Sony RCD-W1 CD-R/CD-RW Digital Recorder

This is a great product for burning CD to CD, however, I want to copy from LPs to CDs. I borrowed it from my brother-in-law whom misplaced the "User Guide" and I haven't figured out how to make that feature work without it. Suggestions on where to locate it or excepts (instructions) from someone' copy can be forwarded to: gen_pur@msn.com. Thanks for the help!

I'm one who tends to put some thought - probably more than is the average - into purchasing electronics hardware, expecting that I'll get years of service out of the purchase. So, what I tend to look for when it comes time to replace a piece of gear are (a) reputation of the manufacturer, (b) performance specifications, (c) "build" quality, and (d) apparent absence of built-in planned obsolescence.

For the most part, this approach has worked very well, and electronics gear (including music reproduction components) tends to last me for many years. I don't need to be "the first kid on the block" when it comes to gear, and don't consider myself a "gearhead." This has certainly been the case for the CD players I've owned over the years. While my first CD player (one of the "first" generation models actually acquired in Japan before they were on general sale in the U.S.) had many flaws (a price I paid for being an "early adaptor" to the technology) and needed replacing after only a few years, I've had only one component-level player since that time, prior to acquiring this Sony RCD-W1 unit. And that one, too, was a Sony.

Considered solely on the basis of its specifications as a single-drawer CD player, the Sony RCD-W1 would probably be considered too pricey, but not extravagently so. Its specifications, and particularly its 24-bit D/A converter, are splendid, its features and display are fine, and the build quality is rock-solid. Strictly as a player, I find this unit to be measurably better than the older Sony unit it replaced: smoother, almost "silkier" sound, and an improved ability to play discs that the earlier unit choked on. Chalk THAT ability up to overall improvements in playback head optics and error-correction systems. And the second drawer, when not being used for dubbing, is perfect for multi-disc playback; its playback performance is indistinguishable from that of the main drawer.

But I also have upwards of 200 LPs (the barest of residues of what was once a few thousand LPs) desparately needing transfer to a better, more permanent (and more convenient), medium. So the ability to "burn" CDs from these LPs is of more than passing importance to me.

In principle, this (copying of LPs onto CDs) can be done with a computer burner, provided that one has an extra RIAA-equalized preamplifier not doing anything else; something that I don't happen to have. There also don't seem to be any preamplifier-type low-level input devices available as computer peripherals to take the place of an audio-component preamplifier, although peripherals that accept line-level (i.e., microphone, tape and tuner) inputs to feed into a USB port ARE available.

So I've got it figured that the Sony RCD-W1, as an audio component, is just about perfect for dubbing LPs onto CDs (a project that is yet to take place, but one for which I don't anticipate any particular problems). And, since this Sony component will also write to (rewriteable) CD-RWs, the question of "wasting" CD-Rs as "interim half-steps" before cleaning up the files on a computer never really arises: Those LPs needing signal clean-up will get that clean-up after being copied to CD-RWs, after which their cleaned-up WAV files will be copied to CD-Rs. Time-consuming, but not wasteful of materials.

I should also mention in passing that this component does a fine job of straight copying of CDs, either at "normal" speed or at 4x speed. Great for making "compiliation" CDs and for extra "fair use" copies for the car or the Discman.

In summation, there are definitely cheaper pieces of audio hardware out there that claim to do the same thing, but I've come to rely on the Sony name for the audio playback quality that suits my listening needs. And now the integrated convenience that fits my LP dubbing requirements. This is one fine piece of audio hardware, designed for excellent audio performance and built to last.

Bob Zeidler

Considering the fact that you can burn music to CD at all is a great thing in itself. There are some features that I would liked to have seen on this machine. Not being able to erase a goof from a CDR kind of sucks. The 3 seconds of silence that automatically adds a new track is only good if you are recording a record that has at least 3 seconds of complete silence in between songs. Otherwise it does require alot of monitoring. Another feature that would have been nice is volume balancing on synchro recording so one song doesn't sound so much louder than another. I do 4 track recording so I'm used to sitting in front of the recorder for hours to get the final result. There's only so much a machine can do when making a compilation CD the rest is manual work. I guarantee if someone gives you a CD that was done with a completely automatic system, it will have mistakes. Have some patience and this machine will give you good results.

For those who may want to buy a CD recorder simply to record a whole CD, this may be a good choice, but for anyone wanting to customize, selecting tracks from different recordings to make a CD, this machine was simply impossible. It took me back to many years ago, approximately 1999, to the days of making tapes for friends. I had to sit by the machine and hit a pause or stop button to end the recording. It also would not allow the fast recording of single tracks. This was in contrast to being able to select a track for recording, walking away, and returning to find the recorder waiting for my next track selection that I had with a Phillips that unfortunately broke within months of my purchase, leading me to buy this model. So, for those who want control, to make compilation disks, this is definately not the machine. I find it hard to believe a basic recorder like this costs this much money. I wonder if there is a good reliable machine out there.