ASourdough4's Full Review: Pioneer PD-F908 101-Disc CD Changer
PIONEER PD-F908 File Type CD Player/Changer OVERTURE & Ode to a Music Machine While listening to some of our music collection the other morning; it occurred to me that we have had our 100 Disc CD Player/Changer for EIGHT years! How's that for durability? Surprised? I am! Pleased? You Bet! Doubly wonderful: We have, during that same 8 year period, been obliged to replace EVERY other component in our Home Stereo and Video setup. Of course, we have suffered even more over the years; losing whole collections of one format after another in the name of progress: Long Play (LP), Laser Disc (LD), and [soon, no doubt] Video Cassette. But the ubiquitous Compact Disc seems to be immortal. I have to concede a "good" side to obsolescence; prices drop for a while before the item disappears from the shelf. We paid $399 for our player, it appears that we could replace it for $150. Rah! Rah! THE AWFUL TRUTH We actually own a 1994 Pioneer Model PD-F100 File Type Player/Changer that we bought the instant we saw it. Yes, it is nice to be an early adopter now and then. Its incredibly practical design sold it. In one swell foop, we found a place to store and to play 100 CDs - three times our inventory at the time. (That situation was corrected several years ago - we have halted our collecting for a while lest it become too much of a good thing.) Since I had seen a new PD-F100 on the shelf last year ($399 List, no less!); I had thought to review it for Epinions. Alas, our model is nearly extinct; existing only at on-line vendors. Our PD-F100 is still available new; but one has to shop around. In these days of instant obsolescence, it is gratifying to beat the odds and discover that one has stumbled upon an Appliance, not an Apparition. Fortune being fickle, I began to wonder how much longer our luck would hold. FOUND! The Search Ends Quickly - What we would buy and recommend Through the years, we have observed the periodic updates; becoming aware of the "Carousel" style CD Storage magazine introduced in the early 1990's by SONY. By 1996, PIONEER had stopped manufacturing the straight in-line style of storage, adopting the 'Carousel' magazine for all new models. For a while, it appeared that a standard capacity would emerge; we have seen 1, 6, 50, 100 and 300 capacity models (51 and 101 capacity indicate an additional single CD slot has been provided for single play.) Although everything else electronical that we own was built by SONY, I would not hesitate to recommend any PIONEER Components. So, I have limited my search to what I am most familiar with and have selected the most similar modern design on the shelf this year (2003). It follows that I would recommend this choice to the readers. MAJOR DESIGN FEATURE Modernization has its price. The PIONEER PD-F100 (as well as PD-904 & PD-1004) used a linear storage rack. The player moved up and down the 100 CD rack on rails, paused and pulled the CD into the range of the Laser Detector. It seems pretty obvious that there are weaknesses built-into this scheme but one could open any one of the three inactive sections of the magazine and rearrange the inventory while the player worked on section four. But, how does one juggle a stack of 25 to 75 CDs? Oh, we used a ball point pen! Go figure. The 'Carousel' type magazine turns until the desired CD is lined up with the detector - the laser holds still while the CD is pulled into range. LOST: The ability to manipulate the remaining 75 Disc Inventory while playback is ongoing. A minor advantage/disadvantage at most. The single Disc slot makes up for this loss. We long ago learned to leave slot #100 empty for auditing a single disc. "Nutcracker", anyone? GAINED: The fan shaped storage mode allows fingers and thumbs to grab a given CD (or some given CDs). The linear arrangement tended to be very difficult for the digitally impaired. The CDs were separated only by the thickness of a CD. The fan like positioning allows visual access to titles. The linear spacing was clumsy and led to frequent words of regret. CAUTION The door to the Carousel is motorized! As if we didn't have enough worries, already! An interlock keeps busy fingers out of the way when things are turning. SIGNIFICANT SPECIFICATIONS (a.) 20 Track Dynamic Memory (b.) Audio CD Recordable and Audio CD ReWritable Compatible (c.) Musical Category function (d.) One-Bit Direct Linear Conversion Digital/Analog (D/A) Convertors. (e.) RCA L/R Audio Output Jacks (f.) Optical Digital Output (g.) CD-Deck Synchro (h.) Full function Remote Control (i.) Direct Track Access, Repeat Mode, Random Play. (j.) 8x Oversampling, Frequency Response: 2Hz - 20kHz, Signal-to-Noise Ratio: 98dB Dimensions: 16.563:Wide x 7.5" Hi x 15.82 Deep CAVEAT! VERY HEAVY WHEN LOADED! -------------------------------------------------------- WHAT THEY MEAN (a.) Player memory takes note which CD Tracks are played most often. (b.) Player will recognize and play your own compilations if recorded on discs optimized for audio recording. Will NOT play Discs prepared for Personal Computer CD Drives. This seems to be a conflicting oxymoronic situation but it is resolved if the owner uses discs bearing the AUDIO Logo. I have a pack of CD-R/W that do NOT bear an audio logo (c.) i.e. Player memory can store a CD under Country, Rock, Rap, Urp, etc. (d.) Huh? Manufacturer claims this will maximize sound quality. OK. So, one might capture a radio broadcast or attempt to preserve the Pops and Wows on Vinyl? Generally, CD sound is a gift from the Muses and is GOOD but its transmission from point to point can be distorted by cheap cables or components. (e.) Nothing new here; I advise using better (not "BEST") quality cables. (f.) New to me, this requires a Tuner/Amplifier with a compatible receptacle. PIONEER states that this feature offers "Pure" Digital to Digital signals to a Mini Disc (MD) or to a Digital Audio Tape (DAT - !REMEMBER THIS ONE?) Some good things never go away: in 1984, I owned a turntable that used optics to 'read' tracks on Vinyl and stored the data for simple programming. That was about an hour before the Compact Disc became available and blew Vinyl away.) (g.) CD-Tape-Recording is "...simplified..." but only if one owns a PIONEER Cassette Recorder. Deck stops when CD Player is searching for the next track. (h.) Well, they seem to mean it. Any control on the panel is duplicated on the remote. Remotes are fun; especially if the player is located on a very high shelf or in another room. McDonell's rule: Remote Button size varies inversely with the number of functions and thumb surface area. (i.) Self-Explanatory. (j.) Ditto. Loud 2Hz tone may remove window glass from one's residence. Dimensions: The height one is crucially similar to that of our PD-F100 model. Depth is another issue. Weight of 100 CD Discs is worthy of consideration when placing a loaded player on a shelf. THINK - Before trying this. LAST WORDS We used to be happy with the 3 minute 78 RPM Record. The LP, with 20-30 minutes to a side sent us heavenward. "Carmen" could be squoze (cf. Snuffy Smith) onto 6 sides of a three disc LP album. Signs of progress, "Carmen" (same recording) is available on a 2 disc CD Album (Callas! I have owned both versions.) The fully loaded CD Player/Changer will deliver more than 120 HOURS of Music. One might consider how long the playing time needs to be. Models that hold 51 CDs are perfectly adequate for entertainment; whether used for individual performance or "MUZAK" style backgrounding. Frankly, the idea of loading a 300 CD player utterly blows my mind. One should consider the chore of unloading; as well as the penalty if one should misjudge one's strength and drop one of these players. Bottom Line: We love this machine. We have learned to leave our costly Media ($1,500 at last count) in the player; where they are safe from loss, contamination or meltdown. One should get a special set of cheap discs for one's car player - better yet, use the Radio, already! The recordable DVD is here; which may make a run on the venerable CD. Remembering the Reel-to-Reel tape compilations (from Vinyl), one could really memorize the sequences no matter how many of them there were. Of course, there was no random access. Two plays and "never again"! Those were the days. Hey, remember the Wire Recorders?
