Thoughts and opinions on a PCDP based portable system for an audiophile initiate

Hi guys,

I wonder if you can help me. Recently, I have been introduced to head-fi and have got to say that I am very impressed with the intelligent responses to simple questions. 

Rather than battle along on my route to becoming a proper audiophile I thought I would ask advice from the more (and less) wizened amongst you.

My conundrum is thus. I am after a complete audio system to be used at my office (possibly also on the train / plane - so it must be portable). I am interested in a PCDP based system and am interested in the 1990s players as the main consensus across the web is that the sonic capabilities of these players are far superior to the more recent attempts.

By looking at Duncan's excellent comparison post of the Sony offerings (amongst a host of other posts by different "set of ears") and following a few eBay auctions; I think I can look towards the mid-range 90s players as a first foray into vintage PCDP. Recent auctions has led me to look at Technics (SL-XP5, SL-XPS900 and SL-XP350), Sony (D-33, D-350 and D-303). Do any of you have any suggestions regarding these as an introductory point? Obviously I need to set my ceiling price of each player to make sure I don't pay over the odds. Any suggestions on ranking this little list?

My next point of call is to pair these with some headphones. I need to be able to listen on the train and in an office, so I am looking at closed phones (or less leaky open phones). Again, upon some suggestions, I have looked at Sony MDR-7506, Shure SRH-880 and Audio Technica (A-700 and M-50). What are the general thoughts of pairing these with the above systems?

What about a headphone amp? Graham Slee (Novo) and iBasso (D2+Boa or D-Zero) seem to be good? I included the last one as I have an iPod (video generation) which I might want to connect also (perhaps through the external DAC). 

Finally, I am currently looking at on-line purchasing as my local audio shops are not particularly helpful and don't seem to want to carry any lines other than BOSE and Beats headphones. So as I am going to have to rely on returning phones I don't like (after burning them in with some white noise from my PC). Would I be safe looking for a small EQ to complement the set up? Something like the Samson S-Equalizer of Tensionlabs EAP03?

Lots of questions, lots of places this could probably go on the forum, but any help is better than no help. I am also open to people saying I don't need certain bits of kit in the set-up or making suggestions about other options / possibilities. The only thing I wont change is the PCDP base (although I am open to suggestions of other models).

Thanks in advance.

Thanks nc8000.

I was always under the impression that both line-out and digital-out were obtainable from an iPod, but that the latter was completely non-trivial. Is this not correct for my model? Maybe this is only true for the newer models. My bad.

How did you get on with the latter dynasty Sony PCDPs? Can you compare them to those from the "golden age" (late 80s early 90s)? I seem to recall some old posts that said they were pretty good (agreeing with your statement above ). Can you comment on their sound (if you can remember, although you didn't say how long ago it was that you used this system)? Were they bright, warm, cold, bassy....? Which of these two models did you feel was the best? Any thoughts on the other late Sony PCDPs (eg D-EJ955)?

Nice to hear they paired will with the iBasso DACs. Did you ever compare the digital output and the line-out through (using the DAC just for amplification)? I would be interested in such a comparison as it might allow me to ditch the DAC requirement altogether and go for an iBasso amp (P4 or T5) and just use the line-out (from my iPod and any PCDP I might get). Or maybe I should still get a DAC/Amp to future proof my set-up. Do you have any thoughts?

Excellent advice again. I don't suppose you have your old players (D-EJ2000) still kicking around, that you might want to get rid of ?

So, what do the others think? Is the best thing to follow the advice of nc8000 and use an off-board DAC and AMP. Are there any other companies I should look at other than iBasso? What do you think nc8000, or are iBasso pretty much the best for the job?

What about the source, as this is a source thread... are the Sony's the best way to go? If it is optical out, my amplifier will be more expensive (as it will have to be a DAC) but if I go line-out, would the suggestion be to go for an early model player (early 90s)?