The BEST Portable CD Player (PCDP) EVER?!?!?

serge1996

In 2008 Art Dudley shocked Stereophile readers by revealingthat some audiophiles use Sony PlayStation-1 as a CD player (!!!???): http://www.stereophile.com/cdplayers/708play/#fdFurHXCgbWMDEkb.97

Even more amazing is that the most recent list of Stereophile's"Recommended Components" (Stereophile, Oct. 2015) puts PlayStation-1in Class C, right next to Music Hall ($550) and NAD ($300) CD players; it alsomentions that Art D. places it among Class B CD players.

I do not see any lucky owners of Sony D-555 or Denon DCP-150 bragging about their PS-1, this playstation is just plain ugly.

Does anyone know how  DAC/DigitalFilterused in PS1 CXD2938Q compares to top-of-the-line Sony or Denon? or to anyportable CD player? let us know...

kaosun

In terms of the digital signal processing, either CXD2938 or CXD1125/2500 will process the data well. The difference between advanced and ordinary CD players is the DAC and analog circuit after the DAC. So the desktop advanced CD players have lots of components for analog circuit to improve audio quality while portable players use more ICs due to their compact size. The other concerns is the power supply. The PS1 or desktop players have lots of space for complicated multi-voltage power supply; however, the portable players have to use DC-DC switching power supply to generate multi-voltage power supply, the switching power supply also brings a little tiny noise...  But in portable CD players' world, you still can find quite a few good sounding players like D555, D10 and DCP150.

serge1996

I did not realize that wall-wart AC-DC power supplies, common to all PCDPs, impart this limitation onto the player itself. You must be right! The point I was trying to make is that in terms of portability any decent PCDP from my collection is similar to PlayStation-1 or, to use a better-looking example, Pro-Ject CD Box S: about the same weight and needs ac power for a few hours of listening session. I am pretty sure that whoever won Sony D-555 for $1,426 off eBay last week is NOT going to carry it around in his pocket (and yes, I am pretty sure it was "he", not "she" who bought this piece of jewelry).

kaosun

serge1996 2015-11-17 12:46
Edited by serge1996 at 2015-11-17 15:26

I did not realize that wall-wart AC-DC power supplies, co ...

Yep, I don't think "he" bought the 555 was for listening. He might be collection?

kara

serge1996 2015-11-17 12:46
Edited by serge1996 at 2015-11-17 15:26

I did not realize that wall-wart AC-DC power supplies, co ...

omg $1426 is by all mean insane!!! I am considering selling my old D555 if I can sell it for maybe a half of that price?

serge1996

If its in mint condition and you manage to take good photos you definitely can and will!! I could not help noticing that for PCDP in working condition selling price on eBay depends on such silly thing as their looks. Paintbrush and Windex (Zeiss optics cleaner even better) for all those spaces around buttons, microfiber cloth they recommend for polishing Swiss watches for everything else, and a few close-up photos should do the trick. Good luck!

kaosun