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Originally Posted by VARO /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I don't collect them but I use them when I study. I have two CD players, a rare Discman D-223 and Optimus CD-3440. Also, are you saying that you have 75 PCDPs excluding those 7 on eBay? What other models do you have? I'd like to try the D-555.
The CD-3440 is pretty powerful compared to my D-223, it has a 16-bit Dual D/A, 4 times oversampling and 25mW per channel output. Sonys only have like 9mW max and todays pcdps have <5mW. But since I only have 1 discman, I can't compare them with any other. Here's what they look like:
and my D-223:
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Yes, I have about 75. The rarest Discman I own is the D-626, which has a remote unit where you plug the headphones into and can listen from anywhere in the room via wireless (pre-Blue Tooth). Bought it from a fellow Head-fier. I have seen one on e-bay without the remote unit, which defeats the purpose. I also have the D-311 Gold & Silver Edition (limited to 3,000 world wide) also from a fellow Head-Fier, includes receipt, box and everything (some found it to be tacky due to the gold and silver color scheme but it is still very rare and Duncan ranks it the best of all PCDPs; better than the D-555(Z). Then, I have the D-555, D-35, D-303 with all the boxes and accessories. One never used, brand new D-777. Multiple D-NE20 never used. D-NE10, D-NE920 and several others that are brand new. I also have a D-Z555 and a D-555 plus, 2 more D-303s, D-EJ50, D-E01, D-88 and a ton of odds & ends. I am a collector of "stuff" and have about a dozen collections (including CDs and LPs both ranging in the 100's and 1,000's). I used to live in NYC and lived on D-777 & DNE-920 but that was when I was young and did not want to deal with the outside noise in Manhattan. Now, I live in Florida and have a car, so listen to XM a lot. At home, I use a SACD player or DVD player to listen to music so, the PCDP collection is archived in boxes. I have no children and have only female nieces and no brother. So, if my nieces have kids and if they are boys and like PCDPs, I will pass them on (in like 30 years from now, if I am still alive). Why, I know a person who collects gramaphones and 8 tracks and I think that is pretty cool. It's a passion and a hobby. PCDPs are not "Dead", they still have a following for sentinmental reasons. God only knows what's going to come next after MP3...The only person I would give one for free to is Duncan, since I quote him a lot. He inspired me to collect PCDPs in the first place. I used to live on Head-fi and collect PCDPs whenever I had the money, but since I have every one of them that I ever wanted (except for the Denon DCP150) I stopped and moved on to collect my primary collection ~ Pinocchio paraphenalia. Watches and pens became too expensive and I refuse to spend $40,000 on a pen (yes, they make them) and watches can go up to $1,000,000 (A. Lange & Sohn from Swiss). So, there is my story.
If there is a Head-Fi meet in Central Florida (near Orlando), I will be willing to bring all the PCDPs for people to sample but if not, they are staying in the vault with all the other "stuff." I am selling some since I have too many and the multiples can go. The D-555, D-35 (recently sold on e-bay for over $1,000) and the D-303 (Gun Metal one sold yesterday for $290) seem to become rarer and the prices are surpassing the original retail prices; it's all about being a "hobby." Some collect for sentimental reasons (like I did) and some collect them because when they wanted one when they were young, they could not afford the retail prices. When the D-555 came out, I was in my early 20's and had no money to afford one back then but wanted one REALLY badly. I did buy the state of the art D-T4 when it first came out and that cost a small fortune. Again, the reason I am selling is not because I need the money (trust me, the mark up is not that great and I will be lucky if I break even) but if there is someone out there who is literally DYING to own some PCDPs it would be nice to let some go and share the wealth of PCDP sentimentality. I abhor the sound of MP3s and love the sounds of CDs but still favor LPs over any of them. The bass from LPs are phenomenal and nothing beats the sound of a record needle on an LP coming from the speakers. Literally, "Put the Needle on the Record."
I am glad to be back on Head-fi since being away for 6 months. I started out as "I LUV SONY"(stopped after some controversy I caused over my love for SONY products) then "IMHO" (stopped after posting 555 posts; for PCDP D-555) and my current nick is "OIC" Jude had done marvels for the headphone and hi-fi followers and I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. Head-fi has come a LONG way since it's inception. Had it not been for head-fi I would not know what I would have done with all my time and money; probably would have wasted on something useless. It sure was fun dealing and competing with other head-fiers for PCDPs on e-bay in the early 2000's. The supply has dried up and most people use their PCDPs, which eventually wear out or break down or as those of you who are synical say "have died." PCDPs will never die. At least as long as I own them since they are stored and brand new in boxes. As long as there is AC power and AA or AAA batteries, they will play for me once in a blue moon but not "die." I find the term "die" for PCDPs highly offensive. I also resent the comment that this is a glorified thread when I am trying to evoke memories for those who were in love with PCDPs and never went any where without them. My D-777 had over 10 seconds of memory and rarely skipped when I ran with it. So, they were NOT junk and were NOT clunky. If you ever owned a D-777, you would know how thin and dependable they were. Plus, unlike iPods, they came with wired remote controls in the box so, you never had to touch the unit that was in the briefcase.
Anyway, It sure is a pity how sound has been sacrified for convenience. Sure, you can carry thousands of songs of DAPs and iPods, but nothing beats listening to a new CD from an artist on a PCDP and falling in love with a song that would have never gotten popular or received air play. I still collect CDs and find songs I like, which I would have never found had it not been for buying the actual CD. You can't fall in love from a song by sampling it once on the internet; you have to listen to it over and over again and eventually fall in love with it.
So, there is my story. From Walkman to Discman and now just plain radio and XM. Despite all the PCDPs I own, I have yet to own an iPod and the only DAP I had was a free bee from Lexar with a 4GB memory when I traded hotel points in for a Bose Noise cancelling QC3 headphone. I traveled heavily for work at one time; every week and spent about 200 nights a year in hotels. Even, now I stay away from DAPs due to my fondness of PCDPs.
Just becareful, if you start listening to PCDPs or LPs, you might never go back to listening to MP3 again. The sound is incomparable. Happy listening!
