Yes, I know there are many ways to digitise your collection of vinyl classics. The problem is, they all require that you have a turntable. I don't. I don't know anyone who does. And, to be honest, I'm not interested in buying one, simply because there's no place for it in my current "entertainment centre" set-up, and putting one near my computer really isn't an option either.
But I do have an awful lot of vinyl records that I would love to convert anyway, so I was intrigued to see Teac's solution: the GF-350 Multi-Music Player/CD Recorder. The meaning of that mouthful? It's basically a turntable with a built-in CD-burner (OK, there's an amp and tuner there too). Could this be the simplified solution to every vinyl-owner's dreams? We decided to take a look.
Design
The review unit arrived, not in pristine shape, but in workable order. Whoever had looked at it last, however, had neglected to replace the manual. This was not a problem because, being male, I would have been incapable of looking at it anyway.
The GF-350's a design that would fit in very well to a room furnished by IKEA (not that there's anything wrong with that) -- the black-stained wood-panel casing features a lift-up top, and the front panel shows the tuner AM and FM bands, an LCD status panel, controls, and the CD disc tray. On either side of the main panel are two three-inch speakers.
Features and setup
Setup for the GF-350 was easy. All you have to do is plug the unit into a power point and you're ready to go. We popped a blank CD into the drive and an album on the turntable. What next (remember, there was no manual)? Selecting "phono" on the front panel puts the unit in record-pause mode and lets you adjust the record level. To do this, all you have to do is set the needle down on one of the louder tracks and adjust the centre knob accordingly (most operations are very similar to recording cassette tapes, which makes the process very simple and straightforward).
Once the levels are set you cue the stylus to the beginning of the album (or the track you want to record) and press play. If you're recording several tracks in succession, there is a "track increment" button you can press between tracks. Of course, having to baby-sit the entire recording can be somewhat of a pain, so if you're game you can turn on the "auto track" feature. This feature can only be invoked via the remote, and once you turn it on, it's possible to adjust the "silence level" that triggers incrementing of the track. Unfortunately, though I tried this with several different albums, and at all the different silence settings, it never worked satisfactorily. I either ended up with one song split into several or several songs merged into one. Since my ultimate aim (other than to have CDs of some of my rarer old albums) was to load the song into the player on my computer, this was not good. Still, in some ridiculous way, I enjoyed the manual recording procedure because it reminded me of the good old days of making cassette recordings.
There's also a "finalise" step that writes the CD table of contents when you're finished recording (which must be done before the disc can be played on most CD players). I must confess that I was forced to find a PDF version of the manual to figure out how this is done (you must first select the CD source, then press finalise, then press play).
Performance
One of the test recordings was of an album for which I already had the CD version. Comparing the two recordings, unsurprisingly the factory CD version was noticeably better than the one made on the GF-350 -- there was more bass and depth on the factory recording. That said, the GF-350 CD had just that tiniest bit of vinyl crackle, which I look at as a bonus. And if you play it on a quality audio system, tone adjustments will let you make up for a lot of what's missing. Sadly there are no tone controls on the unit itself.
It would have also been nice if you could record a CD from the radio.
All in all, if you've got any rare vinyl (the turntable can also handle 45s and 78s) that you're dying to get on CD, or you'd just like to make your own CD compilations from your vinyl collection, this is one very handy unit. With its ability to act as a record/CD/AM/FM player (the unit also features external audio inputs), the GF-350 also makes a nice addition to a small study or den.
chris
15/01/2008, 03:25 PM
rating
4/10
grossly overpriced for what you get a very ordinary sound quality unable to record both sides at once a waste of time the crosley GR 248 seems the better buy but is hard to get internationally.
Pros: good concept
Cons: quality not good all round
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mangellc
31/10/2007, 10:07 AM
rating
4/10
It is terribe. The sound it records from the record is very thin. It has no way of adjusting the tone arm weight. It weighs 3oz at the cartridge end.
Pros: great idea
Cons: terrible sound
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Kendrick Pereira
06/10/2007, 10:34 PM
rating
7/10
Since this set is for burning CD's from vinyl disk OR AUX it is just as relevant to know what the AUX input requirements are. Would my tape deck which outputs 200mV/47 kohms be a suitable AUX source?
This is just as important to me as recording from vinyl disk. A unit which provides for this would be a big advance. Is there one on the market?
Pros: The unit seems compact and looks presentable and by all accounts easy to use for vinyl to CD copying.
I gather (I have not bought the unit yet) that there is an earphones
Cons: I haven't bought the unit yet but the turntable seems very light and in my experiene very light turntables often do not maintain as steady a speed as heavier ones.
Is this what some have in mind when they say that the unit is 'flimsy'?
Use of an external turntable as an AUX source might be worth considering.
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knip
13/05/2007, 07:15 AM
rating
7/10
Before I buy,I need to know whether you can put a whole record (both sides) on a CD or to do you have burn a new CD every time you change records?
Pros: I saw advertised a Teac that also had a tape cassette player from which you could transfer tapes to CDs. Is this the latest model?
Cons: What do people mean when they say "flimsily" made?
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Michael McEvoy
05/04/2007, 06:42 AM
rating
8/10
Emminately adequate for my needs.
Pros: All in one design and easy to operate. And I WAS able to burn CDs from my cassette deck (plugged into the AUX input)
Cons: AM/FM tuner is a little weak.
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Chook
21/02/2007, 07:05 PM
rating
10/10
perfect for resurrecting the vinyl collection onto CD
Pros: All in one design and easy to operate
Cons: Does not allow recording from an external source
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Ian
19/02/2007, 09:57 AM
rating
3/10
Very flimsy construction
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Bruno
31/10/2006, 09:00 PM
rating
9/10
This product looks like it's just what I need!
Pros: All in one design
Cons: Quality, I guess
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