[HD-5000]

Today, I was walking in Best Buy, when I saw a rather normal looking Panasonic CD player. No big deal right? I leaned a little closer to the attractive looking CD player.

The Panasonic SL-SV570 includes "D.Sound".

On the front of the blister pack in huge letters states:
[size=medium]D. Sound- Discover Digital Clarity[/size]

Claiming on the back of the package in bold lettering:

Digital Amplifier: Helps reduce noise levels significantly through digital technology.

S-XBS Plus and Digital-Auto Gain Control: Helps improve bass response at higher volume levels.

Digital Re-Master Technology for MP3, WMA: For outstanding sound sound quality from compressed music files.

Instantly my curiosity was aroused. A mass market portable that actually touts sound quality as a feature? Unheard of! Plus the device is only slightly larger than a CD, plays MP3's, and, hallelujah- even has an FM tuner to boot. I haven't even seen such a thing. I bought it for a rather high price of $60.

OK, so I plug my Sennheiser's into the thing and I guess I am satisfied with it, but I cannot make any comments about the sound because I haven't had a portable music player in over a year. Hmm...

Perhaps someone with a better understanding of PCDPs can give this one a spin, and make a few comments about the sound.

Edit: I would most like a comparison to the Sony D-NE300, which is also $60.

 

[Welly Wu]

My cousin got that PCDP for her flight back to Indonesia which is 25 hours long one way. I tried it out with my Sennheiser PX100 and Ue-10 PRO and I found the sound to be very insipid and unnatural with an inavoidable digital sheen cast upon the entire audio spectrum. I will give it its' props: It is a cheap PCDP that offers a lot of features for a relatively modest price. However, I think you would do much better to save a few hundred dollars to get a source component or perhaps a portable HDD DAP.

 

[HD-5000]

Oooh, yuck. I guess I can return it tomorrow, I can really see the practicality in a HDD DAP anyway.

Thanks!

 

[HD-5000]

Quote:

I tried it out with my Sennheiser PX100 and Ue-10 PRO and I found the sound to be very insipid and unnatural with an inavoidable digital sheen cast upon the entire audio spectrum.

Quote:

However, I think you would do much better to save a few hundred dollars to get a source component or perhaps a portable HDD DAP.

Do you find this condition with all portable CD players in general or are you specifically targeting the Panasonic SL-SV570? I have just realized how dire my financial situation is, and acquiring a hard drive based player is impossible at this time. I must settle for a PCDP, and I would like to get the one with the best sound quality.

 

[Welly Wu]

I attribute my answer to that specific Panasonic PCDP. It really is one of the worst that I have heard especially in comparison to the very fine but out of stock Panasonic SL-CT570 PCDP.

 

[gonglee]

I am happy with sony D-ej915.
Also iriver imp-550 is supposed to be good.

The sony got good ratings on hifi magazines.

Pretty expensive though.