[Thasp]

Post your experiences here. This may help for the heavy traveler that's always moving around with a CD-P shaking hard in his pocket.

DO NOT GO BY SPECS! If you have something with a 400 second buffer, and it can't fill it up fast enough, it's worthless. Like having a car that can go 300 that takes 10 seconds to get to 20 MPH.

My experiences...

1) Panasonic. They 0wn for skip protection. VBR MP3s, got the cheapest model by them to skip, TWICE, since I owned it.

2) Sony. Good enough, but not completely perfect.

3) iRiver iMP-550. Weakest. Laser. EVER! Sometimes(two replacements) it'd give me a no disc error, when I was walking and turned it on!

I'd be thinking "I should stop walking now for a sec so it can load some more of the song into the buffer". After I did that, I just knew, to dump this thing.

4) RCA. Of course, this model was 6 years old that I tried when anti skip was just starting to come out, sept 1997 I think. I think the laser in this one worked better than the one in the iRiver, but the 10 second anti-skip buffer killed it.

All these players worked fine with my friends, but I tend to really rattle them around hard.

 

[strohmie]

I agree regarding the Panasonic players - the two I had (SX510, CT780) almost never skipped. Maybe 5 times in the 3 years I owned the two (and used them daily, sitting in my pocket while I walked). Too bad the sound wasn't as good.

 

[Gojira]

I'm not sure what the point is of naming the worst. There are just so many. I think most of the modern players are quite good. The Sony G-shock players are the best I think. My D-CJ01 never skipped. I haven't been able to test it running because I don't run anymore, but I have certainly used it while riding bicycles over dirt roads with many potholes. My D-EJ725 was also highly resistant to skipping, but I am pretty sure you couldn't run with it. My philips EXP313 was also very good. It basically never skipped.

I really think that no one can do this ESP thing better than Sony. They were the first and it's right up their alley of expertise. I wonder if it's possible to run (sprint) with the D-EJ2000, especially in a shock prone position like mounted at your waist on a belt clip as opposed to being held in your hand.

 

[Thasp]

Quote:

Originally posted by strohmie I agree regarding the Panasonic players - the two I had (SX510, CT780) almost never skipped. Maybe 5 times in the 3 years I owned the two (and used them daily, sitting in my pocket while I walked). Too bad the sound wasn't as good.

What models? I plan on getting the CT-800 after my iRiver woes and my experiences with sony products, to use as the main CD player(little money to spare here), so I don't want to get a ****.... their cheapest model sounded fine outside the hiss though, identical to the latest iRiver iMP

.

 

[stereth]

I have a Sony D-EJ756. Even with G-protection off, it has never skipped on me. Never. This is while rollerblading, with the player in my hand or pocket, for a couple of hours at a time. Sound...is a different matter.

 

[strohmie]

<points to original post> The SX510 and CT780 were the models I had. The best sounding of the Panasonics (though this is relative) are the SX500, and probably CT570. Neither is readily available. Haven't heard anything specifically positive about the CT800, though it sure is perty. ^_^

 

[Thasp]

Quote:

Originally posted by stereth I have a Sony D-EJ756. Even with G-protection off, it has never skipped on me. Never. This is while rollerblading, with the player in my hand or pocket, for a couple of hours at a time. Sound...is a different matter.

Does it sound good? Perhaps I'll consider a Sony MP3-CD player. Their anti-P2P/****tiest boombox ever/crappy headphones/trinitron TVs that break in two months sort of discourage me from buying sony ever again.

Decisons, decisions.

 

[bong]

ever since i got my very first discman, i would listen while commuting to school with the discman in my backpack. my old D-555 skipped, but it wasn't as bad as it might seem. i think it has to do with a combination of good damping, fast laser pickup, and that thick pleather case.

my old D-321 almost NEVER skipped, sometimes even with the ESP crcuit off. one thing i loved about the D-321 is that even when the ESP is on, it didn't seem to degrade the sound quality. i can't verify cos my D-321 is out of commission right now.

i loved that discman, i miss it. maybe i should get it fixed.

with my D-777, it's like a double edged sword. with the ESP off, i get amazing sound quality but it skips like crazy. with the ESP on, it handles some of the skipping problem, but then the music becomes sibilant and staticky. my commute routine with this discman would be walking to the subway with the ESP on, getting on the subway and turnung off the ESP, then getting off the subway and walking to work with ESP on. it's quite a pain to take the discman out of my bag, unslip the carrying case, and switching off/on the ESP. and sometimes when i walk briskly, the D-777 would mistrack and i would have to stand still for a few seconds for the ESP to start refilling the buffer again.

with so many years of owning my D-EJ915, i have NEVER made it skip, even deliberately. it may not be the best sounding PCDP, but to me it's definately the best compromise for the "on the go" unit i own. the sound quality of the D-EJ915 doesn't come close to my D-777 with ESP off, but it is a lot better than the D-777 with ESP on. G-Protection seems to be quite good in handling skips. i wish Sony would make new discmans with switchable G-Protection and at least 10 mW per channel. not everyone cares for superlong battery life in expense of sound quality.

 

[D-EJ915]

my D-EJ915 never skipped and never released the CD from it's mammoth hold....

my philips player didn't skip (until it broke) and only didn't play when it released he CD from it's weak hold....

my SP90 skipped constantly, and without any rough treatment at all, just vertical bumps, its a pathetic piece of garbage, do not buy one.

 

[bong]

Quote:

Originally posted by D-EJ915 my D-EJ915 never skipped and never released the CD from it's mammoth hold....

yeah... i love the design spindle on the D-EJ915. the hold is so strong the music prolly wouldn't skip just by that accord. its a different story with Sony's older spindle design, like my brother's D-777. ever since the little perferated plastic pieces fell off the spindle, exposing that orange rubber ring, the CD would sometimes pop out from a bump.

 

[noguilt]

for me, antiskip is tested most while running, and all the Sony's i've tried (all highest end at the time of purchase, all within the past 2-3 yrs) have skipped so much while running as to be unusable for that purpose. Panasonics, on the other hand, as other posters have indicated, almost never skip--in my case, that would be the slct470, slct476, slct780.

further, while debates about sony v. panasonic sound quality abound here and on headwize, i wd have to say that overall i prefer panasonics, altho their antiskip superiority is enough to negate the sony's for running.

 

[cscott23]

Props to Panasonic: they do indeed own skip protection.

I can throw a totally scratched cd in my ct570 on jump up and down, and the pcdp just says bring it on. mine never skips (i'm sure that the ECC just glosses over the skips though).

 

[stereth]

Quote:

Originally posted by Thasp Does it sound good?

It's not too bad. The antiskip is definitely compressed, but I can only hear it in the cymbals. I'd put the overall sound quality at equivalent to a 160-192k mp3. The headphone amp is pretty weak...plenty to power my V6s but night-and-day amped from the line out. As for soundstage...I first found a soundstage with my Portapros on a D-2, and I've had Portapros plugged into the 756 more hours than I care to count.

For the price though, you could do miles better used/Ebay for sound quality without giving up too much portability.

 

[zeplin]

thasp,
again, that's just so wierd that you have had such bad experiences with you iRivers. i can run with my imp 350 no problem...in my pocket. and i have read on other occasions that the 550 can be used while running too, and i've never heard of anyone having skipping problems with their 550 either...i've read at least 20-30 reviews. i think you've just been having really bad luck. for features, sound quality, and ease of use, all combined i think the iRivers are the best out there right now. and im comparing it to my old vintage Sony D-350, which has excellent sound quality that rivals some stand alones. i think you should get the imp 350. just tryin to help, hope everything works out for ya.

 

[Thasp]

Quote:

Originally posted by cscott23 Props to Panasonic: they do indeed own skip protection. I can throw a totally scratched cd in my ct570 on jump up and down, and the pcdp just says bring it on. mine never skips (i'm sure that the ECC just glosses over the skips though).

Definately.

I've had a 350. A lot better with the anti-skip, but nowhere near Panasonic. They're the next best thing to shrinking car engines and putting them in the CD players for the laser.