[stevesolo]

My Sony D-25S arrived today. I am very impressed with the construction quality and the fidelity.

Why is that they cant produce a portable CD player wiith anti skip today that is built and sounds like this?

 

[LamerDeluxe (tm)]

Probably because it would cost a small fortune (remember these discmans used to cost somewhere around $300 to $400).

It would probably not sell very well, as many people wouldn't care about the audio quality, but rather about flashy features, an overly long anti-skip time and overly long battery life.

BTW: I find the audio quality is even better when using an external battery pack, instead of an adaptor. Though a quality adaptor might give the same result.

 

[Gariver]

In terms of sound, is the Sony D-25S the best portable CDP ever made? Comments welcomed!!!

 

[LamerDeluxe (tm)]

Some say the Denon DCP-150 is the best (most accurate) sounding PCDP you can get. I'm trying to appreciate the sound of the one I have, but maybe I'm powering it wrongly or maybe I'm not using the right headphones, the D-25s sounds better to my ears at the moment.

Others say the Sony D-555 has the best sound, I should have mine tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to trying it out. It's regarded as the king of the Discmans by a number of people here.

Then there's the legendary Optimus 3400, which received a lot of pro and con comments. I hope to be getting one pretty soon.

And then there's the slightly more recent Sony's like the D-303, D-515 and D-777, which also receive favourable reviews.

As you may notice, it also depends on taste. An accurate sounding Discman might not sound as good to your ears as one with characteristics you like. For instance, the megabass of the D-99 is pretty good when you compare it to the megabass of more recent discmans, and gives this discman kind of a cinematic sound that works well with some types of music. It's not that accurate sounding though.
The choice of the right Discman also depends a bit on what kind of music you listen to.

 

[stevesolo]

I am currently powering my D-25S with a Radio Shack 273-1900 power pack set at 9V running 650Ma. This is a nice little unit in that it is a combination of an AC adopter, it charges 4 AA batteries and once charged can provide portable DC power the D-25S.
I am just blown away by the construction quality and the fidelity of this little unit. It is solid and looks very cool. Its a shame that it lacks any anti skip and portability.
I wonder if there is any current portable CD/MP3 player that can produce comparable sound without an amp?

 

[Rizumu]

I've heard the headphone out on the iMP-400 is one of the best out there now, and I'm not just saying that because I own one.

 

[LamerDeluxe (tm)]

Yes, the iMp-400 is indeed said to be very good. You can also adjust a lot of tonal settings.

The Grundig Mystixx 9100 has 2 x 15mW output (not sure at which impedance, but a newer player of theirs only lists 5mW). Their regular cheaper players also have that amount of power and are said to sound quite good.

This Grundig player apparently received very good reviews, I only read one personal review from someone claiming to be a bit of an audiophile which was less positive.

 

[stevesolo]

Will the IMP-400 produce the same sound quality as the D-25S without an amp? What is the mW output rating of the IMP-400?

I am not sure of what the mW output is of the D-25S but I think I remember reading 18mW a side. I also realize that it is not just the power output that dictates the sound quality but the quality of the electronics and the opamp.

 

[Rizumu]

I can't say since I haven't heard the D-25s to compare, but here's what the manual reads for the headphone out.

Headphone output:
12 mW(L)+12mW at (16 ohms)Max. Volume
6 mW(L)_6mW at (32 ohms)Max. Volume

 

[LamerDeluxe (tm)]

The D-25s produces 9mW at 32ohms, the iMP-400 6mW at 32 ohms.

I don't expect it to have the same audio quality of the classic Sony's, as no recent PCDP is said to have that kind of quality. Line-out quality might be similar. Don't know what kind of DAC it uses. The Grundig uses an 8-bit DAC with 2 times oversampling, not sure how they are using that to get 16-bit sound.

 

[bdb55]

Quote:

Originally posted by stevesolo Will the IMP-400 produce the same sound quality as the D-25S without an amp?

No! My D-25S is WAY better than my iMP-350, for both line and headphone out. Yes, the 400 is supposed to sound better than the 350, but I highly doubt that it could approach the D-25S.

The 350 is a good player, but it serves a different purpose.