by Jerry Vigil
In May of '89, we reviewed the Denon DN-950F CD Cart Player. This earlier model is designed for use in the on-air studio. We said that "a good production version of this machine would include pitch shifting and indexing." Well, "a good production" version is here in the DN-970FA, and pitch shifting and indexing are just a couple of the attractive features.
For those unfamiliar with CD cart players, their main difference from conventional CD players is the plastic "cartridge" that holds the CD. For a few dollars per cartridge, your CD's remain in these sturdy holders and protect the CD from scratches, fingerprints, dust, and other hazards that can present problems. The cartridges can be closed permanently by screwing the cover shut, thus making it difficult for anyone to remove the CD without at least a screwdriver or hammer. Once encased in the cartridge, the CD can be handled in the same rugged way we've all learned to handle carts, and CD cart players are the only CD players that will let you "slam" a CD into it. Once in the player, about a half-inch of the cartridge protrudes from the opening allowing ample space for labeling that can be easily viewed.
Two features we already mentioned are the pitch control and index search. The pitch is variable to 10% in either direction by using the VARI SPEED PUSH ON/OFF control at the top right of the front panel. Push the knob to turn the vari-speed on or off and turn it to set the pitch in .2% increments. The setting is shown in the small LED display above the knob.
The index search mode is one of three search modes on the unit selected by the SEARCH MODE button below the large LED display. Pressing the SEARCH MODE button rotates the search or select mode between TRACK, INDEX, and MANUAL. In the TRACK mode, turning the large SEARCH knob on the front panel in either direction will change the track number as shown on the LED display. If a CD is in the unit, the pickup will begin searching as soon as you begin turning the knob to the desired track number. If you haven't placed the CD in the player yet, you can set the desired track number then insert the CD. The machine will search out the track selected.
With the SEARCH MODE button in the INDEX mode, turning the large knob will let you scroll through the available indexes within a track. Again, if the CD is out of the player, you can set the unit to search for a particular track and index, then insert the CD.
Placing the SEARCH MODE button in the MANUAL mode lets you "scrub" search the CD using the large knob. One "click" of the SEARCH knob moves the pickup one frame (1/75th of a second) in either direction. By pressing the SEARCH knob and holding it in, the unit can be put into the FAST SEARCH mode. In this mode, one click in either direction, while pressing the knob, searches the CD at half-speed. A second click in the same direction initiates a search at normal playback speed. A third click searches at four-times normal speed, and a fourth click searches at eight-times normal speed. Using an internal dip-switch, this search function can be switched so that you don't have to press and hold the SEARCH knob to change the speed. You simply push the SEARCH knob once to go into the FAST SEARCH mode, then turn the knob in either direction to obtain the various search speeds. This seemed to be the best mode to use it in. Once you've used the FAST SEARCH mode to get close to the beginning of whatever you're cuing up, you simply press the SEARCH knob again and you can begin easily cuing frame by frame. Once you have your cut cued, hit PLAY/PAUSE. Playback begins and the cue point is automatically stored in memory. This allows for easy re-cuing by simply pressing the STBY/CUE button. This memory location always remembers the last point at which the PLAY/PAUSE button was pressed.
The easy to read LED display shows track numbers, index numbers, playing time, and remaining time (selected by pressing the REMAIN button). There are also three small indicators that display the status of three internal memory points. The last indicator on the display is the EXT. SYNC LED which indicates synchronization with an external source. Two or more units can be synced together by using the EXT. SYNC IN/OUT jacks on the rear panel, or an external clock may be used to control the servo section of the unit for even greater degrees of vari-speed.
The editing capabilities of the DN-970FA are quite handy in production. The A and B buttons on the panel let you select points at where you want to begin and end play. Simply cue up to what you want and press A. That start point is remembered. Cue up to a later place anywhere on the CD and press B. That point is remembered. Pressing PLAY/PAUSE will begin play at point A, and the unit will stop play at point B. This is handy when you only need a portion of a sound. For example, let's say you have a sound effect of a dog barking, but you only want to use the three barks in the middle of the track. By locating the start and stop points on the track and pressing the A and B buttons you can easily isolate the three barks.
But here's something even nicer. Let's say you also need the cat meows a few tracks down from the dog barks. Before searching for the cat sound effects, press the SAVE button, and the A and B points for the dog barks are stored in MEMORY 1. Find your cat sounds and store that location in MEMORY 2. Find your "neighbor shooting cats and dogs" sounds and store them in MEMORY 3 in the same manner. Now, when you're ready to begin laying down your sound effects, you simply press RESUME to rotate through the three memory locations until you come to the one you want, and it is automatically cued to that effect. Changing these A and B points is very easy, as is erasing them.
There is also a REPEAT button on the front panel which enables repeat play of any part of the CD whether it be the whole CD, a track, an index, or the part between selected points A and B. The only disappointing aspect of the DN-970FA is that the repeat function does not employ a RAM buffer. The result is a "gap" of silence between the repeats as the pickup returns to the start of the loop. A RAM buffer would allow for seamless loops and a very easy way to turn a ten second intro of a song into an endless instrumental bed.
The DN-970FA does utilize a small RAM buffer to allow it to cue to audio, and audio will begin within 30 ms from the time the PLAY button is pressed. The level of audio the unit looks for as a cue point can be adjusted from -72 dB to -36 dB using the dip switches. These switches are also used for a number of other options. Fade in/fade out times can be set from 2.5 ms to 247 ms. The EOM (End Of Message) signal can be set from 5 seconds to 35 seconds. (This signal is used mainly for on-air use of the unit and can trigger an external light to come on when a song is near its end.) Dip switch S1-1 switches the output of the unit from stereo to mono. Switch S2-3 determines whether or not the unit will retain previous settings once the cartridge is ejected. Switch S2-1 shuts the FRAMES display on and off. The list of options is fairly long and covers a wide array of the player's functions.
Since Denon was the first to introduce the CD Cart Player, it's no surprise that they now offer "the world's first 'Smart' CD Cart Player." For a few dollars more you can easily upgrade the DN-970FA by installing a chip which will activate Denon's AUTO TRACK SELECT function. If there are any PD's out there who don't use CD's in the control room simply because your jocks choose to play OTHER cuts on the CD besides the one they're supposed to, then the AUTO TRACK SELECT upgrade is for you. Along with your new chip you'll also get a set of circular plates about the size of poker chips but thinner. The plates are encoded with "bar-code" information which tells the DN-970FA what tracks to play and what tracks not to play. The self-sticking plates adhere to the CD cartridge and are read by the player. There are three kinds of plates for three levels of control. These levels are TRACK EXCLUSIVE, TRACK PRIORITY, and TRACK PROHIBIT.
Using the TRACK EXCLUSIVE plate labeled "03" will automatically cue up track 3 when the CD is inserted into the player. Only track 3 can be played, and the jock will be unable to play any other tracks on the CD (unless he removes the bar-coded plate, which could be hazardous to his health).
Using the TRACK PRIORITY plate labeled "06" will automatically cue up track 6 when the CD is inserted, but the jock will also have access to the other tracks. This is nothing more than a step saver in the case where only one cut is being played from a CD but others are allowed. The jock doesn't have to select cut 6. It's done automatically.
Using the TRACK PROHIBIT plate labeled "04" will "lock out" that track and make it impossible to play track 4 (unless, of course, the plate is removed). The jock will have access to all other tracks on the disk.
This is a new application of bar-code technology, and it will probably undergo some changes as it evolves. As it is now, with the DN-970FA, it does have some limitations. For example, let's say you want your jocks to play only track 7 and track 5 but no others. Sorry. Can't do. Let's say your jocks can play any track except tracks 3 and 6. Sorry, you can only prohibit one track per CD. You get the idea. Even so, under most circumstances, the AUTO TRACK SELECT feature should prove to be quite useful. Furthermore, you can probably bank on the fact that Denon is already working on a way to provide this "custom bar-coding." And if that doesn't work, now that we have CD recorders the size of cassette decks, it won't be long before all CD's will have a writable track on them for encoding playback information of a similar nature. (Will this be how parents will be able to lock out cuts with dirty lyrics so their kids can't play them?)
The DN-970FA comes with balanced XLR outs as well as a digital XLR output. The oversampling rate is 8X. The D/A converters are 18 bit. Frequency response is 20 Hz to 20 kHz. The S/N ratio is 92 dB or better. Rear panel connectors provide extensive remote control for versatile installation in either an on-air studio or a production studio.
The controls and buttons "feel" solid, and working with the CD cartridges is a great improvement over having to delicately handle a "naked" CD. As CD's become more prominent in production studios as well as on-air studios, and CD's remain the delicate medium they are, CD cart players will easily take the place of the traditional CD player in broadcasting.
The DN-970FA lists for $2,599.
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