Buy Marantz Melody Media Network CD Receiver - BlackMarantz Melody Media Network CD Receiver - Black Product Description:
- CD, CD-R/RW, MP3 & WMA Playback
- DAB/FM/AM Tuners
- Tone Control
- 2x 60 Watts RMS 6 ohm
Product Description
Micro CD Receiver with DAB Tuner. The Melody Media is not only a good-looking, good-sounding CD Receiver, it also gives you effortless access to a myriad of different music sources. Firstly, it gives you high-quality playback of CD content as well as MP3 and WMA files from CD-R/RW. And as it is a receiver, a radio is built-in and you can select analogue FM radio with RDS or take advantage of digital radio broadcasting DAB and DAB+, which offer superior sound quality and supplementary information. The USB port is iPod-digital-compatible and is Works with iPhone certified. But it doesnt stop there: you can also connect the Melody Media to the Internet or your PC via the Ethernet input on the back. Black Finish.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful.
The Good, the bad and, the ugly.
By Masho
I nearly opted for the Denon RCD-N7 based on some of the other reviews I read about the Marantz and its potential issues (i.e. problems in maintaining network connection and the delays experienced in starting internet radio). However, having just replaced my mediocre home router supplied by my broadband provider, for one with superior multiple stream capability and, generally preferring the Marantz brand anyway, I decided to go for it. This is what I found.Set-up out of the box was straightforward; a simple task of connecting my Mordaunt-Short speakers (the Marantz has bi-wire capability), connecting the various aerial leads, connecting the CAT 5 Ethernet cable to the home router (which I describe later) and; plugging it in to the mains supply.To mention about the looks; I bought the Marantz in black (silver is the other option) and already understood it would not win a hi-fi beauty contest. When powered off it looks of excellent build quality but it is chunky and, with its two round buttons it look oddly retro. Just Power it up though, the buttons and main display light up in ice white LED; the Marantz becomes a modern, mean looking piece of equipment and dare I say, almost cool.I decided to start by connecting the unit to my home network. There is no wireless option with the Marantz which may cause problems for some, particularly if their router is located in another room. Luckily I use a network switch (a sort of network extension lead if you like) and was able to plug straight into this. The Marantz found and connected to the network easier than boiling an egg - I didn't even need to input my security key. Next, I attempted a firmware update; simple to follow but it turned out I already had the latest firmware version so, no further action was needed.My first audio test was to try out the CD player which immediately reassured me in my choice of product; the quality was deep and rich with treble and base evenly balanced giving a sound which filled the room even at lower volume levels.I therefore decided to move on and to go straight for the main bone of contention; the internet radio. I was disappointed but not surprised to learn that connecting to an internet music station took nearly fifty seconds. It seems the Marantz needs to go through a 4 stage connection process (though the display happily keeps you informed of where it is up to) which is frustrating. However, I then discovered if you then change channel to another internet radio station, the delay in connecting further is minimal; two or three seconds. I also experienced absolutely no buffering issues or problems with playback just smooth and superior sound quality.Onto the DAB; my previous DAB (a Yamaha) had terrible trouble receiving digital radio stations. The slightest move of the aerial would result in that terrible digital `dolphin dying a death' squeaking and stuttering sound. Not so with the Marantz I found. It held its own despite the dreaded moving aerial test and the clarity of sound was superb to say the least.The Marantz supports Airplay (enabling iTunes for example, to play via a MAC or PC) and can also play MP3 music files stored on a PC via the home network. Personally I found the latter more useful but had no problems in making both iTunes and my PC recognise the Marantz as a networked multimedia device and I was slightly surprised at the depth and quality of sound coming out of my speakers.My last test was to plug my iPod Classic via the USB connection located at the front of the Marantz. It is a pity they couldn't quite manage to locate this connection at the back of the machine or, better still to have both front and back USB but, despite this, the ease and smoothness of controlling the iPod via the remote control supplied with the Marantz soon made me forget this minor appearance issue. Note; the manual supplied with the Marantz lists all the Apple products that are compatible with the remote control function, which suggests that whilst the majority can be controlled in this manner , a small number of possibly older Apple models may not be.The Marantz has the ability to connect to online music providers such as Napster and Last.fm. However, given that these are both fee paying subscription services I decided that I had more than enough music to be getting on with in the meantime.So, to sum the Marantz M-CR603 up, I would say, I am really glad I took the plunge, I love it to bits:The Good:1. Build quality; the Marantz oozes it.2. Absolutely no doubt about the incredible sound quality.3. Versatility; the Marantz can access a wide range of music media through its functions.4. Future-proof: the ability to update the firmware is always a good thing.The Bad:1. The lack of wireless network capability and reports by some users concerning the unit dropping from the network. Though I never experienced such difficulties with the latter I guess there is a consistency issue.2. The initial delay when starting up Internet radio.3. Only one USB connection located on the front of the machine.The Ugly?1. Appearance is slightly unusual and not to everyone's taste especially when the unit is switched off.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
Good quality sound but a few niggling issue to resolve
By Neil Titchener
I have now been using the system for about four months. I've waited this long to try and ensure I give a reasonably accurate review. The setup I purchased is the Marantz cr603 paired with Monitor audio BX2 speakers and reasonably expensive speaker cables, above the recommended specification from Sevenoaks staff.While setting up the system I decided to use only Internet radio as you can get just about any radio station these days over the internet and it removes all the aerials you would otherwise have to stick all over the walls etc.Overall the system sounds very good although in my opinion it would benefit greatly from a sub-woofer. The Internet radio does sound a bit flat but I think it is probably more to do with the media source than the Marantz. Connecting an Ipod to the USB socket is very easy to setup and the sound is good. Overall it's a very good system however I have experienced a few issues.So for the bad points.I use a DigitalStream freeview player, the remote for this box uses the same frequency as the Marantz remote so everytime I switch either one on or off the other also switches on or off. Somewhat annoying!Second issue. The internet radio often loses connection with the source which means I lose the radio. I would expect that when it reconnects to the source it would start broadcasting the sound but it doesn't. I have to navigate away from the station and then back again before it will broadcast any sound.I personally find the Internet radio navigation poor. It's not paricularly user friendly and it frequently has problems. I often find that it will only let me navigate between two points i.e 95% of the menu is no longer available. The work around is to select another source, like IPod for example and then go back to Internet radio before I'm able to navigate again.I have used two IPods and one Iphone with the Marantz and on at least two devices I've found that once they have been plugged into the Marantz some of the Album cover images no longer match the artists. For example I might be playing U2 but the image displayed would be Oasis!So, to sum up then the sound quality is good for the price but the software has some way to go. The menu/navigation isn't that great but Marantz do provide a huge phone book sized manual to help you. My personal view is that this is really a mini HiFi PC rather than a HiFi system so expect to see PC type issues when using it.Would I recommend it? Yes I would purely for the sound quality.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
Brilliant!!
By Sam Twain
This system did everything I wanted! i wanted something to connect to my home network where I just started storing all my media on a NAS drive (QNAP). I didn't want to keep my PC on all the time which you have to do if your music is on the C drive; but I did want to access my music collection I have copied in iTunes. This is simple nowCopy your files to your NAS, point iTunes to that folder on your network (not to make it work but for when you copy more CD's) and then plug your Marantz into your network - the unit is wired not wireless but this streams faster anyway so it's perfect (use Powerline plugs if you need to in order to get your media around the house). Once connected just make sure you activate the UPnP feature on your NAS and the Marantz can scan for and see your music - then you surf through it using the menu buttons; searching by track, artist, album etc as you want. Everything plays brilliantly. It took 10 mins to set up and now means I can copy all my CD's and store them away.It sound brilliant and the look and quality are really good. I 100% recommend this
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