(same as Philips CDR765BK, Philips Magnavox CDR200BK and similar to Philips 760)

2007 Update > > >  More ideas regarding Error messages: Two reports that newer Sony CDRs work in the 765. More reports that other brands of 40x plus speed CDR do not work in the 765 (try the Sony).

Also report that cleaning the laser using a CD / DVD laser lens cleaner may fix the problem with random error messages.

This laser lens cleaner is a CD you put in the 765 and brushes on the CD clean the laser.

Memorex Laser Lens Cleaner on Amazon ($5) - note these laser cleaner CDs also available at Best Buy and Radio Shack

2006 Update > > > the No OPC Error message when using new 40x (or higher) speed audio CDRs.
One possible fix, turn on the 765, leave the left tray empty and closed.  Open the right tray and put in a recorded CD (not a CDR but a regular CD from your music collection), close the right tray.  Wait a couple of seconds as the 765 reads the right side CD.  Now open the left tray and insert your CDR. The 765 should read the CDR without the error message.  Now you can take out the CD in the right tray and record to the CDR from any source.  Let me know if this works for you.

Important 2005 Update >>> Several people report the newest blank CDRs rated at 40x speed may not work in the 765. The "OPC error" is seen even when using the "audio" or "music" version of the CDR. This problem is confirmed by one user of the Memorex 40x Music CDR - the left side tray of this CDR was not recognized by the 765 (see new fix above).

Important Note, the feedback that higher speed blank CDRs (over 40x) do not work with the 765 is only one possible cause.  The real problem may be that the 765 has been damaged during transport (most likely the laser becomes out of alignment) or the laser needs to be cleaned (see note above about cheap laser lens CD cleaners). The 765 is subject to laser problems after transport with improper packaging.  If your 765 does not work with the blank CDRs (and the fix suggested above does not work), call a local electronics service store and ask if they are experienced repairing lasers in philips CD players / recorders. 

Most common question >>> When I insert a blank CDR into the left side tray, I get a "No Audio" or "OPC error". What am I doing wrong ? Answer: you are probably using a data CDR made for computers. These do not work in the stereo based CD recorders like the 765.  You need a "Music" or "Digital Audio" blank CDR.  Read this FAQ.

Feedback / Questions : mark@gallagher.com

Introduction:

This site is no longer updated on a regular basis, but is provided as an archive of information for owners of the 765.

The 765 is an older model (1998 - 2000), music CD recorder (with two CD decks) that was designed to be hooked-up to a stereo system and not a computer. 

The Philips 765 is a versatile CD recording device that lets you make music CDs that include the favorite tracks of your music CD collection, or make a CD that is an archive of your best music on analog sources such as albums, cassette or music recorded on video tape. The 765 can also be used to record and make copies of your original music.

I created this site to share information about my experience using the 765 and communicate with others involved in CD recording. There is no commercial goal for this site.

Key Features (from the Philips web site)

• Dual deck Audio CD-Recorder

• Double speed recording (disc)

• 2-disc simultaneous playback/2-disc random playback

• Separate output for CDR and CD

• Records and plays digital Audio CD-R and CD-RW discs

• Plays all Audio CDs (120mm + 80 mm discs)

• Records from all home stereo analogue and digital sources (44.1 kHz)

• Optical input

• Digital coaxial input & output

• Automatic or manual track numbering

• CD-synchronized auto start recording from all digital sources (disc/track)

• 1 bit Analogue-to-Digital converter

• SCMS Serial Copy Management System

• Max. 30-track program on both CDR and CD deck

• Remote control

I created this CD from my original CD collection. I play this on my portable CD player on the way to work on a commuter train into Chicago each work day.

• Jewel, Hands

• Blessid Union of Souls, Light In Your Eyes

• Goo Goo Dolls, Iris

• Sarah McLachlan, Angel

• Trisha Yearwood, Heart Like A Sad Song

• Lisa Loeb, Waiting for Wednesday

• The Wallflowers, Three Marlenas

• Green Day, Time of Your Life

• Heart, Stranded

• Matchbox 20, Real World

• My So Called Life (Theme)

• Indigo Girls, I Don't Wanna Talk About It

• Mary-Chapin Carpenter, Rhythm of the Blues

• Laurie Sargent, Without Letting Go (Party of Five CD)

• Vonda Shepard, 100 Tears Away

• Shawn Colvin, Climb On (Party of Five CD)

• The Cranberries, Ode To My Family

• The Lemonheads, Being Around

• Lisa Loeb, Stay

• Nanci Griffith, You Were On My Mind

Frequently Asked Questions

Can't find the right Q & A ? .....  check the Usenet Discussion Forums - Philips 765   < < <

introduction and basic info
1a.  Should  I buy a used Philips 765, newer model 775 or a brand new 820?
1b.  What are the potential uses and advantages of the Philips 765 compared to PC-based recording?
1c.  Will the 765 do the "swap trick" so I can use the cheap CD-Rs sold for PCs?

cdr and cd-rw media
2a. What do blank CDs cost? What specifically do I need, a CD-R or CD-RW?
2b. Can I make a custom cover to the plastic CD case and add a list of tracks on the back?
2c. Can I write with a pen on the top of a CDR or stick a label on the top?

basic recording
3a. What are the basic steps to recording with the 765?
3b. Can I transfer songs I recorded on a VCR to a CD?
3c. Can I transfer songs from old albums and cassettes to CD?
3c. How many of my favorite songs can I transfer to one blank CD?
3e. Do you need to finalize a CD-R after each recording session?
3f. Does the 765 record everything at 2 times (2x) speed?
3g.  Will the 765 make copies of data CDs?
3h. Can you adjust the recording levels so analog sources are the same volume as my digital CD tracks?
3j. Can I manually add track number increments to my analog source music during the recording?
3k. When I record an entire CD at 2x speed,  the 765 is adding a two second pause between each track that is not on my original source CD. This is a problem making copies of live recordings where I do not want these silent gaps between tracks. Can I make copies without these gaps?

advanced recording
4a.  After I create my CD with my favorite songs, can I make copies of this CD? Are there workarounds to the SCMS protection?
4b.  I'm a musician, can I use the 765 to put my own music on CD and make multiple copies?
4c. Can I record my music by connecting my stereo to the 765 but then edit the music on a Computer with a ReWritable CD drive?
4d. I  need more control of my recordings....change volume levels.....delete  portions of tracks...change track orders, etc. Can I use a Mini Disk recorder with the 765 to accomplish this?
4e. Can I record MP3 songs to an audio CD using my computer and the 765?

miscellaneous problems
5a.  How do I contact Philips to get a Manual or Remote Control?

1a. Should I buy a used 765 or newer model  775 or a brand new 820?

The 765 was sold from 1998 to 2000 and was the first dual deck Philips CD recorder that made it pretty easy to create compilation CDs of your favorite music CD collection and record music from analog sources (albums, tapes) to CD.  

Philips released a new dual-deck recorder in June of  2000 called the model 775. According to the Philips news release this model offers better bit for bit recording, friendlier recording prompts, and more control of recording volume levels.

In 2002, Philips released the new 820 model that will read mp3 files, and holds three CDs (two source CDs and one CD recording deck).  

The 765 has a shaky reliability record. It became a hot seller in 1999 and Philips may have rushed the production and quality control may have declined.  So if you buy one on Ebay, make sure the seller has good feedback and confirm with the seller the 765 for sale has been checked out and is in good working order. Many people who purchased a 765 a few years ago, later did all their CD music recording on PC-based CD burners and stopped using their 765 and put them up for sale on Ebay.

My 765 has worked fine and been a good addition to my stereo system for over four years. If you can afford it, I would buy the latest 820 model.  But if you can pick up a cheap 765 on Ebay from a reputable seller, you may get a good deal.  Note, the 765 (and newer models) are not designed for the heavy-duty recording a professional audio expert might require.  They are designed to be CD players for your stereo and allow casual recording of your CDs and albums and tapes.

1b. What are the potential uses and advantages of the Philips 765 compared to PC-based recording?

The advantage of the Philips dual-deck recorders compared to other single-deck recorders or computer-based CD recording is ease of use and versatility in recording from multiple analog sources from your current stereo setup. With the dual CD decks of the 765, it is simply fast and easy to copy tracks from your CD collection to the recordable CD. Also, if you have a stereo setup like mine with multiple analog sources (turntable, VCR, FM radio) connected to your receiver, once your receiver is connected to the 765 you can easily add tracks to the recordable CD from multiple sources (and adjust the loudness of the recording to maintain a consistent volume in the finished CD).

The 765 is versatile enough to do the following:

• Create a CD with your best tracks from your music CD collection and each track is an exact digital duplicate of the original.

• Archive your best music recorded on analog sources (albums, cassette, video tape recordings of live concerts, radio, etc.) to CD.

• Transfer your own original music recordings to CD and make copies of this CD (analog only) for sale or distribution.

• Use the Philips 765 as a stereo mastering machine in your home studio (more economical than DAT, more durable medium, and anyone can play the result)
  - e.g. for mixdown from 4 or 8 track
  

Note, a couple of Philips models released before the 765 allowed the user to put in a "audio" CDR, initialize the CD, and then pry open the CD tray and replace (swap) the the audio CD for a cheaper data CD and do the recording.  This swap trick was reported on several internet sites.  But the 765 was designed by Philips to prevent the swap trick and there is no work-around.

2007 Update > > >  More ideas regarding Error messages: Two reports that newer Sony audio CDRs work in the 765. More reports that other brands of 40x plus speed CDR do not work in the 765 (try the Sony).

Also report that cleaning the laser using a CD / DVD laser lens cleaner may fix the problem with random error messages.

This laser lens cleaner is a CD you put in the left and right side trays of the 765 (one at a time) and brushes on the CD clean the laser inside the tray.

Memorex Laser Lens Cleaner on Amazon ($5) - note these laser cleaner CDs also available at Best Buy and Radio Shack

2006 Update > > > The NoOPC error message when using new 40x (or higher) speed audio CDRs.
One possible fix, turn on the 765, leave the left tray empty and closed.  Open the right tray and put in a recorded CD (not a CDR but a regular CD from your music collection), close the right tray.  Wait a couple of seconds as the 765 reads the right side CD.  Now open the left tray and insert your CDR. The 765 should read the CDR without the error message.  Now you can take out the CD in the right tray and record to the CDR from any source.  Let me know if this works for you.

Important 2005 Update >>> Several people report the newest blank CDRs rated at 40x speed may not work in the 765. The "OPC error" is seen even when using the "audio" or "music" version of the CDR. This problem is confirmed by one user of the Memorex 40x Music CDR - the left side tray of this CDR was not recognized by the 765.

Important Note, the feedback that higher speed blank CDRs (over 40x) do not work with the 765 is only a theory.  The real problem may be that the 765 has been damaged during transport (most likely the laser becomes out of alignment). The 765 is subject to laser problems after transport with improper packaging.  If your 765 does not work with the blank CDRs (and the fix suggested above does not work), call a local electronics service store and ask if they are experienced repairing lasers in philips CD players / recorders. 

Since the 765 lacks a proper variable level control (only has 4 preset levels, no fading possible), it is well worth going through an intermediate stage to give you some proper level control when copying from analog sources. This can be (if you are very lucky) a source with its own level
control on the line level outputs (e.g. some tape decks, tuners and a few hi-fi VCR's), or at the most basic level, a simple stereo pot across the outputs built into a switch box (call your electronically-aware buddy if not sure how to wire this up). I've done this, and it works just fine - I
use it all the time (you will probably have to set the 765 to the +6db setting on record, since a passive pot only allows you to cut the signal, not boost it. However if you set everything up so that normal levels are around the mid position of the pot, you can then effectively boost the final recording onto the 765 when needed, making use of the extra sensitivity setting selected on the 765).

Other options are to route the audio through a reasonable-to-good quality mixer or graphic, which will allow you to tweak the EQ and control levels at the same time. A final option is to go in and out of a reasonable-to-good quality cassette deck in "rec pause" or "rec standby" mode, and use the level control on the tape deck to control levels going to the 765.

**EVERY** recording produced by a consumer digital recorder, regardless of
source, or generation, is "SCMS infested". The difference is only in which
bits of the SCMS subcode are set, which may be interpreted as "copy once",
"no copy" or "unlimited copy".

If you burn a disc with an analog source, that disc will have SCMS codes
indicating "copy once" and you can make one further digital generation
from it. (You can also, of course, burn many same-generation digital
copies of that master). You could not make digital copies of digital
copies made from that original master.

AFAIK the 765 "overcomes" an SCMS "no copy" disc by treating it as an
analog source; i.e. it plays the original through the D/A converter and
then re-converts back to digital on the record side. You then, of course,
introduce possible distortion, dynamic range reduction, sound level
issues, etc as with any analog-to-digital recording. (You can be sure the
low-end 765 does not have the best A/D and D/A converters out there).

Note: you can make unlimited digital copies of your original digital music CDs (ex., your Matchbox 20 CD) if you make them one at a time (at 2x recording speed) with your music CD (not a CD-R or CD-RW) in the right CD tray and your blank CD-R in the left tray. But you cannot make a digital copy from a digital copy. If you use these multiple copies of your music CD for other than personal use, you probably violate the copyright laws.

One workaround discussed on usenet is to record your music to a CD-RW with your 765 and put the CD-RW into a PC-based CD burner. Now you can make a digital copy of the CD-RW to an inexpensive PC-type CDR or put the CDR copy (now a first generation CD) back into the right-side CD player of the 765 to make a digital copy.

Terry provides these ideas on workarounds to SCMS when recording from analog sources::

1.  Load CD-R disk into CDR765 and record an LP record through the analog inputs of the 765.

2.  After recording the LP, take the CD-R (finalized) and load into external CD player with digital outputs connected to the digital inputs of the CDR765.

3.  I can now make an exact digital copy using the external CD player and the 765 as the recorder.  This copy will be an exact duplicate of the first since it was made through the digital inputs.  No analog conversion takes place. 

Now, lets suppose I try the same scenario where the first copy was made using the play and record trays on the 765.  If I then try to place that 1st generation copy into an external CD player and try to make a copy through the digital inputs of the 765, then "copyright" flashes on the 765's display and I can't make a copy at all unless I use the 765's player and recorder both, which means an analog conversion takes place.   

 So...it appears that the 765 does not put the SCMS code on each song of a CD "if" it was 1st recorded through the analog inputs.  

 The only reason the above is important to me is that I can record all of my albums onto CD and then go back and make a compilation onto another CD without having to go through the analog conversion the 765 would perform if I used the 765 as both the player and recorder.

BTW, a DVD player works well as an external CD player because it has coaxial digital outputs and can play CD's, CD-R's and CD-RW's.   At least some can.  Some Panasonic DVD players can't even play CD-R's.   In my case, I use a Pioneer DV 414, which plays both CD-R's and CD-RW's.   At $350, it gives me both a DVD player and an external CD transport.

Answer is yes (1 generation), and no (2 generations)  as you correctly describe - in the 765. However many musicians I believe would want a second (or more) generation digital master, especially if it is for a CD production and they want to avoid unnecessary D/A then A/D conversion - which the experts say will definitely degrade the sound in several key respects (and I'm inclined to agree).

Here's how to address the issue of SCMS protection:

(1) Read your audio CDR or CD-RW made on the 765 into a PC with CD burner attached (getting fairly common these days), burn a fresh audio CD, and hey presto, you have a "generation 1" copy again, all in the digital domain.

(2) Borrow a pro CD recorder like the HHB or Marantz, which I believe allows you to do the same thing

5a. How do I contact Philips to get a Manual or Remote Control?  (last updated 2000)

The Manual for the 765 and 200 is now available from this site in pdf format by clicking here. To view a pdf file you need the Adobe Acrobat Viewer installed on your PC.  For a remote, call Philips at 800-531-0039 or try 888-744-5477. I hear they charge $60 for the remote. The only thing the 765 will not do without the remote is setup a program to play or record multiple tracks of your CD in a specified order, so you probably don't need one.  Official Philips Support Web Site.

This site launched December 27, 1998 by Mark Gallagher to share information and learn from others using the 765 or doing creative things with audio cdr recording technology. I have no commercial interest in any of the products discussed on this site. This information is believed to be true based on my experience or things I read on the web and usenet or receive from users of the 765 via e-mail. The opinions or facts presented here may be wrong. Follow all copyright laws when you use this technology.

Comments / Questions : mark@gallagher.com

Updates: this site is not updated on a regular basis, most of the FAQ data is updated as of 2000, there is newer information regarding finding blank CDRs that work in the 765 that is updated as of March 2007

Philips is not spelled Phillips.

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