[JiPi]

Hey ya'll .. I know I said I'd be buying this baby when it would
come out, but they aren't
here yet (blame Canada.. I saw that one coming). So anyway, I was wondering if
anyone tried one of them yet and if so, could you tell me what you thought of it? The specs
don't look so bad, it's priced lower than the D-CJ01 (the only part about this player that scares
me..) and looks sturdy.

One thing I'm wondering about though is if '3 Line Dot Matrix Display' is really different
than LCD Display. If so, how.

Thanks.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

I haven't seen any of the ATRAC3 PCDPs besides the D-NE510 in person. But looking at the specs (on the SonyStyle USA Web site) of the D-NE710/D-NE718CK may indicate that neither model will have a line-out at all, only the headphone-out.

By the looks of the SonyStyle Canada Web site, the high-end D-NE01 will have a digital line-out that will only work in the optical digital mode; devices that need the analog line-out would be forced to use the headphone-out.

And the D-NE710 will not be sold in Canada in that form - but will be sold there as the D-NE711, with an included AC adaptor (the AC adaptor is an extra-cost accessory for the D-NE710, and is not included with that unit).

If you get either of those units, one thing that I'd strongly advise against is to convert already-compressed MP3 files to ATRAC3 format: Music would have gone through two compression steps, which will noticeably degrade the sound quality. Digital audio should never have to go through more than one compression step, IMHO.

 

[JiPi]

I'm going to have to test them first, and see what I think of them. I don't really care about
line-out (yeah, eh!) because I don't have any portable amp and don't look forward to
owning one (at least not in the near future..). I'd only use the headphone out.

As for the ATRAC re-encoding, I didn't even consider it. I'm looking into those models because
they're the newest Sony supporting MP3 playback, that's it. The N-E01 looks good, but I
don't think it would make the best portable player. MP3 is the way to go, plus if I was to
convert all my MP3's to ATRAC, I'd be in for a least a whole year of hardcore encoding. Hehe.

But like I said, only thing worrying me is the cost. Seems a little too low, somehow (compared
to D-CJ01..).

 

[Eagle_Driver]

JiPi, FYI, those D-NE### series PCDPs will read MP3 files on CDs, provided that the CDs have been finalised. You don't have to convert your existing MP3s to ATRAC3 format.

 

[JiPi]

That's what I said. I already have so many MP3CD, converting them would be a waste of time,
quality and money.

Sorry if I didn't say that as clearly as I intended..