Sweers Review of the Tascam CD-RW700

Initially I started out with a Sony MZR-JE500 Minidisc recorder. After a long relationship with MD I decided to give DAT a try. I found a PCM-R300. Recently the recordable CD has entered my realm of recording gear. The Tascam CD-RW700 became the best choice after waiting for a year for the right unit. I always disliked the limitations imposed by the recording industry on recording enthusiasts. This unit allows computer or consumer grade media to be used in recording. Two years ago I picked up 500 CDR discs for $90. Back then it was a steal. I pained me to see that consumer CD recorders forced their users into using specific high priced consumer grade media. I toyed around with the idea of picking up a consumer unit and a few consumer CDWR discs. My plan was to record to the CDRW disc. With a utility on my computer, I would make a duplicate of the CDRW to a CDR (computer grade). I felt that this was an alternative. It is an extra step in a process that is not needed. Additionally the SCMS problem would make problems worse. Using a SCMS remover, the problem is resolved, but it creates a new problem. The track marks are not always passed on to the recorder. CD Recorders do not allow the user to make track marks after the disc is burned. This is entirely unlike MD or DAT. After the recording, a MD or DAT user can add track marks. Forget it on a CD recorder. I do not like attending to recording. Usually the nice aspect of digital recording, is unattended action. Waiting to press the track mark button on the CD recorder is not fun. The Tascam unit solves this. As a professional unit, the user is free to use computer grade media, and SCMS is not a problem. Well actually, with this unit it may still be a problem, but it is minor. This unit behaves like a Sony MZ-R50. Those who remember back a few years, the first units had a method of switching off SCMS. When the switch was made, the unit ignored the SCMS flag. Even though the units pass the SCMS flag on to the disc, the recording is possible. As an added benefit, the CD-RW700 will accept a consumer and professional digital signal formats. In short this is a great device, and it is priced closely to the consumer units.

In my search for consumer units, I had a very hard time finding a single tray CD recorder. These days everyone wants to sell a dual tray recorder that allows 4X recording. This is not within the specification that I needed. The dual tray set up is more than I will ever need. I have the same set up on my computer with CDROM and CDRW disc drive. These computer devices function exactly like the consumer units, only the price is lower and they use computer grade media. Dual tray units are designed to copy CDs. Obviously this is not my intention. I want to record from MD and DAT. I have made extensive live recordings with both media. Getting them onto CD has been a challenge. I experimented with digital soundcards. I was discouraged, by the lack of purity in their design. Most cards unnecessarily resample the data to 48 kHz. Why? No one can provide an acceptable answer that. Most digital soundcards are heavy on the computer resource side. As a result, recordings can have distortion, pops, and drop outs. The biggest pain for me is the location of my computer in relation to my recording equipment. I am not very willing to relocate either on a temporary or permanent basis. Forget it! Soundcards are out as far as my set up is concerned, or at least until they can learn to leave the bits alone. I have few mp3 files that I wrote to a CDRW and later recorded to MD. Great. This is no big deal, but going the other way is not easy. The latest entry is the USB units. This are a major step in the right direction. For many, this is a better solution to get MD and DAT recordings to CD. Sadly, some designer feels that the bits need to be altered and resampled to 48 kHz. It gets worse, in most cases, track marks are not passed on to the computer wav file. This is extra work that is not needed.

I gave up on the computer recoding idea for now. I shelled out my hard earned tax return on the best CD-RW recorder for the price. I like the unit. It is nothing like MD in terms of editing capabilities, but the flexibility is there. Now I can share a binaural recording of one of my employees playing the cello. I presented a CD as a recognition to a great musician. Incidentally, the recording was made with a portable MD recorder. MD is the ultimate in portable recording gear in my option. DAT still holds well in this area, but I feel MD wins with its editing features.

Old recordings:
Yes, I have archived a few dozen vinyl titles in my basement. One title is 40 years old. No, it is not the oldest, but it is my favorite. This title is Bossa Nova. For some reason I have always liked it. I recorded it to MD, DAT and now CD. Well actually I recorded to CDWR. I placed the finalized CDWR in my computer and processed the sound. I removed pops and lowered the sound field. The result...restoration of Bossa Nova. I wrote the wav files to a CDR on my computer. After writing the CDR, I found out that my car CD player would not accept it. Before tossing the CDR, I placed it in my CD player in my recording set up. I played with no problems. A quick connection to the CD Recorder allowed me to make a new CD which plays very well in my car. I think of the DAT as a archive format (my media came from a computer server department). MD is my recording media for live entertainment. My computer serves as a mixer and editor. CD can be an acceptable media for all to enjoy.

Here is the nub: If you record analog, expect to lose many CDRs. Keep that in mind. Use a CDRW disc. Practice with a reusable media. Take it from me, after using MD and DAT for so long, it is a hard thing to get used to. So the rule is simple, analog = CDRW. Do one of two things with the CDRW. Record it to a CDR, or process it in a computer to make it sound cleaner and record it to a CDR. Digital media can be copied to a CDR with ease. There are far less problems. Just keep in mind that you will have no editing abilities with CDR except adding extra tracks prior to finalization. CDRW gives you the added option of un-finalizing, deleting or adding tracks from the end, or a complete erase.

What is next? Maybe a DVD writer. Not for video, but audio in extreme quality or long recording time. I have one DVD audio disc. It is an ambience disc that is 8 hours long. Someday I will get there. By the way the only DVD audio disc that I have is called Somnium by Robert Rich. Search the internet for this title. I would recommend buying it. This is a format in its own class.