pkg is gone
(from an earlier review by Russ:
Sound Quality
Well, I've spent an awful lot of words without mentioning the one thing Head-Fiers are probably most interested in. How's it sound? In a word, outstanding. I have no specifications available to me at the time of this writing, so I can't tell you how many mW the headphone jack delivers, or the type of DAC employed. I only know it's not a 1-bit DAC, since the first single bit DACs didn't hit the market until after the D-25 was first put to market. I consider this a good thing, since the majority (though not all) 1-bit DAC implementations left audiophiles underwhelmed.
The line out: Superb. Very clean, very detailed. This is probably the best line out of any portable player I've tried, and I've tried a bunch. Compared with the Panasonic SL-CT570, it seems like there's more detail and greater realism in the treble range. Cymbal taps are gorgeous with the D-25S -- they're real and palpable. Cymbal crashes are more real as well. Bass is tight, extended, and strong. The only caveat is that the line-out provides a less powerful signal than a typical home CD player, so if you tie it into a receiver or pre-amp for use in a home system, you need more gain on the volume control to get it to reasonable volumes. Of course, this is true of most portables, including the Panasonic 570. With a dedicated portable headphone amp, there should be no issues.
The headphone jack: I think I've finally found the answer to the question, "Can a portable player drive Sennheiser HD580s?" The answer is "Yes, if you're using a D-25S." The D-25S easily drives my HD580s to extremely loud levels without distorting -- an astonishing feat if you're used to the poor quality of most headphone jacks on portables. The Panasonic 570 is touted as being fairly powerful, but is incapable of driving the HD580s loudly without distorting some. Bass response also suffers in the HD580s when driven by the Panasonic 570's headphone jack, even at normal not-terribly-loud listening levels. The D-25 drives them much more loudly than the 570, and cleaner to boot. The bass response is also surprisingly good -- tight, strong, and not at all muddy, though it begins to tail off at volumes higher than I care to listen at. I have no qualms about driving my HD580s with the headphone jack of the D-25S, and have done so many times, with a big stupid smile on my face. They really do make music together.
IC: the legendary Sony D-25s
