Sony Walkman D-EJ721 Personal CD Player
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D-EJ721 is the best of Sony's new CD Walkman players, but...
Pros
Truly skip-free claim, optical digital output
Cons
Fingerprint-showing glossy dark blue lid, G-Protection doesn't work as advertized
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
If you must buy any of Sony's CD Walkman players with G-Protection, the D-EJ721 and D-EJ725 are the ones to buy.
I bought the Sony D-EJ721 at Best Buy today after I returned a D-EJ621 that had major bugs. And I've never been more satisfied about any portable CD player purchase than this one. Update: I bought a Panasonic SL-CT470 just five months after I wrote this review. I like the SL-CT470 even more than this Sony.
Here's my review:
Sound
The sound quality of the D-EJ721 is good but not great, with not-so-deep but well-defined bass and slightly brighter but still non-fatiguing treble (unlike that of many of the high-end Panasonic portable CD players, which can be too bright for some people's tastes). But the D-EJ721 can produce distorted audio at their maximum volume-control setting. The D-EJ721 doesn't suffer from any of the sound-stability flaws that plague the D-EJ621. And if you have a MiniDisc recorder, you can output a digital audio signal from the D-EJ721's Line/Optical output jack (with the proper cable) for clean, undistorted digital MD recordings. The D-EJ721 comes with slightly better-sounding headphones than the D-EJ621, but the sound from the stock headphones is still mediocre. I recommend buying something better, such as the Grado SR-60 or the Sony MDR-7506.
Anti-Skip
The Sony D-EJ721 come with Sony's G-Protection anti-skip circuitry. I couldn't get either player to skip, even during my half-hour run at 5 mph on a treadmill (my Panasonic SL-CT580 skips during such circumstances despite its "no-skip anti-skip" claim). And unlike any of the newest Panasonics, the anti-skip of the Sonys can be turned off (supposedly for better sound quality). Update: For the past two months I noticed a limitation of the G-Protection of this particular Sony model. The CD player sometimes skips when I walked briskly across streets on my way to work. And when the battery is half-discharged, the CD player sometimes skips to the next track even though there is still 40 seconds of music remaining on the currently playing track.
Battery Life
I haven't tested the battery life of either player, but expect about 40 hours of playback with two AA batteries on the Sony D-EJ721.
Miscellaneous
The D-EJ721 uses two AA batteries inside its main unit - unlike the higher-priced D-EJ825, D-EJ925 and D-EJ01 units and high-end units from Panasonic, all of which rely on proprietary "gum stick"-shaped rechargeable batteries inside their main units. It has a Resume feature that resumes playback from the exact point where the user had previously stopped playback (unlike the Resume feature on the Panasonics, which resume playback at the beginning of the track where the user had maually stopped playback). The D-EJ721 has a plug-in external AA battery case that roughly doubles the already impressive battery life of the CD player itself. (Too bad the external battery case just dangles freely rather than screwing onto the CD player's body.) A vinyl carrying case with a hand strap is supplied, but loading and unloading CDs requires removal of the CD player completely from the case.
Similar Model: D-EJ725
The D-EJ725 ($129.99) is identical to the D-EJ721, but has those notorious Street Style headphones, a pair of rechargeable AA nickel-cadmium batteries, and a wired remote control without a display.
Here's my review:
Sound
The sound quality of the D-EJ721 is good but not great, with not-so-deep but well-defined bass and slightly brighter but still non-fatiguing treble (unlike that of many of the high-end Panasonic portable CD players, which can be too bright for some people's tastes). But the D-EJ721 can produce distorted audio at their maximum volume-control setting. The D-EJ721 doesn't suffer from any of the sound-stability flaws that plague the D-EJ621. And if you have a MiniDisc recorder, you can output a digital audio signal from the D-EJ721's Line/Optical output jack (with the proper cable) for clean, undistorted digital MD recordings. The D-EJ721 comes with slightly better-sounding headphones than the D-EJ621, but the sound from the stock headphones is still mediocre. I recommend buying something better, such as the Grado SR-60 or the Sony MDR-7506.
Anti-Skip
The Sony D-EJ721 come with Sony's G-Protection anti-skip circuitry. I couldn't get either player to skip, even during my half-hour run at 5 mph on a treadmill (my Panasonic SL-CT580 skips during such circumstances despite its "no-skip anti-skip" claim). And unlike any of the newest Panasonics, the anti-skip of the Sonys can be turned off (supposedly for better sound quality). Update: For the past two months I noticed a limitation of the G-Protection of this particular Sony model. The CD player sometimes skips when I walked briskly across streets on my way to work. And when the battery is half-discharged, the CD player sometimes skips to the next track even though there is still 40 seconds of music remaining on the currently playing track.
Battery Life
I haven't tested the battery life of either player, but expect about 40 hours of playback with two AA batteries on the Sony D-EJ721.
Miscellaneous
The D-EJ721 uses two AA batteries inside its main unit - unlike the higher-priced D-EJ825, D-EJ925 and D-EJ01 units and high-end units from Panasonic, all of which rely on proprietary "gum stick"-shaped rechargeable batteries inside their main units. It has a Resume feature that resumes playback from the exact point where the user had previously stopped playback (unlike the Resume feature on the Panasonics, which resume playback at the beginning of the track where the user had maually stopped playback). The D-EJ721 has a plug-in external AA battery case that roughly doubles the already impressive battery life of the CD player itself. (Too bad the external battery case just dangles freely rather than screwing onto the CD player's body.) A vinyl carrying case with a hand strap is supplied, but loading and unloading CDs requires removal of the CD player completely from the case.
Similar Model: D-EJ725
The D-EJ725 ($129.99) is identical to the D-EJ721, but has those notorious Street Style headphones, a pair of rechargeable AA nickel-cadmium batteries, and a wired remote control without a display.
