Quelle Dommage!
Written: Nov 06 '99
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Product Rating:
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Pros: well designed, nice feature set
Cons: sound quality is tinny and lossy
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| vanity's Full Review: Sony DHC-MD515 MiniDisc Mini System |
Tempted by features and tested in a poor environment, I spent nine days with this system before hauling it back to the store. Thinking that maybe Sony had corrected the problem inherent to Asian engineered systems (especially those sold in both Asian and American markets) the Sony has way too much high end and a weak bass, which makes western music sound lackluster and tinny. In the spirit of experiementation, I swapped the speakers out for some high end speakers to find out where the problem was - and it was inherent to the unit, not in the speakers.
While there are some great touches of engineering and design, like the remote, and the functionality is comprehensive, if it doesn't sound well, and reflect the warmer tones of the music I listen to, or the richer bass lines inherent to indie rock/rock (think the sounds of an epiphone or a rickenbacker) - I'm not getting the most out of my music. Neither will you. Unless you listen almost exclusively to Asian pop, you might be happier with a Kenwood or a Denon (Denons are from New Jersey, Kenwoods are American engineered) for richer sound quality when listening to western music.
Remember using factory preset equalizer settings is cheating yourself out of sound you deserve, stackable CD changers are more likely to go awry than flat trays, and Sony has been trying to work out their relationship with lower sounds for a while. (Remember the completely ineffectual bass boost which only amplified the thrust but not the sound of the bass - annoy your neighbors without actually hearing any sound difference!) and they still have a couple of miles to travel. Give them a couple years and they may be able to combine their well thought out feature list with sound quality, but for now, decide what you're willing to give up and go for the better sound quality.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
vanity
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Member: leslie harpold
Location: new york, ny
Reviews written: 18
Trusted by: 38 members
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