Yamaha CDR HD1500

Tice

I've just bought Yamaha's new CDR HD1500 and have upgraded it to a 400gb disk immediately in an attempt to get as much of my vinyl on the HD as possible....400gb gives enough space for 674 hours of uncompressed music. The unit is well built and has editing facilities which are even more comprehensive than MiniDisc. Will update on performance etc as I become more au fait with the various functions but initial impressions are very good and it seems an excellent piece of kit.

One hint, if anyone else is considering a purchase, I would urge you to buy a RS232 lead to connect the unit to a computer. The Title editor software can be downloaded from Yamaha's website to your PC and info can be input via the PC keyboard rather than the jog wheel on the unit or the remote. This will avoid you losing the will to live 10 minutes after you start inputting titles.

stevebez

does it have direct cd# access ?

my 1300 didnt

so you couldnt access , say, CD 96, without having to press the   button on the remote 96 times ( if it was on cd 1 for example )

the jog wheel was needed on the remote too

also, does it have power on/off ?

again , older model didnt ( terrible design flaw )

Tice

I have the same unit but am struggling to get the software to connect to the 1500.  Are you just connecting with standard serial cable ?  Is there any setting on the HD to enable the port?

Editing software should allow for download of titles from web in my view.  Also how have you stored your discs ?  I think the logic is a bit stupid on the system it would make more sense to have Artist - Album - Songs listings alphabetically sorted than the haphazzard arrangement thay have come up with ....

Rgds Steve.

HMHB

I'm not sure whether you have been unable to find the software or if it's not working. I downloaded the software from :

http://www.yamaha.co.jp/english/product/av/

The port is already enabled and the connection is via an RS232 9 Pin cable from the back of the unit to my lap top.

I love the unit but the title editing software is basic at best. The disc/track/album store arrangement is very unsophisticated. Did they bother to test it with any potential users before launching it? So far, I've stored my discs by artist in alphabetical order. If you make a mistake or wish to add another CD at a later date, it is possible to renumber the disc to insert it in the right place.

I had one or two problems with the jumper settings on my replacement HD but I spoke with Yamaha UK who were very helpful and gave me the correct settings.

Hope this answers your questions. If not, let me know and I'll try to help.

Nic Rhodes

What does this unit sound like when playing from the hard disk ? There doesn't seem to be a lot of competition at this price-point so I was quite tempted by one myself, but not sure if the problems you are experiencing with the software would annoy me too much !

Tice

Peter Tyson had them on 'offer' the other day, not sure how competitve it was but they are ususally very good for Yamaha prices.

Ugly JC

Reply to JohnG : The sound from the hard disk is excellent but like all recorders it's dependent on the source it was recorded from. I think the CD part of the unit is ok but nothing special. If you have a choice, I would recommend keeping an existing CD and using the Yamaha as a HD recorder only. Recording from CD would take longer but the sound would be more lively and exciting.

The software isn't a huge problem, just not as user-friendly as it might be. The random play facility is huge fun and gets you listening to long forgotten tracks or in some cases, tracks you've never heard before.

nick arson

I've been considering one of these for a while now as I too would like to digitise my LPs.

I've been listening to my CDs via a Squeezebox and iTunes over a wireless network. This works fantastically well and is easy to add to when I buy new CDs.

LPs though are a real problem. The thought of typing in track listings for 500 plus LPs is completely off putting even using a connected PC. And after all those hard weeks of typing can you imagine how you would feel if the thing crashed or blew up or got knicked! Doesn't bear thinking about.

The other big problem is that all that effort only gets your LPs on to an isolated HD. To really free them up I would need to go further and copy them to CD then rip them into iTunes.

I think I might wait until Yamaha issues a new version which can hook into networks (wirelessly please) for back up purposes and to download data from the Gracenote database. Be nice too if it could feed media streamers and had an MP3 option.

anorakus

I've just got this unit and must admit I think it's an awesome bit of kit, but one question you may be able to help me with. What exactly are "Groups"? As I understand from the manual a Group can contain both discs and albums, therefore I presumed you could rename a Group to be an Artist for example and have it containing that Artists albums, but after the basic description in the manual it doesn't seem to mention Groups again. Would be grateful if anyone could enlighten me.Many thanks

anorakus

Reply to Stevebez

You need to connect the unit via a null modem cable.  I got mine from maplins and it works a treat.  However, inputting all the track names is still far too painful but it is a lot easier to reorganise disc titles.