CD-Player Reviews

I recently purchased the very close cousin of this unit, the KDC-MPV7019, at another Internet site. I wanted an in-dash unit that had the ability to play MP3 files. I do a lot of traveling by car and I felt that having 200 or so hand picked songs on one disk in the dash was more convenient than having to load 10 disks in the trunk. I am writing this review to hopefully provide information that I was looking for before I took the plunge and purchased this unit.

I consider myself fairly knowledgeable with car electronics - I have been doing driveway installs on my own cars for 20 years with great success.

I have owned the unit for about a month now and can honestly say that I would purchase it again. Overall, It is built solidly and has great a great sound. As the specs suggest, the tuner is great and pulls in stations that my stock unit could not.

As with any product, there are some things that I would consider shortcomings. First of all, the display has way too much emphasis on form over function. The right third of the display is taken up by a round shape that serves as a clock (or a CD timer) that is hard to interpret. Fine adjustment of the tone controls is cumbersome- It requires several pushes of multiple buttons to get to the bass, treble, and midrange controls - definitely takes your eyes off the road!

Also, it took several attempts to burn MP3 disks that worked perfectly in the car. I had to slow down the burn process to 4X and use the Memorex black CDs. After two weeks of listening to MP3 CDs burned this way, I have not had a skip or glitch yet.

i recently purchased a 2002 nissan sentra and I was looking for a new cd player to replace the factory one. I went to Circuit City and I fell in love with this particular model because of all of different colors that were displayed. SO I purchased the cd player and I was so happy because the quality and sound was so clear and crisp. Also in the beginning I had a problem using it because there are many different buttons for special features. Some features are changing colors on the screen (you can choose between 4 or 5 colors), it displays the name of the song and the artist singing. What I like most about the player is that you can customize it. It allows you to name radio stations and certain cd's. Overall this is a hot purchase and it's even hotter if you are a hip-hop head like myself because the base is off the chain :)

After becoming addicted to digital music -- and the custom playlists dispensed from my PC, PDA and MP3 player -- I wanted a way to extend this listening enjoyment to my hotel room while traveling for business (without having to use headphones). These Koss speakers have satisfied my needs quite nicely.

The Koss speakers (measuring about 3.5" wide, 4.5" tall, and 3" deep) fit easily into my suitcase. They are light and durable with hard plastic faces (not foam). And their "passive" design means that there are no batteries or AC cords to worry about (their only power being the signal from my audio device's output jack).

The sound quality isn't great. (The bass notes sound much like a guy beating his hand on a cardboard box, and the highs sound like they are emanating from down a long hallway.) But the fidelity is vastly superior to what I get from my laptop's speakers.

I can now enjoy listening to my custom playlists while traveling -- without having to endure the piped-in music available on my hotel room's cable TV or the tinny bedside clock radio. I use the Koss speakers mainly while reading the paper in the morning, or while checking my e-mails at night.

(I tried using the Koss units around my home, but their sound was vastly inferior to the Labtec Spin 50 and 60 speakers that I also have -- which are larger, heavier, and require a separate AC cord plug-in.)

For the convenience of enjoying digital music while traveling -- without a headset -- the Koss portable speakers perform wonderfully. (And for the price -- you can't beat 'em!)

These are so cool.I can travel with them.

I got this portable CD player for Christmas last year and have been quite pleased with the features. It has excellent sound, anti-shock protection, and plays CD-Rs and CD-RWs effortlessly. The only problem that I had was that it eats up power too quickly - I played about two hours worth of music and it required me to replace the batteries after that. Still, it's a good deal. Just get rechargeable batteries for this one.

This is the coolest CD player and it's sooooooooo cute! It never ever skips! It's really cute and has awsome features! I definatly recommend this CD player! It's totally worth it! You will be so happy you bought this and for [a small amount]....it is such a deal.

this discman is pretty cool. i just got it a few days ago and it's overall pretty sturdy. i also like the soft case you get along with the product. however, i do have a few problems with the product. first off, the cord for the headphones is awfully short. and while programming stations into the memory is fairly simple, it took me reading the instructions a few times to do it, whereas most electronics i can figure out their functions rather quickly just by messing around with it. the actual headphones are flexible, perhaps bit flimsy if you ask me. aestetically, it looks pretty cool and neat. the design is pretty groovy. the remote control is handy and when plugged in, extends the length of the headphone cord. the buttons push down nice and crisply. overall, i am satisfied with this product, but it does have its drawbacks.

I listen to a lot of music while walking. In fact, I listen to a lot of classical music CDs that I then review here at amazon.com! But I recently dropped my old portable disc player - I'm a bit of a klutz - and its transport mechanism broke when it hit the sidewalk.

So I took a chance and bought this one, primarily because of several features my old one didn't have: a programmable AM/FM tuner, a wired remote control that connects in tandem with the headphones so that when you wear the discplayer at your waist you can use the remote easily without having to bring the player itself up to eye level, and because it includes a soft carrying case that has a l o o o o n g belt that fits around my, er, ample waist.

And I have to say, it works like a dream. The controls are easy to negotiate, the radio and the CD player work seamlessly and the headphones are adequate. About the headphones - they're the 'bud' type that fit into your ears and they're pretty comfortable. I will probably switch to over-the-ear headphones for noise-reduction (I tend to walk where there's a fair amount of traffic noise) but it probably really isn't necessary. One more thing, the 48-second delay anti-skip mechanism makes it possible to jog vigorously without annoying drop-outs when you're listening to a CD.

A nice little disc player, in my estimation.

Scott Morrison

I bought this Panasonic SL SW9-50 because I was looking for two things : good sound and above all NO SKIPPING. A previous older version Sony with none of the antiskipping features prevalent in the field today proved to be bothersome - and Sony sound is very thin and distorted even with the bass boost on.

This Panasonic fits well in the hand and has a provided rubber strap. The body is water resistant and this is a feature that could be handy in Canadian weather. The buttons are rubber cased on the top. I like the buttons instead of dials which you may find on the Sony - especially if by mistake or something rubs against the dial and brings the volume up to max by mistake. The volume on the Panasonic is a toggle with - and + - the typical volume setting will be around 10 or 11. There are different play modes including repeat or random. The buttons include a previous track, next track, a separate button for stop and play/pause. The play/pause button is a good touch because Sony does not have a similar button (what it has instead is a stop, play resume feature). The Panasonic has a memory recall.

The Panasonic headphones provided are plastic and painful in the ears after a while. The sound without any of the eq bass boost is rather ordinary, clear but not very exciting. There is a setting for train - which cuts out the high frequencies that may bother people on the train. The XBS boost is good - not amazing - but sufficient and definitely better than the Sony megabass. It is still a muddy bass and loses the treble. This unit definitely could use a treble boost.

As for no skip - I have done some walking and some shaking of the device and it's been solid so far. The life of batteries it claims is 18 hours with rechargeables which I use or 40 with AA. For the price I paid, it would have been nice to have had the AC recharger than Sony does provide for a similar priced unit (Sony DEJ751 which I do not recommend).

Canadian at Best Buy - is this worth it ? In the long run, yes. It would be nice if Panasonic had provided AC rechargers and batteries instead of charging extra for them. A serious jogger might want to have FM/AM digital tuner as well when the batteries run out for the cd player.

great cd player for active individuals. the hand grips are great and i have enjoyed skiped-free music throughout my rund and workout routine.

the quality of sound from the headphones could be a little bit better and it's not very comfortable.

I was in the market to get an mp3 player and really wanted to get one with a portable harddrive. But the prices are too high and based on the numerous reviews I'd read, they still seem to be in the growing stage. So I opted for a CD player that can play MP3s. I took a chance on this player and must say I am very pleased. To test it out I created an Iron Maiden MP3 CD containing 98 songs at 192 kbps [with room for several more songs!!]. I listened to it during my commute this morning and it was great. I didn't use the headphones that were supplied with the player, not that mine are much better. Also, there is no belt clip, but I have a walkman case that I used and slung it over my shoulder. The remote was handy and the unit is easy to use. Neither the remote nor the main unit display the song titles, but I don't really mind that. However, it does display the current running time of the song. Unless you really need more hi-tech features, this is a great value for the price.

I owned a Panasonic CD player for many years before it was stolen from my car. I was happy with its quality and went with the company again. Today I received the SL-SX431C, and so far I'm happy with it. I'm so happy I can store about ten CDs worth of music on one disc (since it can play MP3s of course). The features are pretty basic, but you can't beat the price for a reliable MP3 player like this. Not only does it have a car kit and decent earphones, my old AC adapter (which wasn't stolen) works with it (4.5V, 600 mA). My biggest complaint is that the instructions are practically nil. You have to just push a bunch of buttons to figure out how it works. Also, the 85 hour play time assumes very specific conditions, but I imagine it will still last quite long between battery changes. One great feature (esp when you have tons of music on a disc) is random play, repeat track, and repeat all. All things considered, I'm happy.

Overall this is a good product for the price. However, the display scrolls the song across pretty slow. This keeps you from seeing the entire song title prior to the song beginning to play. Also, it does not allow you to scan through a track/song. You can only skip to the next track. Don't let these discourage you though, it's cheaper than a standard MP3 player and pretty easy to use. Good Buy!

I just bought this and wow it awsome !!! it works so well!!!! people who buy this will love it !!!!!!!111

Pioneer's Elite PD-F19 301 disc cd changer is even better than I expected. While it has digital audio out, its D/A converters are so good, you'll want to use them unless you have a really expensive preamp/amplifier. The sound is marvelous.

Okay, so you think a CD player is a CD player? Consider the 10 custom programs you can set up. Punch button #1 and you get Rock. Punch #2, it's female vocalists. And unlike many other changers, any given disc in the Pioneer can be in multiple programs. After all, Eric Clapton belongs in Rock AND Blues, right?

The only annoying features of this changer are that you may search only by first letter (title or author) and it associates the data you enter with the slot instead of remembering the disc. So, moving a disc to another slot requires you to enter the info again.

All in all, I am extremely happy with this purchase - it's definitely hard to beat for the price.

Pioneer,and its Elite product line once again show off great sonic technology. This unit,besides holding your entire cd library,offers high-end interior components,that add up to high-end audio sound.This model may cost more then other large capacity changers,but,the asthetics,construction and sound are far above its competitors.Make no mistake,if you purchase this unit,your getting a piece of audiophile-grade technology that will impress your friends and move you into the high-end catagory.(provided you have good speakers,and use the analog outputs on this changer in order to utilize the pioneers DAC's).Rember,you bypass the Pioneers DAC's if you connect the digital output to a digital input on a reciever.So,unless you have a High-end reciever,using better DAC's,which isnt likely even with recievers over 1000 dollars,stick to the analog output on the cd changer. Another top performer in the Elite line,and at a great price considering the technology inside!

I bought this unit about 6 months ago at a marine base and used it during a grueling 1 month military exercise and it lived through it with a few scratches on it and I gave it alot of abuse!! This is a good player that does not have any problems reading the cdr's..that is really important seeing that I live on napster!! The only problem I ran into was that the fm tuner was a little weak when you are indoors at a gym but this player is made to be used outside so it should not be a problem for others..I also really liked the key lock which enabled me to stick it in my pocket and not worry about buttons accidentally being hit..I gave it a 4 because I felt that for the price RCA should have sprung for some better quality headphones..Listen UP RCA!!

When I ordered my cd player, I was just looking for a replacement for my old one, which was, well, ancient. My only real requirement was a decent skip protection. This one virtually does not skip. It also had an FM radio that come in handy when you get tired of cds. It's appearance is sleek and modern. This is a great and reasonably priced cd player that I would recommend to anyone in the market for one!

It has fabulous sound! I couldn't even turn it up 3/4 of the way before my neighbors called to compalin (no i'm kidding). But it was loud that my dad's office could hear it. But pretty much an ideal.... It doesn't have a headphone jack there, which is kinda annoying, it'd be great with that fabulous sound. But that's the only thing wrong... Rewinding and Fast Fowarding are normal, Radio quality is outstanding! GET IT!

This is a great boombox for the garage, bathroom or office. I've used mine in all three environments. I've currently got mine at work in my cubicle. Has great sound and can really pump out the tunes when I'm at work late or on weekends and no one else is around. Despite heavy concrete and steel in this building, I'm able to pick up stations that other co-workers are not able to.

The small profile of this boombox takes up very little room on my desk and has a modern look. Has a stereo earphone jack for plugging in headphones for listening to audio books or your favorite tunes. Considering the features, this is one heck of a bargain.