delenda est Sony
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2002
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Yes, there is life beyond the D25! All the hardcore lads here are always telling all of us to get the venerable Sony, named after a Klingon battlecruiser and manufactured of depleted uranium coated titanium alloys. Sure, it produces enough milliwatts to power a small town, and it has a certain Tiger Tank aesthetic to it, but you have to buy it from a company that has em stored in industrial vaseline, it may not work when it arrives, it weighs as much as Dirty Harry's Magnum, is just about as portable, has no skip protection (because that compresses the music, and we all know how unSPEAKable that is...) and best of all you have to buy/build your own power source for it. It's as if Car and Driver kept telling everyone to ignore new cars and get an old 69 Hemi Cuda...
Well, what if you don't want the Battleship Iowa? Easy---per Head Fi, the Panasonic 470 and 570. 2 or 3 stores in the U.S still sell them, for $75 plus. Although infinitely more modern than Ol Ironsides, these players still have pretty minimal battery lives, and also some people like to buy things that they might not like from a local bricks and mortar store so you can bring it back if it sucks. So in a spirit of bold nonconformist adventure, here are my brief notes on 3 PCDPs that you can actually find at a store near you. And you can even carry them around with you too!
Sony DFJ61 ($99, Best Buy)
Features: Has an AM/FM tuner, gets roughly 54 hrs from 2 AA batteries. Features dual level MegaBass. First level works alright with some music, but is too boomy and overpowering for music with even a moderate level of bass input. The second level is just for deaf eejits who like thumping sounds, and makes the SportaPros seem subtle and delicate in comparison. Has a hold switch, and a line out port for all you headphone amp users. (Using the normal headphone jack on a PCDP means you use the cruddy internal amp as well, and your music quality is somewhat degraded in signal clarity. You won't run screaming in horror, but a line out port is always a nice feature...) Has a useful and accurate battery level meter but also an annoying unmarked volume dial. Hint to those who care: range of the volume here is exactly 5 turns of the dial from one side of the opening to the other side. 2.5 turns=50% volume. Oh, and you'll all be surprised to hear that the headphones that come for free with the 61 are...really. really lame. Oh, maybe you all won't be that surprised...
The 61 is light, but not all that slim and kind of bulbous, but it still fit easily in most pockets. The 61 is all plastic and is not too sturdy. I dropped it on a carpeted floor once from about 2 feet and it has felt sort of loose and rattly since, though it still works.
Sound and Performance: Sony has a whopping 5 mW/channel in here, which sounds miserable on paper. Yet through some miracle of engineering, the 61 was consistently the loudest of the CD players here. Neutral sound in its unbassed mode, but turning on the bass boost ruins things quick. Battery life is as long as promised, and sound quality only takes a hit when you are down to the final out of 4 power capacity segments. Even then, there is no serious degradation anywhere except volume, and even that is minimal.
The "G protection" (skip protection) is bullet proof, and gave no skips whatsoever even when I held the unit upside down and shook it. This system uses a hybrid of mechanical fast recovery and a compressed buffer. My days as a symphony conductor are long over, but to my astute ears, none of the various sorts of music I listened to seemed to suffer from the compression effect. I found this skip protection to be unobtrusive, effective, and useful, so I would call G protection a neat idea worthy of emulation. Panasonic agrees with me...
Summary: Sounds good, plays long, fairly portable. Kind of fragile and looks pretty dull. Would be a fine buy at $75, but $100 smackers is maybe a bit much for this aging design. Maybe buy it on line to enhance value a bit...
Panasonic 590: (J and R, $100)
Features: Claimed 62 hr battery life. Yep, the heir of the 470/570 is here. Unfortunately, kinda like a younger Kennedy, this line has not moved in a very pleasant or meaningful direction. First, the line out tradition is gone. You will have to use the headphone jack for an amp connection. Next, Pana has gone nuts to slimsize their players, and this is only slightly bigger than a cd case. Well, ain't that good? Nope. To accommodate the anorexic case, the batteries are now offboard. Well, to be precise, you can use 2 flat Pana proprietary nickel cadmium rechargeable batteries (supplied) as an internal onboard power source. Pana claims these give you 12.5 hrs, but I was getting 5-8 hrs, and even that was variable. I also know from using these same sort of Pana rechargeables before that they have short lifespans and just die unexpectedly after several months use. Couldn't Pana make nickel metal hydride rechargeables for this, you ask? (More power, can be recharged more times) Well, yes they can, but as you only paid a mere $100 for this CD player, you peon, you must buy the NiMH batts from Pana for an extra charge. Thanks. Jerks!
If you want to supplement the pitiful internal batteries, you can stick 2 AAs in a tube that looks like a little baton and then connect the tube to the CD player. This adds roughly 50 hrs of battery life (62 hrs total if you believe Pana) but does little for portability, as the skinny lightweight player is hampered with the ugly bulky baton that will not fit easily in a pocket. If you used this setup with a portable amp you would look pretty pitiful. Don't know what the hell the lads at Matsu****a (Panas parent company) were thinking here, but it was probably "copy Sony" as Sonys own new ultra skinny CD players have the same connected tube feature. (Does no one remember AAA batteries when designing skinny players? Or must they give us ever increasing battery hour totals in ever slimmer shells even if we must strap D cells to our wrists?) To show what sort of fools they think we are, the manual warns you at several points to avoid swinging the CD player around by the baton cord. Hm, doesn't everyone just have that natural urge to swing their $100 buck CD players around by a thin cord??
Another joyous feature: the "EQ" button (which might lead one to believe that you were getting, oh, say....AN EQUALIZER!!! But no. Instead this has 4 settings: off, Xbass (simulates D-Day artillery from "Pfc Ryan"), "train" mode (to avoid annoying fellow passenger-san on the subway; how very Japanese!) which is bascially a reduced dynamic range mode that sounds like every song you are playing has just been introduced by Kasey Kasem, and the peculiar "live' setting which might be better called the "shrill" or "quickly fatiguing" setting as it boosts treble to an unpleasant degree. So those are your options with EQ: unbearable bass, castrated dynamic range, unbearable treble and finally the merciful "off" position.
Shell is made from lightweight metal, and the unit seems durable. There is a hold button, and digital numeric volume control. A battery level indicator is also found. No tuner. It's also slim and easy to carry around. The supplied headphones are the worst here and would embarrass Coby with their rotten sound and cheap build quality.
They have also copied Sonys G Protection, but they seem to use compression more than mechanical recovery. See below...
Sound and Performance: Has 8 mW per channel, somewhat less than the 10 mW of the old 470/570 glory days. Surprisingly. the 590 sounds very weak no matter what the power source. I know enough not to deafen myself, but even to get a reasonable listening level (peeking at 75 dB) I had to crank the volume up past 80%. The sound was also curiously flat and dead, with a shallow soundstage and a seemingly vast listening distance. Very unpleasant. Using various phones (even Grados and Etys) did very little for the rotten sound here.
Summary: Between the rotten sound, idiotic power solutions, inane EQ settings, and lack of a line out, it is hard to recognize this as the product of a company that used to make the 470. Instead of just conceding the fact that Sony players have longer battery lives, Pana has emulated their rival as much as they could here, and they ended up with a compromised design that will appeal to few users. Not recommended, unless you really like the idea of slinging that cute little case around by that neat baton cord...
Panasonic Shockwave 895 (J and R, $100)
Features: 25 hr battery life. G protection copycat system that seems to harm the music less than in the 590. (The 895 is a bit older of a design.) Has a hold button. And a line out. Most of the case is made from aluminum and seems very sturdy. It is also pretty thin though, flatter than the J61, but not anywhere near as slim as the 590. EQ button also is not an equalizer (been reading too much Orwell, Panasonic??) but instead turns Xbass on and off, and also activates the "VMSS" mode which only works with the VMSS headphones that come with the unit. Case is handsome and is easily the most rugged of the 3 shells. Uses 2 AA batteries and gets roughly 25 hrs from em, which seems right to me after testing a bit. Volume control is a numeric dial and is somewhat flawed inasmuch as it turns too freely and is easily led astray as it moves around a pocket or bag. There is no battery level indicator, only a "sudden death" indicator that flashes 30 seconds before you're out of juice. No tuner.
Supplied headphones are the patented dumb Brainshaker VMSS headphones, which vibrate at low frequencies, like the Nobel-prize winning Evergreen Rumble FX headphones. They sound pretty rotten, but are probably the best original issue phones of this bunch, and the vibrtating feature will keep those of you who like Empty V's Real World amused for a little while.
Sound and Performance: We have a winnuh! The Shockwave has 9 mW/channel, and sounds only slightly less loud than the Sony. Sound is neutral and soundstage is decent. The batteries last as long as they ought to, the line out is appreciated, and the unit is both attractively and durably designed. The music compression system seems about as inoffensive as the Sony system, but also slightly less effective, inasmuch that in extreme shaking conditions, I got a few skips to happen, though recovery was very quick.
Summary: Though hampered with the shortest battery life, the many nice features, good sound, and sturdy build of this player will appeal to many. The VMSS headphones are a cute gimmick, but the durability and value of this player are its main appeal.
In a nutshell:
DFJ61 for battery misers.
SW895 for most others.
590 for trendoid masochists who care nought for their music.
Hope this helps to those of you who shiver at the thought of buying a Reagan era CD player. If anyone has any specifci questions, feel free to ask, as these comparisons were not meant to be comprehensive. Tell me what you'd like to know, and I'll give you the answer when I can.
Regards to al!!
Well, what if you don't want the Battleship Iowa? Easy---per Head Fi, the Panasonic 470 and 570. 2 or 3 stores in the U.S still sell them, for $75 plus. Although infinitely more modern than Ol Ironsides, these players still have pretty minimal battery lives, and also some people like to buy things that they might not like from a local bricks and mortar store so you can bring it back if it sucks. So in a spirit of bold nonconformist adventure, here are my brief notes on 3 PCDPs that you can actually find at a store near you. And you can even carry them around with you too!
Sony DFJ61 ($99, Best Buy)
Features: Has an AM/FM tuner, gets roughly 54 hrs from 2 AA batteries. Features dual level MegaBass. First level works alright with some music, but is too boomy and overpowering for music with even a moderate level of bass input. The second level is just for deaf eejits who like thumping sounds, and makes the SportaPros seem subtle and delicate in comparison. Has a hold switch, and a line out port for all you headphone amp users. (Using the normal headphone jack on a PCDP means you use the cruddy internal amp as well, and your music quality is somewhat degraded in signal clarity. You won't run screaming in horror, but a line out port is always a nice feature...) Has a useful and accurate battery level meter but also an annoying unmarked volume dial. Hint to those who care: range of the volume here is exactly 5 turns of the dial from one side of the opening to the other side. 2.5 turns=50% volume. Oh, and you'll all be surprised to hear that the headphones that come for free with the 61 are...really. really lame. Oh, maybe you all won't be that surprised...
The 61 is light, but not all that slim and kind of bulbous, but it still fit easily in most pockets. The 61 is all plastic and is not too sturdy. I dropped it on a carpeted floor once from about 2 feet and it has felt sort of loose and rattly since, though it still works.
Sound and Performance: Sony has a whopping 5 mW/channel in here, which sounds miserable on paper. Yet through some miracle of engineering, the 61 was consistently the loudest of the CD players here. Neutral sound in its unbassed mode, but turning on the bass boost ruins things quick. Battery life is as long as promised, and sound quality only takes a hit when you are down to the final out of 4 power capacity segments. Even then, there is no serious degradation anywhere except volume, and even that is minimal.
The "G protection" (skip protection) is bullet proof, and gave no skips whatsoever even when I held the unit upside down and shook it. This system uses a hybrid of mechanical fast recovery and a compressed buffer. My days as a symphony conductor are long over, but to my astute ears, none of the various sorts of music I listened to seemed to suffer from the compression effect. I found this skip protection to be unobtrusive, effective, and useful, so I would call G protection a neat idea worthy of emulation. Panasonic agrees with me...
Summary: Sounds good, plays long, fairly portable. Kind of fragile and looks pretty dull. Would be a fine buy at $75, but $100 smackers is maybe a bit much for this aging design. Maybe buy it on line to enhance value a bit...
Panasonic 590: (J and R, $100)
Features: Claimed 62 hr battery life. Yep, the heir of the 470/570 is here. Unfortunately, kinda like a younger Kennedy, this line has not moved in a very pleasant or meaningful direction. First, the line out tradition is gone. You will have to use the headphone jack for an amp connection. Next, Pana has gone nuts to slimsize their players, and this is only slightly bigger than a cd case. Well, ain't that good? Nope. To accommodate the anorexic case, the batteries are now offboard. Well, to be precise, you can use 2 flat Pana proprietary nickel cadmium rechargeable batteries (supplied) as an internal onboard power source. Pana claims these give you 12.5 hrs, but I was getting 5-8 hrs, and even that was variable. I also know from using these same sort of Pana rechargeables before that they have short lifespans and just die unexpectedly after several months use. Couldn't Pana make nickel metal hydride rechargeables for this, you ask? (More power, can be recharged more times) Well, yes they can, but as you only paid a mere $100 for this CD player, you peon, you must buy the NiMH batts from Pana for an extra charge. Thanks. Jerks!
If you want to supplement the pitiful internal batteries, you can stick 2 AAs in a tube that looks like a little baton and then connect the tube to the CD player. This adds roughly 50 hrs of battery life (62 hrs total if you believe Pana) but does little for portability, as the skinny lightweight player is hampered with the ugly bulky baton that will not fit easily in a pocket. If you used this setup with a portable amp you would look pretty pitiful. Don't know what the hell the lads at Matsu****a (Panas parent company) were thinking here, but it was probably "copy Sony" as Sonys own new ultra skinny CD players have the same connected tube feature. (Does no one remember AAA batteries when designing skinny players? Or must they give us ever increasing battery hour totals in ever slimmer shells even if we must strap D cells to our wrists?) To show what sort of fools they think we are, the manual warns you at several points to avoid swinging the CD player around by the baton cord. Hm, doesn't everyone just have that natural urge to swing their $100 buck CD players around by a thin cord??
Another joyous feature: the "EQ" button (which might lead one to believe that you were getting, oh, say....AN EQUALIZER!!! But no. Instead this has 4 settings: off, Xbass (simulates D-Day artillery from "Pfc Ryan"), "train" mode (to avoid annoying fellow passenger-san on the subway; how very Japanese!) which is bascially a reduced dynamic range mode that sounds like every song you are playing has just been introduced by Kasey Kasem, and the peculiar "live' setting which might be better called the "shrill" or "quickly fatiguing" setting as it boosts treble to an unpleasant degree. So those are your options with EQ: unbearable bass, castrated dynamic range, unbearable treble and finally the merciful "off" position.
Shell is made from lightweight metal, and the unit seems durable. There is a hold button, and digital numeric volume control. A battery level indicator is also found. No tuner. It's also slim and easy to carry around. The supplied headphones are the worst here and would embarrass Coby with their rotten sound and cheap build quality.
They have also copied Sonys G Protection, but they seem to use compression more than mechanical recovery. See below...
Sound and Performance: Has 8 mW per channel, somewhat less than the 10 mW of the old 470/570 glory days. Surprisingly. the 590 sounds very weak no matter what the power source. I know enough not to deafen myself, but even to get a reasonable listening level (peeking at 75 dB) I had to crank the volume up past 80%. The sound was also curiously flat and dead, with a shallow soundstage and a seemingly vast listening distance. Very unpleasant. Using various phones (even Grados and Etys) did very little for the rotten sound here.
Summary: Between the rotten sound, idiotic power solutions, inane EQ settings, and lack of a line out, it is hard to recognize this as the product of a company that used to make the 470. Instead of just conceding the fact that Sony players have longer battery lives, Pana has emulated their rival as much as they could here, and they ended up with a compromised design that will appeal to few users. Not recommended, unless you really like the idea of slinging that cute little case around by that neat baton cord...
Panasonic Shockwave 895 (J and R, $100)
Features: 25 hr battery life. G protection copycat system that seems to harm the music less than in the 590. (The 895 is a bit older of a design.) Has a hold button. And a line out. Most of the case is made from aluminum and seems very sturdy. It is also pretty thin though, flatter than the J61, but not anywhere near as slim as the 590. EQ button also is not an equalizer (been reading too much Orwell, Panasonic??) but instead turns Xbass on and off, and also activates the "VMSS" mode which only works with the VMSS headphones that come with the unit. Case is handsome and is easily the most rugged of the 3 shells. Uses 2 AA batteries and gets roughly 25 hrs from em, which seems right to me after testing a bit. Volume control is a numeric dial and is somewhat flawed inasmuch as it turns too freely and is easily led astray as it moves around a pocket or bag. There is no battery level indicator, only a "sudden death" indicator that flashes 30 seconds before you're out of juice. No tuner.
Supplied headphones are the patented dumb Brainshaker VMSS headphones, which vibrate at low frequencies, like the Nobel-prize winning Evergreen Rumble FX headphones. They sound pretty rotten, but are probably the best original issue phones of this bunch, and the vibrtating feature will keep those of you who like Empty V's Real World amused for a little while.
Sound and Performance: We have a winnuh! The Shockwave has 9 mW/channel, and sounds only slightly less loud than the Sony. Sound is neutral and soundstage is decent. The batteries last as long as they ought to, the line out is appreciated, and the unit is both attractively and durably designed. The music compression system seems about as inoffensive as the Sony system, but also slightly less effective, inasmuch that in extreme shaking conditions, I got a few skips to happen, though recovery was very quick.
Summary: Though hampered with the shortest battery life, the many nice features, good sound, and sturdy build of this player will appeal to many. The VMSS headphones are a cute gimmick, but the durability and value of this player are its main appeal.
In a nutshell:
DFJ61 for battery misers.
SW895 for most others.
590 for trendoid masochists who care nought for their music.
Hope this helps to those of you who shiver at the thought of buying a Reagan era CD player. If anyone has any specifci questions, feel free to ask, as these comparisons were not meant to be comprehensive. Tell me what you'd like to know, and I'll give you the answer when I can.
Regards to al!!
