Sony S2 Sports ZS-YN7 Radio/Cassette/CD Boombox
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- Weight: 7.25 lb.
- Included Accessories: Remote Control
- Playable Disk Types: CD (Audio) CD-R CD-RW
- Batteries: 6 x D
- Functions: CD Player Radio Tuner Cassette Deck
- Number of Discs: 1
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Great for Home-Made CDs
Pros
Great handling of all kinds of CDs, pretty appearance.
Cons
For the money?none at all.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
For the purposes I described, it is just fine. The only other possible choices are many times as expensive.
First of all, the Epinions description of this product incorrectly states that it has cassette capability: it does not. This product is a fairly small, very prettily styled "boombox" with an AM/FM digital radio with plenty of presets, and a single-disk, front-loading CD playback deck, that will handle mp3 CDs, and ones recorded in Sony's proprietary ATRAC format.
This is an important product for me because I like to save large amounts of audio recorded from internet streaming, using a program called Replay Radio. Recording on a CD-R or CD-RW at 28 Mb per hour, I can get twenty-five hours of audio onto a single data CD, and play it back on this unit, or any CD player with mp3 capability. I can use a CD-RW when I want to listen once and then discard the track. Importantly, this unit has "resume" capability: even after it has been shut down, it will remember its place on the CD and take up there when started again. (For this feature and the presets to hold, the unit must either remain plugged in, or else be on its batteries with the power cord detached.) The CD deck handles all the different kinds of CDs very competently. The display is informative, brightly lit and easy enough to read.
The sound is clear and full-ranged, but small. It is slightly incongruous to call this unit a "boombox." I frequently play it through my ancient hi-fi system, or wireless headphones. (As the old hi-fi has no remote control, the remote for this unit is helpful in that mode. The remote works fine. There are a couple of functions the remote lacks, controlled only from the unit.) There is no clock. This product cannot double as a clock radio, except for its "sleep" feature.
This unit is the result of engineering trade-offs. The low amplifier power and light-weight speakers apparently allow it to operate on batteries without eating them up too fast. The tuner is relatively insensitive—apparently to get good station separation where many signals compete. It does not have a local/dx control, but does have a mono/stereo one.
The pretty exterior design makes for some impracticality. Because the bottom is concave, and the feet are at the outermost edges, this unit cannot be set down stably on a surface less than 17" wide. The handle's shape makes it uncomfortable to carry.
I have not used the ATRAC feature. That is a Sony proprietary program that compresses audio tracks. Evidently, if one uses ATRAC, one can play the CDs only on a computer with the ATRAC software installed, or on a Sony ATRAC device. As I anticipate putting a non-ATRAC mp3-CD player in my car—or that an OEM one will come with my next car—ATRAC seems not to be for me.
This is an important product for me because I like to save large amounts of audio recorded from internet streaming, using a program called Replay Radio. Recording on a CD-R or CD-RW at 28 Mb per hour, I can get twenty-five hours of audio onto a single data CD, and play it back on this unit, or any CD player with mp3 capability. I can use a CD-RW when I want to listen once and then discard the track. Importantly, this unit has "resume" capability: even after it has been shut down, it will remember its place on the CD and take up there when started again. (For this feature and the presets to hold, the unit must either remain plugged in, or else be on its batteries with the power cord detached.) The CD deck handles all the different kinds of CDs very competently. The display is informative, brightly lit and easy enough to read.
The sound is clear and full-ranged, but small. It is slightly incongruous to call this unit a "boombox." I frequently play it through my ancient hi-fi system, or wireless headphones. (As the old hi-fi has no remote control, the remote for this unit is helpful in that mode. The remote works fine. There are a couple of functions the remote lacks, controlled only from the unit.) There is no clock. This product cannot double as a clock radio, except for its "sleep" feature.
This unit is the result of engineering trade-offs. The low amplifier power and light-weight speakers apparently allow it to operate on batteries without eating them up too fast. The tuner is relatively insensitive—apparently to get good station separation where many signals compete. It does not have a local/dx control, but does have a mono/stereo one.
The pretty exterior design makes for some impracticality. Because the bottom is concave, and the feet are at the outermost edges, this unit cannot be set down stably on a surface less than 17" wide. The handle's shape makes it uncomfortable to carry.
I have not used the ATRAC feature. That is a Sony proprietary program that compresses audio tracks. Evidently, if one uses ATRAC, one can play the CDs only on a computer with the ATRAC software installed, or on a Sony ATRAC device. As I anticipate putting a non-ATRAC mp3-CD player in my car—or that an OEM one will come with my next car—ATRAC seems not to be for me.
