Sony Walkman D-EJ01 Personal CD Player
- Digital Output: Optical
- Bass Boost: With Bass Boost
- Anti Skip Buffer: G-Protection By Sony
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Magnesium marvel
Pros
Stylish, shock-resistant, slot-loading
Cons
Expensive, could be thinner
Recommended it?
Yes
A couple of months ago I bought myself a D-EJ01 as an early birthday present to replace my aging Sony D-321. I've been mightily impressed by this little jewel. The price may be a bit steep for some, but the D-EJ01's innovative features make it an excellent value.
According to the packaging of the D-EJ01, this particular model commemorates the twentieth anniversary of the Walkman. Sony's engineers set out to create a statement product, one that is as effective at turning heads as it is soothing ears. By and large, Sony's engineers should be proud of their baby. The die-cast magnesium case is absolutely beautiful, shimmering gracefully in even modest light. Even so, the D-EJ01 is reasonably light while feeling very solid in one's hand.
The most obvious difference between this unit and other portable CD players is its loading mechanism: rather than a clamshell lid, the D-EJ01 sports a (non-motorized) slot-loading mechanism. To insert a CD, flip out the lever on the right side and give it a slight push to open the door if it's closed. One can insert the CD about halfway before feeling resistance, and from there only a small amount of force is needed to engage the spring-loaded injector. To eject a CD, simply push the lever and the disc will pop out halfway, leaving enough of the disc's edge to safely remove it without leaving fingerprints on the disc's surface. A door covers the slot whenever a disc is inserted, and a small button allows one to close the door if there's not a CD present. Three-inch CD singles need not apply. The upshot to the slot-loading mechanism is that the D-EJ01 is perfectly round, but also slightly thicker than Sony's thinnest CD Walkman, the D-EJ915.
As far as features go, the D-EJ01 is unparalleled. It's the first portable CD player to sport CD-TEXT, by way of its excellent remote control. The remote is a circular device - slightly larger than a large man's watch - with a swiveling clip on its back, a large display on its front, and controls around its perimeter. Nearly every playback feature can be accessed using the remote, save for the dubious AVLS (Automatic Volume Limiting System).
The main unit duplicates the basic controls but has no display; both units have independent hold switches, meaning that either set of controls can be used exclusively. The large "light" button above the remote's display is a nice touch, instead of having to press a button to activate the gorgeous backlighting. Speaking of which, the display is normally a pearlescent blue, but the backlighting is a soothing orange. It's a very effective display, if somewhat reflective. The blue background of the display matches the blue-tinted window on the main unit, another nice (if subtle) touch.
G-Protection means that it's nearly impossible to interrupt playback due to physical shock. In informal testing (throwing the player into a down pillow), I usually chickened out long before the music actually skipped. Also impressive are the D-EJ01's battery-saving measures. Sony claims that with the two gum-pack-sized internal LiIon batteries and two AA batteries in the external battery case, playback time is a healthy 62 hours, and my experiences tend to back up Sony's estimates.
Part of the energy savings comes from the G-Protection system, which reads data off a CD in chunks and stores it in memory before playing it. The D-EJ01 goes one step further, though, and actually removes power from the spindle motor between chunks: during a normal play cycle, the motor is powered for about 7 seconds and unpowered for 5. Unfortunately, with good headphones and a quiet musical sections, a bit of audio fuzz can be heard at 12-second intervals, when the disc spins up. When connected to its AC adapter, though, the motor doesn't spin down.
Continuing the unpopular tradition Sony started with its MD Walkman devices, the D-EJ01 will not recharge its internal batteries while playing. In fact, the "stop" button triggers charging, which makes it easy to forget to start the charging process. The D-EJ01 also has an optical output featuring MD-LINK which doubles as a line-level output. If you have a recent Sony MiniDisc recorder, MD-LINK will save you time and trouble by directly copying the contents of a CD to MD (with CD-TEXT, even!). Pretty keen, eh? Plus, Sony should be commended for not including a switch to turn off auto-resume, as they did on my old D-321.
Included with each D-EJ01 is a carrying case which holds the player, the aforementioned AA battery case, and a couple CDs quite nicely. Unlike the case for my old D-321, this case allows easy access to all of the plugs while closed, but changing discs requires removing the player completely, which is far from a one-handed operation. Don't attempt to change discs while driving! There's also an awful pair of headphones which should be thrown away immediately, and a wall-wart AC adapter which should be kept.
Other than the fuzz I mentioned earlier, the sound quality of the D-EJ01 is quite good. With headphones on, I actually prefer the sound of the D-EJ01 over the mini-system in my bedroom. Not only does the portable have a lower noise floor, but complicated musical passages sound less congested. There are also two levels of optional MegaBass enhancement and while the first level is helpful for smaller headphones, the second level is pretty ridiculous.
When all is said and done, the D-EJ01 is a marvel of engineering. If you are looking for a portable CD player and don't mind the relatively high price, this should be first on your list.
According to the packaging of the D-EJ01, this particular model commemorates the twentieth anniversary of the Walkman. Sony's engineers set out to create a statement product, one that is as effective at turning heads as it is soothing ears. By and large, Sony's engineers should be proud of their baby. The die-cast magnesium case is absolutely beautiful, shimmering gracefully in even modest light. Even so, the D-EJ01 is reasonably light while feeling very solid in one's hand.
The most obvious difference between this unit and other portable CD players is its loading mechanism: rather than a clamshell lid, the D-EJ01 sports a (non-motorized) slot-loading mechanism. To insert a CD, flip out the lever on the right side and give it a slight push to open the door if it's closed. One can insert the CD about halfway before feeling resistance, and from there only a small amount of force is needed to engage the spring-loaded injector. To eject a CD, simply push the lever and the disc will pop out halfway, leaving enough of the disc's edge to safely remove it without leaving fingerprints on the disc's surface. A door covers the slot whenever a disc is inserted, and a small button allows one to close the door if there's not a CD present. Three-inch CD singles need not apply. The upshot to the slot-loading mechanism is that the D-EJ01 is perfectly round, but also slightly thicker than Sony's thinnest CD Walkman, the D-EJ915.
As far as features go, the D-EJ01 is unparalleled. It's the first portable CD player to sport CD-TEXT, by way of its excellent remote control. The remote is a circular device - slightly larger than a large man's watch - with a swiveling clip on its back, a large display on its front, and controls around its perimeter. Nearly every playback feature can be accessed using the remote, save for the dubious AVLS (Automatic Volume Limiting System).
The main unit duplicates the basic controls but has no display; both units have independent hold switches, meaning that either set of controls can be used exclusively. The large "light" button above the remote's display is a nice touch, instead of having to press a button to activate the gorgeous backlighting. Speaking of which, the display is normally a pearlescent blue, but the backlighting is a soothing orange. It's a very effective display, if somewhat reflective. The blue background of the display matches the blue-tinted window on the main unit, another nice (if subtle) touch.
G-Protection means that it's nearly impossible to interrupt playback due to physical shock. In informal testing (throwing the player into a down pillow), I usually chickened out long before the music actually skipped. Also impressive are the D-EJ01's battery-saving measures. Sony claims that with the two gum-pack-sized internal LiIon batteries and two AA batteries in the external battery case, playback time is a healthy 62 hours, and my experiences tend to back up Sony's estimates.
Part of the energy savings comes from the G-Protection system, which reads data off a CD in chunks and stores it in memory before playing it. The D-EJ01 goes one step further, though, and actually removes power from the spindle motor between chunks: during a normal play cycle, the motor is powered for about 7 seconds and unpowered for 5. Unfortunately, with good headphones and a quiet musical sections, a bit of audio fuzz can be heard at 12-second intervals, when the disc spins up. When connected to its AC adapter, though, the motor doesn't spin down.
Continuing the unpopular tradition Sony started with its MD Walkman devices, the D-EJ01 will not recharge its internal batteries while playing. In fact, the "stop" button triggers charging, which makes it easy to forget to start the charging process. The D-EJ01 also has an optical output featuring MD-LINK which doubles as a line-level output. If you have a recent Sony MiniDisc recorder, MD-LINK will save you time and trouble by directly copying the contents of a CD to MD (with CD-TEXT, even!). Pretty keen, eh? Plus, Sony should be commended for not including a switch to turn off auto-resume, as they did on my old D-321.
Included with each D-EJ01 is a carrying case which holds the player, the aforementioned AA battery case, and a couple CDs quite nicely. Unlike the case for my old D-321, this case allows easy access to all of the plugs while closed, but changing discs requires removing the player completely, which is far from a one-handed operation. Don't attempt to change discs while driving! There's also an awful pair of headphones which should be thrown away immediately, and a wall-wart AC adapter which should be kept.
Other than the fuzz I mentioned earlier, the sound quality of the D-EJ01 is quite good. With headphones on, I actually prefer the sound of the D-EJ01 over the mini-system in my bedroom. Not only does the portable have a lower noise floor, but complicated musical passages sound less congested. There are also two levels of optional MegaBass enhancement and while the first level is helpful for smaller headphones, the second level is pretty ridiculous.
When all is said and done, the D-EJ01 is a marvel of engineering. If you are looking for a portable CD player and don't mind the relatively high price, this should be first on your list.
