[dkaplan74]

Hey guys, I am looking for the best sounding portable cd player. And I guess it would be easier if it were still in production, but I guess I can try to find one on ebay as well. I have heard Panasonics are some of the best. What about Sonys? Thanks.

 

[nc8000]

Try search. A lot of threads on this subject

 

[Nagasaki_Kid]

Depends on you definition of portable. According to Duncan former pcdp (portable compact disc player) guru the discman d211 had the best headphone out. For line out a good number of people swear by the denon dcp150 (some people claim this is significantly better than the d303 lineout but I have not tried one yet) or discman d303.

If you want skip protection my d515 is fantastic for portable use. The headphone out is very nice and the line out is similar in quality to the d303.

For mp3 cd players, there is the Riovolts rebadged irivers which should be cheap.
there is also the Iriver slim xseries (w/ upgradable firmware and GAMES!!).


For cheapness and common players try the d33 or d34(non oversampling version, but I can't seem to tell the difference from their headphone outs) Big square battery muncher with a beefy internal amp. I find this nice for grado, koss or any headphones which improve with powerful amps.

 

[babya]

I like Sony Discman models that have ESP/ESP2 anti-shock protection.

 

[nc8000]

I personally go for models with optical out to feed the iBasso D10 and before the the iBasso D1

 

[wht]

If you are looking for good line-out quality, I would suggest the Sony D-515.

 

[intoart]

I am astonished by how crappy today's "best" portable CD players are compared to what used to be available. I had one of the first Sony Discmans back in the '80s, and it sounded great. Since DACs have only gotten better since then, it has to be the headphone output itself that has gone downhill. (Build quality was also way higher back in the day, though at a small cost in weight.)

 

[Duncan]

wow Nagasaki_Kid...

I'm impressed you can remember my review / comparison

dkaplan74... If you're interested, check out the 'full review' section of the portables forum, you'll find my post there - should keep you reading for a few minutes

 

[ka-boom]

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/do...ghlight=player

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/be...ighlight=CD%2A

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/be...player-400051/

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/be...ighlight=CD%2A

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/ne...ighlight=CD%2A

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/po...ighlight=CD%2A

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/he...ighlight=CD%2A

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/pc...ighlight=CD%2A

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/be...ighlight=CD%2A

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/pr...ighlight=CD%2A

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/he...ighlight=CD%2A

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/po...ighlight=CD%2A

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/wa...ighlight=CD%2A

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/au...ighlight=CD%2A

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/pl...ighlight=CD%2A

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/new-cdp-115840/

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/mp...ighlight=CD%2A

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/wo...ighlight=CD%2A

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/he...ighlight=CD%2A

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/be...ighlight=CD%2A

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/i-...ighlight=CD%2A

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/ch...ighlight=CD%2A

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/ne...ighlight=CD%2A

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/ne...ighlight=CD%2A

And so on, and so on.... does the search button work for everyone else or just me?

 

[Matthew-Spaltro]

Good observation. There has not been a good sounding portable CD player since 1995. Who ever is producing todays portables needs to go back to the drawing board. And if not should be replaced as soon as possible with a group of qualified individuals who give a **** about high quality internal parts. Or if the portable CD industry does not want to change it's ways just drop the technology all together. 13 years is a long time, in any industry, let alone the portable CD industry. It needs to change fast if it is to survive. If it's broke, fix it!!!! And it's broke

Quote:

Originally Posted by intoart /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am astonished by how crappy today's "best" portable CD players are compared to what used to be available. I had one of the first Sony Discmans back in the '80s, and it sounded great. Since DACs have only gotten better since then, it has to be the headphone output itself that has gone downhill. (Build quality was also way higher back in the day, though at a small cost in weight.)

 

[19lexicon78]

the 311 are cheap these days. no 300$ anymore, but 20-30$.

 

[Ubijza]

YEP, even the legendary PCDP Sony D211's headphone out is significantly inferior to iMod+Corda Move through the same phones (Yuin pk1s). PCDPs are dead now as far as I am concerned

 

[Nagasaki_Kid]

yeah but have you tried amping a lineout from a discman with some good caps

 

[Zombie_X]

A really good one is the 'ClATronics CDP 537'. It has a smooth sounding lineout with good soundstage. They are kind of hard to find though..

 

[babya]

The Panasonic SL-S250 is very nice as it has XBS (2 stage with a "high filter" setting) -it's an older PCDP from 1994 though.