Sony Walkman D-NS921F Personal CD Player

The Sony Walkman D-NS921F CD Player is a great, portable CD player excellent for jogging and other outdoor activities.

This CD player can play MP3, standard Audio CDs, and proprietary Sony Atrac-3 compressed audio. You can use CD-R or CD-RW as well. You can not use recordable DVD media to store the songs on, however, nor use discs that have other data other than audio tracks or MP3s. You can place MP3s and Atrac-3 files into folders. This lets you keep your music organized, and let you take advantage of in-folder shuffling or just listening to songs only from a specific folder. The Atrac-3 format will let you place over 400 songs on one CD and the resulting compression will still result in very good quality music.

The system comes with the CD-Player, earbud headphones, user manual and and guides, and a Windows CD-ROM with Sony SimpleBurner software for creating Atrac-3 CDs. The SimpleBurner software is rather slow though, and if your using a computer that is less than 1 GHz speed, it may take several hours to burn a full-capacity disc. There is no other way to download music to the unit. You must burn a disc on your computer no matter if you're just making a plain audio CD, an MP3 disc or an Atrac-3 disc. There is no USB or other connection to hook the player directly to the computer, nor does it use any type of memory card. Keep in mind that the player will display the artist, song title, etc. only if you burn a MP3 or Atrac-3 disc. Normal Audio discs do not carry this type of information.

A monochrome LCD screen shows you current information such as modes, song information such as title, artist, folder, etc. (In Atrac-3 or MP3 modes), TV, radio or weather station, and track time. There is no backlight nor color so it might be hard to read in darker conditions.

The Sony D-NS921F has a built-in AM/FM radio, TV and weather band, and programmable tuning. In addition, there are features for music playing such as shuffle, bookmarking certain songs and playing only bookmarked songs, and repeat song, folder, or whole CD. This CD player also incorporates a memory feature which means that you can put one CD in, and create song bookmarks, then if you take it out and put another CD in and set bookmarks, it still remembers the first CDs bookmarks if you reinsert the previous CD. The bookmark memory is limited, so if you use up that memory, it will tend to erase the first set bookmarks to set the new ones.

A mini-joystick control allows easy thumb-control of most of the players features, along with buttons on the front face of the unit. The front fact buttons let you change program mode (shuffle, repeat, etc.) folder, display of song/album/artist (in MP3 or Atrac-3 mode only), or change station or AM/FM, TV or weather band. The joystick thumb control lets you fast forward, go to previous or next song, stop or play, or even pause. Other features of the thumb controller include setting a song bookmark and initiating the battery charge mode.

Battery life is very good on this system. It is rated at around 45 hours continuous play time. You can also use rechargeable batteries and charge them using the included A/C Adapter/Charger. If you are using alkaline batteries instead, the A/C Adapter will instead just power the unit saving battery power. The unit takes two AA batteries, which are included inside the unit underneath the CD. You'll need to remove your CD to replace batteries. Any bookmarks will be erased. Upon insertion of a new CD at any time, the unit will go into automatic "read" mode upon closing the door. This may take only a few seconds but can take a bit longer if you are using an Atrac-3 disc filled to capacity.

The sound is excellent. I have never personally liked earbud headphones so I use simple Radio Shack stereo portable headphones and the sound is still superior. There is a bass boost control with up to 3 settings. Bass boost will drain your battery power faster, however, the battery life even with bass boost on is still very good. I leave it on anyway as it provides the best sound quality. Even with bass boost completely off the sound quality is still supurb. Those who like rap and techno may want the bass boost on maximum for best effect, especially if you're using the unit in a more noisy environment.

The CD player can seem a bit bulky to those who have seen smaller units. The size is a bit bigger in diameter than a standard CD, and about an inch thick. There is no belt clip. Instead, the player comes with a carry strap. However, I have been able to easily remove the strap top and therefore thread it under a belt and re-thread. There is also some velcro that holds the strap together in addition to threading through a buckle that doesn't have a prong in it. This is about the only way to use the unit hands-free.

This Sony Walkman is also very durable and rugged. It'll play fine whether you're jogging or just walking. There is a special skip-switch you can adjust on the inside of the unit under where you put the CD. However, the factory setting is just fine. In addition, you can lock the controls with the hold slider on the front of the unit. This player also has a rubber seal along the inside. You want to be sure it is not out of it's track or groove, or the player won't work. I've wondered if the player was defective when I first got it to found I had inadvertently moved the strip. Once in place the player works fine. The strip doesn't really move too easily with normal use, however, and so should not be a problem. This strip and the clasp-closure both add to sealing the unit. I have successfully used this player in the rain without problems, and also while doing auto body work such as sanding and rust removal, which generates a lot of thick dust. While the player was covered in a find misty dust, the interior where the CD is was untouched. A wet cloth can easily clean the unit off. While I don't treat this player too harshly, I have on rare occasion dropped it on the ground, even the sidewalk, and there was never any damage to the unit.

If you're looking for a very sturdy, full-featured personal audio player, and don't mind the bulk, this is as best as they get.