[dead of night]

Hi. I just ordered a black Sony D-NE330, and I noticed from pictures on the web that this new unit has a huge sticker on the package proclaiming 15 mW per channel. My feeling is that Sony must feel that this is a significant spec, they are proud of it, and this is why they placed the sticker there.

I looked in the owner's manuals for my Sony D-NF 420, and my D-SJ 303, and they have only 5 mW per channel. Will the D-NE330, with its 15 mW, be a significant upgrade to these former units? What other PCDPs in the past had 15 mW per channel? Ideally, what will so much more output do for the sound quality?

 

[adam917]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dead of night Hi. I just ordered a black Sony D-NE330, and I noticed from pictures on the web that this new unit has a huge sticker on the package proclaiming 15 mW per channel. My feeling is that Sony must feel that this is a significant spec, they are proud of it, and this is why they placed the sticker there. I looked in the owner's manuals for my Sony D-NF 420, and my D-SJ 303, and they have only 5 mW per channel. Will the D-NE330, with its 15 mW, be a significant upgrade to these former units? What other PCDPs in the past had 15 mW per channel? Ideally, what will so much more output do for the sound quality?

I think their older (before late 1990s) had more than the tiny 5 mW/channel that's so common now. I know the D-303 I once tried in early 2000 was louder than the D-E446CK, which itself was louder than Sony's later units. I think it may be me or my iRiver iMP-900, even with its 18 mW/channel output (loudest portable I ever had), may not be enough for me. I think my loudness tolerance has risen since 1998, which isn't very nice. The headphones I'm using are Sony MDR-A35G (vertical 'walkman' style)...

 

[iancraig10]

For portable use, you may need some 16 ohm buds which will go louder on that sort of power.

I use Sennheiser PX300. Very nice but with such low impedance, you are prone to hear hiss, so I have a Grado attenuator in line to push the hiss down.

When I'm at home, I connect it into a Go-Vibe and still have the attenuator in line to get rid of the hiss that I get from my Iriver if I'm listening on low impedance headphones, but I tend to change over to my Sennheiser hd25 or something bigger so the attenuator's not needed then.

They are a bit mean with power output so batteries last longer I suppose.

Ian

 

[ptaaty]

It's not that much... Zen Vision:M is 25mW/Ch, Iaudio X5 is 20/25 mW/Ch, Karma may be 50/55 mW/Ch

*edit* sorry...didn't see you asked for PCDP, I'll leave this as a reference though.

 

[callanish]

karma was 55mw per channel at 16ohms and 30mw per channel at 32ohm, pretty much the same as the IPOD.

The older Zen's used to be 50MW per channel. If the new vision m is half that, I'd like to know why Creative reduced the output. Is there is some sort of savings in battery life? How much does MW per channel dictate strength in volume? I've got older CD/MP3 players that can drive their volume higher than some of the modern harddrive music players and yet their outputs are around the 10MW per channel range. Go figure!

 

[LFC_SL]

This may just be me having a cheap dig at Sony just 'cos I can...

But I notice their players typically have 5mW p/ch...whereas most other brands I own go into double figures

Doesn't help as Sony seem to restrict the volume of players much more than competitors here in Europe...even though all their competitors also have to comply with EU reg

Although I have to say since I discovered this place..and thus IEMs not so much of a problem now

 

[iancraig10]

The European law dictates that maximum volume on portable units can only be so much, so they are volume limited. (I believe it was a French law) Therefore, the Irivers have a European version of their software as well as a US version (and others) The others go louder. The European software is volume limited.

Our governments care so much for ears so the decision to play loud music has been taken away from us.

It's all a load of B***s, cos we just download foreign software instead.

Other units are probably doing the same but it also saves battery power so each unit maker can claim longer battery life than anyone else etc.

Again .... a load of B***s.

The upshot is, if you need more volume to drive some decent headphones, then either invest in IEM's or get a portable amp to drive something bigger. However, with decent headphones, the signal to noise ratio of some units leaves a lot to be desired when their output is so low.

This is why I up the volume via an amp and then down it to a level where all unit output noise disappears. This is a different place for different headphones.

Ian

 

[LFC_SL]

Really it should be non-EU governments doing this e.g. the US

With their inferior health care system they could do without an influx of patients suffering from hearing loss

Seriously, Sony DAPs really are heniously crippled. I told my mate he can remove the limit on his new A1000 (which I told him not to buy). He says he's removed the volume limiter on the menu but it's still too quiet. I explain there's a "code" you enter...alas he's a doubter and won't even let me show him on a PC! Ah well his loss..or is it gain as he'll be saving his hearing?

 

[Zakalwe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LFC_SL Doesn't help as Sony seem to restrict the volume of players much more than competitors here in Europe...even though all their competitors also have to comply with EU reg

As far as I know it is not really a EU-wide regulation (yet). It is merely a law in France so far, and there seems to be a EU directive for its member states to implement similar laws in the future (but this is quite elusive, I have not yet been able to find the original text for this). So right now there is generally no legal problem selling higher volume players in the EU, except for France. However, some of the bigger companies (Apple, Sony, etc.) go the lazy route and restrict all devices intended for the EU market - maybe it makes their logistics easier.

Björn

 

[GreatDane]

My Zen Vision:M has much more power than my Sony MZ-NH600D MD player.

 

[iancraig10]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zakalwe So right now there is generally no legal problem selling higher volume players in the EU, except for France. However, some of the bigger companies (Apple, Sony, etc.) go the lazy route and restrict all devices intended for the EU market - maybe it makes their logistics easier. Björn

I doubt if anyone would do anything if you were caught listening at loud volumes to ........... [size=xx-small]music.[/size]

Shades of Frank Zappa here ..... Joe's Garage. (The Controller)

Iriver have different firmwares for different countries, so all you do is download US firmware or Korean or EU if you want to be limited in the output. They all work fine.

Ian