[ejoy]

Hi,
I recently got a sony d-33 off ebay. The first moment I turned the d-33 on, I was blew away by the sound quality of this device. Then I realise I should get more of these pcdp even for collection purpose.
I've read all the important review/faq on this site. Still I found some information is missing. For example, when was sony d-121 is released? How does d-99 compare to d-33? Which model has 1bit dac, 8 times oversampling etc.
Is there a central place offering information for all the tech. info for these vintage pcdp? I've checked sony's site but found nothing.

Thanks,
ejoy

 

[Filburt]

I'm not aware of any formal information repository, but you can probably solicit information from various PCDP hunters around here via PM and such.

 

[ILuvSony]

You have come to the right place.

Try these...

http://news.sel.sony.com/pressroom/c...ortable_audio/

http://www.steelonemarketing.com/Discman

and my FAVORITE SITE

http://www.agoraquest.com

Good luck and have fun!
Joonmo

 

[Filburt]

I think he was asking for info on vintage units in general, not just Sony. Do you work for Sony or something? You're practically as aggressive about promoting their brand as those shills PR firms hire to post on forums

 

[Tungsten]

Quote:

I think he was asking for info on vintage units in general, not just Sony. Do you work for Sony or something? You're practically as aggressive about promoting their brand as those shills PR firms hire to post on forums

haha... yeah... this might just be another case

The D-121 is from 1993 according to the year printed in the manual. The D-33 (and D32, D34 and D36) were from 1992 according to their manual. 1992 is said therefore to be the last great year of Sony discman players. And I agree with this opinion that many voice!


The Sony D-33... you can download the original manual from a sony site here:
http://www.docs.sony.com/release/D32.PDF (same manual for the D32, 33, 34 and 36)

And all other old manuals here: http://www.iq.sony.com/srvs/sosdocs/search.asp

 

[ILuvSony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Filburt I think he was asking for info on vintage units in general, not just Sony. Do you work for Sony or something? You're practically as aggressive about promoting their brand as those shills PR firms hire to post on forums

NOT!
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=171048

 

[skyline889]

You have a whole forum where you posted your Sony links and why we should love Sony, etc, etc. Please don't waste someone else's thread by posting a page worth of quotes from yours.

You can check Audiokarma for more information, I don't know if they have anything on Sony PCDPS in particular but the forum is dedicated to vintage audio so they must have something.

 

[Filburt]

I still really don't understand the zeal. Plenty of companies made a variety of advancements throughout the 80s and 90s in portable audio (and continue to today). Sony isn't exactly unique in that sense, and companies like Philips, Matsu****a, Sharp, and Denon managed to produce some very nice items, some of which are considered better than their Sony competitors by what seems to be a substantial portion of consumers.

That said, I don't think I've ever seen someone who acts so infatuated with some company that doesn't even care about them beyond profit obtained, except for a shill. In the context of forums, shills are people hired to promote a product or company to help manipulate the company's relationship with consumers. Although, if you're a shill, you're not a particularly great one as the constant beating of the drums for Sony gets kind of obnoxious after a while.

ejoy - if you have some specific questions, some of the people you can ask are me, janos, insomniac, bangraman, Duncan, fewtch, LamerDeluxe, boodi, insideout, D555, kramer5150, and it would appear skyline889 as well. There are many others, I'm sure, but I just mentioned what immediately occurred to me (which is probably mostly based on who I've actually interacted with).

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ejoy Hi, I recently got a sony d-33 off ebay. The first moment I turned the d-33 on, I was blew away by the sound quality of this device. Then I realise I should get more of these pcdp even for collection purpose.

Congratulations. IMO you should stop the search there, unless you want to start paying over $100 for the "classic" models. I've checked out some of the less expensive vintage PCDPs, and none of those I've heard are as good as the D-33. You could search awhile before finding a player that beats it, so save your money, get a second D-33 in case this one breaks, and be happy

.

 

[Filburt]

Well, if he likes the sound on the D-33, the D-35 may be worth checking out. Prices vary wildly on them, but he may be able to pick one up for some reasonable. IMO it has a more refined and detailed sound to it whilst maintaining the pleasant traits of the D-33.

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Filburt Well, if he likes the sound on the D-33, the D-35 may be worth checking out. Prices vary wildly on them, but he may be able to pick one up for some reasonable. IMO it has a more refined and detailed sound to it whilst maintaining the pleasant traits of the D-33.

Are you talking line-out, headphone-out, or both?

A few days ago I compared my D-33 line out to the Rotel RCD-855, using the same amp. Except for some grain in the lower treble with the D-33 (which is unfortunately a deal-killer) I think I'd rather listen to the D-33 than the Rotel. Dunno if it's just a euphonic thing or what, but IMO it beats the Rotel in some ways!

In particular, D-33 seems to have bass nailed, while the Rotel can be too light in that department. They both seem similar in the refinement department, but I'm having trouble deciding exactly what 'refinement' is anyway, or if it's even desirable (is it a coloration of some sort? Or lack thereof?).

 

[skyline889]

It's not technically considered vintage yet but I love my Sony D-465 IMHO it was one of the last "Quality" PCDPs Sony turned out. In light of this thread I recently fired it up and ran a Beethoven CD using my Senn HD515s out of the HP out and it was musical bliss, I thought that without my HD650s, which are being shipped out to Blue Onion, they would sound horrible but honestly, I think I just had my first eargasm in days

. Then would you believe it the sound actually got better when I ran it through my RM-MC40ELK remote, sure the remote is pretty advanced so the screen itself doesn't work when it's connected to the 465, and the controls are setup differently but damn, it sounded sooo good. It certainly brings back old memories along with it's great sound, I remember when my parents first bought it for me back in 2000 and I couldn't even figure out how to access the controls

, and here we are six years later with 7 year olds working ipods

, I miss the old days.

 

[2N3055]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ejoy Is there a central place offering information for all the tech. info for these vintage pcdp? I've checked sony's site but found nothing.

You can search for and download manuals from Sony's
documentation lookup site.

That was where I got the manuals for my D-33 and D-321 vintage PCDPs.

 

[warubozu]

Check the link below to Duncan's review of various vintage PCDPs as it proved to be very help. Although Duncan isn't into the vintage PCDP scene anymore, he is still very knowledgeagle on the topic:

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showt...discman+review

Yes, the D-465 would be considered a vintage PCDP. It a sweet sounding PCDP for it price, sounding very similar to the D-777 at a fraction of the price. Glad I still have mines and that it's still working flawlessly.

 

[ejoy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fewtch Congratulations. IMO you should stop the search there, unless you want to start paying over $100 for the "classic" models.

I got the D-33 for £6 inc. shipping. For the sound I would say it's almost stealing

! Previously I made a mistake getting a sony pdcp with 50hr battery life that sounds rubbish for £8. Don't understand why people willing to spend over £30 for some pcdp with ATRAC feature.

I saw the D-Z555 was bid up to £121 the other day: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWA%3AIT&rd=1 . Crazy!!!

Yes, you are right, probably I should get a second D-33 as a back up. The line out of D-33 is absolutely wonderful. The headphone is not bad either, it drives my hd600 easily at the volume level 2 (max 10)

.