[Odin]

Well, I'm on my quest for my MD player now, I already have a recorder so I don't need one, I know that not much of you have a player, but which one of you have heard one that sounds REALLY good, I'm driving it with my E888 and I'm planning to get the Etys 4P (I've got the cash!!!). Preferbly with line-out but I won't die without it, thanks!!!

 

[gloco]

Without a line out: Sony MZE75, i have two of them, red and blue...gorgeous player, sounds amazing, has two jacks, has 8 steps of bass and treble. Totally kicks butt with my Sony 7506's...and drives them very loud. Its an older model (2000), so you may have to look online for one.

George

 

[leon]

Okay.

Personally, I'd steer clear of Panasonics. They do a pretty good job given the 3.5+3.5mW output, but there are definitely better-sounding ones out there.

All the portables that I really like for sound have been recorders. It's not just about lows mids and highs; to my ears, a lot of players have a little "bloat" in their sound, and I'd rather have more detail. But I'm sure that's not always the case, just true for my batch of portables.

A lot of this information is hearsay, other people's opinions, but I thought you might like to hear them.

(a) I've only ever heard positive opinions for Sharp's ST531 (1999 model). If you don't need MDLP, I think Hyperjack still has a Pioneer Mickey Mouse available for $150 us, that's a 531 clone.

(b) Here at Head-Fi, Sony E900 owners seem to be enjoying it a lot. Hopefully they'll be posting in this thread too.

(c) Sharp's ST880... some really love it and others think it's not beyond the scope of modern MD walkmans (i.e. not better than the better classics). Remember using Dolby headphones will cut battery life by half.

Edit - And the E75 has had pretty good reviews too.

Happy shopping!

 

[MacDEF]

For playback-only, I think that the Sony E900 is simply the best ever (so far!). The E75 is cool because it has two headphone jacks, but for durability (magnesium-alloy construction), battery life (60+ hours per charge), size (smallest there is), and even looks

, I think the E900 is the best complete package. I imported mine from Japan before they were available in the U.S. but you can get them here now for a good price.

Oh, and it sounds great, too

 

[Vertigo-1]

There's two players I've heard (and own) that have particularly sounded excellent, and lacks that bloat leon was talking about...the E900, and the E95...both of which were Sony's flagship MD player onlys. They both contain a very nice and tight bass that remains nice and tight even if you tweak it...unlike the older E90 and R90 which both had boomy bass right from the start. I'd stay clear of Aiwas, they especially have a problem with boomy bass. As for Panasonics vs. Sonys...I prefer Sonys myself because they have a sharper, more detailed sound to them, while Panasonics, being the "player with emotions" have that lush, warm midrange which softens the details a bit.

 

[tracylynn]

Quote:

E900, and the E95...both of which were Sony's flagship MD player

do u guys agree that the flagshipmd...9xx serie SOUNDS HELLA BEtter than the mid-range 7xx series or even the 5xx serious?

or the 900 just has more features..[remote control.... mg body, long batt life...etc] while the r700 [is just a basic md... with an afforable pricetag]

 

[tracylynn]

Quote:

unlike the older E90 and R90 which both had boomy bass

hehehe!... i have the sony r91.. it only sounds boomy when u turn on the mega-bass [level 2]

 

[leon]

Thanks to the E900 (and etc.) owners for chiming in!

The E700/707 are supposed to be mechanically identical to the E900/909, and differ in the body shell (aluminium/magnesium). The E909 also differs from the E707 in amp output (battery life?) and remote display (Kanji), but they otherwise have identical features IIRC.

It's the recorders that are more different from each other, in features and power source. IIRC, only the R900/909 have bass/treble adjustment, the others had mega bass.

 

[spinoh2k1]

i havta 2 say sony mz-e909 is da best md player. Main body of unit composed of magnesium for lightness and rigidity, 49 grams by itself. Remote control is capable of display Kanji Chinese characters, unit recharges in charging cradle. And da battery last 4 ages.

 

[leon]

and how does the E909 sound?

Give us a detailed description, serve the community!

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by spinoh2k1 i havta 2 say sony mz-e909 is da best md player. Main body of unit composed of magnesium for lightness and rigidity, 49 grams by itself. Remote control is capable of display Kanji Chinese characters, unit recharges in charging cradle. And da battery last 4 ages.

Unfortunately, the E909 was a couple steps backwards from the E900.

The E909 has a weaker headphone amp than the E900 (3.5mW vs. 5mW) for a few hours more battery life. Unless you're going to be lost in the jungle for weeks at a time, listening 24/7, that's a BIG sacrifice for a few more hours of battery life.

The E900 is also sturdier than the E909 -- it's made of the same magnesium alloy, but thicker. The E900 weighs a whopping 7g more (83g vs. 76g -- the weight quoted above is without battery), but the extra couple pennies worth of weight is worth it to me for some added strength.

The sizes are identical (within one tenth of a millimeter of each other in each dimension).

The E900 also has a more scratch-resistant surface than the E909.

The E900 has "disc based settings" that actually remembers program play, treble & bass, repeat mode, playback speed (80-110%), and volume settings for up to 20 discs. I don't know if the E909 has these features, since I haven't found any mention of them anywhere.

The only thing the E909 has that the E900 doesn't is a charging stand. The E900 has a separate battery charger. I personally like the battery charger, since it's tiny and you can get universal voltage models, but some people like the stand, so I can't say which is "better."

Other than that, the units are identical. Overall, to me, the E900 is a much better unit. And it's cheaper

 

[tracylynn]

do u guys agree that the flagshipmd...9xx serie SOUNDS HELLA BEttER than the mid-range 7xx series or even the 5xx serious?

or the 900 just has more features..[remote control.... mg body, long batt life...etc] while the r700 [is just a basic md... with an afforable pricetag]

 

[coolvij]

Quote:

9xx serie SOUNDS HELLA BEttER than the mid-range 7xx series

I don't have a 9** series player....but I doubt they could sound THAT much better than their little brothers, the 7** series.

 

[spinoh2k1]

Quote:

Originally posted by MacDEF Unfortunately, the E909 was a couple steps backwards from the E900. The E909 has a weaker headphone amp than the E900 (3.5mW vs. 5mW) for a few hours more battery life. Unless you're going to be lost in the jungle for weeks at a time, listening 24/7, that's a BIG sacrifice for a few more hours of battery life. The E900 is also sturdier than the E909 -- it's made of the same magnesium alloy, but thicker. The E900 weighs a whopping 7g more (83g vs. 76g -- the weight quoted above is without battery), but the extra couple pennies worth of weight is worth it to me for some added strength. The sizes are identical (within one tenth of a millimeter of each other in each dimension). The E900 also has a more scratch-resistant surface than the E909. The E900 has "disc based settings" that actually remembers program play, treble & bass, repeat mode, playback speed (80-110%), and volume settings for up to 20 discs. I don't know if the E909 has these features, since I haven't found any mention of them anywhere. The only thing the E909 has that the E900 doesn't is a charging stand. The E900 has a separate battery charger. I personally like the battery charger, since it's tiny and you can get universal voltage models, but some people like the stand, so I can't say which is "better." Other than that, the units are identical. Overall, to me, the E900 is a much better unit. And it's cheaper

Well 2 mi extra battery life is important, 3.5mw is not that bad is not like u goin 2 use HD600, plus most ppl only use earphones wif their MD players which doesn't need a lot of power.
E909 does has all da features of e900 and it has ATRAC type R,
i think it makes da sound better not sure or mayb is just a marketing thing from Sony. E900 is not that much cheaper than E909, (bluetin.hypermart.net) sells E900 singapore model 4 $463aud ($228us) E900 japan Model $430aud ($212us) and E909 japan model $478aud ($235us). The difference is da AC power voltage. Japan 100v Singapore 220-240v.
I can tell u that they r great service and very reliable, thats where i got my MD player and earphone from.

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by spinoh2k1 Well 2 mi extra battery life is important, 3.5mw is not that bad is not like u goin 2 use HD600, plus most ppl only use earphones wif their MD players which doesn't need a lot of power. E909 does has all da features of e900 and it has ATRAC type R, i think it makes da sound better not sure or mayb is just a marketing thing from Sony. E900 is not that much cheaper than E909, (bluetin.hypermart.net) sells E900 singapore model 4 $463aud ($228us) E900 japan Model $430aud ($212us) and E909 japan model $478aud ($235us). The difference is da AC power voltage. Japan 100v Singapore 220-240v.

I still don't think what you said makes up for the weaknesses of the E909.

The extra battery life is probably not going to be *used* by the vast majority of people -- only if you'll be away from your charger for OVER 60-80 hours at a time!

As for 3.5 vs. 5 mW, I disagree -- it IS that bad. Going from 10mW to 5mW (like most MD portables did a year ago) was bad enough... now you're going down to 3.5? The best portable headphones there are (IMO), the Koss KSC-35, aren't exactly easy to drive, and reducing the power by 30% makes them that much harder to drive.

As for ATRAC Type R, that's not true... ATRAC Type R is a recording-only feature. The R909 has it, so Sony slaps it on the player, too, but the E900 will decode TypeR encoding just as well as the E909.

Finally, as for price, the original poster was talking about US. Here in the U.S. the E900 is significantly cheaper.


So... we're back to what I said before: The E900 is the same size, built much better, with a better headphone amp and the same exact feature set, and costs less. The drawback? Battery life that is a bit shorter (but still well over 60 hours on a single charge). Still seems to me that the E909 was a step backwards...