[jlo mein]

So for the last 3 days (argh

) i have been thumbing through the search feature on this site looking for info and comparisons on all these pcdp's.

From general opinions, this is the info i think i have picked up. The 825 is a piece of junk and should not be considered. The 915 is hit and miss with quality, but really good when it works. The 925 has terrible phones out, but is an awesome, small unit paired with an amp. The 1000 is the 925 taken to a slightly new level. The 725 is satisfactory compared to the other units, but great for the price.

So thats what i've found. Anyone want to comment/add/change on anything i've said?

So far i think i may be leaning to the 725. It has optical out (all of them do), which is a plus for my MD unit. It's also A LOT cheaper than the other ones in Canada. The 725 is $200CAN (though mite be $150 at some places), while the 825 is $250, and the 925 and 1000 are $300. I cant find a price for the 915 anywhere, so i basically ruled that one out.

 

[neb]

Having owned a 725 and now 925 I can say the 925 can sound alright with the right headphones. I'm using the Sony 888 earbuds with it and they're a pretty good match.

The 725 is actually pretty good. It's got an lcd on the unit, uses standard batteries and reasonable build quality. I only replaced mine because I got the 925 cheap.

This years Sony units really, really suck. The build quality seems to get worse every year. Clunky, cheap looking, cheap feeling plastic. The PCDP equivalent of the disposable camera.

Neb

 

[jlo mein]

Neb:

from your post about the 725 and 925 im assuming that your talking about the phones out, not the line out.

If ppl will look at my profile, they will see that i have the grado 60's, sony ex70, and koss 50 (which i dont use much).

I want a pairing of headphone and pcdp that will sound good. The headphones that matter the most are the grado 60's. The sony's come after that. I dont use my koss 50's much.

Someone in a review said grados and 725 might be a good match. Is this true? Also, I found that the 721 is the same, except it includes just an ac adaptor, the extra battery thing, and a carry case. Does the 725 come with a carry case?

 

[Eagle_Driver]

jlo mein, the 725 also comes with a carrying case - but I don't use the carrying case at all; you'll have to take the entire PCDP out of that "neveready" (hard to use) case just to change CDs.

The 721 is the same as the 725, but no remote.

 

[jlo mein]

Well if i am going to get the 725 or 721, im thinking the 721 eagle_driver. I mean, i can save a few bucks if i can find it. I will prolly use my MD display remote with it anyways since i think it will work, and im going to get some Energizer NiMH also.

So no one thinks i should get the 925 or anything else?

 

[Flasken]

Well, the 925 is really a great unit, nothing bad about it, the remote is great.

So the head-out is not 'that' good? I think people are being too harsh about the sound of this thing... Use it with an amp at home, when going portable you probably wont be able to hear the difference and would probably also be willing to make a small compromise to get the smaller size and cool looks. The 1000 is ugly compared.

 

[The Quality Guru]

I have two recommendations for you. If you plan to eventually get an headphone amp, like a JMT, then you ought to get a Sony, but if you have no plans to upgrade and plan to use the headphone out, then you should probably consider the Panasonics, as their headphone outs are better then those of the Sony PCDP's, curiously. I however, would much prefer a good line-out rather than a good headphone out, considering I will never ue the headphoe out. Your situation may be different.

I searched the Headwize very thouroughly one day, and I found out many interesting things! In regards to top-of-the-line Panasonic PCDP's vs. top-of-the-line Sony PCDP's -- as far as the line-outs are concerned -- many posts in the archives said that the Sony's win. I mainly looked at the posts w/ the 925 vs. all of the best Panasonic players, but some people who evaluated the
line-outs with reference headphones did tend to favor the Sony's calling them "more refined."

I do believe, however, that the electronics in the 925/955/1000/DEJ01 are probably very similar, if not the same, and probably have little or no variation in sound. The 925 is a very good player and his a very good line out, and definitely looks nicer and more 'high-end' than the 955 and 1000.

To be blunt, I'd get a 925. They're rather inexpensive now that they're retired Sony models, and they are better than the newer replacement models, so that, IMO, is quite a good deal!

Though, I would warn that the headphone out on the 925 is not incredibly excellent, and that you should definitely consider a JMT CHA-47 for the best sound . . . but don't think that this is now any less of a bargain! Here's why: Since the price of the 925 is now much less due to its retired state, the price of a 925+CHA-47 will be roughly equal to the new cost of a D-EJ955 or 1000. There is no doubt about the fact that you'll be getting better sound from the used 925 and JMT combo than you will be out of any other new PCDP alone.
Just an idea for a great portable system (in fact- what I just decribed to you IS my portable system!)

 

[jlo mein]

curious...does the 925 come with a carring case or cloth bag??

 

[neb]

Quote:

Originally posted by jlo mein Neb: from your post about the 725 and 925 im assuming that your talking about the phones out, not the line out. Someone in a review said grados and 725 might be a good match. Is this true? Also, I found that the 721 is the same, except it includes just an ac adaptor, the extra battery thing, and a carry case. Does the 725 come with a carry case?

Yes, I was talking about the headphone out.

The 925 and 725 come with the same black cloth bag - not really a case as such.

One annoyance with the Grado and 925 is that they don't plug into the remote. So if you want to change the megabass setting you have to pull the headphones out, plug the remote in, change the setting, pull the remote out, plug the headphones back in!!! I haven't used my Grado's much with the 925 for this reason.

Neb

 

[jlo mein]

Quote:

One annoyance with the Grado and 925 is that they don't plug into the remote. So if you want to change the megabass setting you have to pull the headphones out, plug the remote in, change the setting, pull the remote out, plug the headphones back in!!! I haven't used my Grado's much with the 925 for this reason.

Well, i could just switch it to my MD display remote, thats not a problem. I have the remote that comes with the sony MZ-R50 recorder, which allows you JUST enough space *phew*

to use grados with the remote.

Now im seeing contrasts here. Neb said the 725 comes with a black cloth bag (im assuming its similar to the drawstring bags sony uses with MD's), and Eagle_Driver says it comes with a CARRY CASE. Did i get you wrong Eagle_Driver? Did you mean a carry bag? From your post, i assumed that it came with a carry case much like the one that comes with the sony 915, which tightly wraps it, and has a hand strap.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

The D-EJ72# and the D-EJ925 came with a "case" that tightly wraps around it, with a built-in hand strap. But the case's opening is on the opposite end of the case relative to where the PCDP's door opens at. Thus, you'll have to take the PCDP completely out of the case/bag just to change CDs.

 

[jlo mein]

well i pretty much knew that in having a case for the pcdp i would have to remove it to change cd's so thats not a problem.

No one else with comments?

Is it worth it to get a 925 over a 725? I mean, i know its smaller, but there is a little price difference. The 725 is $200CAN, while the 925 is $300CAN. Is the 925 $100CAN better?

 

[e-r0ck]

I have the 715 which is apparently the same thing as the 725 minus the radio functions and I think its pretty good. I do however want to get the 925 eventually because it is smaller and has better battery life.

One thing that I despise about this player is that I can't figure out one detail. The time display counts up. There's no mention of being able to change this in the manual (count down track, count down the time left on entire CD) and there's no button that control this individually. However, every once in awhile the time display will change and start counting down. I have no clue how I do it. Eventually it goes away and counts up again. Really not a big deal, but still, its chaps my arse.

I also dont like how the remote that comes with it doesn't have a pause button. It has a Resume feature so when you stop it, it starts back up at the same spot, but sometimes the startup takes a little longer than you want and can get annoying. I'm just sayin the bad features though. I still really like the unit.

 

[jlo mein]

ok, now i've PM'ed JMT about an amp...so i'm a little less worried about the phones out.

Im also a little lower on cash as well

. So far as it seems, i think im going for the 925 if i have the money, 725 if i have less money.

Anyone comment?

Maybe just the 725...since i'm contemplating either some sony v6's or senn 580's.....senn's will definitely set me back a pretty penny...

 

[andrzejpw]

any reason you're not considering the pana 570?