Steve - Nice short review.
I've been lurking here for a few months. This will be one of my first posts.
I bought the Sony D-NE300 five weeks ago, before Steve even started this thread.
Sound quality is great and very clear, way better than my crappy Panasonic SL-MP50. I only listen to MP3 CDs and the occasional audio CD. I don't have a use for ATRAC3plus. Battery life is the best I've experienced.
I don't like the EQ. Everyone will have their own opinion about this.
*begin rambling*
I loved Megabass since the early Discmans. Then Sony made the very crappy "Groove" sound which I hated. Then came Digital Megabass which I also loved. Now there is the EQ which I'm not fond of.
Now some people say that Digital Megabass distorts the sound too much. It does distort it a little, but not enough for me to be distracted by it.
I use Sennheiser MX400 earbuds. I love earbuds, but don't like canalphones or headphones. I also don't like to shove earbuds into my ears because it hurts during long listening sessions. I just like to wear them a little loose on my ears.
The EQ has 3 presets (soft, active, heavy). Even using the "heavy" setting, I get weak bass. Then I tried using the custom EQ. I increased the bass freq (I tried all 3 ranges) as far as it can go and still get weak bass.
Then I borrowed my brother's Sony D-NE510 (predecessor of the D-NE300). I set the Digital Megabass to high and voila I get the heavy bass I want.
My brother agreed to trade me his D-NE510 for my D-NE300. He doesn't really care about bass all that much. So it all worked out in the end.
It looks like Sony is eliminating Digital Megabass in favor of the EQ in all new models.
*end rambling*
The D-NE300 is still a very good buy for people who have good headphones or don't care too much for heavy bass.