CD Player with Natural Sound Quality!
Written: Feb 23 '03 (Updated Feb 25 '03)
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Pros: Great sound quality, outstanding feature
Cons: Price may be a bit high
The Bottom Line: The Yamaha CDM-900 is a CD library, offering limitless features for playing your CDs. With 110 CD capacity, no need to leave your CDs out side to collect dust.
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| paulphoto's Full Review: Yamaha CDM-900 110-Disc CD Changer |
When I bought the Yamaha CDM-900 back in 1999, there were only a few CD Changers that offered a CD capacity of 100 or more. Among them were Sony, Technics, Marantz -- all were within a reachable price range. The Yamaha or the Marantz was a little bit high in price, but features and high quality came with it.
The Sony features a rotary CD changing style -- the CD holder rotates, while the loader carriage for playback is stationary. The Sony CD Changer looks almost like a cube rather than a solid rectangular shape. Its height is high. Its width is short, and does not conform to that of a normal stereo component. I vaguely remember about the Technics's design, but I remember I did not like it much. One reason was that it came with a silver color -- I prefer black for a stereo component. The two CD Changers that I had made careful comparison were the Yamaha CDM-900 and the Marantz CC-870. Both possess a reasonable size conformable to normal stereo components.
On my stereo rack, I place it on top of my receiver (Harman/Kardon AVR-75). They both have the same measurement in width and height. On top of the Yamaha CDM-900 sits my DVD player (Panasonic DVD-K520) with roughly the same width. Therefore, compared to the Sony, the Yamaha or the Marantz can blend in as part of a stereo component very nicely. The height of the Yamaha (excluding its feet) measures to about an inch larger than the diameter of a CD, quite a compact design for a CD Changer.
The Marantz CC-870 CD changer has a sophisticated design featuring an automatic disc loading/unloading mechanism. A CD is loaded through a slot the size of the CD where the automatic loader carriage takes the CD and place it in the linear storage tray. I believe it permits a maximum capacity of 100 CDs. Based on its design and the mechanics of loading and unloading through the tiny slot, the Marantz appears to be slow in operation, regardless of its random access capability. My fear in this design is that if there is a disc jam, there is no easy way to fix it other than to open the entire cover to reveal all its parts.
Yamaha, on the other hand, seems to have an advantage in this regard by providing a full manual loading/unloading mechanism. It provides full access for loading or unloading CDs into its linear storage tray. This is due to its unique but easy access design. The front panel (the whole face of the unit) can be opened to reveal the entire linear tray where a CD can be inserted into each slot using the loader carriage; each slot is marked with a designated number. The tray accommodates a capacity of 110 CDs with an extra slot (disc slot no. 0) for a single playback, a total of 111 CDs.
The front panel design was the reason I ruled out the others in favor of the Yamaha CDM-900. With the Marantz, even with its sophistication, one can immediately figure out how the unit loads or unloads a CD. In the case of the Yamaha, anyone who is not familiar with it for the first time will wonder how to load in a CD. The nice part is that dust will be kept away at all time, since there is no opening to allow this possibility. One other thing is that when the front panel is open, a long black metal sheet guiding the tray flips down to close the playback components and prevents any CDs from sliding into the play area.
As far as I remember about the Marantz, both the Yamaha and Marantz playback a CD in the same way by grabbing the selected CD from its storage slot and place it on the slanted play platform.
The LCD panel of the Yamaha CDM-900 can display complete information of a particular CD being played. The unit shows Disc number, Track number, Number of tracks disc contains, Total time, Artist name, Title of Album, Track title, etc. Some of these features are available depending on the information encoded on the CD. Most modern CDs have complete information encoded on them allowing the Yamaha to read that data information. For older CDs or current CDs with no encoded data information (referred to as CD TEXT), the Yamaha can only read the number of tracks and total play time.
However, the Yamaha CDM-900 can be programmed to recognize the older CDs by Artist or Album Title with complete information similar to the modern ones via its TEXT Filing mode. With this mode, you can enter Artist name and Album title (up to 12 characters), Track titles and have them stored in the CDM-900's memory, which can hold information for about 200 CDs. When its memory is full, "MEMORY FULL" will appear in the display. To add more CD information, previous ones or unnecessary files must be deleted. What is so unique about the Yamaha CDM-900 is that once this particular older CD has been filed, the unit will recognize the CD no matter what disc slot it is in (say, you take the CD out and later put it back in a different slot).
It is helpful to keep a record of all the CDs that are in the Yamaha CDM-900. I created a spreadsheet containing a list of CDs in my Yamaha CDM-900. When I have friends come over, they can look at the list and play their favorite albums or tracks. The Yamaha CDM-900 also provides an index search for a CD. But with 110 CDs in it, it will take time to search. Having a list of CDs and in what slot the CD is in is certainly easier and more accessible without delay.
In terms of operation and features, the Yamaha CDM-900 is fantastic. The followings are some of the wonderful features:
- 110-Disc Auto-changer with 1 more for manual single playback
- Random Access Programmable Play
- Random-Sequence Play
- Single Track/Entire Disc/All Discs Repeat Play
- Album/Artist Name Filing Capability
- Favorite Tracks on Each Disc Filing Capability
- 220-Disc Relay Play by Connecting Two CDM-900s
- Group Play
- CD Text Compatibility
- Disc Search Using CD Text
- Index Search
- Full Operation Remote Control
- Optical Digital Output
- Timer Play Option
Random Access Programmable Play.
Yamaha is able to group the 110 CDs in 5 groups (A, B, C, D and E). With this feature, I group my CDs according to their category, such as Classical, Soft Rocks/Pops/Alternatives, Instrumental/Dance, International, etc. Random Access Program allows me to play a list of favorite tracks or CDs from these five groups. As many as 40 steps or tracks can be programmed in sequence for random access playback. I can also select each group (A-E) to be played in sequence or random. If desired, I can program to have a repeat play on my selected tracks or CDs.
Random Sequence Play.
In this mode, the unit can play all the tracks in sequence on a selected CD or on all CDs being selected by the unit's microcomputer. There is no limit on the number of CDs selected to play; it can play in sequence by the CD group or the entire 5 groups (A-E) sequentially.
Album/Artist Name Filing Capability.
As I mentioned previously, each CD (a CD that does not have CD TEXT information on it) can be filed by album title and/or artist name in the Yamaha's memory. In this way, each CD can be located and recognized using the filed text data.
Favorite Tracks on Each Disc Filing Capacity.
This mode allows you to file only your favorite tracks from each CD and they can be played in any order.
220-Disc Relay Play by Connecting Two CDM-900s.
I have not tried this feature yet, since it requires owing a second Yamaha CDM-900 unit. If you have two CDM-900 units, you can connect them together and control all the play features of the second CDM-900 via the first.
Group Play
With this feature, you can create and name up to 5 groups in which to categorize CDs according to your preference, and perform any play mode within each group.
CD TEXT Compatibility
Current CDs that contain CD TEXT information, those that have data information (such as artist name, album title, track title, etc) encoded on them, the Yamaha CDM-900 will read all information and display them on the LCD panel during playback. This feature also allows easy search for album, artist name or track title.
Disc Search Using CD TEXT
The Yamaha CDM-900 offers two ways to search for a particular CD. The first method is via CD TEXT search mode. If the current CD has CD TEXT, you can perform a search via TEXT SEARCH button. You can search artist name or album title by entering the specified text. The unit will scan the entire CDs in the tray to perform the search. This method offers impressive technology and sophistication, but it is very slow; not because of the scanning/searching process, but the inquiry procedure and step where text has to be entered character by character. The index search is better and faster.
Index Search
The second method is via a manual search JOG dial. This one is quick. If you have a spreadsheet containing a list of CDs in the Yamaha CDM-900 and know which slot it is in, the JOG dial can be used to locate the CD immediately. If you don't have a list or record of CDs in the CDM-900, the JOG dial can still be used to search through the entire tray. It is helpful to file those CDs that do not have the encoded information, because as you go through the tray, the CDM-900 will display any information it has about that particular CD, either by scanning or reading from its memory.
Full Operation Remote Control
The Yamaha comes with a remote control with full feature.
Optical Digital Output
If you have a receiver or amplifier that has a digital decoder, the Yamaha CDM-900s sound quality can be obtained via its optical output. A pair of normal (analog) audio output is supplied, but the digital cable must be purchased separately.
Timer Play Option
This is an optional accessory where you can program the unit to play at a certain time, similar to a VCR which you can program to have it automatically record a favorite show on TV.
SOUND Quality.
When it comes to sound quality, this Yamaha CDM-900 is amazing. Of course, excellent sound quality can only be achieved through a combination of high quality receiver or amplifier and speaker. If this Yamaha is connected to a decent receiver with an output signal to a decent speaker, then sound quality will be decent. But with a good receiver and speaker, Yamaha can really deliver its high sound quality. To obtain pure and faithful sound quality from my CD, I use a digital cable to connect my Yamaha to my good quality digital receiver and relay that signal to a good quality speaker. It produces realistic sound and life-like; the sound is phenomenal.
Unlike most CD players, the Yamaha has no problem reading any recordable CDs. This means that it has a beam of high intensity capable of reading virtually any CDs, particularly those hard-to-read recordable or rewritable CDs with low reflectance (or dull surface) compared to normal CDs with bright surface. Even my Sony Discman portable disc player sometimes has problem reading most of the recordable CDs. My DVD player cannot read any of my recordable CDs at all.
According the specifications I listed below and like most modern CD players, the Yamaha CDM-900 is capable of handling signal from 2-20000 Hz. Imagine a signal being driven at a frequency of 8 Hz. You can barely hear the sound (because of low frequency) but you can certainly feel it. This Yamaha CDM-900 is capable of playing and relaying a signal that can literally shake your wall or floor.
With its capability of storing more than 100 CDs, the Yamaha CDM-900 can be a great home stereo CD player, a musical entertainment. I store all my favorite CDs in it, and if my friends want to look at what CDs I have, my spreadsheet listing all the CDs in the Yamaha will provide all the information they need, and they can play any CD they like on the list. Compared to a 5-disc carousel or single CD player, the wonderful thing is that the CDM-900 can play continuous music without interruption. Up to 40 favorite tracks, selected from all 110 CDs, can be played continuously.
Back in December this past year, I saw this CD Changer at a local Yamaha dealer. I was surprised to see it because I thought it has long been discontinued, but it has only been discontinued recently. The interesting part is that it was at an extremely low discount price. So I hope that my review would help narrow your search for a CD Changer with great performance at a great discount value.
Yamaha CDM-900 Audio Specifications
Frequency response: 2Hz - 20kHz
Harmonic distortion: 0.0028 % (or less) -- very low! Pure sound quality (virtually no distortion)
S/N (Signal-to-Noise) ratio: 106 dB or more
Dynamic range: 96 dB or more
General Specifications
Power requirement: US 120 V, 60 Hz
Power consumption: 15 W
Dimensions (WxHxD): 17-1/4 x 7 x 16-1/8 in.
Weight: 8.4 kg (21 lbs and 3 oz)
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 399
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