It's the same player:
http://www.1388.com/doctor/SEP2000/1019/1019.html
"Being an audiophile, I like to bring along a portable CD player (discman) when travelling. Recently I am using AKAI PD-X73, which is actually the one that known as RADIO SHACK OPTIMUS CD-3400 in the USA and once favoured by STEREOPHILE's editors six years ago. The player is getting old and failed to read disc intermittently, therefore I have decided to seek a new player. My listening materials are very wide range but more on acoustic side, from small scaled ethnic music to symphonic orchestra. I wish that Dr.Wong could advice or give recommendations in seeking a new player, with my budget of S$300. Thank you."
But, the player itself, or at least it's guts, are made by someone else:
http://www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?480:3
"Which brings me to the latest Audiophile Grapevine Special: the much-discussed RadioShack Optimus CD-3400 portable CD player. When a certain Noted Guru called me and said that this little $179.99 thingie was the first digital source he'd had in his system that sounded like music, I said, "Hmmm." When I heard that some of the NY Audiophile Society members were throwing the little RadioShack up against the likes of Krell Digital and preferring the RadioShack, I said, "Say what?!"
As the calls came in from all over the audiophile map, the testimonials got wiggier and wiggier: So-and-so heard it and gave birth to a mutant half-cow/half-baby; the reason it sounds so great is cuz it's really a hyper-tech Mitsumi CD-ROM drive that somehow found its way into a RadioShack portable CD player; if you listen to it long enough, it cures diphtheria; Rabin sent one to Arafat, and now they're engaged to be married; Bob Dole got one, and now he just sits in his office listening to Moby Grape CDs and flashing the peace sign at startled aides.
Internally, the CD transport is indeed a Mitsumi part—the whole player is apparently an OEM unit built by Mitsumi for RadioShack. I wasn't able to find out whether or not it's really a CD-ROM drive, but it certainly doesn't look as heavy-duty as any of the CD-ROM drives whose guts I've gandered. Digital conversion is handled by a single-bit NPC DAC, the SM-5817AS, which includes its own 8x-oversampling digital filter. As far as analog audio circuitry goes, yo' guess is as good as mine—the ant-nut-sized surface-mount op-amps didn't look at all familiar to this op-amp hound. "
http://www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?480:2
Flash!
This RadioShack thing is really snowballing! John Curl has caught on, too. Meanwhile, Dick Sequerra called with some interesting tidbits. First, Dick said that the player's turntable mechanism is a Mitsumi CD-ROM drive, with controller; as a CD-ROM unit, it has very low jitter and very low error. How can it be so cheap? Mitsumi expects to produce this particular CD-ROM platform in quantities of 3 to 5 million units. Second, Dick pointed out that the line-out cable provided with the player reverses the left and right channels. I'm not sure whether the cables are mis-wired or the jack is mis-wired, but do check your channel orientation. (The headphone jack is properly wired.) Third, the player sounds better on batteries than it does with an AC adapter. "It benefits greatly from a linear power supply," said Sequerra.
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So, it's really a CD-ROM.
Can anyone think of a way to convert a new CD-ROM into a legendary portable like the 3400?
