Sony Walkman D-EJ815 Personal CD Player
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somewhat disappointed in Sony
Pros
size, battery life
Cons
sound quality!!!! and factory QC
Recommended it?
No
Build Quality: Nicely done, the metal lid is a nice touch in this era of cheapy garbage being produced by most makers.
Problems - opening and closing the lid makes a loud click in the hinge mechanism. Its just too loud and indicates to me that something will break (probably one day after the warranty expires). Also, the silkscreening on the cover of my unit is off center. Yep, the words printed above the buttons are printed on an angle. Nice job Sony!!! Send a quality control person to your factory in Malaysia, because silkscreening isn't tough to print straight. Worse than the silkscreening being cockeyed is the fact that this unit passed QC and was shipped!!
Sound Quality: I'm evaluating with a pair of studio monitor headphones and all I can say is this CD player sounds poor! My old, old Sony portable CD this is replacing sounds a lot better than the 815. The sound of this unit appears to be compressed. No warmth, the bass rolls off too quickly, the midbass is attenuated and the overall sound is about as good as my cassette walkman with a pre-recorded tape!! At first I thought the problem was related to the built in amp powering the headphone jack. I was proved wrong when I tried to connect to my home stereo using the line out jack and connecting the headphones to my preamp. This thing just sounds like garbage. I wonder if the problem is because of the semiconductor memory they pipe the sound through (shock protection). Could this be the weak link, or did Sony just cut too many corners in the sound department?
Other info: The battery life is superb, the accessories are nice, though I think Sony could have mustered up better heaphones, and a pair of NiMH batteries for the extra few cents.
I think I'm going to have to try one of the new skinny Panasonic models to see how this compares in the sound quality area. Panasonic has a similar unit to the 815, and according to Panasonic's website they are Made in Japan so I would expect the quality to be a bit better. On the downside, I understand the Panasonic models don't come with an LCD remote or a backlit display. Not good, but I may have to lose these items for the sake of better sound. We'll see!!! In case you care, my subjective eval of the Sony 915 in the store (using my headphones) indicates it sounds about the same as the 815. Not sure about the D-EJ01, I can't find it in Miami to listen to before I buy!!
Last month I was in Japan and saw Sony models MADE IN JAPAN. I should have bought one there!! I'm going to go out on the limb here and bet that the Japan made units sound better. Who knows, I could be wrong. Regardless, Sony has problems and needs to pay better attention to their product line.
Problems - opening and closing the lid makes a loud click in the hinge mechanism. Its just too loud and indicates to me that something will break (probably one day after the warranty expires). Also, the silkscreening on the cover of my unit is off center. Yep, the words printed above the buttons are printed on an angle. Nice job Sony!!! Send a quality control person to your factory in Malaysia, because silkscreening isn't tough to print straight. Worse than the silkscreening being cockeyed is the fact that this unit passed QC and was shipped!!
Sound Quality: I'm evaluating with a pair of studio monitor headphones and all I can say is this CD player sounds poor! My old, old Sony portable CD this is replacing sounds a lot better than the 815. The sound of this unit appears to be compressed. No warmth, the bass rolls off too quickly, the midbass is attenuated and the overall sound is about as good as my cassette walkman with a pre-recorded tape!! At first I thought the problem was related to the built in amp powering the headphone jack. I was proved wrong when I tried to connect to my home stereo using the line out jack and connecting the headphones to my preamp. This thing just sounds like garbage. I wonder if the problem is because of the semiconductor memory they pipe the sound through (shock protection). Could this be the weak link, or did Sony just cut too many corners in the sound department?
Other info: The battery life is superb, the accessories are nice, though I think Sony could have mustered up better heaphones, and a pair of NiMH batteries for the extra few cents.
I think I'm going to have to try one of the new skinny Panasonic models to see how this compares in the sound quality area. Panasonic has a similar unit to the 815, and according to Panasonic's website they are Made in Japan so I would expect the quality to be a bit better. On the downside, I understand the Panasonic models don't come with an LCD remote or a backlit display. Not good, but I may have to lose these items for the sake of better sound. We'll see!!! In case you care, my subjective eval of the Sony 915 in the store (using my headphones) indicates it sounds about the same as the 815. Not sure about the D-EJ01, I can't find it in Miami to listen to before I buy!!
Last month I was in Japan and saw Sony models MADE IN JAPAN. I should have bought one there!! I'm going to go out on the limb here and bet that the Japan made units sound better. Who knows, I could be wrong. Regardless, Sony has problems and needs to pay better attention to their product line.
