Sound That Rivals Component CD Players from a Portable

Introduction
I have owned this Discman for a little more than a year. I am probably an atypical user because I don't often use it as a portable player (though I have brought it on one or two plane trips).

I bought the D-NE300 because it's getting almost impossible to find decently priced new single-CD players. All that's available these days are CD changers and DVD players. I decided on the D-NE300 because it seemed like a good balance between price and quality, having received decent user reviews around the 'net.

I also got it because it will play MP3s on a CD-R, which makes it easy for me to load up a disc with hours of music.



The Suprise: It Sounds GOOD
A portable Discman CD player is a pretty simple, average everyday device, and probably edging towards being as retro as a cassette walkman, now that portable MP3 players are getting inexpensive. These days I see no-name brand players going for as little as $10 at discount stores -- this is not an electronics category where I expect to encounter anything remarkable.

So imagine my surprise at having grown so fond of this little player after using it for a year.

What surpises me? Frankly, it sounds good. Not, "good" meaning "not horrible" or "tolerable." "Good" as in, "I could mistake this for a decent component CD player."

I didn't realize this right away, because mostly I was using this player connected to inexpensive headphones or plugged into a mini-FM transmitter so I could listen to CDs through a radio in my back yard.

At some point I decided to plug in some decent headphones, I tried both a pair of Grado SR-60s and Sony MDR-V600 closed ear headphones. I remember that moment, thinking to myself "do I believe my ears?" That's why I had to try both pairs, to make sure I wasn't experiencing auditory hallucinations.

The sound coming from this little Discman was involving and rich, with realistic bass, not the typical "Hyper-Bass" thump I'm accustomed to getting from portable electronics. On a recording like Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall, I can hear the air of the venue and distinctly pick out Shadow Wilson's brushes on the snare. I feel like I can hear the limits of the recording (made in 1957) rather than the limits of the player.

That's why this little Discman has gone from a portable player that I dust off for long plane rides to one that's main playback device for my home office stereo system. I've paired it with the remarkable Sonic Impact T-Amp and a pair of B.I.C. bookshelf speakers, where it outperforms any bookshelf system or boombox you'd find for ten times the price of the D-NE300.

Soundwise, based upon playing plain-old CDs, the Sony D-NE300 can't be beat.

Operation and Quibbles
Ah, but there has to be catch, doesn't there? How I wish this little Discman were a little easier to use and not so annoying.

My biggest complaint, bar none, is the stupid beep it makes when you press any button. I don't need my CD player to beep and tell me I pressed the play button, I can tell I pressed play because it's playing.

Now, you can turn the beep off. But this setting is only good for as long as your battery or power lasts. As soon as you change batteries or unplug the power adapter, you're back to beeptown.

I like the fact that it gives you a time display and even does a countdown so you know when a track is going to end. With that feature, you can use this as a DJ player as long as you don't need pitch control (and you've turned off the beep).

Construction-wise, the player is fine but not out of the ordinary. It's made of plastic, it's light enough, but not too cheap feeling. The buttons are pretty well placed and designed. I'd prefer a volume wheel instead of the up and down buttons, but an analog wheel can get dirty easily. Plus, my guess is that there's no analog amp in this player (I think it's digital -- see my T-Amp review for an explanation for why that's a good thing).

I also like the fact that the battery compartment is inside the clamshell case. This means you can't accidentally open the battery door while it's in your bag or pocket. It's a nice little feature that's easily overlooked.

You have to use a menu to change most settings, though there are a lot of useful options for tweakers. The equalizer, for instance, is far more useful than in most portable electronics. The menu is about as easy to use as the ones in Sony's minidisc players - which is to say, it's not bad once you get used to it.

Another nice little feature: if your CD has CD Text on it (most Sony CDs do, and you can put CD Text on with most CD burning programs) it will show up on the display. So when I put in my Ben Folds Live CD, it shows me the track names and numbers. Almost like an MP3 player!

MP3 and ATRAC Playback
MP3 playback is a nice feature of this player, and it works. If you've burned a CD-R with folders full of MP3s you can pretty easily navigate the directories to find MP3s to play. The display is big enough to make this not a horrible chore.

Sound quality on MP3s is adequate. Here the real variable is MP3 file, not the player.

One quibble I have is that you can't put a playlist file on the CD-R. The D-NE300 just plays directories and tracks in alphabetical order.

ATRAC player is a nice feature, I guess, if anyone actually uses it. ATRAC is Sony's proprietary compression format that's used in minidisc recorders. ATRAC actually sounds better than MP3 -- it's on par with Apple's AAC files. But ATRAC files are much more scarce, and the small increase in sound quality isn't worth messing with a format that isn't nearly as universal as MP3.

You get Sony's SonicStage software for managing sound files on your PC and burning ATRAC CDs. It works, and the newest version is light-years ahead of earlier versions -- but unless you own a minidisc recorder or feel that you must buy music from Sony's Connect on-line music store, my advice is not to bother installing it.

If you want to put more than 74 minutes on a CD-R, go ahead and use MP3s. They're good enough.

Conclusion
In most ways the Sony D-NE300 portable CD player is not much different than most portable CD players. This is not an exciting product category.

But its sound is worlds apart. Packed inside is audio that rivals most component CD players under $500. Paired with decent headphones and you've got a portable system that will make traveling or commuting a little nicer. Plugged into a decent amp and speakers, and you've got a way to play CDs that will beat most DVD players and the component players in the big box stores.

A Final Note
The problem with writing reviews for inexpensive consumer electronics is that by the time an amateur reviewer like me has had a chance to live with and really get to know a piece of equipment, it's not longer widely available. The D-NE300 is still available at one retail outlet listed by Epinions.

A Froogle search shows that other net retailers still have it. Although in some cases it seems like the price has gone up to $100! Have others found out about its killer sound?

Unforutnately, the big chains and retailers generally don't have it anymore. I don't know if the model that replaced it, the D-NE320, has the same sound quality. None of the reviews on Epinions really address the sound quality. I guess most portable CD player users are more concerned with features like battery life than ultimate sound quality.

But if you're intrigued by my review of the D-NE300 and you're in the market for a CD player (portable or component) you might consider checking out the D-NE320 (especially from a store with a liberal return policy) -- then please write a review for Epinions!