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(More customer reviews)I've had 3 of these machines over the past couple of years. The first one, bought brand new, sounded great. After a few months, it started acting up - would not read discs at all or would skip, etc. Then I began to clean it regularly using a lens cleaner. That helped, but about a week after the each cleaning the machine would once again begin to function defectively.
After about 6 months, the tray (which is all plastic and not very substantial) would simply not open at times for no apparent reason. Turning the player off and back on helped alleviate this situation for a while. But eventually the tray just would not open at all. The machine was history.
I phoned Denon at the number on its website, but the phone went unanswered. It was a regular weekday so I was pretty amazed. The phone rang and rang - no voicemail, no machine...? This is supposed to be a high tech audio company, after all.Of course I tried a few more calls over the following couple of weeks, but always got the same result - A phone that rang and rang with no answer whatsoever. Since no one answered the phone, I assumed that if I sent the unit to Denon for repair no one would open the box.
Well, because the DCM-390 sounded so good - big, three dimensional soundstage; excellent detail and timbral balance - I bought another. This one was refurbished. It too sounded great, and worked flawlessly for about 8 months or so. Then it began to skip. I cleaned the lens and the machine worked fine - for about a week. Then it began skipping again.
I found myself cleaning the lens once a week - and also spraying the back of the tray (into the machine) with compressed air. This really helped, but was too much maintenance as far as I was concerned.
One day, after about a year or so, I was listening and suddenly the sound became distorted. Cleaned the lens; it helped somewhat but the distortion remained. Long story short - the machine had given up the ghost. Distorted sound regardless of the CD. Soon the machine ceased to read any CD at all. Denon DCM-390 (number two) was history.
Denon DCM-390 (number three) - also refurbished - was defective right out of the box. It emitted a horrendous grinding noise while playing any CD. I took the machine apart in an attempt to fix it, but the grinding noise appeared to be coming from the play motor itself. I lubed the motor and did some other work on it, but it soon became clear that this machine was history as well. Number three went into the trash.
When and if any Denon DCM-390 will operate properly is apparently a very dicey proposition, based on my experience. I won't be buying another.
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Denon DCM-390 5 Disc CD Carousel w/ Built in HDCD DecodingEnjoy continuous play from your CD collection as well as CD-R/RWs burned with MP3 and WMA files with the Denon DCM-390 5-disc CD changer. It also provides encoding for HDCDs, the newest audio playback format that provides pristine sound reproduction. The carousel changer's play exchange feature lets you swap up to 4 discs while a fifth is playing, and you'll only hear the music, thanks to Denon's quiet changer mechanism.
The DCM-390 features a Multilevel Noise Shaping DAC, which removes the adverse effects of jitter and, because it is built into the output amp, provides a clean analog output with suppressed high-frequency interference can be directly obtained. The 8x oversampling digital filter makes possible an extraordinary degree of attenuation and reduces frequency irregularities in the audio range to an absolute minimum.
Ensuring top-flight sound regardless of the source disc, the DCM-390 features a multilevel noise-shaping digital-to-analog converter. Multilevel modulation removes the adverse effects of jitter. And because the feature is built into the player's output amp, the player directly obtains a clean analog output with suppressed high-frequency interference.
You can customize a song sequence with 32-track programming, which lets you create a a custom music mix from the remote control. Program any combination of tracks from the 5 discs. Three-mode random playback includes full random, program random, and disc sequential random modes. The display shows total remaining time on the disc, elapsed track time, and remaining track time. Four-mode repeat play loops 1 track, 1 disc, all 5 discs, or a programmed sequence.
When this changer is connected to an amplifier or receiver that supports the Remote Control IN/OUT feature, you can operate the DCM-390 via the remote sensor on the amplifier or receiver, which is handy for controlling the player from another room. It offers the both coaxial and optical digital audio outputs, a headphone jack on the front of the unit, and RS-232C terminal.
Tech Talk The HDCD (High Density Compatible Digital) audio CD format is encoded with 20 bits of information instead of the 16 bits found on standard CDs. A player or receiver with an HDCD decoder chip is required to achieve the true sound of an HDCD disc, but it can be played on a standard CD or DVD player (minus the enhancement). Additionally, because an HDCD decoder chip includes a high-precision digital filter, HDCD-equipped players help to improve audio quality for even traditionally recorded CDs and DVDs.
What's in the Box 5-disc CD changer, remote control (with batteries), printed operating instructions
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