Wow talk about conflicting views.
Here's what I think, and all my opinions are based off the headphone jack output, which IMO is the real way to use a PORTABLE player.
Not to wire things to the portable player equivilent to more than what the portable player weighs and dwarf it in size.
1. Older Sonys starting from about 1994 definitely have a punchier, cleaner, more dynamic sound than Panasonics, IF you turn on the first Mega Bass boost step. If you listen to it plain vanilla, then it will sound warm, but still not as warm as Panasonics. But if you turn on the first MB boost, which BTW was VERY usable back and not a bunch of crap like it is today, the sound changed into something totally different than how a Panasonic sounded. And thus begins the preference split between Sony owners and Panasonic owners. Sony's older bass boosts actually boosted the treble as well to compensate for the boosted bass, which is why the boost was much more usuable than it is today, where only the bass is boosted. The 2nd bass boost would actually boost treble to the point of being too bright in fact. The bass back then was also much tighter than the current day Sonys, which have horribly boomy bass boosts. As far as preferences go, these players are by far my favorite soundwise, hence my 7 year old Sony D-465.
2. Panasonics have always sounded warm to me regardless of which generation, and there was no compensation for treble like older Sonys have in the bass boosts, so Panasonics have always been pretty much plain vanilla in terms of tweakability of the sound. The bass boosts on Panasonics have always sucked, overstrong and boomy. Either you like the way it sounds out of the box, or you don't. Now with the purchase of a Japanese CT-570, I was able to understand just why Panasonics sounded warm. It's actually their design goal behind their players. Right there on the front of the 570's box was a statement that said "Panasonic: the player with emotions." The same statement was also on an Panasonic MD player I owned for a while, which also sounded warm to me. Quite understandably, to invoke a more emotional, romanticized sound, you would boost the midrange, which is the region where most human voices come out through.
3. It seems nowdays that Sony is taking lessons from Panasonic, because ever since their G-protection lineup came out, their players no longer boosted treble with the bass when using the bass boost, and by default, their players sounded very warm. Boosting the bass created a horribly overstrong, boomy bass. It's like a game to see who can produce the most overblown bass, with Sony winning the game. So now Sonys are only usuable plain vanilla as well. And given that, comparing the 570 and a current day Sony, I would take the Panasonic. The Panasonic provides a slight bit more treble extension and keeps a tighter bass. More detailed, while maintaining that warm midrange. But then preference wise, I would prefer my D-465 over either one. Panasonic got that "emotional" sound down pat, while IMO Sony is overdoing it to being murky and muddy.
As for line outs with headphone...no comment there. It wouldn't be a portable if I used it that way.
Here's what I think, and all my opinions are based off the headphone jack output, which IMO is the real way to use a PORTABLE player.
1. Older Sonys starting from about 1994 definitely have a punchier, cleaner, more dynamic sound than Panasonics, IF you turn on the first Mega Bass boost step. If you listen to it plain vanilla, then it will sound warm, but still not as warm as Panasonics. But if you turn on the first MB boost, which BTW was VERY usable back and not a bunch of crap like it is today, the sound changed into something totally different than how a Panasonic sounded. And thus begins the preference split between Sony owners and Panasonic owners. Sony's older bass boosts actually boosted the treble as well to compensate for the boosted bass, which is why the boost was much more usuable than it is today, where only the bass is boosted. The 2nd bass boost would actually boost treble to the point of being too bright in fact. The bass back then was also much tighter than the current day Sonys, which have horribly boomy bass boosts. As far as preferences go, these players are by far my favorite soundwise, hence my 7 year old Sony D-465.
2. Panasonics have always sounded warm to me regardless of which generation, and there was no compensation for treble like older Sonys have in the bass boosts, so Panasonics have always been pretty much plain vanilla in terms of tweakability of the sound. The bass boosts on Panasonics have always sucked, overstrong and boomy. Either you like the way it sounds out of the box, or you don't. Now with the purchase of a Japanese CT-570, I was able to understand just why Panasonics sounded warm. It's actually their design goal behind their players. Right there on the front of the 570's box was a statement that said "Panasonic: the player with emotions." The same statement was also on an Panasonic MD player I owned for a while, which also sounded warm to me. Quite understandably, to invoke a more emotional, romanticized sound, you would boost the midrange, which is the region where most human voices come out through.
3. It seems nowdays that Sony is taking lessons from Panasonic, because ever since their G-protection lineup came out, their players no longer boosted treble with the bass when using the bass boost, and by default, their players sounded very warm. Boosting the bass created a horribly overstrong, boomy bass. It's like a game to see who can produce the most overblown bass, with Sony winning the game. So now Sonys are only usuable plain vanilla as well. And given that, comparing the 570 and a current day Sony, I would take the Panasonic. The Panasonic provides a slight bit more treble extension and keeps a tighter bass. More detailed, while maintaining that warm midrange. But then preference wise, I would prefer my D-465 over either one. Panasonic got that "emotional" sound down pat, while IMO Sony is overdoing it to being murky and muddy.
As for line outs with headphone...no comment there. It wouldn't be a portable if I used it that way.
