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Hifi Review Marantz DR 6000 Compact Disc Recorder Most people know that computers can incorporate a CD Writer and that you can use them to dub recordings onto CD ROMs. But you don’t need a computer to make your own CDs and you don’t need to be computer literate at all. Instead, you can use the Marantz CD Recorder to do the job and all without touching a mouse or a keyboard. These days there is no doubt that CDs are the preferred recording medium, having well and truly superseded vinyl LPs, reel-to-reel tapes and cassettes. But many people still have large collections of LPs and tapes and would like to dub them to the more convenient CDs. However, for many people this is not an easy hurdle to overcome, even though they may already have a computer. In fact, if you want the full lowdown on dubbing to CDs using a computer, 26  Silicon Chip you need to refer to the January 2001 issue of SILICON CHIP. This very comprehensive article outlined the tech­ niques, the software and the hardware you need to be able to do this job. But it must be said that there is a considerable in­vestment in computer hardware and software and the inevitable learning curve in properly mastering this equipment. Nor can you use just any computer – you need a reasonably recent Pent­ium model with a large capacity hard disk. For many people then, a freestanding CD Recorder which requires no com­ puter at all would be a great advantage. The Marantz DR 6000 is that machine. We should point out that, as with any freestanding CD Recorder, the DR 6000 need not stand idle when it is not being used for recording; it also doubles as a high quality fully featured CD player. This means that if you were considering acquiring a new CD player anyhow, you can now have both a CD player and recorder in the one machine. More importantly, the DR 6000 will record both Recordable (CD-R) and Rewritable (CD-RW) discs. While CD-RW discs are con­siderably more expensive than CD-R discs, they have the particu­lar advantage that they can be amended and added to at any time. Machine features Superficially, the Marantz DR 6000 looks pretty much like any other CD player. It has a disc drawer on the left hand side and an array of buttons Facing page: the Marantz DR 6000 CD Recorder will record on CD-R and CD-RW Digital Audio discs as well as double up as a high perfor­ mance CD player. on the front panel for Power, Open/ Close (the disc drawer), Rewind, Fast Forward, Stop, Play/Pause and two knobs, one for headphone level control and one labelled “Easy Jog”. The last-named control has only recently become a feature on CD players and allows you to quickly select a particular track without having to step through using the remote control or front panel buttons. The only clues to the recorder-nature of this machine are other buttons labelled Rec, Rec Type, Scroll and the five buttons under the display and these are labelled Source, Erase, Store Menu, Cancel/Delete and Finalize. However the labelling and styling of the machine is so understated that anyone casually using it for playing CDs could easily miss the evidence that it is a CD recorder. While we are on the subject of styling, we should comment on the subdued Marantz gold finish. This is a step back to the past in Marantz machines and is a very refreshing change from the uniform black (or charcoal) of other hifi equipment. Nor is the DR 6000 any more bulky than a typical CD player, being 440mm wide, 87mm high (including the bulky feet) and 317mm deep, including front panel knobs and rear connectors. Its weight is 4.6kg. On the rear panel, the DR 6000 has RCA sockets for analog stereo inputs and outputs (just like any cassette deck) plus a digital input and output and a remote input and output (for a system using the Marantz D-BUS remote control). It also has an optical input and output. Making direct copies of existing CDs is a cinch and in this case the DR 6000 can be used almost exactly like a cassette deck except that you can make a direct digital copy or an analog copy. In the digital copy mode, the DR 6000 automatically sets its sampling rate to match that of the source material (ie, CD, DAT or DCC). For example, the sampling rate for compact discs is 44.1kHz. There are restrictions on direct digital copies though, via the Serial Copy Management System (SCMS) incorporated in all CD Recorders. The SCMS places a code on any disc copy and this prevents it being copied again as a digital disc. However, there is no limit on analog copies. So provided you use analog signals from a CD player (or other analog source) there is no limit on the number of copies that can be made. Inevitably, such analog copies will not be quite as good as direct digital copies. The DR 6000 has a “CD-SYNC” feature which automatically detects track increments. Track increments cannot be added manu­ally, unless you interrupt the analog signal. In analog source material any silence or interruption of 2.7 seconds or more is interpreted as a new track – handy when you are recording off LPs too. Mind you, if you do want to record from LPs you need a turntable with an RIAA preamplifier or better still, the LP Doctor project described in the January & February 2001 issues of SILICON CHIP. Use digital audio CD-Rs There is another wrinkle that applies to all CD Recorders like the Marantz and while it is mentioned in the instruction manual it is pretty easy to ignore. Most CD-R and CD-RW discs cannot be used in an audio CD Recorder. That is because the manufacturers have not paid the necessary copy licence fee. You must use CD-R and CD-RW discs that are labelled “Compact Disc Digital Audio Recordable” and “Compact Disc Digital Audio ReWrit­able” respectively. When I set up to record I clean forgot about this limitation, loaded an ordinary CD-R which the machine pro­ ceeded to scan and then flashed up the message “Wrong Disc – Use Audio CD”. There was quite a bit of head scratching and then a call to the distributors to have the mistake pointed out. (Yeah – read the manual!). So provided you carefully READ the manual, recording of CD-R and CD-RW discs is pretty straightforward. Curiously, once you have made a recording, you can play it back on the Marantz CD Recorder but it won’t play on any normal CD player until the disc has been “finalized”. Among other things, this process puts a table of contents (TOC) on the disc that a normal CD player can read. However, The remote control for the DR 6000 can be used for track ti­tling. Each letter of the track title is individually selected and then entered. once a CD-R disc has been finalized, no more recording is possible. On a CD-RW disc though, you can add tracks or erase tracks from the end or erase the whole disc after it has been “unfina­lised”. This removes the table of contents from the CD-RW disc and transfers it into the memory of the DR 6000. By the way, you can add your own track labelling to the disc and this will come up on the display panel (if the player concerned can read it). Adding the text is a fairly laborious process, with each letter of the label selectable on the remote control. Overall, we were impressed with the Marantz DR 6000. Once you read the instruction manual, the recording process is quite straightforward and for many people, will be much easier than doing it via a computer and CD Writer. It is also a very good high performance CD player with a comprehensive list of features. For anyone considering the purchase of an equivalent CD player, the step up to the DR 6000 is not a big one. Even so, the Marantz DR 6000 is not a cheap machine at $1699. For more information, Marantz equipment is available from selected hifi dealers throughout Australia. You can also contact the Australian distributor, QualiFi, 24 Lionel Road, Mt Waverley, Vic 3149. Phone 1 800 242 426. SC (L.D.S.) MARCH 2001  27