Fancy Sony Style
Written: Oct 23 '04 (Updated Dec 31 '04)
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Pros: Fancy, nice LCD display titles-artists. Sturdy.
Cons: horrible Mega-bass boosting. bad sound, lack in mid-frequencies.
The Bottom Line: This is a goodplayer, has all the features, easy to use and fancy.. recommended for those who prefer "bassy" sound, not recommended for pop or rock music.
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| chiminou's Full Review: Sony Walkman D-EJ711 Personal CD Player |
My quest for the perfect CD/MP3s player is almost through.
I read a lot of reviews, surfed the net, tried actual personal CD players in different stores..
It all began one afternoon in a Wal-mart store.. I was buying CDrs and I passed by a stand of CD players. There was a "venturer" CD/MP3 player for only 36$, I thought it was pretty affordable and was very curious to see how it worked.
It had a few pretty interesting features like title and artist display... but to make this story short, I ended up returning it the very same day!
I bought a RCA RP2527 next, better but not as good as I expected. (link to review below) I also returned it!
I went into a Radioshack to find a pretty good selection of players. I noticed the SONY D-ne711.The first radioshack I went in selled it for 199$.. I didn't even bother giving it a second look once I saw the price tag.
I went to another radioshack, but this time, in my city, the D-NE711 was retailed at 139$. I tried it, it had all the features I expected. Bass-boost, title display and a neat look. I bought it.
LOOKS
Full circle silver design (about an inch thick), partially see-through lid. The middle part is aluminum. The buttons are made of metal and are very sturdy. The display viewer is rectangle and big enough. 3 line LCD display. It has 5 push-buttons and 2 round ones (1 multi-fonctions button and a jog dial). The headphones jack is adaptable for a remote (but not included in the package).
The weight is distributed evenly. Not too light nor heavy. The shape and style is very fashionable, maybe a bit too much for guys.. but good enough for gals.
It looks exactly like the DNE710, I wonder what the difference is?
The D-NE711 is sold only through Radioshack stores.
FEATURES
.ATRAC3plus, ATRAC3 and MP3 Format Playback
.SonicStage Simple Burner Supplied
.Jog Dial Control for Easy File Navigation
.Bookmark Playback Function for Easy Programming
.3 Line Dot Matrix
.Supports CD Text and ID3 Tagging
.Skip-Free G-Protection
.CD-R/RW Playback
.Digital Mega Bass
.Digital Volume Control
.Heat Resistant Lid
.2 Position Automatic Volume Limiter System (AVLS)
.AC power adaptor
.Headphones
.resume play
.easy scrolling through MP3s and atrac3 files and regular CDs
ATRAC3plus etc..
It can hold up to 490 atrac3plus songs on one CDr , and 170 atrac3 songs. The software is quite easy to use really, but it is very slow. It slows down my computer a lot. And if you put all your MP3s in the same folder in your hard drive like i used to do, it will freeze up and won't be able to show you your songs....Major CON.
It can take up to 5 hours to burn one atrac cd, depends on your computer speed. And the sound quality is not very good at around 64kbps for atrac3plus files. Most MP3s are 128kbps (which is the minimum to my liking) and up.
The manual is very easy to follow.
I prefer burning mp3s at the highest quality recording rate possible.
SOUND
Frequency response is standard 20 - 20 000Hz.
The sound at the normal setting is mid-frequency-like. It sounds like an AM radio, even when using original CDs.
-----MEGA BOOST-----
There's a button for this options: "SOUND".
Press it once to emphasize the bass and a second time to enhance it more.
I usually select the first bass setting.
The second one is ridiculously loud. Makes the sound unclear, muffled, boomy and distort.
But even the first setting is unsatisfying. It is too low and loud, there's a lost in sound quality and clarity. Bass boost should make the drums sound better, not the actual bass-guitar. With the sony d-ne711, all you can hear is the bass-guitar. The snare of the drum sounds tiny and far away.
The mid-frequencies are hidden under all that bass...most of the instruments and vocals are in the mid-range...as a result, there's not much velocity change nor feeling in the tune. The songs all sounds compressed (yes my AVLS was turned off) And it makes it impossible to jack up the volume. The louder I turned the volume, the bassier it got...It is a major CON.
My old RCA RP2360 (regular cd player)was the best as for the bass boosting feature (look for review link below).
----VOLUME----
It can play very loud. The volume button is located in the front on the lower part of the unit, Not very handy. It has a tactile dot and it is digital.
As for the AVLS funtion, it is ridiculous, no one would listen to music at a low level like. But, it is removable! Not all players have that option.
DISPLAY
A 3 line LCD display.
It scrolls the titles that are too long. Shows Group name, file number, file name, type of file (mp3 - atrac) as well as folders.
The jog dial button helps you scroll through folders and files, which is a pro.
Play mode button enables you to select shuffle, track tag, folders, pgm and more.. I do not use those functions, apart from shuffle.
Beep
This is a weird feature that all SONY players seem to have. It beeps when you skip a song, or when you press pause. It is a nuisance, but gladly, it can easily be removed. Press down the "charge" button while you put the batteries on.
G-protection
Two different settings 1 and 2.
2 is recommended for jogging and doing sports.
1 is for normal usage and enhances the sound quality.
There's a button inside the CD player for that.
The G-protection is great. It never skips. I tested it all the ways I could. Sony's technology is quite advanced in that field and most efficient.
Batteries
They are located inside, under the CD.
Requires two AA batteries. They last extremely long. I never knew MP3s players used so little energy.
Cause of the clear lid, you can actually see the CD stop turning to save energy.
CON
Open switch is placed in a weird place and can easily opened by mistake. When that happens, the music stops and resume/play feature turns off.. bummer!
Lack of mid-frequencies. Bass boosting not good.
Headphones included in the package are cheap. I use Koss portapro.
I am returning this CD/MP3 player because of this. It can be fancy, handy, sturdy, but if the sound stinks... what can you do?
I'm actually trying another Sony player; a SONY d-NE900, top of the line. I won't say more ..... stay tuned for the review to come!
related reviews
A few SONY players I have owned
D-NE500
D-NE900
My GOOD CD player
RCA RP-2360
The RCA RCA RP-2527
Koss headphones
PORTAPRO
SPORTApro
THE BEST multi-codec mp3/cd player
iRiver SlimX iMP-550
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 139$/can
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Epinions.com ID:
chiminou
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Location: Canada
Reviews written: 22
Trusted by: 12 members
About Me:
Wise women are instructed by reason; Women of less understanding, by experience; The most ignorant...
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