TEAC CDRW890 MKII-B CD Recorder with Remote (Black)

I ordered the TEAC CD-RW890 largely because it seems to be the only consumer-grade CD recorder left. Decades ago TEAC produced some of the finest, most rugged consumer and pro-sumer level reel-to-reel machines ever made (I have a TEAC deck which operates as well the day it was new and shows no signs of stopping after more than 30 years). Of course, as is sadly the case with most other Japanese manufacturers of quality audio equipment, the TEAC name has more recently appeared on some cheap, low grade items (what a shame so many once great names have been devalued by doing this). There are some pro-level units available, and in addition to somewhat greater flexibility and presumably better build quality they have the distinct advantage of being able to use standard CD-R's (as opposed to the Music CD-R's required by this unit). However, they cost about three times as much as this TEAC, which is a tad costly for my purposes. I like a component CD recorder versus recording to my PC because I find it less cumbersome to record FM concert broadcasts or digitize analog material (reel-to-reel tapes, cassettes and vinyl). Then, if the digitized materials need work, I can edit and de-click the resulting files on my PC. In any event, out of the box I was pleasantly surprised by the physical quality of the unit. It appears to use the same materials and build quality of components I've seen costing a great deal more. The display and action of the controls are also first rate. Thus far I've only used this unit to record some off-the-air concert material, so I haven't had the opportunity to use some of its features such as automatic track indexing. In any event, as far as my number one criterion goes, the recording quality of the unit is excellent, as with any good recorder, indistinguishable from the source. Also, the sound quality when playing back pre-recorded CD's is surprisingly high quality. I've observed one characteristic of recording with the unit that others have commented on, namely, that when recording from a fixed, line-level source, even with the recording volume set to maximum, peak levels don't get very near the "0 dB" level, but I've found this has not compromised the quality of recordings made on the unit. Another issue I have is the seemingly slow response time of the unit when reading newly-inserted discs and preparing a disc to record. It isn't in any hurry - but that, too is secondary to recording quality in my book. It's way too early for me to comment on the reliability of the unit - it may be far too optimistic of me to hope that it will live up to the track record of my 1970's TEAC recorder, but if it gives me at least a few years of good service, I'll be satisfied. At the price, it's a nice deal.

The TEAC CD-RW890CD Recorder with Remote is a very good quality machine and easy to use. The instruction manual was slightly difficult to understand at first (probably because I have owned two other CD recorders in the past which operated somewhat differently). I have used this recorder several times already, recording from a double cassette deck, and am very pleased with the results. I highly recommend the unit for making digital recordings from any analog source.

I've had it for 15 days now, and have been recording many cassettes to CD, and LP to CD, which is main reason I bought this for. So far I have no problem as far as mechanical or electronics is concerned, and all functioned well as expected. For, $170, I think this is a good buy. Only problem I encountered was recording from DVD player via optical cable. I used my DVD recorder to record many of my LPs before, and I wanted to make a dups using this CD recorder hooked up to my DVD player, but for some reason it will not allow digital recording. It does record in analog mode using RCA cables, however, manual does poor job covering optical cables. I have many DVD-R discs containing musics. Until recently, I used DVD recorder exclusively to record all my LPs and cassettes onto DVD-R. They make it great way to digitize analog sources. In fact recording up to 6 hrs. of music on DVD-R is possible and I believe the sounds of it is fuller and warmer than the current CD recorder sounds. It began I bought a DVD recorder to transfer many VHS and 8 mm video tapes that I had for DVD archiving and just happened to experiment recording musics on it. At that time, I didn't want to spend several hundreds of dollars for CD recorder. (I paid $179 for Panasonic DVD recorder in 2006) Another improvement I would like to see on this unit is "pause" LED sign on the display panel; it should been larger. Many times during recording session and in between tracks, I have to look twice to make sure it is in recording mode or in pause mode. Other than that, I am glad I did not spend more money on other expensive units. This recorder does its job well for me.

First let me say that I love my Maxell cassette tapes and my record player to death! Having to convert my precious tapes to CD's really pains me because the technology is so user friendly! If you make a mistake you can rewind and do it over on the same tape. With blank CD's you have to throw away the whole CD and start all over again AND all CD-RW's don't play on all systems! Having said that this unit here is a nice replacement for my Philips CDR-770 which went dead on me! I had bought it in the 90's and it was a nice unit and made good CD's BUT towards the end it got picky about what blank CD's I could use. I could use a Philips,Maxell, or Memorex but in the end it would only burn on Sony Music CD's before it just stop recording all together. So far I have used Maxell and Sony Music CD's with no problems, GREAT! The pros on this unit is that if I play a cassette with out stopping the unit it will go to another track if it's set at the right SVL level which in my case is -30, if the music on the tape was recording from a CD, if you have a bit of silence between records BUT it can put songs that were recorded from a record on the same track which you will need to look out for. It's not an issue with me because I have 12 hundred plus tapes and don't have a lifetime to stop and start for each track! Another PRO is that it finalizes almost in seconds unlike my Philips which took almost 5 minutes AND you don't have to put 3 seconds of silence between each song like the Philips, so the industry improved on that. The CON on this unit so far is that you have to reset the volume every time the unit stops or is paused! That was the good thing on my Philips it kept that setting even after the unit was turned off. Another thing that bothers me is that is they put the "TIME" button on the remote and not the unit itself, so in order to check how much time you have left on the CD you have to have the remote handy. Otherwise it suits its purpose and I'm happy to have it!

I choose to rate tis product 5 stars. Macnificent performance.I recommend if your looking for a dependable CD recorder buy this one. What I like is it does not robb you of CD space as I had a Jenson CD recorded which Had no recording level options and had a 7 minute extraction of the blank CD took from me. The remote even allows a remainder of disc recording time count down so you will know how much time is remaining on the blank CD. The instructions was easy to comprehend.One thing though the buttoms are sensitive if your in recording mode and accendently touch the SYNC1/ALL button I have to kill the power to stop it function. And the pause button have to really depress it or it may not pause when in recording onto ur blank CD, however the remote has a pause button and can use that. So I won't return this recorder because of the pause button sticks, because this recorder ani't going nowhere, hehe. A great find by me.

Amazon had the best price, I checked around. I'm using it to record old record collection onto CD's, and eventually record off a mixing board for live recordings ( if you have a band :) ).. It performs with regular computer disc's (CD-R) and does just fine, no problems. Everything is real time, when recording analog record's, takes a bit of time. I had read that the computer via USB ported turntables, had thier share of problems,( loading programs, etc.) so I went with the Teac, glad I did. If you remember how to record with a cassette recorder, you can figure this unit out. Just hook it up like an old tape recorder, into a receiver or pre amp.. It plays CD's well for listening, too.. My only complaint,which is minor, is recording meters, are a bit confusing.They are not as accurate, as far as factory settings on incoming volume of source being recorded and they seem way below the peak area of regular meter's ranges, but I took incoming volume to highest record level, and it hardly ever peaks out and everything sounds fine. Nice job Teac and Amazon...

I purchased this unit as a replacement for my Sony RCD-W500C, which had failed after 7+ years of daily recording and erasing using CD_RW. I was quickly disappointed, as the functions (erase track, erase disk, finalize etc. all take nearly a minute to execute. It doesn't remember analog settings when power is shut down. Digital is default. The unit would not take commands every time from the remote, making manual track advancement nearly impossible. (remember every mistake takes 49 seconds to erase a track and then re-que the tape or record and begin again. The front panel controls were iffy as well, as you needed to watch the display to assure your button command was recognized. It has a nasty feature built in to the software that does not allow you to pause while recording if the counter is less than 10 seconds in. This of course wouldn't bother the novice, but if your using this unit as a stand alone unit to make a master, you can't have a machine that will not pause or advance the track if you started a few seconds too soon. After what I considered a fair trial, I returned the unit for refund. At $269.00 it does not compare to the Sony in any way. I therefore would not suggest this unit for anyone who thinks their time is valuable and who's business depends on the unit working smoothly and properly.

Am happy to a degree. When your recording from what ever media it has a problem of when you push the record button on occasions to hesitate before the time read out starts moving & it does it every 3 to 4 times after recording something & then going to record again. This relates to when I download the CD into my computer music files it will not download the songs that it did this on? I have tried several things & found out that not to have this problem I have to push the record button & if I see it is hesitating I have to wait 5 to 10 seconds before the pause button will respond & then I have to start the album song over again & pushing the record button again then responds & I have time wasted on the CD & just frustrating that you have this problem. Other than that I am pleased with the unit. Am super glad I got this at 50% off what the listed price was or I'd be returning it.

It replaces my 30 year old Philips CD850 that had started to stutter. The recording instructions take a while to get your head around but both playback and recording are very high quality. No problems so far with a variety of old CDR & CDRW discs. Highly recommended.

I have used the recorder a few times and it seems to work good.The recordings sound as good as the originals as long as the volume isn't adjusted while it is recording. I would like to advise those that are thinking about purchasing a recorder like this one that you will also need to have extra audio cables and speakers if you want to hear what you are recording.

Instructions for recording are difficult to master at first but otherwise a great recorder/player.

Highly recommended

Once used to an odd idiosyncrasy here and there this turns out to be a really useful piece of kit. Bought to replace an old Panasonic which died when the laser went on the fritz, the TEAC is a noticeably better player, clearer and with more authority. Is this a product of age or quality - who knows - who cares - but its a big win. The recording capability is excellent when recording from vinyl even the scratches unfortunately but this proves how accurate the recording is. The annoying bit - set record levels correctly and every time any adjustment is made it has to be reset again from scratch. I am, however, very happy to own this piece of kit.