This reminds me of my first CD/MP3 player, the Sony D-CJ01 Walkman (it was their first CD/MP3 player). It was the best CD/MP3 player I ever had. I used it all the time as my main music player, including at the gym. Unfortunately, after one workout it just stopped working. I suspect that all of the jostling during my workout broke the player and I was never able to get it to work again.
I own a Sony D-EJ78CK and a Panasonic SL-SX390, both of which I use exclusively with my Sony MDR-V6 headphones. Both sound decent, and sometimes I think I hear a small difference, and sometimes not. Perhaps it's disc specific. No complaints on either one, though...both purchased off the auction site with no problems.
Okay fellas I'll weigh in. I have had two D-EJ109's ($30 retail at time of purchase) that together lasted me nearly twenty years. Durable as a tank and absolutely INCREDIBLE sound through even just standard Sony earbuds. Why do I say durable as a tank? My second one was dropped onto a hardwood floor from a distance of 3 to 4 feet more times than I can probably count with all my fingers and toes and it still lasted over ten years. The sound was a little thin without the Mega Bass, but with it sounded fantastic. After finally killing my second one with repeated abuse I bought a new Jensen (same $30 retail price) that wasn't worth $2. Snowy hissing like you'd hear in between radio stations, no playback memory to speak of. It wouldn't even remember the TRACK I was on when I hit the Stop button, let alone my place in the song. Absolute trash. And weighed less with a cd and batteries than the Sony 109s did without either. The second one I bought was a new Insignia NS-P5113 ($40 retail) that stopped working literally the SECOND TIME I TURNED IT ON. It was bought from a Best Buy brick and mortar outlet, so I can't blame UPS for banging it around. Yes, there is a lot of JUNK being sold right now in the portable cd player market. Those old Sony Discmans were NOT. I've been playing 320kbps mp3s through an Onkyo DP-X1A with Meze 99 Classics and a tweaked EQ built into the Onkyo ($800 for the player and headphones combo) and they honestly do not sound as good as either of those $30 D-EJ109's on about half of what I listen to. So you guys trashing the Discmans, just know that if you haven't listened to one you really have no idea how good they were.
Panasonic SL120 another player with a line out. One of the best sounds ever. No op amps! Hence 1v output
Hi Thorensman. I so wanted this to be my experience as well.This is what i wrote recently on another thread 'Update. Purchased a mint Panasonic SL-S112 (which is identical internally too (and is essentially a re-badged SL-S120 /125). Have to say that i so wanted to believe what the thread starter has said.So wanted to have a found the cheap digital nirvana of no OP amps /Early Mash DAC. My conclusions are that the output is seriously low.You need to crank the volume of your amplifier to levels it has never operated in to achieve decent sound levels. I level adjusted and compared it to the sound of my old philips CD-380 player (TDA-1543 dac) and i have to say i was slightly disappointed.The Panasonic sounded a bit muddy and congested in comparison to the philips.The treble was slightly dull but a hint of (digital) harshness and lack of resolution was always present.The sound from the philips was superior in every department.It sounded faster.Resolution was better and the bass and treble were better defined (without any increased harshness over the panasonic). As my old Philips CD will no doubt have cheap OP amps fitted .i can conclusively say that eliminating OP amps in NOT the answer to (my) digital nirvana .'
So sorry that it did not work for you. My system is very sensitive , so 1 volt no problem. Its obvioualy underdriving your system. The old synergy thing. I learnt something here. No two systems are the same! At least it has not broken the bank. All the same, its a pity as it really does shine in my system. I have a Marantz 6001 se. Great through my 2nd system. Awful distortion through the 1st system. The old Philips players were Well regarded.
Hi Thorensman. Update on the Panasonic personal CD situation.After not being knocked out by the sound of the SL-S112 i purchased a SL-S138 from ebay (mint condition.£30. free postage inc.) Surprisingly it sounds better..Separation is superior.The muddiness and slight harshness is not there.It sounds superb to be honest..Why this unit sounds different i don't know.It was made a few years after the SL-S112.Maybe components are a bit different? Measurements,dac,transport seem to be the same. I presume the SL-S138 is more like the SL-S120 sonically?.
I listen to the majority of my music through headphones.A discman is more convenient than a stand alone for casual listening on the sofa or in bed. Agree there is no real benefit over a stand alone CD player if used exclusively in a main system.Although (with postage costs) a second hand discman will be about half the price of a full size CD player .
I got a “newer” old disc man now and it seems to be working well. We just moved to a nicer apartment and one of the first things I did was set up the stereo.
Had a Discman with optical out, which I used to record from it to minidisc. I suppose it would have worked OK as a main player that way, but it played its part well enough and besides, I'm not a big fan of fiddly little controls.
I acquired a Technics SLXP 170 from around 1996 to run with a Pro-Ject headphone amp and I would say the MASH dac is pretty decent through the players line out which is 600mv one you bypass all the XPS bass stuff and use 'flat'
Just pulled out mine SL-XP180 and this thread from the past too )) Gotta say it sounds pretty good with xbs turned off on my cheap Sennheiser HD400S. Dont have a setup that I could hook it up to via line-out tho, have yet to try that. Think its the same/similar components as in panasonic sl-s120 as they look similar (panasonic sl-s180 is basically the same thing I guess, just different branding). Been enjoying having it on my desk and listening to CDs while working, can appreciate music more, am not scattered with streaming and can focus more. Was just wondering if headphone amp would make a difference (hooking the line-out to the amp) in terms of sound given the fact that the cans are cheap/entry-level ones ?
Bought this for my car, 1984 iirc Still use it in my office. My home one was a CDP-101, $900 in 1983!
That isn't as funny as it seems. I had a Philips CD-i player and while it just an okay gaming console it was a great CD player, had the ability to store the song information, and included the display the graphics on a CD+Graphics CD. It's main disadvantage was that to fully use the player you had to turn on your TV.
Did a short A/B test with my 2013 macbook headpones out (using spotify). Think that macbook out has a little bit of a "kick" in low end (although when I increase volume a bit on technics, the low end also kiiinda lifts/has better kick) but its minimal, in the same it sounds a bit more condensed overall as opposed to CD from Technics headphone out..its subtle details and probably because of my not that good 18ohms HS400s's ). Still wondering if they would sound better with headphone amp (sourced with discman's line-out)...or should I just invest in better cans..probably the latter :')
I've been using a Panasonic SL-S160 through the line out after the RCAs crapped out on my Sony C701ES. I don't listen to a ton of CDs now, but it sounds amazing for $25 off eBay.
Love this transparent cover/case concept Long Time No See: Portable CD Player with Bluetooth - HiFiNext - Audio Buyer's Guide 藍牙手提CD機｜實試Long Time No See懷舊CD機 70後港男：只有實體音樂才永遠屬於你 ｜ 蘋果日報 Can see it being more enjoyable when you can see the actual disc spinning. Aluminum body and transparent cover would be a nice combo. Kinda doubt that it sounds good tho
I've used one in the main system before, but only temporarily, when the primary CD player in the component system died or was being repaired.
'Out here in the back waters,' I don't expect to ever see or hear a "$20,000 CD player." Don't know anyone with that much money that's into equipment, and if there are any 'dealers' in the area, they're not very public about it...
A mistake that, in retrospect, I made a few years back with a Canon Rebel camera, which I really liked a lot. I like to dance, and I suspect that there's a relationship between that, shooting photos of bands live, with the camera hanging from my neck, and the camera's demise (no longer can be focused). An expensive lesson...
