[crazychimp132]

Please recommend an MP3 CD Player for me. The following are what I care about:

1. Line out
2. Good sound quality
3. Price below $100

Obviously there are other things to consider as well but these are my top three concerns. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Ginge]

I would look for the i-River SlimX series on eBay. I swear by my 400.

 

[terrymx]

some of the best sound quality cd players are sony. hard to say which one for $100 with line out and mp3 support though.

two i know a bit over $100. the sony d-ne900 has a pseudo line out. its headphone jack is also a lineuot and optical out. you can change it from headphone out to line out within the menu. there is the sony d-ne920 which is similar to 900 but is $150. then there is a slimmer, alluminum one i think called dne10 which is pretty similar.

and the sony d-ne1, my personal fav. it has as seperate line out. i get 35hours with mp3. it never skip on me.

both discontinued, so you have to hunt for used one. the dne900 are made after the dne1 and it has parametric EQ. the sound qualities would be a worthwhile upgrade from iriver and you get longer batery life too.

the top of the line sony is dne20, that one should be excelent but costly.

panasonic have some good ones like sl-ct710 and sl-ct800, 810. but no line out and cant fast foward with mp3. it seem the sl-ct720 have that pseudo line out kinda thing as well, and probably the sl-ct820.

i'm not that impressed with iriver since the battery life is lower comparing to the competion. sound isnt flat. and they skip on me. the sound might be good if you use the optical out with the imp550 though, but i know no cheap portable amp that actaully use a digital connection.

 

[crazychimp132]

I really can't go over $100, so those Sony players are out. As for the Panasonics you have suggested, I have a few questions that you may be able to answer. What is the difference between the sl-ct710 and sl-ct720? Also, the advertised "D-Sound" and "Digital Re-Master" are fairly discouraging. I don't want the sound to be modified. Are these features talked about for marketting purposes only or is the sound actually changed in some way?

As for the Irivers, does anyone else agree with the opinion of Ginge or terrymx?

 

[terrymx]

the digital sound i think is just a marketing spec. i never heard the panasonic myself though. you can look them up at amazon. aparent the 710 is discontinued. these dont ahev real line out, and if you are gonna use an amp: pcdp -> remote -> amp -> headphone, that would be goofy.

i heard the the imp350, 400, and 550. rmaa test show their response curve arent flat like sony. they have a fun sound though, sometime their trebles can get harsh. they are still some of the better cd players in the market. its just that you dont get any real improvement with their line out comparing to sony.

 

[notnormal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazychimp132 I don't want the sound to be modified.

Hmmm, then you may not want to use mp3s. As for the D-Sound, it just means that it uses a digital amp just like any other modern CD player. So most of it is marketing. Although, Sony and Panasonic seem to have the better digital amps.

 

[abitdeef]

I have the sony d-ne900 , and it sounds pretty good . You can find them at amazon for 119.00 , close to your'e target $$$. I had a dej 2000 , which I though sounded better than the ne900 imho , but it got stolen. I also had the one panasonic model ??? it's 99.00 at circuit city , but I thought it sounded "weird" overly processed and had no line out so I took it back.

Got an old pana. sl-s290 and god the line out is nice on that - new ones are just wimpy lol. , but battery life is much better.

Do a google on the sony dej 2000 , it's discontinued and you might find one under 100.00 ( I really like that player).


edit: was looking to see the model of the panasonic I had and ran across this:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Panas...oductDetail.do

looks like it has a line out , by the picture- I had the ct710

 

[LFC_SL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by terrymx then there is a slimmer, alluminum one i think called dne10 which is pretty similar the top of the line sony is dne20, that one should be excelent but costly.

the DNE10 is pretty cheap online. If you can go without the enhancements of the DNE20, get this one. I have it and it has nice clear sound. I have been using MP3 DAPs for 2 years and only got this due to its cheap price and nice, all metal body. The sound reminded why CD got mainstream, and MP3 DAPs still have some way to go yet! - though they are getting there

 

[terrymx]

no hd players i heard impressed me as much as pcdp yet. they probably have to be the size of that huge neuros to sound good, or the jukebox 3.

i'm waiting for all the hd players to advance and the pcdp to get cheap and i'm just going to buy a whole bunch of pcdp and collect them. sweeeetttttt.

either that or a pcdp that play dvdr-mp3.

 

[crazychimp132]

I'll be going into Circuit City tomorrow morning to take a look at the SL-CT720. I have a feeling that the hole that looks like a line out may be the DC jack.

Everything else that has been suggested so far is over $100 (aside from the iRivers, which apparently have inaccurate sound) and that is really my limit.

Also, by modified sound I meant sound with modifications made with the intentions of changing the sound. MP3 doesn't do this. I can't tell the difference between an MP3 and the original when doing a blind test.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

crazychimp132,

I'm afraid that you won't find anything at all with a line out in your price range. None of the current model Panasonics officially distributed in North America have even a pseudo-line-out, let alone a dedicated jack. (You could emulate a "line out" on those Panasonics using the headphone out - but then, you'll have to turn up the volume to maximum, and you may get distortion.)

 

[D-EJ915]

Note that you cannot fast-forward or reverse through MP3 files with Panasonic units!

If you can deal without an "EQ" then I'd suggest the D-NE1 like terry suggested, I think the D-NE900 & later has better MP3 support, but the D-NE1 has a separate line jack. It's really up to personal taste.

 

[crazychimp132]

The D-NE900 is on Amazon for $120, which I think might be a possibility if I'm left with no other options. I can't find the D-NE1 at any familiar stores and it's even more expensive than the 900. I'm still going to take a look at the Panasonic tomorrow morning because it would be the most convenient to buy and it's within my set price range. If I'm not satisfied with the Panasonic, perhaps I will end up going over $100 and getting the D-NE900. However, that might not even be possible because this will be a gift for me and the spending limit is set at $100.

 

[Drpepper]

I was looking for a cheap CD player for a vacation, didn't want to take anything nice on the beach. While poking around @ Wal-Mart, I found the Durabrand (Lenoxx) 968. It has all the criteria you mention, and actually has a nice sound. It's $24.92 and if you don't care for it, it's Wal-Mart - return it, no hassles.
OK, let the flames begin.

 

[crazychimp132]

I went with the D-NE900 and am satisfied so far. It sounds quite good to me. I find I am noticing details in the music I had not noticed before whilst using the Zen Micro. Also, it seems to make the sound more natural, easier to listen to. Perhaps it's placebo, because I have only listened to this for a day so far. I'm listening using the line out to a Porta Corda 2 to HD600s. I briefly played around with the custom equalizer and decided it was useless. Or maybe I can't figure it out. I can only seem to change 3 different frequency ranges at once, even though I have 9 options choose from. That seems silly to me. Other than that, I am impressed.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.