usually have standard RCA-type connectors, the cable itself
is specially designed to handle the much wider frequency bandwidth
of digital signals. With optical connections, the signal is
transmitted as pulses of light through a cable housing glass
or plastic fibers. Optical transmission offers extremely wide
bandwidth, ultra-low signal loss, and immunity to RF (radio
frequency) interference.
If you're planning to make digital
recordings from your CD player to a MiniDisc recorder, CD
recorder or DAT deck with digital input, get a CD player with
a compatible digital output. Since the music flows as digital
data from your player to the recorder, you get the best possible
sound quality. Plus, recording is much simpler, since track
beginnings and endings, as well as record levels, are normally
set automatically in direct digital recordings.
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Q: I plan
to record CDs to cassette. Do some CD players do this better
than others?
A: Yes. There are features designed especially
with tape enthusiasts in mind. CD players with "Peak
Search" will scan your disc, find the loudest passage,
and then play it back repeatedly so you can set optimum record
levels.
"Time Edit" helps you plan
your recording to fill a given tape, using the songs' playing
times and the tape's length.
Many newer CD players, receivers,
and cassette decks include advanced communication features
that allow same-brand components to "talk" to each
other. A system made up of such gear can simplify the recording
process by automatically scanning the CD you're going to tape,
setting the optimal record levels, and synchronizing your
CD player and cassette deck for perfect, hassle-free recordings.
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Q: Do CD-R
copies really sound as good as the original CDs?
A: Some audiophiles say that there is a very
slight reduction of sound quality in CD copies, but to most
people, the sound of a CD-R dub is indistinguishable from
that of the original disc.
One important factor in maximizing
the sound quality of your CD-Rs and CD-RWs is the ability
to make a digital connection between your CD player and your
CD recorder. If you have a dual-well CD-R/RW deck, you've
already got self-contained direct digital dubbing in place.
(Note, however, that SCMS copyright protection makes these
decks switch to analog recording mode when you are making
a copy of a CD-R, i.e. a copy of a copy.)
With single-well CD-R/RW decks, however,
you'll have to make a connection to an external CD player
to make copies of your favorite discs. If your player offers
a digital output (virtually all newer players do), you'll
definitely want to use that for the connection to your recorder.
If your CD player doesn't have digital output, you can still
burn excellent CD copies via an analog connection, but there
will be a marginal loss of sound quality and convenience.
This is due to the fact that the source signal is translated
from digital to analog by your CD player, and then from analog
back to digital by your CD-R/RW deck.
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Q:
What's the difference between CD-Rs and CD-RWs?
A: All of our CD recorders work with either
blank CD-Rs or CD-RWs, so you won't be locked into exclusive
use of one or the other by your hardware. Choosing between
the two formats really comes down to your intended uses for
the discs you're burning.
Although the "R" in CD-R
stands for "recordable," this is a "write-once"
technology. That means anything you record on a CD-R is permanent.
So if you make a mistake while recording a CD-R — for example
if you change your mind about song order — you can't erase
or re-record the disc.
The CD-RW designation indicates a
"rewritable" disc — you can erase and re-record
on the same disc over and over again. But CD-RW blanks cost
more than CD-R blanks — they actually use a different technology
and disc material. Plus, CD-RW discs don't play back on as
wide a range of players as CD-Rs, although the number of CD-RW-compatible
CD players is growing steadily.
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Q: What
other types of sound sources can I burn onto CD-R and CD-RW?
A: Virtually any sound source can be transferred
to CD. Direct digital recordings can be made from sound sources
that use the Pulse Code Modulation standard, which includes
CD, MiniDisc, DBS, and DAT. For direct digital transfer from
the latter two sources — both of which employ different sampling
rates than the 44.1kHz CD standard — most of our CD-R/RW models
include sample rate converters.
Every CD-R/RW deck we carry also has
analog inputs, so you can create digital copies from practically
any audio source — cassette, turntable (this requires a phono
input on your preamp or receiver), a CD player without digital
output, VHS, TV, radio ... whatever you want.
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Q: Reviews
of SACD players and discs say that the sound is warmer and
closer to analog than CD — but aren't CDs themselves supposed
to be superior to analog recordings?
A: Yes, in many senses. The Pulse Code Modulation
(PCM) technology used for CDs does offer a number of advantages
over traditional forms of analog recording and reproduction
— including increased clarity and expanded frequency response.
But sound waves themselves are analog, no matter how they
are recorded. And PCM does a great, but not a perfect, job
of capturing and reproducing analog sound.
Direct Stream Digital (DSD) is the
advanced recording technology that makes SACD possible. Standard
CDs use 44.1kHz/16-bit PCM (44,100 samples-per-second Pulse
Code Modulation, encoded at 16-bit resolution) to represent
audio in digital form. DSD, on the other hand, is a 1-bit
technology that samples music 2.82 million times per second,
capturing 4 times more information. DSD also eliminates several
layers of filtration and modulation inherent in PCM technology.
The combination of these factors allows SACD recordings to
capture more faithfully the "warmth" and smoothness
of the original performance.
SACD also offers significant advances
in the areas where CDs are strongest. SACD has a frequency
range of over 50kHz, compared to CD's 22kHz ceiling. It also
offers a dynamic range of over 120dB across the entire range
of audible frequencies. With specs that phenomenal, SACD recordings
are able to reproduce music with a presence and purity that
has bowled over even some of digital sound's harshest critics.
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