Home > Consumer Reviews > Yamaha CDC-697BL 5-Disc CD Player (Black)

My CDC-625, which I bought 17 years ago, finally conked out on me just a few days ago and I decided to try out the CDC-697. Aesthetically my old 17 year old changer looks better than this one. Everything looks cheaper like Yamaha doesn't care about fine craftmanship anymore. When you press the button for the tray to come out it pauses about 3 or 4 seconds before the tray comes out. On my old changer it came out immediately. It is true as other customers have noted that when the cd tray is open you can't turn it around. I've tried every way possible but it just won't turn while open so Yamaha has regressed and not progressed over the last 17 years. I don't like the long thin remote that now comes with the changer. The old remote from my other unit looked really cool compared to this one. Some other reviewer said that this had a good balance of treble and bass but it sounds to me like it's geared far more to the high frenquencies and there isn't much bass compared to my old CDC-625. My CDC-625 had great treble response but it played them a lot smoother than this unit. Maybe since I've listened so long to my old unit my ears just need adjusting and everything will turn out fine. I've only listened to two cds so far and I think that they were equalized favoring the high frenquencies anyway so maybe there really isn't a problem after all. This still is probably at the top or near the top of all cd changers out there on the market now, but still, they are making changers more cheaply and don't expect to like this as much as the cd changers from 10-17 years ago made from Yamaha.

It works well, a little pricier than some other models but hopefully its quiet operation and longevity will make up for it.

After checking the internet and purchasing a model locally, which I returned because the changer was very slow and very noisy, I decided to go up a level in changers. The Yamaha CDC-697BL is a good value, fairly quick changing and acceptable amount of noise during CD change.

This is a bit of a preliminary review. I have received the player, but haven't taken it out of the box yet because UPS left it on my porch where it sat in near-zero temps for two hours. I'm going to give it overnight to warm up before I give it a try.

However, I couldn't wait to comment on how poorly Amazon packaged this unit for shipment! (Amazon doesn't seem to have a seller feedback link for itself). The CD player was put in a box that was 16x22x30; an incredibly cumbersome size that is three times larger than the CD player. Craft paper was then haphazardly thrown in to fill the box. Given that the CD unit was in the bottom corner of the box, the additional packaging provided no protection whatsoever, and actually let the CD unit rattle around inside the box. The box was sealed with ONE strip of clear packing tape on the bottom and not much more on the top. The package arrived with the top of the box pushed in and the tape flopping loose. The package was in an unopened state, but just barely. There was also NO warning on the box whatsoever that it contained fragile or electronic goods. It could have been bedsheets in there for all you could tell from the outside of the box. Just absolutely horrid packaging. It probably would have gotten better treatment if it had just been shipped in Yamaha's packing box (at least that had a 'Fragile' warning).

I am hoping that the CD unit survived the trip without damage, but I won't be surprised if it doesn't work. I'll be back with an update about the player's condition and performance.

LATE UPDATE: The unit is working fine. It's a nice simple easy to use unit that has well laid-out controls that function without any unpleasant surprises. I don't use many features beyond play and shuffle play, so I have no review or the programming or other options. The sound of the unit is just fine (the speakers being the limiting factor for my stereo system). No complaints at all with the player.

This is a wonderful CD player. It was shipped and handled very well. We would order again.