Philips CDR775 vs TASCAM CDRW700: with a catch!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dan The Speakerman
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Dan The Speakerman

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OK, the studio is almost done (bwahaha! right!) and the final piece of the puzzle is a standalone CDR unit. The showdown is between the above players. Before I reveal the catch, here is my deal so far...

Roland VS880VM with a VS8F1 fx board (just got these; will setup today). Roland keyboard, and Boss DR202 drum machine, couple of basses (that's my instrument) and a Yamaha electric guitar. Now, the Roland VS880 seems like a sweet machine, and I want to make CDs from it that sound as much like what it does on the Roland itself. But, these discs are mostly for my own amusement and my friends and family. Doubtful these will ever be going to a presser/duplication facility, if you catch my drift :)
One of my first songs will probably be called the "Two Note Tango" or something... :D

Anyway, here is the catch. I can get a CDR775 for $300.00 new thru my place of work (employee discount thing; sorry I can't pass those savings on to any of you, so plz don't bother asking :( ). Now, is the TASCAM really that much better? I know it can use regular, non "music only" CDRs, but I haven't been seeing that BIG of a price difference. Two bucks for a music only cdr is right in line with a TDK SA90 tape! Anyway, the bottom line is is the TASCAM worth $600.00 for what you get in quality and sound and function, vs the (for me) $300.00 consumer level Philips CDR775? Any input on this matter would be greatly appreciated. All opinions and capsule reviews of these two machines are welcome and encouraged!
 
Really, buying a CD recorder for non-professional use, and paying a lot of money for it makes no sense to me. But what I will say is that the A/D and D/A convertors are better, though you may never really be able to tell. I, myself, purchased a "consmer" recorder, and ,as I've recanted on this board and others, the price of disks is pretty low. The least expensive disks (of high quality) I've seen were 50 on a spindle for $40. I buy the same brand (Nashua) in quantities of ten regularly, for $13 with jewel cases.
And, if, you've got another CD recorder, it'll be pretty effortless to do dubs. I purchased a dual deck just so I could do copies for clients at a high speed, and not wait around.
Oh, yeah. You'll pretty much get out exactly what you put in. It won't change your sound like you may think.
Sorry I'm not more detailed, it's kinda late, I'm kinda tired.
 
It's up to you to decide if the following is worth $300 to you: The Phillips and Pioneer CD recorders all implement SCMS(Serial Copy Management System) which prevents more than one Digital copy being made from a CD.You can make Analog copies all day long,however.Now,the Tascam also is equipped with SCMS,BUT it can be turned off to allow multiple Digital copies.Cheers!
 
Hmmmm.....soooo that SCMS means that if you are using the Philips, which is a dual-decker, and you make a CD, then dupe that CD on to the other deck in the Philips to make copies, it won't be....digital? I think you lost me, Ray. WOuld the copy not sound as good as the original? Even though it's all done "in-machine"?
 
SCMS means you can't make digital copies of your copies. If something happens to your original master disk and all you have is a copy of it encoded with SCMS, you're up digital shits creek.

SCMS assumes you're a criminal even if you're recording your own music for your own purposes.

Steer clear of any units with SCMS.



[This message has been edited by hixmix (edited 07-09-2000).]
 
Aliengroover: Check out Musician's Friend.
They've got a deal on Taiyo Yuden CDRs certified at 16x write, in a jewel case for
$0.79 each. I just bought 50 for $44, shipping included.
BTW: I love my TASCAM.
Long Live The Monkey Method.
 
Dan, I was facing the exact same dilema, and it seems our purposes are similar, i.e. demos, rough cuts, not mastering in-house, etc.
I took the plunge and ordered the 775 today ($339 total). Based on how I'm going to use it, I felt it was the way to go. Two of my friends (that own studios) told me that I (probably) wouldn't notice the difference between the digital and analog copies and for $339, I'll find other uses for it if I outgrow this use.
I'll let you know how it works out for me.
Mark
 
Thanks for the great input, guys :)

I have done a lot more research and put a lot of thought into my decision, and I have a supportive wife :D Going with the TASCAM. Even though it's twice the price, it seems better suited for me and what I'm looking to do. This is NOT a knock on the Philips! That is one cool machine. All of your input has been very helpful in reaching this decision; I will post and let you all know how it's going!
 
Yeah, SCMS can be an issue for some people, but really, it shouldn't. If you can really hear a difference, and if it really matters to you (hey, people still use 1/4" masters), then avoid it. But I can tell you that I have listened, and I don't hear a difference. SCMS is a sham, granted, but it doesn't, and won't stop me from making a profit (if that's what it's about for you).
But great choice with the Tascam, anyway!
 
I forgot to mention that the Tascam has 24 bit A/D converters;I think the Phillips has 18 bit and I still don't know what the Pioneer machines have.Cheers!
 
for what it's worth:
the studio I work for purchased a phillips CDR to do light-duty work....one off's for clients...etc.
I have NEVER had so much trouble with a CDR unit before...ok fine, we returned it and the SAME thing happened with the new unit. the biggest problem was the unit going out of record after recording 4 seconds of nothing. we tried ALL sorts of different high-quality media with the same results.
the problem started out slow and started increasing in frequency as time passed.
the unit then became unusable. We ended up getting the pioneer 3 disc changer/ CDR(W)
works GREAT! hope this helps.
 
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