Where's a good place to post a query for opinions on audio
components, specifically large-capacity CD changers?

Thanks!

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Mark Shaw anti-spam: change 'bang' to 'not' to email me
================================================== ======================
"Books... stick egg-beaters in your head and make you think.... They'll
shape a personal philosophy that lasts a lifetime." Rob "Acidman" Smith

"Mark Shaw" wrote in message
...
Where's a good place to post a query for opinions on audio
components, specifically large-capacity CD changers?

Thanks!

I think most people on this group consider these devices to be strictly
utilitarian.
Oddly, I would suggest rec.audio.marketplace.

Robert Morein wrote:
"Mark Shaw" wrote in message
...
Where's a good place to post a query for opinions on audio
components, specifically large-capacity CD changers?

Thanks!

I think most people on this group consider these devices to be strictly
utilitarian.

Meaning they're pretty much all the same? Not really; or at
least I hope not -- the one I have now has no capability to
shuffle-play by disk (rather than by track), and that's what
my query is. It seems like such an obvious feature, yet I
can't locate a model that has it.

Oddly, I would suggest rec.audio.marketplace.

Thanks -- I've posted my query there.

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Mark Shaw anti-spam: change 'bang' to 'not' to email me
================================================== ======================
"Books... stick egg-beaters in your head and make you think.... They'll
shape a personal philosophy that lasts a lifetime." Rob "Acidman" Smith

try www.audioreview.com and see if there's any reviews

Otherwise try the websites of the companies who make these units.

Mark Shaw wrote:

Where's a good place to post a query for opinions on audio
components, specifically large-capacity CD changers?

Thanks!

--
Mark Shaw anti-spam: change 'bang' to 'not' to email me
================================================== ======================
"Books... stick egg-beaters in your head and make you think.... They'll
shape a personal philosophy that lasts a lifetime." Rob "Acidman" Smith

"Mark Shaw" wrote in message
...
Robert Morein wrote:
"Mark Shaw" wrote in message
...
Where's a good place to post a query for opinions on audio
components, specifically large-capacity CD changers?

Thanks!

I think most people on this group consider these devices to be
strictly
utilitarian.

Meaning they're pretty much all the same? Not really; or at
least I hope not -- the one I have now has no capability to
shuffle-play by disk (rather than by track), and that's what
my query is. It seems like such an obvious feature, yet I
can't locate a model that has it.

If I understand you correctly, you are looking for a jukebox changer
that will shuffle both disc and track, so that all the tracks on all
the discs are played once in random order. If that is what you're
looking for, forget it. I doubt that ANY such player is on the
market.

The first problem would be to keep track of all the songs in the
player (since this is a shuffle play.) Then there is the delay for
disc change, which is much longer than for track change. I imagine
this would be exasperating to most users.

Besides, why would you want to play any selection in the jukebox in a
perfectly random fashion? It doesn't sound to me like a good way to
build a playlist.

Norm Strong

normanstrong wrote:

"Mark Shaw" wrote in message
...
Robert Morein wrote:
"Mark Shaw" wrote in message
...
Where's a good place to post a query for opinions on audio
components, specifically large-capacity CD changers?

Thanks!

I think most people on this group consider these devices to be
strictly
utilitarian.

Meaning they're pretty much all the same? Not really; or at
least I hope not -- the one I have now has no capability to
shuffle-play by disk (rather than by track), and that's what
my query is. It seems like such an obvious feature, yet I
can't locate a model that has it.

If I understand you correctly, you are looking for a jukebox changer
that will shuffle both disc and track, so that all the tracks on all
the discs are played once in random order. If that is what you're
looking for, forget it. I doubt that ANY such player is on the
market.

The first problem would be to keep track of all the songs in the
player (since this is a shuffle play.) Then there is the delay for
disc change, which is much longer than for track change. I imagine
this would be exasperating to most users.

My Pioneer does this... it's also sitting empty under the stairs, I still
can't believe I made such an impulse buy.... that changer seemed to take
all the fun out of listening to music, and I've basically abandoned it. I
find it much easier to just grab a CD and put it on, than to punch in a
number, look up the cover in a book, etc. I think he means he wants it
to play random discs though, not tracks.. and this is a feature my
Pioneer lacked.



Besides, why would you want to play any selection in the jukebox in a
perfectly random fashion? It doesn't sound to me like a good way to
build a playlist.

Norm Strong

normanstrong wrote:
"Mark Shaw" wrote in message
...
Meaning they're pretty much all the same? Not really; or at
least I hope not -- the one I have now has no capability to
shuffle-play by disk (rather than by track), and that's what
my query is. It seems like such an obvious feature, yet I
can't locate a model that has it.

If I understand you correctly, you are looking for a jukebox changer
that will shuffle both disc and track, so that all the tracks on all
the discs are played once in random order.

No. I want the changer to 1. choose a disk at random, 2. play
that disk all the way through (i.e. all tracks on the chosen
disk, in order), 3. choose another disk at random, and so on.

It makes little sense to me to hear a cut from Beethoven's 9th
followed immediately by one from Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Or,
for that matter, one from Dark Side of the Moon right after one
from Physical Graffiti.

Anyway, the Sony I have now will not do this, and since it's in
the shop and I may have to replace it I'm looking for one that
does. No other high-capacity Sony will do it either (I've
confirmed this with them).

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Mark Shaw anti-spam: change 'bang' to 'not' to email me
================================================== ======================
"Books... stick egg-beaters in your head and make you think.... They'll
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MaxH wrote:
I think he means he wants it
to play random discs though, not tracks.. and this is a feature my
Pioneer lacked.

Exactly. This seems so freakin' BASIC to me. What are these
designers thinking?

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Mark Shaw anti-spam: change 'bang' to 'not' to email me
================================================== ======================
"Books... stick egg-beaters in your head and make you think.... They'll
shape a personal philosophy that lasts a lifetime." Rob "Acidman" Smith

MaxH wrote:
try www.audioreview.com and see if there's any reviews

Thanks.

Otherwise try the websites of the companies who make these units.

Working on that. They're so bloody hard to negotiate, though
- particularly Sony's. What a piece of crap!

--
Mark Shaw anti-spam: change 'bang' to 'not' to email me
================================================== ======================
"Books... stick egg-beaters in your head and make you think.... They'll
shape a personal philosophy that lasts a lifetime." Rob "Acidman" Smith

George M. Middius wrote:


Mark Shaw said:

Otherwise try the websites of the companies who make these units.

Working on that. They're so bloody hard to negotiate, though
- particularly Sony's. What a piece of crap!

JVC XLMC2000 200 Disc CD Changer

Can't find the manual at www.jvc.com; therefore no idea if it'll do
that.

JVC XL-MC222BK 200-CD Changer

Ditto.

Pioneer PDF1009 301 Disc Changer

Ditto -- Pioneer site forces registration, then gives what it
claims is a link to a manual. Link doesn't work.

Sony CDP-CX235 200-Disc Mega Changer

As previously explained, Sony has confirmed that none of their
changers has this feature. Manual confirms that.

Whew! Five minutes of Googling. I'm bushed.

Thanks anyway.

--
Mark Shaw anti-spam: change 'bang' to 'not' to email me
================================================== ======================
"Books... stick egg-beaters in your head and make you think.... They'll
shape a personal philosophy that lasts a lifetime." Rob "Acidman" Smith

MaxH wrote:

My Pioneer does this... it's also sitting empty under the stairs, I
still can't believe I made such an impulse buy.... that changer
seemed to take all the fun out of listening to music, and I've
basically abandoned it. I find it much easier to just grab a CD and
put it on, than to punch in a number, look up the cover in a book,
etc. I think he means he wants it to play random discs though, not
tracks.. and this is a feature my Pioneer lacked.

One more reason why more than 6 mllion hard drive based portable players
have been sold in the past year.

George M. Middius wrote:
Mark Shaw said:

JVC XLMC2000 200 Disc CD Changer

Can't find the manual at www.jvc.com; therefore no idea if it'll do
that.

I just told you it could. Why don't you believe me?

Because you're the same guy who suggested I get a CD changer with
tubes, and in general I don't believe anything posted to usenet by
random strangers until I can confirm it.

--
Mark Shaw anti-spam: change 'bang' to 'not' to email me
================================================== ======================
"Books... stick egg-beaters in your head and make you think.... They'll
shape a personal philosophy that lasts a lifetime." Rob "Acidman" Smith

George M. Middius wrote:

Another bit of help for the helpless....

JVC XLMC2000 200 Disc CD Changer

Can't find the manual at www.jvc.com; therefore no idea if it'll do
that.

"Play Modes: All Disc Random, Program and Continous play"

Very difficult to find. Took 30 seconds.

Yes, I found the same thing. But what, exactly, does "all
disk random" mean? I guess I could find out, if I could get
to a copy of the manual.

Look, I really do think you're trying to be helpful -- in a
playfully snide and typically usenettish way -- but I don't
think you actually know what it is I'm looking for. So, as
I said previously: thanks anyway.

--
Mark Shaw anti-spam: change 'bang' to 'not' to email me
================================================== ======================
"Books... stick egg-beaters in your head and make you think.... They'll
shape a personal philosophy that lasts a lifetime." Rob "Acidman" Smith

George M. Middius wrote:
I spoon-fed you the obvious fact that it *does* meet your "requirement".

Once again: I'm looking for a CD changer that has the capability
to shuffle play by disks rather than tracks. In other words, to

1) choose a disk at random

2) play all tracks from that disk, in order

3) Goto (1)

Information available at the manufacturers' websites do not confirm
that any of the models you "spoon-fed" me has that feature. In fact,
one (the Sony) certainly does NOT have that feature.

Speaking of features: once again I find myself tipping my hat to the
clever person who invented the killfile.

--
Mark Shaw anti-spam: change 'bang' to 'not' to email me
================================================== ======================
"Books... stick egg-beaters in your head and make you think.... They'll
shape a personal philosophy that lasts a lifetime." Rob "Acidman" Smith

Mark Shaw a écrit :

George M. Middius wrote:

I spoon-fed you the obvious fact that it *does* meet your "requirement".


Once again: I'm looking for a CD changer that has the capability
to shuffle play by disks rather than tracks. In other words, to

1) choose a disk at random

2) play all tracks from that disk, in order

3) Goto (1)

Information available at the manufacturers' websites do not confirm
that any of the models you "spoon-fed" me has that feature. In fact,
one (the Sony) certainly does NOT have that feature.

Speaking of features: once again I find myself tipping my hat to the
clever person who invented the killfile.


Don't waste your time with Middius, he is a pervert. He just wants to
make a fool of you.

"Mark Shaw" wrote in message
...
George M. Middius wrote:
I spoon-fed you the obvious fact that it *does* meet your
"requirement".

Once again: I'm looking for a CD changer that has the capability
to shuffle play by disks rather than tracks. In other words, to

1) choose a disk at random

2) play all tracks from that disk, in order

3) Goto (1)

Information available at the manufacturers' websites do not confirm
that any of the models you "spoon-fed" me has that feature. In
fact,
one (the Sony) certainly does NOT have that feature.

Let's clear up one possible misunderstanding. "Random play" is not
the same as "shuffle play". In shuffle play, once a disc is played
it's removed from the list of possibilities, and then a random choice
is made from the remaining list. Pure random play could easily result
in playing the same disc more than once.

I guess the easiest way to do this is to randomly order all the slots
in the player, and that becomes the playlist. If there's no disc in a
particular slot, the player simply goes on to the next slot in the
list. This would work well if the player is full or almost full. If
there are lots of empty slots, however, it could be a pain. Better,
but more difficult in practice, would be to interrogate every slot to
find out if there is a disc in it. If so, it becomes part of the
possible playlist. Offhand, I can't think of a cheap and easy way to
do this.

But if we assume that the player has this capability, it would have to
remember the entire map of the player and the discs played for a long
period of time, since it will take weeks to play every disc in a 300
disc player. If anybody fools around with the player's contents
during that period of time, the plan falls apart.

What I'm suggesting is that the feature you want is possible, but
might prove unsatisfactory in actual practice, and also increase the
cost of the player more than is justified.

Norm Strong

Mark Shaw a écrit :

thanks anyway.

)

normanstrong wrote:
"Mark Shaw" wrote in message
...

Once again: I'm looking for a CD changer that has the capability
to shuffle play by disks rather than tracks. In other words, to

1) choose a disk at random

2) play all tracks from that disk, in order

3) Goto (1)

Information available at the manufacturers' websites do not confirm
that any of the models you "spoon-fed" me has that feature. In
fact,
one (the Sony) certainly does NOT have that feature.

Let's clear up one possible misunderstanding. "Random play" is not
the same as "shuffle play". In shuffle play, once a disc is played
it's removed from the list of possibilities, and then a random choice
is made from the remaining list. Pure random play could easily result
in playing the same disc more than once.

Okay, good point. I'm talking about shuffle play.

But if we assume that the player has this capability, it would have to
remember the entire map of the player and the discs played for a long
period of time, since it will take weeks to play every disc in a 300
disc player. If anybody fools around with the player's contents
during that period of time, the plan falls apart.

Not necessarily -- just clear the playlist whenever the player
is powered off, or perhaps whenever it's stopped. That is, in
fact, what happens with my current changer for the per-track
shuffle.

What I'm suggesting is that the feature you want is possible, but
might prove unsatisfactory in actual practice, and also increase the
cost of the player more than is justified.

I don't see how. The changer I have already shuffles by track,
either for one CD, across a particular genre ("group" in Sony-
speak), or across the entire library. Somehow it knows only
to select populated slots when choosing the next disk --
probably by polling the slots when multi-disk shuffle play is
first started.

It seems to me that it would be easier, rather than harder, to
do this by disks rather than by tracks.

--
Mark Shaw anti-spam: change 'bang' to 'not' to email me
================================================== ======================
"Books... stick egg-beaters in your head and make you think.... They'll
shape a personal philosophy that lasts a lifetime." Rob "Acidman" Smith

Maybe what you really want is a sort of huge iPod: a computer where
you could copy over all your songs-not as mp3s but in full
uncompressed files-then cache them on the hard drive, and then send
them to the sound card or to an outboard DAC-maybe even, if you're so
inclined, one with tubes-just as Musicmatch or the iPod would play any
available track by whatever criteria, album, song title, et al. This
might be possible by using off the shelf software but using Linux and
some homebrew apps you could make it really convenient and control it
by infrared from a PDA. A cheap PC with 40 or 80 GB hdd can be built
up from garage sale prices and used for this purpose alone cheaper
than a decent CD player.

Only problem might be with DVD-A and SACD where encryption supposedly
keeps you away from the bits. I'm sure there's a hack for that too,
though. For CDs where 72 minutes of music is roughly 700 MB-but not
all CDs have the full 72 minutes (Eroica and all that...)-Pricewatch
lists a 200GB EIDE drive for $103. That's more CDs than most changers.

Hey, I like 2-inch halftrack tape, push pull tube amps with a grand
on the (carbon) plates,and Altec 604s. What do I know?

This is the place. And I am the resident expert!

Cheers!

MvBB



"Mark Shaw" wrote in message
...
Where's a good place to post a query for opinions on audio
components, specifically large-capacity CD changers?

Thanks!

--
Mark Shaw anti-spam: change 'bang' to 'not' to email me
================================================== ======================
"Books... stick egg-beaters in your head and make you think.... They'll
shape a personal philosophy that lasts a lifetime." Rob "Acidman" Smith

"normanstrong" wrote in message
news:NuJvc.40492$eY2.25953@attbi_s02...

"Mark Shaw" wrote in message
...
Robert Morein wrote:
"Mark Shaw" wrote in message
...
Where's a good place to post a query for opinions on audio
components, specifically large-capacity CD changers?

Thanks!

I think most people on this group consider these devices to be
strictly
utilitarian.

Meaning they're pretty much all the same? Not really; or at
least I hope not -- the one I have now has no capability to
shuffle-play by disk (rather than by track), and that's what
my query is. It seems like such an obvious feature, yet I
can't locate a model that has it.

If I understand you correctly,

No you don't.

Cheers,

MvBB

"Mark Shaw" wrote in message
...
George M. Middius wrote:
Mark Shaw said:

JVC XLMC2000 200 Disc CD Changer

Can't find the manual at www.jvc.com; therefore no idea if it'll do
that.

I just told you it could. Why don't you believe me?

Because you're the same guy who suggested I get a CD changer with
tubes, and in general I don't believe anything posted to usenet by
random strangers until I can confirm it.


I have all your answers but it will cost you $125. E-mail me if you're
interested.

Cheers,

MvBB

"Mark Shaw" wrote in message
...
George M. Middius wrote:

Another bit of help for the helpless....

JVC XLMC2000 200 Disc CD Changer

Can't find the manual at www.jvc.com; therefore no idea if it'll do
that.

"Play Modes: All Disc Random, Program and Continous play"

Very difficult to find. Took 30 seconds.

Yes, I found the same thing. But what, exactly, does "all
disk random" mean?

Oh dear! I don't think it is a good idea for you to get one of those
machines. With so many different disks you will be constantly pondering
answers to questions like what, exactly, does "disk number 59" mean? I
recommend something simpler. Way simpler.

Cheers,

MvBB

Sam Byrams wrote:
Maybe what you really want is a sort of huge iPod: a computer where
you could copy over all your songs-not as mp3s but in full
uncompressed files-then cache them on the hard drive, and then send

No. What I want is a large-capacity CD changer that will shuffle-
play by disk. I thought I'd explained that. (Sorry to be snide,
but sheesh -- look at the other responses I've been getting!)

The shop called me. They wanted enough $$ to fix my current changer
to encourage me to tell them to just pitch it in the dumpster. And
I've been going nuts without music (my city is a radio-station waste-
land), so I just went out and bought a newer Sony changer. Better
the devil you know, and at any rate it'll work with the Nirvis box.

Thanks.

--
Mark Shaw anti-spam: change 'bang' to 'not' to email me
================================================== ======================
"Books... stick egg-beaters in your head and make you think.... They'll
shape a personal philosophy that lasts a lifetime." Rob "Acidman" Smith

(Sam Byrams) said:

Hey, I like 2-inch halftrack tape, push pull tube amps with a grand
on the (carbon) plates,and Altec 604s. What do I know?

Boy, you actually have taste :-)

--
Sander deWaal
Vacuum Audio Consultancy

Mark Shaw wrote:
Once again: I'm looking for a CD changer that has the capability
to shuffle play by disks rather than tracks. In other words, to

1) choose a disk at random

2) play all tracks from that disk, in order

3) Goto (1) [with a different disk; i.e. shuffle play]

In case anyone's still reading this, apparently the combi-
nation of a Sony jukebox + Slink-E/CDJ will do this --
according to the Nirvis list, anway.

--
Mark Shaw anti-spam: change 'bang' to 'not' to email me
================================================== ======================
"Books... stick egg-beaters in your head and make you think.... They'll
shape a personal philosophy that lasts a lifetime." Rob "Acidman" Smith