Sony Walkman D-CJ506CK Personal CD Player

*Excellent* player with only one major issue-- Does G-Protection use LOSSY Compression? Why isn't it mentioned? If you have this player and think it sounds bad, there is a solution..

But first some basic stuff for people who don't own one yet.

Overall this is a much more solid player than the RCA and TDK MP3CD players I?ve used, It doesn't have to be purchased mail order, (so you can exchange it at the store quickly if it's screwy) and it runs circles around the current retail standard RIO CDMp3, which has a lot of fat buttons and little annoyances. There are more functional players out there online, and more tech-savvy players like iRiver makes, with extra pros (and cons).. This one is simple, and doesn't bother with gimmicky "LCD on a string" type remotes and toys which you **do not** want to break.. Which translates to: GOOD FOR KIDS WHO BREAK STUFF!!

DESIGN:

This thing is a little larger than my 7 year old Discman, but much lighter. The case feels hollow and a bit fragile, but it's also not covered in snap-off switches or snaggable buttons, dials, and control pads.

It?s kind of gaudy.. I like the sapphire series and the blue MP3CD better, but I wanted the backlight.. And the backlight is nice. *Deep* red, very snazzy. Maybe I'll paint it or cover it with stickers like my brother does. (The player, not the LCD)

The G-Pro switch is inside the lid, so you have to stop playback to set anti-shock modes, but that's not something people mess with a lot during playback.

TECH:

It recognizes all my various different media types, finds your folders and subdirectories quickly, and handles scratches better than many other MP3CD players. I especially like not having to figure out which files are VBR or bitrate incompatible and weed them out, now they all play perfectly. 8kpbs - 360kbps. There is no gapless playback for MP3s, but then that?s not something portable players specialize in. Handles "cooked" Mp3's about as well as WinAMP, but it doesn't uncook the worst ones.

Even in G-PRO 1 mode, there is not much skipping. And there are two modes, though I think the second mode is lossy. The battery playback is less convenient compared to plugged-in mode, the CD stops spinning occasionally and MP3 file advance takes longer. But it?s all in the name of extended battery time. Minor issues you can work around.

It seems to sort files alphabetically by ID3 tags sometimes, which confuses album order if your album tracks are numbered by filename.

Maxes out at 511 total files and folders. Which is really no big deal unless you are encoding specialized CDs, such as for school, such as foreign language, such as I just did.. which sometimes have 80 tracks a piece.. Adds up to more than 511 when you have 14 discs.. So ? of the CD can?t be played. Rare instance though.

Sound quality is on par with any Sony CD Walkman, there's a LOT of Bass with the right headset, and well encoded Mp3's play as clearly as CDs. (There's a much more indepth sound quality rant below, because I had some issues I had to figure out in the beginning)

The included headphones are clear sounding, but not much for reproducing low end. I used a Sony studio headset, and KOSS Plug-style earbuds for most of my listening.

IF YOU OWN ONE ALREADY:

Don?t hit the Folders button accidentally.. Especially if you have only the root directory, or one directory full of files on your CD (like +-170 in one folder..). The Folder buttons will reset your playlist to File 001, which is a pain if you were on file number 168.

The G-PRO Funky Sound issue. There are suspicious watery distortions I?ve noticed in CD playback.. Suspicious because they kind of sound like digital compression artifacts... Which makes me wonder--does this thing quick-compress CD audio into an MP3-esque format before it goes into the anti-skip buffer? When the distortion shows up on some CDs, you notice it. And bad MP3 files become even worse. The manual says nothing about compression, but mentions *briefly* in the section on connecting your CD player to a stereo--"To record high quality CD sound, set the G-PRO switch to '1'". There should DEFINITELY be a bigger note than this. The player comes factory set to G-PRO mode 2, and as a result, many people will notice distortions and compression artifacts right away, but won?t realize some of the ugly noise can be avoided by changing settings.

My personal complaint? EQ settings! Sony is a little behind the times on this one. HOWEVER, for you bassaholics, there is a real emphasis on bass with this player. Something everyone always asks for, though as a result it's lacking in presence and clarity. Only three sound choices--one null setting and two bass related. Choices are lacking where higher frequencies are concerned, which is where the presence comes from. The Normal "Flat EQ" setting is very dull. It?s like listening through the ?line out? jack. Bass1 adds extra low end, but mostly by thickening the entire sound spectrum. Bass2 is the only setting with any real improvements, but it's all or nothing.. There?s a noticeable jump in clarity, and stereo separation is more apparent. Occasionally it sounds *absolutely fantastic*. BUT, for a lot of tracks Bass2 = 2Much. The mode jacks up levels so high it actually causes distortion. Not a problem if your CDs or MP3?s are recorded at lower levels, and many are. Might be an issue if you like to normalize your files to 90%/+-0db or above before burning or encoding. It also wouldn't hurt to throw in one or two sound spectrum enhancing modes in the future -- IE the Wow Effect or Q-Sound (provided they can also be turned off). (Just in case SONY reads these reviews)

AVLS also helps to improve sound quality. If you want thicker harmonic bass and use headphones with low resistance, like earplug/buds, switch AVLS on and listen at lower volumes.

For the traditional conclusive, closing paragraph-- please see the opening paragraphs. Thanks so much.