shafu
500+ Head-Fier
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- Jun 4, 2002
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So I just bought both the Sony DC-j01 and the SlimX and finally to an "in person" comparison.
Sound:
I first tried a couple of CDs and MP3s to try out the sound (using Ety 4Ps, not amped). I have to admit, the Sony did sound better - more rounded and smooth. This is not to say that the SlimX sounded bad - not at all. After months of listening to CDs on my laptop and minidiscs, both sounded really nice. The main difference seemed to be that the SlimX sounded punchier. I suppose it all depends on the music you'd be listening to to determine which you preferred. For me, the Sony was better suited, but was almost as happy with the SlimX. This comparison is with me trying to keep the hiss factor out. Or on this a bit in the next section.
Hissing:
There's been a lot on this The hiss is definetly there with the ER4P. Just with the SlimX on, you'd get hiss. I could actually hear, although very very faint, the cd motor running and getting up to speed as I put in a new disc. If you plan on listening to primarily rock type music, then the hiss will go away as soon as the music kicks in on CDs. On MP3s, the hiss is a bit more pronouced. On classical music, you would have the hiss in the background, which you can eventually tune out. But it is there nevertheless.
Size, form factor, and build:
Again, the nod seems to go to Sony on a very slight scale. The SlimX, while very thin, seems to use a bit thiner material compared to the Sony. I would feel comfortable throwing the Sony into my bag and not worry about it - the SlimX, I would take a bit more care. The Sony also has a slightly smaller foot print.
So it would seem I would go with the sony and be done with it, right? A couple of problems have come up that are the deal breaker:
1) Lots of trouble reading a CDR with MP3s. I've put in a CDR that works fine on the SlimX, but ran into gliches into the Sony. It would start playing, but as soon as I tried to navigate to another track, it would hang a couple of times. If I try to do too many things on the buttons, it'll eventually spin down. I had to open the lid and start the CD player up again.
2) Reading of ID tags. Most of the MP3 tracks did not come up on the Sony. I couldn't figure out why it was. The folder names did show up, but not the track itself. On the SlimX, it showed the entire file name. I had this problem both with tracks from the internet and ones I made myself. Even downloading the ID tag.
3) Track jumps? The Sony would stop 5 seconds into a song, and then restart. It would show it as a next track (since the names aren't showing on the scren). This is both with CDR and VBR.
4) Navigation. Although the Sony has dedicated folder buttons, you can only see one folder or one track at a time. Navigation through 100's of tracks can be tricky. The SlimX shows much more - although on a much smaller screen.
5) Wobbles. The sony seems to spin a lot faster than the SlimX. The Sony wobbles, espeically with MP3s.
6) Beeps. Typical Sony product, has beeps with everything. Normally this isn't that much of a problem, but when you are trying to navigate through folders and bunch of MP3s, the beeps are way to much.
HELP?
If I'm doing something wrong, please let me know. A defective player? I do want to use the Sony, but if it can't read CDR/MP3s, then I might as well get a different Sony PCDP. I made my CDR by just moving the track on my harddrive over. In Explorer, the CD has normal folder names and MP3 files in them. The SlimX doesn't seem to have any problems with it at all. Should I let the Sony spin up more, before I start? I can get pass the navigation and wobbles, but if I can't play MP3s smoothly or even tell what tracks they are, then it might as well be just a regular cd player.
As I mentioned above, the SlimX is a very close second when it comes to sound quality.
Sound:
I first tried a couple of CDs and MP3s to try out the sound (using Ety 4Ps, not amped). I have to admit, the Sony did sound better - more rounded and smooth. This is not to say that the SlimX sounded bad - not at all. After months of listening to CDs on my laptop and minidiscs, both sounded really nice. The main difference seemed to be that the SlimX sounded punchier. I suppose it all depends on the music you'd be listening to to determine which you preferred. For me, the Sony was better suited, but was almost as happy with the SlimX. This comparison is with me trying to keep the hiss factor out. Or on this a bit in the next section.
Hissing:
There's been a lot on this The hiss is definetly there with the ER4P. Just with the SlimX on, you'd get hiss. I could actually hear, although very very faint, the cd motor running and getting up to speed as I put in a new disc. If you plan on listening to primarily rock type music, then the hiss will go away as soon as the music kicks in on CDs. On MP3s, the hiss is a bit more pronouced. On classical music, you would have the hiss in the background, which you can eventually tune out. But it is there nevertheless.
Size, form factor, and build:
Again, the nod seems to go to Sony on a very slight scale. The SlimX, while very thin, seems to use a bit thiner material compared to the Sony. I would feel comfortable throwing the Sony into my bag and not worry about it - the SlimX, I would take a bit more care. The Sony also has a slightly smaller foot print.
So it would seem I would go with the sony and be done with it, right? A couple of problems have come up that are the deal breaker:
1) Lots of trouble reading a CDR with MP3s. I've put in a CDR that works fine on the SlimX, but ran into gliches into the Sony. It would start playing, but as soon as I tried to navigate to another track, it would hang a couple of times. If I try to do too many things on the buttons, it'll eventually spin down. I had to open the lid and start the CD player up again.
2) Reading of ID tags. Most of the MP3 tracks did not come up on the Sony. I couldn't figure out why it was. The folder names did show up, but not the track itself. On the SlimX, it showed the entire file name. I had this problem both with tracks from the internet and ones I made myself. Even downloading the ID tag.
3) Track jumps? The Sony would stop 5 seconds into a song, and then restart. It would show it as a next track (since the names aren't showing on the scren). This is both with CDR and VBR.
4) Navigation. Although the Sony has dedicated folder buttons, you can only see one folder or one track at a time. Navigation through 100's of tracks can be tricky. The SlimX shows much more - although on a much smaller screen.
5) Wobbles. The sony seems to spin a lot faster than the SlimX. The Sony wobbles, espeically with MP3s.
6) Beeps. Typical Sony product, has beeps with everything. Normally this isn't that much of a problem, but when you are trying to navigate through folders and bunch of MP3s, the beeps are way to much.
HELP?
If I'm doing something wrong, please let me know. A defective player? I do want to use the Sony, but if it can't read CDR/MP3s, then I might as well get a different Sony PCDP. I made my CDR by just moving the track on my harddrive over. In Explorer, the CD has normal folder names and MP3 files in them. The SlimX doesn't seem to have any problems with it at all. Should I let the Sony spin up more, before I start? I can get pass the navigation and wobbles, but if I can't play MP3s smoothly or even tell what tracks they are, then it might as well be just a regular cd player.
As I mentioned above, the SlimX is a very close second when it comes to sound quality.
