Distortion, clipping w/ hard music and bass on ...
Pros:
Please read the cons.
Cons:
Distortion when playing rock CD w/ mid or max bass is unacceptable.
The Bottom Line:
The distortion when playing some CD's is unacceptable.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
The other reviews are correct on the Sony D-FS601 .... At first glance, the Sony D-FS601 portable CD player is that awesome Volvo 240-like durability that is a marquee of Sony "Sports" equipment. Awesome.
However, one issue effects CD audio play. Using only store-bought CDs, I encountered distortion. When I play CDs like Nirvana's Incesticide, track 2 "Sliver", one concert CD by The Cure, and anything with a lot of bass or is loud, like most any rock music CD, I get distinct distortion when the EQ is set with extra bass.
You can click the Sound button on the case to enhance the sound. The Sound button has three settings: No Bass, as indicated by no Bass bar, and Some Bass, as indicated by one Bass bar, and maximum bass, as indicated by two bars in the LCD display on the CD player. When I play these CDs I like to listen to (great for running, biking), I'll hear distortion along any bass part of the music, primarily the bass guitar or floor tom (bass drum). I can hear the distortion in the headphones no matter how quite or loud I set the music. I also bought the Sony sprts headphone model number MDR-W20 to listen to the new Sony portable CD player. The headphone are awesome. Something like 10 to 25,000 hz range response. No matter using these or the CD-supplied headphone, still hear distortion.
My guess is the EQ enhancement, as accessed using the Sound button, actually enhances the sound at the pre-amp just after the digital to analog convertor (where the digital data on the CD is rendered as an analog music signal), but before the final audio out. The signal may be too hot for the final amplifier inside the CD player.
I've worked with profrssional sound and media systems for about 15 years, so I have a little experience with audio technology and symptons.
All other features work find on the unit. The TV tuner only receives channels 2 through 13 in mono only (not stereo). The receiver is about average in reception clarity for a portable CD player.
I can't live with the distortion, so I'm returning both units. Yes, I bought two.
Oh, and by the way, a lot of the favorable product opinion on eopnions.com are written the product manufacturer. This is particularly true of the opinons written of consumer products, like portable CD players.
Thank you.
Bruce.
