CD-Player Reviews

After two years -- it's still all about the sound for me.

Problems that I can and do deal with for the sake of the sound, I guess are typical:

1) Poor manual.
2) Too many features tied to the remote control (don't ever lose it or be without batteries), e.g., "Random" play.
3) Is it my imagination or are the CD drawers getting more and more flimsy on all players/recorders?

Could go on nitpicking about features but what piece of audio equipment ever got all the features, ergonomics, instructions, etc., right and delivered great sound?

Again, the CDR 2's sound is superior. Hope the latest incarnation (CDR-20 ??) matches up.

Since this is the first CD Writer I've bought, I can't really compare it with other CD Writers. However, I can say that I am totally pleased with this product (and CD Writers, in general), and it's capabilities! In creating your own CD's, you can create your own compilations of your favorite songs, omit songs you do not like, combine the best songs (on several CDs) onto one CD, record your favorite songs in any order you desire, etc. In fact, I combined almost 2 entire CD's (19 songs) onto one, and, depending on how long each song is, you could, potentially get up to 20 songs on a single CD. So, now I can get all of the songs I like to hear (from dozens of CD's) in the 6-disc CD Changer that I have, at once!

I, also, like it that this CD Writer has a dual-deck (one for playing the CD, and the other for recording a CD), and, also, that you can program the songs you wish to record, in any order you want, before recording. That makes it very easy to create your own compilation CD's! Then, unlike with recorded tapes, the sound of recorded CD's is equal to the original CD!

The only thing I haven't figured out is how to record a "hidden track" by starting the recording process in the middle of a track. You can, however, stop the recording in the middle of the track. I just don't know if starting at anywhere but the beginning of a single track/song is possible for getting "hidden tracks", only (or for getting "hidden tracks" onto a separate track on your "homemade" CD)...

If you are an individual who loves music, this is the finest piece of technology your money can buy. Examining the Harman Kardon CDR 2 CD-R/CD-RW Player/Recorder strictly in terms of its playback capability is simply astonishing! I have never heard my CD's sound as good as they have as they resonate from this device. When listening to my CD's as they play in the Harman Kardon CDR 2 CD-R/CD-RW Player/Recorder, it honestly sounds like Harman Kardon has invented a new form from which music is extracted. For example, there's eight tracks, records, cassettes and CD's - but this machine plays my discs so well that it is revolutionary. Perhaps this is the first device that is truly maximizing the potential of CD's? As for the recording, this is just as impressive. I have not had a single glitch on any of my burned CD's, and I have made over seventy-five. Moreover, the burned CD's sound just as good as the normal ones. My final compliment for the Harman Kardon CDR 2 CD-R/CD-RW Player/Recorder is that I had some badly scratched CD's, and even they played perfectly. I cannot fatham a better piece of technology. Do not worry about the difficulty of burning CD's or any other of its capabilities. The instructions make the process extremely simple.

A good case, but it could use some improvements. It could stand to be a bit larger, and include a few pages to store CD's like the "Caselogic CD Organizer".

As most Caselogic products it appears that it is very durable. This is great for storing a portable CD player. I don't know how well it works for DVD players which are usually a bit larger, but it works good for my portable CD player.

This reminds me of a miniature version of the padded laptop computer bags. I would recommend this if your are looking for a bag to store both CD's and the player.

This is only a good choice if you want to store your cd player in the case as well as the cds in their covers. If you want a lot of space for your cd stuff, this is the one for you. It is not a good decision if you want a small pack.
Comes with a shoulder strap. I like the opening in the bottom so the wire of the headphones can come out from there. Overall, the case is not that bad, but it depends on what you want.

This case is really good, it holds my cd player, 2 of my most listened to cds, and my Royal Excelsior palm pilot, and it can hold about 2 pairs of headphones, if you put anymore in it starts to look a little bulky, but i love it! it can fit in anything you really need, and it is great for traveling, you will have have everything at your access easily! i say you should get it because it is really good!

This is a great CD player. Easy to use, doesn't eat batteries and sounds as good as any portable I have ever listened to-IF you keep both the XBS and the anti-shock off. I would be a lot happier if they had improved the bit rate through the shock buffer, but that would have meant shortening its length or upping the price, so presumably their marketing department wouldn't let them. The player still has reasonable shock resistance without the shock buffer, adequate for walking smoothly.

After my last CD player ceased to provide me with exceptional playback, for the records... it was a sony discman, I began to look for a new one. Expecting to pay as much as two-hundred dollars, I almost collapsed when I saw that Amazon only wanted $79.99 for this one. Let me tell you that this CD player is worth every penny I paid and a hundred more! When in antiskip mode I found no way to make it skip! The sound is absolutely terrific. The headphones, after a little getting used to, are more comfortable than sonys. Also, Amazon doesn't mention it but this player has what is called a pop-up eject system. All you do is push a button and the CD pops up, no more prying! Please notice that the CD player is really silver and gray, not white and gray like I thought. Still, a terrific looking, working, and priced CD player.

I'd just like to say that my unit just gave in after four great years of use. The SL-S360 is so simple that you can just take it out of the box and KNOW it, without having to read the instructions. The sound quality was near perfect, and the Anti-shock system was amazing. You can drop this thing on the floor and it'll just keep going. If you're looking for a CD player that's reliable without all the unecessary bells and whistles, make this the one.

I bought a new D-NE509 a while ago, and when I hadn't even owned it for two weeks, it suddenly stopped working. I've consulted the instructions, and none of the valid reasons as to why it would read "NO DISC" when there was a disc in place were present. This item had not been under any stressful elements and was brand-new when I bought it from Target in the Mid-West. I'm currently rounding up the cheap headphones that also came with it and plan on returning it very soon--and not for another one! It also makes very loud rustling noises. Sony should be better than this, and I have switched back to the cd player/walkman I had been using for two years.

Dysfunction aside, this cd player is too big for the little capabilities it does provide. It is too large to hold easily in your hand, nor to slip into a jacket pocket or a front pocket on a hoodie. You'd think it would have a large screen, but instead it doesn't. I've seen much smaller MP3 players that display more than this does.

If you're interested in hearing your music and nothing else, this would be the item to choose. But if you want actual options, then get something better.

As many have said, this is a very nice CD/MP3 Walkman.

Pros

+ Very solid and reliable, in a small package.

+ The battery life is amazing. I use NiMH batteries, and they last for days.

+ Very nice full sound.

+ If you hit the Stop button, it powers down in 10 seconds. When you power back up, it remembers the spot where you left off, even in the middle of a cut. I like this feature a lot, as I listen to a lot of recorded messages.

+ It's a Sony! They're always great.

+ It WILL play MP3Pro files, and they sound great, even though MP3Pro is not necessarily supported.

Cons

- Display is ridiculously small. I don't know what Sony is thinking on this one. If you want a similar Sony CD walkman with a very good display, try Sony's Psyc® ATRAC® CD Walkman®
D-NF400PSGRAY (check Sony website). I wish I knew about that one before buying this one.

- By default beeps with every button press and beeps constantly on Pause. However, this CAN be easily disabled, as documented in the instructions.

- EXTREMELY slow FF and RW functions. This is irritating if you want to skip forward or backward in an extended recording.

Further observation

I haven't tried the SonicStage software, based on the very negative reviews here. I'm using MusicMatch Jukebox Plus, encoding everything MP3Pro 96 khz with great success.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this player. Yeah, you need an electron microscope to read the display -- but beyond that it's great.

I read lots of reviews conserning other CD-mp3 players. Most of them did match this Sony player. By far the batt. life is much greater than others. I have had mine for three weeks and I have used it everyday. The batteries are still working. The sound is great. With the factory headphones I can hear my music with greater definition than with any stereo that I own.

It would be nice to have a larger display and to beable to light it. However this is not a problem if you take the time to set up directories when you burn a CD. This makes searching quite easy.

The ATRAC3PLUS format works well on the player but it takes forever to convert the files and there is no way to save progress. It took my P733 processor seven hours to set up one CD with Sony's format. However, the format can be very nice because with it you can fix a ton of music on one disk. I have almost 30 CDs on one ATRAC disk.

I am totaly pleased with my purchase and I sujest that you look at reviews concerning many different players before buying one.

Good Luck!

This cd player replaced a dying sony portable player that would skip all time even with the esp on. This Panasonic cd player is smaller (a plus) and is well built and feels like it will last. Sound wise, it can't get as loud or as clear because its output level is 9 milliwatts a channel compared to the Sony's 15. Its sad the portable cd player manufacters don't put this number on the outside of the box because, just as you see how much power an amplifer can produce so you can see before you buy, so should these portable cd players. But, this cd player is great for what it was designed for, active use. You can ride a bike with them, walk, run, mow the yard, ride the bus, and anything else you can think of that doesn't involve water. Oh yeah, the bass boosts aren't that good ethier, because it distorts the bass a little and makes it muddy, but It's hard to tell unless you use good headphones

Pros - styling, size - resistance to skipping - good value

Cons - output level

- bass boost

This Panasonic cd player is great. I got one for Christmas two or three years ago and it worked flawlessly all the time. It doesn't skip at all when the anti-shock is turned on. The volume is also quite good as it provides a wide range. It plays soft but can get very loud especially compared to most cd players I have used. The shame of it is I have accidently dropped it too many times and it will no longer play anything. The bottom line is if you want a cd player that will work to perfection during normal conditions this is a perfect one to consider. I have not used any others that have worked this well.

The first time I used this Panasonic was when I met up with a friend of mine and I asked him what CD he was listening to. He handed me the player and my first thought was "Wow, this thing is pretty light." Then I shook it a bit and turned it upside down and even without the amazing 40 second shock protection, it didn't skip.

Since then I've always thought of the Panasonic SL-SX270 as an amazing CD player. I've used many other CD players, including some high-tech, $$$ ones from Sony and other big companies, and this one compares with all of them. It's very light, small and compact, it has great ESP, and it comes with very nice and easy to use buttons. It sounds like such a simple thing, but you'll be amazed how many CDs I've seen with all these useless extra options and these really small round buttons that are hard to push or that cluster up your CD player. This one has all the necessities and more, including random play, resume play, and hold.

There is only one thing I don't like about this CD player. YOu need to use S-XBS system to get any sort of good sound out of it. The headphones that come with the CD player are already pretty bad, and in loud places, without the S-XBS you won't hear the beats well enough. The solution? High-quality headpones, specifically ones that go in your ear.

Effectivness - 9
What can I say? It gets the job done, I've never had it malfunction, and I believe there's only one person in the world who's ever had a problem with it. The LCD screen leaves something to be desired though... I can't quite put my finger on what, but it needs more flash.

Easyness to Use - 9
The buttons are easy to push, the random and resume options are grouped together nicely, and nothing is confusing in the slightest bit. The one error I notice here is that the headphone jack and the volume control is grouped too closely together. Sometimes it's annoying to change the volume.

Extra Options - 6
True, it doesn't have too many extra options, but who needs 50 different bass and treble settings? And is it really that important to have volume in only one headphone? And is it truly necessary to have 27 different volume settings? The extra options on the SL-SX270 are 40 second ESP, S-XBS, track programming, resume track, random play, and hold.

Flashyness - 8
It's so cute! It's small and compact and round, and it just lookst like a great CD player to have. It doesn't make you ooh and ahh as much as an I-Pod does or a new DVD player, but for 60 bucks you'd expect something short of neandrathal, and this is everything but.

Overall - 8
I've seen 100 dollar CD players which are worse than this. For 60 dollars, you're getting one of the most reliable CD players out there. I highly recommend it for anyone.

Thanks for reading my review.

Signing off,
Dan.

It sounds pretty good through the supplied headphones, but it's not 5-star sound.

It doesn't skip in my normal use (daily commute), it's lightweight, so far (not quite 3 months) it's reliable. The remote is easyo use and has all the functions I need -- including a "hold" button that works independently of the hold button on the main unit.

I use the AC adapter (included) when I listen to it at work, so the batteries only get used for about 5-10 hours/week. I'm still using the last of the three pairs of batteries that are also included -- this player really does run a long time on 2 AAs.

My only nit is that the controls on the main unit are arranged in small clusters, and require a little care to use.

I like it enough, especially for the price, that I bought a second one, for my wife.

I bought this CD Player several years ago because I have a fairly long commute. The player is great, still works, but I didn't like the idea of lugging around a CD player plus enough CD's to keep me satisfied. I've since switched to an MP3 Player and gave the CD player to a friend. She has had to change the remote on the items three times already. I'm not sure if she is doing the damage herself or not, but either way it's not very durable.

I bought this Panasonic CD player for my daughter (for her birthday). She's had no complaints and uses it almost daily. I've used it myself and I like it a lot. The no skip feature is great... I've actually bumped it around a bit to see if it would jolt it - and it kept on playing perfectly. My homemade CD's play on it as well - this is nice because I know on some players they won't work. The features I like best are the X-Bass boost, the remote, and the soft case. Having an AC adaptor is key - especially when listening around the house... much easier to utilize the electricity, rather than run down the batteries. The other thing I really like is the auto "shut-off" feature - when the CD is done, it will shut the system down... again, not wasting the batteries or electricity. Good unit & well worth the price. You also get the good name & reliablility of Panasonic.

At risk of breaking from the norm, I've had my Sony CD player for several months now, and have some serious misgivings. The version I purchased was a really nice blue shade, and like most other reviews here, I had a similar experience. It looks nice, it plays fine, no pause button, but these are things I can live with. Most of all the price was great.
After several months use the price and color no longer mean anything to me. This is my first Sony CD player and the first to wear out in this short span of time. The headphone jack is poorly constructed and flickers and pops regularly. I even convinced myself that I had mistreated the headphones and bought a new set of (Sony) headphones. The problem persisted and as far as I can tell the source is in the headphone jack. Wiggling and rotating the headphones helps, but I'm not sure how long these will last.
One could argue that I, the user, have misused the device, however I've owned two other Panasonic CD players previously, and both, although more expensive, lasted very nicely before needing to be retired.
Another major problem is the bass. I first assumed this was due to cheap headphones, but even with a brand new pair of very nice headphones (again, Sony) the bass rattled and popped. The highest bass level is really useless if you want any sound quality at all.
Next time I will for sure save up a little money and buy another panasonic. I've not had a complaint over their products as long as I can remember.

Put under some abuse, mine still lasted for two years without skipping. As with all the Sony cd players, the headphone jacks seem to give up easily and stop working (as with my previos cd players and my sister's).

This cd player is great, but it is missing a key feature....The "PAUSE" button. What the [heck] did Sony do with it? They left the volume limiting system on, which i have yet to use on the 3 Sony cd players i have owned over the last 6 years. The closest thing to pause is the "resume" function, where u hit "STOP" and then hit "PLAY" again, wait 5 seconds, and your music will resume from where u hit stop. I find it hard to believe that Sony would intentionally get rid of such a key feature, but im no expert. Other than that small flaw, this Walkman is amazing. It looks good (I have the radium gold model), sounds great, and comes with the street style headphones that wrap around the back of your head. Those headphones alone are almost [price]. Overall, this is a great unit and i recommend it.

I bought this a few days ago. The first impressions are quite positive. Slick and slim. It feels like a good player.
Good stuff is written on the box, so I will focus on what is missing:

the remote cannot pause

the headphone cable is way too short, it is hard to find a place to attach the remote, it just hangs loose in the air, hence it is not comfortable since the earbuds tend to drop out when you move a lot

no word if the firmware is upgradable, support for other media types in time would be good

comes with no software for managing your music files, an mp3 ripper would be nice along with this product

overall:
I liked the product... If you do not mind the remote swinging back and forth, or buying a new pair of headphones, this is a good gadget

I was extremely hesistant on purchasing this product at first, but now I've received this, I am glad I made this purchase. The CD player itself is really slick and light. The cover of the player also acts as a mirror~

Pros: Player is very slim and light. Cover is reflective, acts like a mirror. Great battery life, and rechargable which saves a lot of money on disposable batteries. It charges while the batteries are in the player, so don't have to take them out. The little remote is very responsive and easy to use. Different EQ such as S-XBS, S-XBS+, Train, Live are great sound features. Players CD, MP3s very well, very minimal loading time for the MP3s. While playing, the button lights on the player will flash randomly, which looks cool. Was hoping to have some ligh flashing on the remote too, but no.

Cons: The remote doesn't have a pause button. The wire of the remote is a bit thick. The earphone that comes with player is not great.

I recommend the Sony fontopia EX71SL to go along witht this player, the bass will hit you so hard that it'll hurt.

I bought this CD player last month while I was visiting the US. I had irrepairable damage on my previous Panasonic mp3 player, and I was apprehensive to shell out money on this one. But I did it anyway, and I don't regret it at all! This CD player is a gem, and the included rechargable batteries are a bonus. The sound quality is excellent, and I beg to differ from some of the other reviewers about the earphones: they're really good, if not the best.

The instruction manual is comprehensive to the T, but easy to understand and follow. The remote's a really cool addition too, and for those who didn't find the Pause button: pressing the Play/Stop button once during play pauses the track. To start playing again, press Play/Stop once more.

If you have money to shell out on an mp3-CD player and aren't sure which one to get, don't hesitate in getting the SL-CT710. Its worth the price!!!

Enjoy!!!

SHAME ON SONY ! - I HAD FOR 4 YEARS MPPLAYER - MPMAN CD350 AND THE SOUND QUALITY WAS GREAT ! I PURCHASE THIS MPPLAYER AND THE INSTRUMENT ITSELF IS GREAT BUT THE SOUND ?! IF ONLY I COULD TAKE THE SOUND OF MY MPMAN PLAYER AND PUT IT IN THE SONY THAT WILL BE FINE ....
THE BASS IS WORSE THEN A 50$ MPPLAYER ! I HAVE SONY'S EARPHONES MODEL - MDR-EX71SL AND THEY R GREAT EVEN WITH THEM THE SOUND IS TERRIBLE !
DONT BUY THIS PRODUCT ... SORRY SONY THAT I'M DISAPPOINTMENT .

This player is great for playing MP3 files. It looks cool and it works as advertised. I love how you can actually see the disk spinning and then spin down when you play mp3s. The flat metal back is perfect for attaching a cell phone belt clip.

The problem is the G-shock. It cannot be turned off. As is the case with most memory buffer anti-shock systems, the music is compressed with lossy compression in order to maximize the amount of music that can be buffered. There are two settings and both are compressed. Setting 2 is compressed so much that it sounds truly bad. I suspect that setting 1 uses the mp3 codec at 128kbps and setting 2 is at 96kpbs. That would explain the problem. It is obvious that Sony designed this unit solely as an mp3 player. The ability to play normal CDs is illusory. When you try, the sound quality is truly horrible. It will make any CD sound as "dead", as "lifeless", as "flat", as an overly compressed MP3 file.

If you only want to play mp3-CDs, then I would recommend this unit for its features and its overall coolness...

The remote is definetly worth buying if you buy this player. The player has great sound and I lov the mp3 playback. I can fit 14 CD's onto 1! Its like having a virtual CD changer! It is really easy to use and the remote makes it even easier! It is very inexpensive and much better quality than the RIO version. It never skips. Infact, the CD completly stops when it is done reading. It stores it in its memory. The ID3 taging is great. It displays all of the CD information. I love the displays. It can be a little pricy but if money is not an option definetly get the C-DJ01 with the RM-MC11ELs remote control. If you do not want the remote, you do not need it, but it controls every single feature on the CD player so you do not have to take it out of your pocket when yuo want to change tracks. It is "nifty" as one of my friends said. I would definetly recommend it and it is worth all the money. I'd rate it 11 out of 10.

It's a Sony, it's consumer-line, and therefore it's not going to be professional-quality in most ways. An average 1-bit DAC, a poor bass-boost circuit that doesn't linearly increase bass with master volume, and a generally lousy set of headphones would deter most high-end audio fans.

This unit has several problems not mentioned elsewhere that I'm uncertain others are experiencing. Several CDs I have are mildly scratched, and this unit has an unbelievably difficult time reading them for some reason. It constantly skipped on areas in which I never had any problems prior whatsoever. I tested the afflicted CDs on another unit, and it produced the same results, so this is not an isolated problem. I'm not sure what's causing this, but comparing that area of performance to other portables, this is simply unacceptable. However, I have several CD-Rs I burned that used to skip frequently due to some burner problem, but this unit read them without any problem - even with the G-Protection off. That's about the only real advantage I found for myself in buying this product.

As for anti-skip performance besides the aforementioned, this unit is superior to the others even without using G-Protection. G-Protection merely has the laser "find" the appropriate spot on the disc, so it's almost impossible to skip it theoretically. The G-Protection "off" switch is also misleading. There is a BUILT-IN memory buffer of roughly 3 seconds that uses data compression, hence loss of audio quality. This disturbs me greatly since I absolutely hate the loss of high-end frequencies due to the compression. Most people can't hear the difference though.

In conclusion, it bothers me that the inconsistency of the laser's performance throws off a potentially break-through anti-skip technology. For a portable in this price-range, I have seen better (Panasonic anyone?) in nearly every area except the anti-skip technology. I would recommend this for anyone that has nearly perfect-condition CDs, uses CD-Rs, doesn't mind "average" audio quality, and wants the best anti-skip possible. This would apply to most middle-upper class suburb dwellers today I guess. I highly discourage audiophiles from buying this product, but what kind of audiophile would consider a consumer-line Sony audio product? As for me, I'll try to "repair" the problem CDs and enjoy the convenience of nearly unstoppable anti-skip.

The D-EJ611 portable CD player is one of the most satisfying products I have ever purchased from Sony. I use portables on a daily basis in the gym, when riding bicycle (safety aside) and at home while cleaning.

The Sony is virtually skip-free (even on the stairmaster!) because it has a digitally based system that has 10 times faster shock recovery than conventional systems. It also does not eat up batteries - unlike some portables I have owned.

Another outstanding feature is its ability to read "home made" CDs like MP3 to WAV conversions. The sound quality is good and the unit offers nine playback modes with repeat of tracks or disc, shuffle, 64-track random programming, and resume play. Unbelievable for such a small package.

I have even come to appreciate the automatic volume limiter system which maintains volume output at levels below distortion (though I would prefer to let distortion be my choice - not Sonys)

Finally, the player comes with an AC adapter, stereo headphones, a hand strap and a line out feature for connection to a receiver or pre-amp. It really is a quality unit for the money and offers a lot of unexpected features. Kudos to Sony.

Well, I'm buying a new CD/MP3 player tomorrow, and that means my faithful Sony will be delegated to a shelf... But it pains me to do it. I love this CD player. I've had 3 portables, and this is by far the best of them. This thing... What can I say. I've had it for years, it's been dropped more than once...

Sound quality is great. I don't care about over-powering bass, it really takes away from music more than adds to it, but if you want it, it's there. The included headphones aren't anything stellar but free headphones never are, if you want better sound you need to pay money for a decent set, really... But the headphones aren't being reviewed here, the player is.

I can't remember this thing ever skipping. In years. At first I remember wondering what G Protection was. Whatever it is, they can call it Pixie Dust Protection if they want to, it works.

If I bought a scratched up CD, I'd play it on this thing to see if it worked. There were more than one CD this player played flawlessly that wouldn't even be read on my stereo, a 200 dollar Sharp.

It looks great, that doesn't matter but it's always nice... Also, the design is great. I carry it in my coat pocket, on its side... The buttons are simple and you quickly know the position, so you don't have to see it to do what you want, and the volume controls are on the side, very easy to access. Heck, many times I didn't even take it out of my pocket to switch CDs, I'd just pop it open, make the switch, and be all set.

Battery life, this thing excels. I always find myself surprised at how long batteries last in it. I can't give an hour estimate, but trust me, it won't be a problem for you.

I don't know what else to say. If anyone is still buying CD players, I really doubt you'll do better than this thing. Sure, there are always newer better ones, but why bother when this model is so great??

I'm only buying a new one because this can't read mp3s - oh, but it does read normal audio CD-Rs, whether that feature was intended or not. If there was a way to make it read mp3 CDs I wouldn't have a reason to get a new one at all, and this thing would probably accompany me for years to come.

But things being as they are, like I said, it'll go on the shelf. It's going into retirement after a record career, and the next player I get has some big shoes, or well... A big pocket, anyway, to fill. If it can do as well or better than this little guy, I'll be all set for years.