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The deck works equally well as a recorder and as a player, thanks to its abundant hook-up options, though it doesn't muster the stellar quality from its analog outputs that you'll find in pricier CD recorders and players. (The digital outputs sound fine, however.)
The CDR775BK is equally happy receiving data from either of the two established means of digital audio transmission (optical or coaxial), and its analog inputs let you feed the recorder from external devices such as a cassette deck or a turntable--though a turntable must first be routed through a phono preamplifier, such as the phono input on a receiver.
Topping the list of cool playback features is the CDR775BK's DJ mode, which lets the two trays function independently; each "deck" offers a choice of analog or coaxial digital outputs. This means, taking the mode literally, that you can make yourself the life of a party by routing the deck's respective outputs into a DJ's mixer and letting fly with a new song just as the song from the other tray is fading out.
Alternately, you can route the outputs to separate amplifiers or receivers and enjoy simultaneous playback of different music in different rooms. Even cooler: you can program up to 99 tracks, switching between the two decks at will with no waiting during the switching (using analog or digital outputs).
You can also customize your CDs by recording at either normal or double speed from the player deck to the recorder deck. Double-speed recording can only take place during internal digital dubbing, however. CDs made from analog or external digital sources--or discs made from copies of digital recordings (see the accompanying FAQ for more details)--must be made at single speed.
All recording falls into one of five categories. In any category, the process is the same: first select the type of recording you'll be making, then hit Record--it's pretty much as simple as that.
A category called MAKE CD will digitally record the CD in the playback tray at high speed and automatically finalize the disc (that is, prepare it for use in standard CD players) upon completion, coming as close as can be to one-touch recording.
RECORD FAST is similar, but will not finalize the disc, letting you add additional tracks at normal speed or material from a different source before completing the CD. RECORD LISTEN makes a digital recording at single speed, resulting in the most faithful sounding digital reproductions. RECORD EXTERNAL DISC will commence recording upon the CDR775's sensing of a digital signal from an external digital source, while the last method, RECORD EXTERNAL MANUAL, lets you tell the recorder when to begin recording from an external source, either analog or digital.
One thing this recorder does that may be unique to Philips recorders is to cancel a recorded track altogether if you hit stop within three seconds of initiating a recording. This prevents false starts (as when you miss the beginning of a track you're recording from vinyl or cassette) by letting you stop the recording and begin the track anew; other decks will record the glitch and offer no means for erasing or skipping it later.
We found the recorder to be finicky about the brand and duration of discs used. As with all component CD recorders, you must use designated "music" or "audio" CD-Rs and CD-RWs with the CDR775BK. We got the most consistently favorable results with 74-minute Memorex audio CD-Rs, though the recorder worked fine with most 80-minute Memorex discs as well (occasional discs would record but refuse to finalize).
A headphone jack is a huge convenience, but for some reason Philips neglected to supply a volume control for it, so you're stuck with a single (to our ears) very loud output.
Other drawbacks include downright strange sound from the standard analog stereo outputs (bloated bass and tizzy treble) and the absence of a fade-in/-out button (forcing you to record from the analog inputs and perform manual fades if you want smooth transitions on cuts from live albums or if you want to squeeze a three-minute song onto the end of a disc with only 2:45 remaining).
Nevertheless, given everything the CDR775 does--and the price at which it does it--this CD recorder makes an exciting production tool for the inner DJ in all of us. --Michael Mikesell
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