Outboard Gear CD Playback

[DavidDaMonkey]

Our poorly maintained CD player has finally given up the ghost, and we are shopping for a new one. Here are the must haves:

Dual disc (or two single disc that aren't too big or too expensive)
Rack mountable
Balanced outs
CDR playback
Auto Pause function (pauses at the end of one track and cues up the next one)


The last one is really the most important function. I usually use Qlab, but we have engineers that use the CD player, and have very often forgotten to stop it at the end of a track and they let it run on into the next. I also have seen many that have a single play mode, but this resets back to the top of the CD, and I want it to pause and wait at the next track.

Is anyone using anything currently that meets these criteria? Anyone using anything close? Anyone have any other features I should be looking for?

 

[ScottT]

We have a Denon DN-D4000 and it works very well for us although I can't remember if it has balanced outs or not. Its rack mountable & has a seperate "control interface". Also it has an option for continous play (go to next track) and stop at the end the track. Ill check if has balanced outs tomorrow.

 

[Shillyer]

We have a TASCAM CD-01U Pro as well as just the CD-01U. they are good players. the "pro" model adds, XLR balanced outs, XLR AES/EBU digital outputs and Parallel control over 15-pin D-sub.

It satisfies all your requirements I believe (except for dual deck), including single play and it also has a program mode.

It also only takes up 1U of rack space which means running 2 is much less cumbersome. Finally it is a slot load drive which in my opinion is very nice to have, especially if you ever need to change disks in an emergency. We run our playback through a computer using SFX, however We keep a CD version of the show in as a backup as well as utilize it for intermission music and things of that nature.

 

[2mojo2]

I have a Denon DN-C635. It meets all your specs except dual CD decks. I bought it used for about $200. 2U, Balanced outputs, single or continuous play, very nicely built.
With patience, you may find a similar unit with dual CD for a price you can live with.
Best of luck,
2mojo2