Early CD recorders, introduced around 1988, were computer controlled with casings the size of kitchen cabinets. These brought the process of pre-master mix evaluations up to date, replacing acetate and compact cassette for listening to much in-progress work. As years rolled on the cheaper slim-line stand-alone versions became available for both studio and home, alongside the now universal PC models. But with these variations came slightly different compositions of blank recording media, which were not interchangeable with different units whilst blank.

Similar to the Philips CDR 870, the Marantz DR700 was one of the first affordable CD recorders. It was released towards the end of the 1990s and sold for over a thousand Pounds, though the price dropped to half in the space of a couple of years. In those days there was more to be said for buying a standalone unit for CD audio recording because few people had DAT or Mini Disc players. Also the convenience is always a bonus, plus the cost of a powerful CDR-fitted PC would have cost around twice the price to equal the performance.

Thirteen years on, the first run of Marantz units still have a reputation for their sound quality, a quality many users boast stands well against similarly priced CD players of other brands. However, the ‘consumer’ CD recorders were handicapped in that they could only officially record onto their own type of blank discs, set at prices higher than those for PC recorders (though these have now crashed considerably). The higher levies were supposed to recompense the music industry for potential lost sales due to piracy but this also meant that home recording enthusiasts needed to spend more money to copy their master works.

The higher-end professional variants of the Marantz (and other models) were not hindered by such a glass ceiling. Nor did they handicap a user from making digital duplications of a master CD if it had already been compiled via a digital connection. But it was possible to use the cheaper computer blanks (or the superior studio ones) in the domestic Marantz recorder by use of the ‘swap trick’:

1. Insert the unused ‘consumer’ audio disc and wait for it to be recognized.

2. Gently pull the drawer outwards and exchange the blank audio disc for a data/studio one.

3. With the drawer pushed back in, commence recording and ‘finalise’ the disc before removing it.

(Early repairs of the Marantz could cause the swap trick to operate differently - for example by inserting the data disc first, swapping to the ‘proper’ disc to enter record-pause mode and then restoring the data blank for the actual passing(s). Later repairs caused a disabling of the swap trick, something also common to its Philips CDR 870 and 880 siblings.)

Using the domestic units in place of a professional recorder is not generally recommended. The higher grade units are rugged, allow for reduced-noise ‘balanced’ connections and work with the higher signal gains used in studios. But working with a domestic machine in a studio environment is not impossible - by making simple attenuators and converted plugs, a cheaper system can integrate with higher-end truly professional units quite nicely.

These days, however, the necessity of a dedicated standalone CD recorder has lost much of its point. Cheap ‘DAW’ computers are more than capable of delivering durable, high quality recordings with the added benefit of being able to edit and cache them. Owning an older domestic machine, even if it is still able to deliver high quality results by today’s standards, seems an outmoded choice in an age of 24-bit archiving and affordable studio units being sold on Ebay.

But there is still a small use for the archaic ‘swap trick’. Recording at 1x onto studio grade CD blanks result in far greater data integrity and an extended shelf life of master CDs. Home recording hobbyists are well advised to record or back up their music and files slowly to retain the maximum musical detail and general data life. To find or still own one of the older, solid reputable 1-4x computer recorders in good condition is a stroke of fortune, especially if it also happens to be an early DVD recorder. A 1x audio machine for making CD masters is good to have about, even if it isn’t a studio unit.

NB:

Another satisfactory CD recorder is the Pioneer PDR609. Though there is no way to record onto ‘professional’ CDs with it, the unit has many impressive functions, was very affordable and continues to be reliable. Though this particular unit is also discontinued, the features list can act as a buyers’ guide for an equivilent model.