Help with best sounding portable setup

[erikzen]

Currently, my listening pleasure is confined to portable audio. I live in a two family house and I have an infant daughter. I don't get much opportunity to listen to music at home because of noise restrictions and because my wife and baby daughter always have something for me to do. Furthermore, with a new baby I need to watch what I spend and upgrading my currrent home stereo the way I would like would cost more than my wife will allow.

I have several pieces of portable audio equipment, which is not bad but I'm looking for better sound quality, if possible. I've searched the forums but haven't really found a definitive setup for portable.

Here are some criteria in descending priority:

1) High quality sound
2) Preferably, new equipment
3) Portable, not trans-portable. I'd prefer some measure of anti-skip in CD players and decent battery life in source equipment
4) Listening primarily while commuting by train
5) I listen to all types of music
6) Money is no object. Well, not really. What I mean to say is that I am willing to take my time and save for better quality gear, as I currently have enough stuff to tide me over

Current gear:

Source equipment:

Aiwa XP-500 CD Player
Sony MZ-R70 MD Player/Recorder
Archos Studio 10 GB MP3 Player
irock 530 MP3 Player
Modified SRF-S84 radio (primarily for Howard Stern fixes!)

Primary headphones:
Open- Portapros
Closed - PX200
Since I'm primarily on the train I usually go with the PX200s
MX500s (usually used only with the SRF-S84)

Amps:
Airhead 4.5V design
Super Mini V.4 2 button digital volume control, no booster

Questions:

1) what can I do to improve my portable rig?

2) Which part of the system is in most desperate need of an upgrade, source, cans or amp?

3) Which part of the system if upgraded will show the biggest improvement in sound quality? (kind of the same question)

4) What combination of the above equipment should sound best? So far, I think I like PCDP => Super Mini => PX200s the best but I'm still playing around with it and I haven't spent time with all possible combinations yet.

Thanks for any and all help!

 

[guzzler]

well, in a portable rig, your amp is not gonna make a huge difference, and the ones you've got are pretty good anyway! I would seriously take a look at a portable MiniDisc player, the format has come on leaps and bounds! As for headphones, its really a question of what you consider portable and how much of a nerd you're willing to look!

As for MD players/recorders, good options are (in no particular order):

Sony E10 (playback only!)
Sharp DR7 (recorder, no NetMD)
Sony N10 (recorder, NetMD enabled)

the only problem with the two Sonys mentioned are the fact they have a battery that can't be changed by you... the DR7 is reputed to have excellent quality

g

EDIT: READ POST AGAIN!! my bad

 

[redshifter]

erikzen,
i have been a portable fan since i got the first sony walkman in the late seventies. i have owned at one point or another many of sony's major portable releases, including the d777 pcdp, the dd9 titanium walkman, the d3 pro recording walkman, the d6c pro recording walkman, the mzr50 md recorder, and the mzr70 md recorder, and a dedicated portable amp cha47 made by jmt for me, and markertec cables. my point is, out of the headphone jack using atrac r, the mzr70 + sony d66 eggo (yeah, i know, everyone recommends the eggos these days--but i was one of the first to get them and like them) is very, very hard to beat. even against an amp setup. i highly recommend you save your money and get some d66 eggos. if you feel the need to upgrade later you of course can, but i'll bet you won't once you hear the synergy the mzr70 + d66 has.

 

[erikzen]

Interesting...

I already have the MZ-R70 minidisc player and although I haven't done a lot of listening to it, it does have a very nice sound. It doesn't have a line out and the volume is pretty good. Using the amp is probably overkill on that. Are the newer MD players/recorders that much better? What would you think about using the R70 as a recorder and using a newer model, such as the E10 for playback? You mean you have to send them to summer camp in Japan to change the battery?

In headphones, I'm not vain enough to worry about how I look (read: I already look like a nerd/geek) although I'd rather carry something that is small to mid-sized as opposed to a set of full sized cans. I'm not a basshead, and although I listen to all types of music I'm particularly fond of acoustic guitars, so I guess mids and upper mids are most important to me.

 

[erikzen]

Quote:

Originally posted by redshifter erikzen, i have been a portable fan since i got the first sony walkman in the late seventies. i have owned at one point or another many of sony's major portable releases, including the d777 pcdp, the dd9 titanium walkman, the d3 pro recording walkman, the d6c pro recording walkman, the mzr50 md recorder, and the mzr70 md recorder, and a dedicated portable amp cha47 made by jmt for me, and markertec cables. my point is, out of the headphone jack using atrac r, the mzr70 + sony d66 eggo (yeah, i know, everyone recommends the eggos these days--but i was one of the first to get them and like them) is very, very hard to beat. even against an amp setup. i highly recommend you save your money and get some d66 eggos. if you feel the need to upgrade later you of course can, but i'll bet you won't once you hear the synergy the mzr70 + d66 has.

Redshifter,

This isn't the first time you've recommended the Eggos with the R70s. Although some like the Eggos better than others, I've never read anyone stating they absolutely hated them. I think I'm going to take your advice and go for it! And at $100 I won't even have to save for that long. Thanks for your advice.

By the way, this doesn't mean I don't want to hear from anyone else on the subject. After all, I'm going to need to buy something after the D66s to satisfy my upgradeitis!

 

[Duncan]

and of course once you've heard the R70/D66 combo, you just know you'll wanna hear the E10 too

This audio game... its not cheap

 

[redshifter]

i'm considering the e10 too, except:
for the price it can't be the knockabout md unit the r70 is (i paid $50 used for it). the r70 also is nearly indestructable. i even spilled water IN it once, and it still plays flawlessly. i don't think i would be comfortable tossing a +$200 md unit in my pocket.

the r70 takes a aa battery, while the e10 has an internal battery. if i was travelling again i'd have to go with the replaceable battery.

erikzen,
great! i don't think you'll be sorry. you can use the mzr70 to record, although nobody really knows which atrac version it uses. personally i think it is 4.5, but some say 4. for best results get a deck (i got a great used sony jb930 deck for $150) with atrac r.

 

[erikzen]

Hey, the r70 was $200+ a few years ago, too. So in a few years I'll be able to pick up an E10 for under $100! But you're right about the build quality. The r70 seems really sturdy although I really haven't used it a lot. Even if you pay $75 for the E10 you might not want to toss it about.

 

[redshifter]

Quote:

Originally posted by erikzen Hey, the r70 was $200+ a few years ago, too. So in a few years I'll be able to pick up an E10 for under $100! But you're right about the build quality. The r70 seems really sturdy although I really haven't used it a lot. Even if you pay $75 for the E10 you might not want to toss it about.

my r70 was "pre-broken in", so i didn't feel too bad about tossing it into a pocket and going. a new e10 would just be too pretty to treat so roughly.

i may have to get an e10 anyway. i know sony's 10-year models are usually something special.

 

[Watchdog]

Getting a used E10 down the road sounds appealing, however if the battery is on its last legs then it may not be such a bargain, even at $100.

Does anyone have any idea what Sony would charge to change the battery?

 

[erikzen]

Quote:

Originally posted by Duncan and of course once you've heard the R70/D66 combo, you just know you'll wanna hear the E10 too This audio game... its not cheap

Putting the E10 on the list!

 

[Darxtar]

For portability I use a 20 gig iPod with a Super Mini V5 and Ety4P earphones. It has worked out great. If you are looking to go small and want premium sound this combo is hard to beat, IMO.

 

[erikzen]

Is an ipod smaller than an MZ-R70? And how is the sound quality compared to MD or CD. I know my MP3 players are not quite as clear and defined as my MD and CD players. I do love carrying around 1000 songs, though!

Does the ipod support other (lossless) file types?

 

[Darxtar]

I think the iPod is smaller. Last time I looked I had 2600 songs on it with a lot of room left. It sounds as good and my CD player (Panasonic 570) when I use it with the Super Mini Amp. I recorded all my music from CD's at 160kbps. The system I put together was based on the fact I live out of my suitcase much of the time and spend a lot of time on planes. Portable was very important. The Ety4P earphones are tiny, sound great, and block out all external noise. The Super Mini amp is insanely small and I can't believe how good it sounds with the Ety's and the iPod. Though I think a person could use the Ety's with the iPod by itself and still be quite happy. Good luck coming up with something. I am just glad I found this forum. It really helped.

 

[erikzen]

Yeah, the Super Mini is amazing, isn't it? Although for the past few days I've been using the Airhead and the sound seems to keep getting better. It's still breaking in, I guess. It seems to me that I keep turning the volume down, which is wierd because normally I always want to turn the volume up after listening for a while. But it's like there's enough detail there that more volume isn't necessary to get well balanced sound. I guess that's what they call headroom and that's why you get an amp.

Anyway, although I think an Ipod would be really cool, that's a lot of money. Like I said, Redshifter convinced me that my next purchase should be the D66 Eggos!