[Duncan]

Just fired up this player, which I have on loan, and to cut the story short... Tonally, I think its pretty nice, doesn't seem to fail anywhere in particular... Has a nice punchy bass, clean midrange, and crisp treble... all in all great news for dance music fans

I am not overly inspired by the players soundstage which sounds a little two dimensional compared to better players out there, but if soundstage isn't really your thing, and you want a player to get jiggy with (from the headphone out at least) this could well be your meal ticket...

Not to mention that its got a huge scope in terms of volume!

There are plenty of these on ebay for next to nothing... go grab one!

 

[D555]

Hello Duncan,

Good to see a posting from you! I thought these looked kind of nice, if a bit "clunky", and had some sonic potential with the dual D/A converters.

Best regards,

Paul

 

[puppyslugg]

I've been waiting for PeterR to post his mods for the d33. Seems to be MIA.

 

[PeterR]

Quote:

Originally posted by puppyslugg I've been waiting for PeterR to post his mods for the d33. Seems to be MIA.

Still here, just a little sidetracked by real life...
The modded D-33 is my current portable of choice, I'll try to post in more detail later, but in short, here's what I tried that proved worthwile:

- adjust pot RV401 for 5V at the "5V" testpoint (all you need is a screwdriver and a multimeter)

- replace headphone coupling caps Cx09 with 270uF Panasonic FC (standard is 100uF - a little smallish for low impedance loads, and by now the old electrolytics are toast anyway)
(through hole components, easy soldering)

- replace coupling caps Cx06 with 22uF Panasonic FC
(through hole components, easy soldering)

- replace output resistors Rx13 with 10 Ohms (standard is 22 Ohms)
(SMD resistors, a little more difficult to solder)

- replace opamp IC303 with AD823
(SO-8 surface mount, advanced soldering)

 

[PeterR]

Quote:

Originally posted by Duncan [/i] I am not overly inspired by the players soundstage which sounds a little two dimensional compared to better players out there, but if soundstage isn't really your thing, and you want a player to get jiggy with (from the headphone out at least) this could well be your meal ticket..

All in all I've always found soundstage to be one of the D-33's stronger points. Not quite up there with a D-35 or D-303, but still lots of depth and not very two-dimensional at all...

 

[Onix]

Mine is dead and it kinda scared me away from getting another, since it would be very costly. But if you guys give me a push I can be persuaded to get another. So, push, push, push, come on!

 

[puppyslugg]

Quote:

Originally posted by PeterR - replace opamp IC303 with AD823 (SO-8 surface mount, advanced soldering)

Hi PeterR,

Thanks for all the tips.

In what circuit is IC303?

Do you have a schematic?



And what's this "real life" stuff....?

 

[Earwax]

Quote:

Originally posted by Onix Mine is dead and it kinda scared me away from getting another, since it would be very costly. But if you guys give me a push I can be persuaded to get another. So, push, push, push, come on!

I rather like my D-33, of course I also like the (usually cheaper) D-34 just as much from the headphone out. Of course, I haven't heard any of the top tier portables, but I don't feel like payig top tier $ for a portable either. I have heard the D-2, D-11 and a few other newer players and the D-33 & D-34 are the winners over all but the D-5/14. But then again, the D-5 is only transportable, not battery operable. I get about 4.5 hours of play from the D-33 on 4 Nimh AA.

 

[scottder]

I love my D-33, if anything the headphone out is TOO powerful, even my hard to drive crappy Sony's at around the 3 position. Only problem I have is when I get into later tracks on the CD it tends to skip a bit. May just buy another one down the line.

Scott

 

[Duncan]

Onix...

Its a tough call...

Personally, I think I prefer the sound of both the D11 and D180K (D800K) to that of the D33... the 33 to me sounds a little flat (as mentioned) whereas the other two players sound much more alive (to my ears) although are brighter, so if you have a bright pair of cans, then the 33 could sound better...

A tough call.

 

[ls20]

how do these 'legendary' discman stack up to the output of a modern HD player?

D33 vs Ipod/Zen??

 

[Duncan]

LS20...

To me, most of the 'better' Discmen sound substantially cleaner than the ipod / iriver collective... making the HD / MP3 CD players sound murky, and showing them to have a major lack of resolution...

That being said, in terms of portability, its a no-brainer...

Oh, D33 line out? Pah... I think its pretty crappy (or, should I say... Standard...) - If i'm being honest, the lowly D180K completely smokes it. listening to the D180K now, and am genuinly impressed, it sounds a lot closer to the D303 than the D33... the D33 has a lack of resolution / clarity that is a little annoying in the short term, and I dare say frustrating in the long term...

Don't get me wrong... for a standard, and cheap player, the D33 is fine, but there is definetly better out there, and for less... if you want a pretty decent line out, and a half respectable headphone out, set your sights on a D180K

 

[scottder]

Hmm, well the headphone out on my D-33 is a lot more powerful than on my Zen, not that the Zen is bad, far from it. Quite good, but at my desk at work I like using my Sony

Scott

 

[PeterR]

Quote:

Originally posted by puppyslugg Hi PeterR, Thanks for all the tips. In what circuit is IC303? Do you have a schematic? And what's this "real life" stuff....?

 

[bangraman]

Quote:

Originally posted by Duncan LS20... To me, most of the 'better' Discmen sound substantially cleaner than the ipod / iriver collective... making the HD / MP3 CD players sound murky, and showing them to have a major lack of resolution...

I think I need to prepare some uncompressed recordings on the NJB3 for the next mini meet.