hifiboom
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2005
- Posts
- 84
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- 10
So, after ~2 weeks of testing around, using different headphones I have come to the conclusion on the Sony D-NE20:
Okay here we go:
STYLE/DESIGN:
Very nice design, ultra slim and very light. do layer 8 CDs together and you got an impression of how big the unit is. Its not really much bigger than one single CD. really has the Sony "woahhh" factor.
Sorry I cannot make some pics because I have no digicam
BUILD QUALITY:
seems to be very good, the magnesium case does seem pretty stable. My version is the red one, and colour seems to be sprayed on the magnesium case, so it doesn`t look like magnesium-alu finish. nothing bad to say here. Quality of this device is really stunning.
REMOTE:
You can say it is as functional as the old remote ( on my D-NE700). Altough I liked the old one a little bit more: previous track move the stick left, next track, move the stick right. But if you get used to the new remote, it is about the same as the old.
FEATURES:
Really stunning. I`d say: Sony is the leader when it comes the feature.
ATRAC is a best sounding compression with the oportunnity to store many songs on a single disc. I love this feature.
Also it support natively mp3 CD disc, which I think does not sound that good, and the Sony mp3_decoder seems to do good but not the best work.
I also love the Sonic Stage software 3.1 which seems to be faster and more bugfree than earlier versions. Well done, Sony....
BATTERY LIFE:
Absolutly the best I have had on a walkman over the years.
You can use this device everyday about 5 hours and at the end of the week it still has battery life.STUNNING! Maybe this is due to the digital amp. Which brings us to the last point..... the sound quality
SOUND QUALITY:
what can I say?
For me this unit is sounding AWFUL. Why: Okay I`ll try to describe it:
I already had the D-NE700 which I found to sound much better, maybe due to the analog amp. ( I sold it because the EU volume cap)
Compared with that unit, the digital amp on the D-NE20 produces a muddy undetailed sound that lacks in bass and at the treble.
There really is no soundstage and the sound seems to be flat in my ears.
Bass seems to be more dull and not kicking into your head....
That would really be a NOGO if I would work for Sony.
Sonys Digital Amp: its not a feature, its a bug!
I showed the device to a friend and he was amazed at how good it looks, but when he heard it(I didn`t tell him my opinion about the device) he only look a bit confused. He told me it sound terrible, too.
EDIT: I will retest this and give a new statement when I get better earphones. I not sure but I think with good headphones I can get acceptable performance out of it.....
CONCLUSION:
JAAAA, what can I say: A perfectly designed device with nice build quality, excellent features and an extremly high battery life but not perfect at soundquality!
PS:These days my D211 should arrive that I bought on ebay. Maybe I ll be a little bit more satisfied....
Thx Ducan for your nice reviews. I hope I`ll like this device, too
Okay here we go:
STYLE/DESIGN:
Very nice design, ultra slim and very light. do layer 8 CDs together and you got an impression of how big the unit is. Its not really much bigger than one single CD. really has the Sony "woahhh" factor.
Sorry I cannot make some pics because I have no digicam
BUILD QUALITY:
seems to be very good, the magnesium case does seem pretty stable. My version is the red one, and colour seems to be sprayed on the magnesium case, so it doesn`t look like magnesium-alu finish. nothing bad to say here. Quality of this device is really stunning.
REMOTE:
You can say it is as functional as the old remote ( on my D-NE700). Altough I liked the old one a little bit more: previous track move the stick left, next track, move the stick right. But if you get used to the new remote, it is about the same as the old.
FEATURES:
Really stunning. I`d say: Sony is the leader when it comes the feature.
ATRAC is a best sounding compression with the oportunnity to store many songs on a single disc. I love this feature.
Also it support natively mp3 CD disc, which I think does not sound that good, and the Sony mp3_decoder seems to do good but not the best work.
I also love the Sonic Stage software 3.1 which seems to be faster and more bugfree than earlier versions. Well done, Sony....
BATTERY LIFE:
Absolutly the best I have had on a walkman over the years.
You can use this device everyday about 5 hours and at the end of the week it still has battery life.STUNNING! Maybe this is due to the digital amp. Which brings us to the last point..... the sound quality
SOUND QUALITY:
what can I say?
For me this unit is sounding AWFUL. Why: Okay I`ll try to describe it:
I already had the D-NE700 which I found to sound much better, maybe due to the analog amp. ( I sold it because the EU volume cap)
Compared with that unit, the digital amp on the D-NE20 produces a muddy undetailed sound that lacks in bass and at the treble.
There really is no soundstage and the sound seems to be flat in my ears.
Bass seems to be more dull and not kicking into your head....
That would really be a NOGO if I would work for Sony.
Sonys Digital Amp: its not a feature, its a bug!
I showed the device to a friend and he was amazed at how good it looks, but when he heard it(I didn`t tell him my opinion about the device) he only look a bit confused. He told me it sound terrible, too.
EDIT: I will retest this and give a new statement when I get better earphones. I not sure but I think with good headphones I can get acceptable performance out of it.....
CONCLUSION:
JAAAA, what can I say: A perfectly designed device with nice build quality, excellent features and an extremly high battery life but not perfect at soundquality!
PS:These days my D211 should arrive that I bought on ebay. Maybe I ll be a little bit more satisfied....