Audio Reviews

Good points: Nice layout,4 line text display with id3 tag support,CD\CDRW compatible, multisession, backlight,Bass boost,
wide ranging bitrate support. Bad points: Flimsy construction,skipped frequently when walking,(Claims to have 400 second protection) Overall not a bad purchase considering the price, had it not been for the skipping, I would have rated much higher.I feel that a portable unit "on the go" should have better skip protection.

Okay, I don't have this CD player yet, but I really want it. It's got the biggest LCD screen I've ever seen on a CD player, it can read ID3 tags, it looks really cool, it's [reasonably priced], and it plays MP3 CD's. I love the MP3 CD feature because I love music, and all you need is about 8 CD's to have as much storage capacity as one of those 6gb Hard Drive players. I've stored my entire Heavy metal collection on one CD (in 96kbps), and that's about 20 CD's worth.

Purchased this for vacation (22 hour drive each way), and have to say this is FANTASTIC, I am happy I didn't buy a differant one!
The documenttaion wasn't very good, and their marketing team needs to go back to school. If this was labeled with a brand name, the reviews would be outstanding and nobody would hesitate to get it, it is much better than the Sony cd player I have. THE PRODUCT IS GREAT!

The display is HUGE, 4 complete full length lines, plus battery status, mode and eq settings all at once!!!!! It supports ID3 tags, and if the title is too long, it will slowly scroll the title.

It has the added feature of a backlit display (press any button and the display lights for 3-5 seconds). The backlight feature was great in the car at night. And with only a few buttons and the joystick, it was extremely easy to use at night in the car!!!!

It lasted about 15 hours on 1 set of batteries!!! (I didn't have to change the CD (filled with mp3's) either!!!

BUILT IN BATTERY CHARGER for rechargables!!!!!

Built in EQ preset functions including the normal, rock, jazz, etc....settings. It has Bass boost and hold functions.

The best thing about this unit is the ease of use! Only 4 buttons and joystick.

other functions include Random, shuffle, repeat, A-B repeat, etc!

The headphones that come with it aren't the best, but those are freebies anyway, take out your favorite set and enjoy this GREAT BUY!

I have to agree, that it is not very rugged, yes it's made out of plastic, but it's no more flimsy than any other portable CD player I've owned. It is great for portable mp3 playback!

It boasts 400 seconds anti skip which is really (real world) 45 seconds (the 400 seconds is at the lowest MP3 bitrate supported, 8k in this case), In my opinion 45 seconds is still enough. In contrast the rio volt sp250 boasts 8 minutes anti skip, same thing though, at the lowest bitrate.. (if you're bouncing around for more than 45 seconds nonstop are you really concerned with music anyway?)

A good friend has a Rio Volt sp250, and we compaired the units. Yes the Rio is built much more ruggedly, but it's triple the price and the Rio's display is almost unusable. The Rio "booted" and read the cd faster (within 15-20 seconds) where as mind took about 30-35 seconds, but that is fine with me, the display and backlight are worth 10 seconds to me...

Pioneer makes great Audio recievers, speakers, and components. Take this reciever. A great Price for Dolby Digital, Pro Logic, and DTS Decoding. But the power output at 60 Watts per channel is Not so good. I like loud Rock music. When you turn the volume up, the bass fades away. Which is another negative. The many different options of speaker setup and tone control is great. It gives the user Control over almost everything. If you want great bass, i recommend using large speakers as front speaker,or two 100 watt powered subwoofers. And a good five speaker system, made by sony, pioneer, or bose.

This affordable A/V receiver does both Dolby Digital and DTS decoding, making it ideal for a DVD home theater setup. It also does a better job of Dolby Prologic decoding than my old Pioneer VSX-455 receiver. Amazon's review above already mentions most of the features of this receiver. In addition, it has one coax digital input and one optical digital input (cable not provided) for your DD/DTS source. It also comes with FM and AM antennae.

The receiver lets you fine-tune your surround sound setup by specifying speaker sizes (setting one to "Large" will send more bass to it if you don't have a subwoofer), set cutoff frequency for the subwoofer, set volumes of individual speakers, and set distances between the speakers and the listener.

As mentioned in the Amazon review, the "Midnight" mode only helps "slightly". There is a separate "Dynamic Range Compression" feature that lets you select MID (middle) or MAX compression; but at either setting it makes barely noticeable difference to loud sounds. Like me, many people sometimes find it hard to hear movies at home -- dialogs too soft, sound effects too loud. The truth is that movies are made to be listened in an ideal accoustic environment like a theater, and most homes simply cannot recreate such an environment. Hence, many receivers include features like "Midnight" mode to make a movie soundtrack less overwhelming. But they often don't work well enough, and they distort the original sound way too much.

The "DSP sound modes", which turn plain stereo sound (such as from CD or radio) into a sort of "fake surround" sound, are OK. They don't do magic, but at least they don't distort the sound into an unrecognizable mess like my old Pioneer VSX-455 did.

One concern is there are not too many A/V inputs on this receiver. Besides the coax and optical digital inputs, there are just 3 video inputs and 4 analog audio inputs. This is barely enough to accommodate a TV, VCR, DVD player, LD Player, and CD Player. And it's definitely not enough if you also have satellite TV, audio cassette deck, turntable, etc.

I find the the receiver's 60 watts of power sufficient, although I often have to turn up the volume to about -30db (0db is max, -94 is min), which is almost 70% above the minimum.

The remote control is typically unexceptional: small buttons, confusing interface, useless as a universal remote.

At this price - entry level for surround sound - I did not expect so many ways to customize the sound to match your speakers and your room conditions. Great flexibility in that regard.

One of these features has turned out to be essential for me, and may be for you as well if you are living in an apartment as opposed to a suburban house. I'll explain: "Midnight Mode" takes the softest parts of the movie (or CD) and elevates it a bit, so you get the full presence of the scene even if you haven't set the volume excessively high. When watching DVDs before I had this unit I'd noticed that many times I needed to turn up the volume during dialogue scenes, and turn it down during "explosion scenes". Midnight Mode (and a couple other methods of compressing the dynamic range) overcomes this problem. You simply put the volume at your favorite level (a level you will enjoy which won't damage your hearing, and which your housemates won't mind) and you will never have to be worried that a softly spoken scene will be inaudible. It will be audible - and sound very good indeed. To a lesser extent, this mode also reduces the excess volume of explosions, but I believe it is weighed more in favor of bringing up the quiet than in reducing the loud - which is why other reviews said they didn't notice it reducing the loud sounds much at all. (It is actually good that people think the effect is subtle -- if it drew attention to itself, it wouldn't be doing the job well, would it?) I think it is more intended to bring out the nuances, and it does so splendidly. Also works great for keeping music CDs sound full when played at background levels. All with a simple one-click change.

Another nice things I've noticed: This unit doesn't get too hot. Maybe because it is only 60 watts per channel (which is double what I grew up with!). Perhaps it costs less to run, as well?

In summary, I was concerned that at this price I'd be making sacrifices, that I'd be stuck with something that sounded one particular way. But it is flexible to your room conditions and your speaker sizes. No sacrifices here, except the lack of S-Video inputs (which might not be a factor for you at all).

I originally wrote a very wordy review, but deleted that in favor of stating just what you need to know. The RD2211 is small enough to be easily portable. It's easy to find and play the tracks you want to hear. The sound quality, even at its dismal 75 db signal to noise ratio, is sufficiently good for everyday use. The solid state construction means it won't skip while jogging or simply walking to the train platform. Let's skip past all that, and get down to the real issues.

First and last, this player is usable only with WMA files. The advertised MP3 compatibility is accomplished via the included software: it converts MP3 to RCA's proprietary MPX format. You need not read farther if your music library is predominantly MP3.

The advertised 128 MB total memory is supplied as two 64 MB CF cards. This is unacceptable. I have not decided if it's enough of a deal breaker to take advantage of Circuit City's 30 day return policy. My intention at the time of purchase was to swap the overly generous 256 MB CF card in my camera for the 128 MB card. This is no longer feasible, and my options are to return the device, or purchase a 128 MB card.

The CF card is removed from the player and inserted into the supplied USB CF card reader to upload music. I perceive real longevity issues related with doing this on a regular basis. The player "boots" its playback programs for WMA and MP3 from the CF card. In theory, this should make software upgrades easy. In practice, it's one more worry on two fronts. The player sometimes has difficulty reading the CF card; the card needs to be removed and re-inserted to "boot" the player. This gives rise to the robustness issues I note above. The second concern is that the required files are not supplied (that I can find) in the software installation. I made several copies of the player software in several locations on my harddisk, and even archived a copy on CD-R. (I find this last to be the most ironic; I recently retired a CD-R MP3 player because of the incessant skips.)

The CF card reader connects to the PC via USB, and appears as a removeable drive on the file system. The supplied driver is not specific to the RD2211; I used the card reader to download pictures from my camera (although it makes no sense to, since the camera connects via USB also, obviating the wear and tear on the card and connector). This works fine for me, since I still run Windows 2000 on my primary PC; the driver didn't work on my XP notebook.

Uploading music files is a simple drag and drop operation in Windows' explorer. (WMA files only; see above about MP3.) This, at least, was as advertised.

I want to get an 128MB and maybe 256 MB for this device. Does anyone see a problem with this.

I''ve gone through many different mp3 players. this is the only one that has lasted me more than a mere week. i've had this for almost a year and so far it has been the best! A real good thing is definitely the radio. even though many people say that it doesn't work, it really does and works well.

It is very easy to use and it comes with a remote so it makes it even easier! But, unfortunately perfection does not come in most mp3 players. this product does have some drawbacks. this player is a little big. also, the cf (compact flash) cards that come with the playerare 2 64 mb not 1 128. Other than that though, this mp3 player is great! u should definitely buy it!

This product is truly designed for owners of digital cameras with various types of memory cards. The image quality on large format HD screens is quite impressive.

Downside, you have to have a compact flash card and reader in order to import the updated software. Looking at prices at Amazon this could cost more than half the price of the unit itself. This is a serious shortcoming for this product and my reason for a average rating. I have still not been able to get the unit to work on either of my networks using Windows XP.

Most people keep their photo's on CD's and a CD slot would have been a great feature, even over the assortment of memory card slots they provide. I would believe that most images are moved from memory cards to hard drives and cd's for long term storage and later viewing making a CD drive much more practical.

This is a very well executed product.

After using the Prismiq MediaPlayer for six months (which I have now sold off on ebay), this is a godsend. Even my wife can now use the Roku HD1000.

* Component Video Output of upto 1080i (this is a plus for me as I have an HDTV, although this may not be an important feature to you if you do not have HDTV) -- finally some justice done to my digital photos. Actually, the UI is more readable as well because of the higher resolution.

* Very good UI, although some some features (better playlist navigation, auto-playlists or sort by artist/album/genre etc) are desperately needed.

* Open platform, SDK is freely available. Opens door for 3rd-party developers

* No special server software needed, other than SMB file sharing.

* The company engineers (including the CEO) seems to be listening to the customers and coming up with useful feature updates.

* The only negative feature is its price. At $500, it seems a bit too expensive.

High-Resolution HDTV output looks fantastic, for both pictures and
menus. MP3 player displays ID3 tags and can play in the background
while you do other things (like watch a slideshow). The user
interface is clean, minimalist, and easy to use. It finds shared
content on networked drives and inserted flash cards and they appear
in the user interface automatically. Unlike the competition, it
requires no proprietary server software: just plug it in and you are
ready to go. And it costs about the same as competing products, but
none of them provide HDTV output.

The only drawback is that the remote responsiveness is slightly worse
than other electronics, though programming a learning remote from the
supplied remote makes it better.

In voice-activated mode, records a noisy beep every 2 seconds, thus almost completely obscuring the recording. This is with new Panasonic batteries. Problem only appears in voice-activated mode.

This is just what I was looking for - an inexpensive, hand-held cassette machine I could use for personal "dictation". I like the voice-activated feature. It's definitely nothing fancy, but for the price I wasn't expecting anything fancy. By the way, I chose it based on other people's reviews here of this product and found them very helpful. (Also, Panasonic products have a good frequency-of-repair record, according to Consumer Reports.)

I'm a writer for a college newspaper. Money isn't something that I can just toss around. However, I needed a micro-cassette recorder for interviews.

I saw this one, it was much cheaper than the digital recorders that I was looking at. I tried it as soon as I got home. If you buy this, be sure to pick up a 3pk of micro-cassettes and 2 AA batteries.

It has worked pretty well. I don't use the voice activation feature. Making sure to get everything that I need on tape is far to important, so I just record.

I really wish that this also had a spot for a plug in microphone. It would really come in handy when trying to get some comments when you are standing in a crowd. A wrist strap would also be nice, so you don't have to worry about dropping this thing.

If you can afford a digital recorder, get it. If you can't or aren't going to use it enough to make it worth spending that kind of money, this is a great alternative.

i have the same cd/mp3 player, except it was an order version. it's cheap, and pretty decent

pro: cheap, remote control

con: headphone sucks, don't last very long (my remote lasted for about a year), no anti-skipp (for most of the time it's not a big prob, but still it's nice to have one), the metal finish is really cheesy

I recently picked up this Panny to replace the SV-570. Unlike the 570, the 430 does not have a radio tuner. Instead, it has a nice remote that the 570 lacks. Since the tuner is only mediocre, the remote is the trump card between the two models. Plug the headphones into the remote and the remote into the player. That design would work well with waist straps that include a headphone jack on the outside of the CD player storage pocket.

Other differences: the 430 includes a 'Live' equalizer setting, while the 570 only has two bass settings. The live setting actually does improve the sound of some live recordings, though it makes studio recordings sound worse.

The 430 also offers two changeable levels of CD skip protection, 10 seconds or 45 seconds. The 570 does not. Supposedly the 10-second protection, which you would use for ordinary activities, sounds better. I did not notice a big difference, however.

The 430 supposely can also compensate for MP3 files with compression errors. On the downside, this player does not handle WMA, as the back of the package suggests.

The sound is rich and warm, the bass tight. Volume, as noted, does not go as high as Sony models. The player is not as solid as a typical Sony, either.

I still havent decided if I will keep it. The player skipped on a few mp3 songs on the first night of use, when I went jogging. It might have been the recording. I will jog with the player for another week and report back. When I shake the player in my hand, at home, it doesnt skip. So I wonder if the problem lies elsewhere, including perhaps my headphones (plug not always in full contact with player, etc).

This cd player is great. The sound is great, the skip protection is awesome. For the price, this is one of the best you will find.

After waiting for this technology to drop in price, I am pleased to say that it was worth the wait. Hookup to my existing JVC system was easy. You should read ALL of the instructions before attempting to connect or record. Use "DIGITAL AUDIO" CD's only. I found that all my CD players (Home, Office, Portable, and Car) Could play CD-R recorded Discs BUT none could play the CD-RW discs. That is the only draw back.

Handsome unit, well made and laid out. However, just so that you dont make the same mistake we did, it does require Digital Audio CD's and not the standard Recordables you can get for allot less money. I did not know this at the time I purchased it. I admit to not reading allot about electronics but I would consider myself at least an average consumer. You need Digital Audio CD's and, if you want to record from another CD Player digitally, be sure that player has digital output. If it has only Optical digital output, you then need a fiber optic chord which is rather expensive and does NOT come with this unit. So be aware of what else you will need before buying. Otherwise, a nice unit.

This is one of the best electronic items I have ever purchased. The CD recorder is VERY EASY to use. Just put in a disk, Press Record, and press play on whatever source you are copying. Then Press two buttons to "finalize" the disk. it's that simple. The unit is compact and unobtrusive. I cannot recommend it higher---I have been making my own cds for days now! Thanks AMAZON for the fast shipment and great pice!

I just bought this to use on an old turntable with my new stereo equipment. I only have 3 records so it didn't make sense to spend a lot of money. I haven't used it a whole lot but the times that I have it has worked very well. Its to bad that my records aren't in great condition to fully use the quality.

It's great to be listening to my old vinyl after 20 years. One channel of the preamp quit working once but I unplugged the power for a couple of days and it worked again.

I'm using this pre-amp to connect a turntable to a computer for burning records to CD. The sound is decent especially for the price. (Putting an equalizer between the pre-amp and the computer really helps to sound quality of those old records.)

To eliminate the AC hum make sure that you have a good ground connection (connect it to the chassis of something with a 3-prong power cord).

the remote is useless in the dark...glow in the dark remote...shessh...multi function remote which only works if your eyes are 20/20 and all the lights in the room are on....

otherwise I love it and I would have given it 5 stars so the choice is yours...

I have had mine for two years and do not have one complaint. The price was high at the time, but the Receiver has not disappointed me. It has plenty of outputs/inputs (especially) digital for a beginning to an intermediate level home theater system. I have not heard any hissing sounds. I am currenlty expanding my components and due to the 3 digitial inputs, am having no problems. The specs. say it has Pre-amp outputs, but I don't see them.

I bought mine when the receivers capable of DTS and Dolby Digital were still a new and expensive commodity. When this model came out it was a real price break through for we people on limited budgets. I have had no problems (including hiss) with mine and I really enjoy it for dvds and cd's both. I bought good cables, have some decent Infinity speakers and it will go as loud as you want. There are likely as good or better products available NOW in this price range but, at the time it came out this was an really good value for the buck.

Speeker came defective no power or sound,I,m sending it back

I bought this after returning a KLH 12 inch subwoofer to Costco. It was the second KLH to quit on me. The KLH has more punch than the Audiosource. The SW10 has a more rumble sounding bass rather than punchy. Great for earthquake movies but not music. I might try packing it with foam to see if that improves it.

This sub was a great addition to our budget stereo. It has all the necessary controls - level, phase, freq, and autopower. It added a great rumble and feel to our existing speakers without being obnoxious. Highly recommend to accompany bookshelf speakers or a starter home theater.