looking for decent priced portable cd player

[adam917]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TAF94 I must disagree. The description you give does not sound like any of the 5 models I've auditioned at all. I used good headphones with all of them, and even the stock earbuds don't distort unless you have the volume and bass turned up too high. Useable bass-boost? Sony has a 3 level user-adjustable clearbass setting plus the customizable eq for bass - panasonic doesn't even come close. I can only surmize 3 reasons for your results: 1)poor headphones/buds 2)not using the eq right 3)you got a lemon.

I can think of a fourth reason: S/He prefers the sound to be as close to the original recording as possible.

 

[YamiTenshi]

I feel that I should give a disclaimer for the irver pcdp. I recently brought a imp 350 and while I think it's great feature-wise, size-wise, and looks-wise, is leaves a lot to be desired in the sound department. I've just been spoiled by a 10 year old Panasonic (before they turned to crap as some have implied) that has a strong headphone out and a clean lineout. Also, battery life on the iriver is significantly less than my Panasonic, I say about 1/3.

My suggestion would be try waiting for the new Sonys. Even if they're not as good or too expensive the rest of the Sony line should drop in price.

 

[adam917]

Quote:

Originally Posted by YamiTenshi I feel that I should give a disclaimer for the irver pcdp. I recently brought a imp 350 and while I think it's great feature-wise, size-wise, and looks-wise, is leaves a lot to be desired in the sound department. I've just been spoiled by a 10 year old Panasonic (before they turned to crap as some have implied) that has a strong headphone out and a clean lineout. Also, battery life on the iriver is significantly less than my Panasonic, I say about 1/3. My suggestion would be try waiting for the new Sonys. Even if they're not as good or too expensive the rest of the Sony line should drop in price.

Right. The best decision for MP3 playback on a current model is holding out till this year's high-end Sony models come out. Given that this year is Sony's 60th anniversary, perhaps they're delaying the units for something special?

 

[spaceconvoy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by adam917 I can think of a fourth reason: S/He prefers the sound to be as close to the original recording as possible.

LOL

Yeah, despite the blatant Sony fanboyism that runs rampant 'round these here parts, my curiosity is honestly peaked by the new DNE330. Any idea if that'll be a remarkable improvement over the DNE320?

 

[adam917]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spaceconvoy LOL Yeah, despite the blatant Sony fanboyism that runs rampant 'round these here parts, my curiosity is honestly peaked by the new DNE330. Any idea if that'll be a remarkable improvement over the DNE320?

I have no idea. I haven't messed with any Sony CD-Walkman stuff in the last 5 years (D-EJ01 and '711) and just recently messed with a brand-new D-NF430 at my aunt's place. So I can't compare.

 

[citywithoutmetal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spaceconvoy LOL Yeah, despite the blatant Sony fanboyism that runs rampant 'round these here parts, my curiosity is honestly peaked by the new DNE330. Any idea if that'll be a remarkable improvement over the DNE320?

I own a 320 and a 330 -I never use my 320 since I got the 330
the distortion is so bad on the 320 it isn't funny.
I can play my music music as loud(no distortion) as I want for as long as I want(less fatigue). get the 330 and px100, perfect match.

 

[ReD sKyE]

I have to disagree. I used a 10 year old Panasonic for ages and decided to test the waters and try out one of these new portables. I ended up getting the NE330. It is inferior in just about every possible way to my old Panasonic. Bass boost is a digitized mess, the equalizer is worthless (again, the fact that it's digital is quite apparent), and the volume reaches about 80% of my old player. Granted, this is through unamped DT-770s which are daunting for any portable player, but the analog players of days gone by definately sounded a whole lot better than what's on the market today. Of course, no one is buying cd players any more, so I guess this result is inevitable.

BTW I'm really skeptical of this trend towards using one AA instead of two. That's a lot less power the cd player has at it's disposal.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReD sKyE I have to disagree. I used a 10 year old Panasonic for ages and decided to test the waters and try out one of these new portables. I ended up getting the NE330. It is inferior in just about every possible way to my old Panasonic. Bass boost is a digitized mess, the equalizer is worthless (again, the fact that it's digital is quite apparent), and the volume reaches about 80% of my old player. Granted, this is through unamped DT-770s which are daunting for any portable player, but the analog players of days gone by definately sounded a whole lot better than what's on the market today. Of course, no one is buying cd players any more, so I guess this result is inevitable. BTW I'm really skeptical of this trend towards using one AA instead of two. That's a lot less power the cd player has at it's disposal.

The problem there is that almost everything on portable players has gone digital. (Yep, even the volume control has become digital.) In fact, Panasonic's headphone amps have gone completely "digital" this year, after the impending phase-out of last year's SL-CT579V.

What's worse about today's digital volume controls is that they change the "bits" going into the players' built-in DAC's. In fact, those players can only deliver "bit-perfect" sound at their maximum volume-control settings - and many (if not most) players distort/clip very badly at that setting, causing their sound to be "mangled" at their maximum usable volume settings.

 

[ReD sKyE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagle_Driver The problem there is that almost everything on portable players has gone digital. (Yep, even the volume control has become digital.) In fact, Panasonic's headphone amps have gone completely "digital" this year, after the impending phase-out of last year's SL-CT579V. What's worse about today's digital volume controls is that they change the "bits" going into the players' built-in DAC's. In fact, those players can only deliver "bit-perfect" sound at their maximum volume-control settings - and many (if not most) players distort/clip very badly at that setting, causing their sound to be "mangled" at their maximum usable volume settings.

That's really too bad. The sad part is that they could make digital just as good as the analog of old if they put some effort into it. But all money's in mp3 players these days.

 

[spaceconvoy]

If anyone cares, I got a chance to try the DNE330 - it truely blows away the DNE320. Sounds very good, very natural, but the bass boost and eq are still a digital mess. I would place it on a similar level of quality with the CT579 and the ipos shuffle. That said, the Panasonic is better to my ears. The Sony has no texture - it's hard to describe, but music seems to be artificially smoothed out on the Sony. All the notes are there, but there's no micro-detail. The Panasonic sounds much more organic to my ears. But still, the DNE330 is a good choice for $50, much improved from the horrible trash of the DNE320.

 

[ReD sKyE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spaceconvoy If anyone cares, I got a chance to try the DNE330 - it truely blows away the DNE320. Sounds very good, very natural, but the bass boost and eq are still a digital mess. I would place it on a similar level of quality with the CT579 and the ipos shuffle. That said, the Panasonic is better to my ears. The Sony has no texture - it's hard to describe, but music seems to be artificially smoothed out on the Sony. All the notes are there, but there's no micro-detail. The Panasonic sounds much more organic to my ears. But still, the DNE330 is a good choice for $50, much improved from the horrible trash of the DNE320.

Can you still get the Panasonic anywhere?

 

[grenert]

If you are experiencing problems with distortion when using bass boost on CD players with digital eq (such as D-NE330), it may be due to having the volume setting on your MP3 music files too high. This is one reason why the iPod's bass boost can really mess things up. I use MP3gain on all of my MP3 files (set them to the default 89 dB), and I never have problems with distortion when I use digital equalizers. Not everyone may like the sound, but there is not a distortion problem. I actually prefer the Sony Clearbass to Panasonic's XBS, which is too "boomy" for my taste.

Of course, with ordinary CDs, there's nothing you can do to change the volume...

Compared to my 9-year-old Panasonic CD player through headphone out, I like the Sony a little better (mainly because of my preference for Clearbass). The Panasonic has a line out, but I don't want to carry around a separate amp. I use Alessandro MS-1 and Sennheiser PX-200 most of the time. Out of curiosity, I have tried using my Xin SuperMini plugged into the line out of the Panasonic. That sounds best of all, but it is a little bulky and not very skip-proof. And there is no way to secure the lid (just a little button press, and it pops open).

Cheers.
-J. P.

 

[spaceconvoy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grenert If you are experiencing problems with distortion when using bass boost on CD players with digital eq (such as D-NE330), it may be due to having the volume setting on your MP3 music files too high. This is one reason why the iPod's bass boost can really mess things up. I use MP3gain on all of my MP3 files (set them to the default 89 dB), and I never have problems with distortion when I use digital equalizers. Not everyone may like the sound, but there is not a distortion problem. I actually prefer the Sony Clearbass to Panasonic's XBS, which is too "boomy" for my taste.

Red skye - the Panasonic is still available at Sears (mine at least).

I agree with you about the Panasonic's bass boost - not only boomy, but also it seems to soften the highs are destroys a lot of treble detail. But to its credit, it seems very linear. To my ears, the Sony's clearbass is artificial sounding, boosting some frequencies and not others, and causing some digitalitis in the sound. The differences are meaningless - most commerical bass boost is garbage.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReD sKyE Can you still get the Panasonic anywhere?

The SL-CT579V is still available at Circuit Sh***y...

 

[Yi Dill]

Anyone know which is better Sony NE329 or NE330 - They're both around the same price, both the 329 comes w detachable speakers

From what was said above I assume that either Sony is a superior choice to Panasonic CT720. Is that correct?

Thank's for the advice