[SliPkNoT]

I bought the 15th Anniversary Sony D-EJ01 Walkman a couple months ago. I bought it off a website refurbished. I decided to buy it after I read the product description.

1. Slide-In Disc Loading
2. Remote
3. Line Out
4. CD-TEXT

And all this other stuff that was said to try to make it worth the ridiculous $400 US price tag. (Note: I paid $150 US)
So of course I was expecting so great audio product that is better than any other PCDP.

WRONG! The minute I took it out the box I noticed how poorly built it was. Also, the disc loading slot had openings that let in dust. So I thought to myself, oh well, at least I know that it will sound good, right? Wrong again. The headphone out was absolutely horrible. I have a $30 PCDP that can play louder with less distortion even! Still, I thought that it might be the supplied headphones. Wrong again! I bought some $30 Sony headphones that go behind the ears, and barely any sound came out of them. Obviously the EJ01 has some serious design problems because it can't drive any headphones at all! Does anyone else notice this?

So, why keep it? Well there isn't much of a reason except that I hear that the Line-Out is great.

Final Thoughts:

1. Complete Ripoff
2. Bad design (slide in disc loading has openings)
3. It scratches CDs unless your very careful.
4. Pathetic power problems (the player doesn't even notice that the rechrageable batteries are in it sometimes)
5. The BASS-BOOST is extremely overdone. It only distorts the sound even more.
6. Possible hissing noise
7. Load motor

Obviously you shouldn't buy this so called "excellent"/"expensive" PCDP unless you like the way it looks, you need CD-TEXT (believe me, you can live without it), and if you enjoy spending several more hundreds of dollars on a headphone amp.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 10

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Yeah, SliPkNoT, Sony has been cutting corners on its headphone amp of late. None of its newer models have a good headphone-out. All have a bloated mid-bass response, no deep bass extension, and rolled-off treble - and some even distort or clip at just over half-volume. And to tell you the truth, I don't like that $30 no-name PCDP at all, either: Playing loud is one thing - but the sound quality itself is downright muddy and murky regardless of volume, and it skips repeatedly if it's being used while walking. I would have to keep the PCDP totally stationary, sitting on something extremely heavy and vibration-proof just to even use it at all, which is totally impractical.

Also, Sony's behind-the-ears headphones aren't particularly efficient, either. In fact, they're significantly less efficient than what their package states in their specifications.

My newest PCDP, a Panasonic SL-CT790, doesn't play as loudly overall as some of my very recent Sony PCDPs - but its sound quality is actually pretty good, and it doesn't distort at high volume settings. Too bad the U.S. and Canadian versions have no line-out at all.

 

[Kubernetes]

Huh? Maybe you just got a lemon. My EJ01 is just fine. No scratched discs, no hissing, no battery problems, no gap in disc slot. My only problem is that the shock protection broke after I dropped it--it's getting repaired this very minute. Bad headphone out? Meh. There's no current player that sounds any better, IMO. If you want good sound, use the line-out and an amp, or be prepared to pay mucho $$$ for a vintage player like a 777 or 905.

 

[SliPkNoT]

I guess it could be possible that I got a defective one. After all, I bought it from a very small store on the web. Also, it was refurbished. However, I have heard a lot of the same complaints similar to mine from other owners.

 

[kevin gilmore]

I have 2 of these, one bought brand new, the other from
the refurb store in milwaukee. Both work perfectly. One
of the 4 batteries likes to discharge itself when it sits for
more than a month, and needs a jump start from an external
power supply so that the player will recognize and recharge
it. (lithium batteries stink!) None of these ultra low power
long play time machines have a headphone out that is
usable. You should recognize this from the start. Build yourself
an appropriate amplifier and use it. The line out on these
units are excellent.

 

[SliPkNoT]

ya, I was thinking of buying a Headroom Cosmic (reference). I put an ad up for a used one. However, I'm not convinced that I should spend that much. I might just get the airhead or something.

 

[Duncan]

Quote:

Originally posted by SliPkNoT ya, I was thinking of buying a Headroom Cosmic (reference). I put an ad up for a used one. However, I'm not convinced that I should spend that much. I might just get the airhead or something.

Get an amp of any description...

One thing that recent Sonys ARE good for is their line outs... by no means a Marantz, but certainly a helluva lot better than the output from the headphone socket

 

[Kubernetes]

Quote:

ya, I was thinking of buying a Headroom Cosmic (reference). I put an ad up for a used one. However, I'm not convinced that I should spend that much. I might just get the airhead or something.

I have a Cosmic (the premium module, not the reference), and it is a good amp, but in reality it is way way overpriced.

The only reason to get it is to get the best portable amp out there. Well, now that there are portable META42s out there, it's even questionable whether the Cosmic is even the best portable.

I wouldn't buy an Airhead either. It's alright as a starter amp, but it too is overpriced for the quality. It's noisy and just doesn't have the power to drive a lot of good headphones.

 

[kevin gilmore]

If you can build stuff yourself, do one of these

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/ety1.jpg

almost the best that can be done for portable use.
Less than $100 in parts (plus batteries)

 

[joelongwood]

Quote:

One of the 4 batteries likes to discharge itself when it sits for more than a month, and needs a jump start from an external power supply so that the player will recognize and recharge it.

Kevin, maybe you can elaborate on how you "jump start" the battery. Last night I had a heckuva time getting the Sony to recharge the batteries. I pressed the charge button and got nothing. The D-EJ01 wouldn't run off the batteries at all, yet they would not charge. Occasionally I would get the red light to blink for a second, then nothing. I finally licked (yes...licked) both positive and negative battery terminals and the charger then recognized the batteries and charged them properly. Any ideas?

 

[kevin gilmore]

Take the batteries out of the machine, get a 6 volt lead acid
cell or power supply with an output of 5 amps or so, and
connect the two together for about 5 seconds. That clears
the short in the battery and allows it to charge...

 

[kelly]

Can anyone tell me whether the skip protection can be turned OFF on this model? Newer high-end Sonys apparently have a switch for compressed and uncompressed skip protection, but no off position. Some older units had three position, with the one marked "0" being off.

 

[joelongwood]

Quote:

Originally posted by kelly Can anyone tell me whether the skip protection can be turned OFF on this model? Newer high-end Sonys apparently have a switch for compressed and uncompressed skip protection, but no off position. Some older units had three position, with the one marked "0" being off.

Can't be turned off.