well for $100, i took a chance and bought this unit.
after several hours of listening (Senn mx500 and Koss 35), i would say this player is "average good." after listening on a lot of portables, i have come to the conclusion that above a certain threshold of decent sound, most improvements can only be made through headphones and/or amps. there is no such thing as an audiophile portable. but that is a topic for a whole other thread!
sound is good: no hiss or other non-musical noise; treble is slightly rolled off.....makes for non-fatiguing listening, but a little less crisp than i like. bass is very good...even with the earbuds, i do not use the megabass setting. imaging and dynamic range are as expected -- minimal. Surprisingly, i like the sound better on MP3's (using 320 kbps CBR). The highs are cleaner and there is actually a sense of soundstage and space between instruments.
functionality: good basic unit. uses AA batteries (30 hour life) which i happen to prefer to recharging. listening at work, i use an ac adapter (not included btw). minimal LCD readout...just enough to know what's on. it will support CD text...nice. no sure yet on navigation in an MP3 CD....so far i have just listened either stright through or random. skip protection is amazing....short of breaking the unit, i could nt even make it skip once.