Hi, today I'd like to show you my Sony D50, it was the first portable cd player - discman ever made, but as the Tps l2 it doesnt have the walkman badge this discman doesn't have it either. The sound quality is superb and the body quality reminds me those great Sony years This is probably one of my favourite discmans, clear sound and powerful bass range, the Sony D-5 was the first discman ever made. I hope you'll enjoy Regards
I've been watching a few of these on Ebay recently but some are not in great looking condition and I've missed the end of a couple of auctions. I like the looks of this one and was wondering about the sound quality but trust I'll probably like it now....when I do take the plunge! Have always preferred Sony but recently found a Technics SL-XP7 and I'm really liking it. I now want to try an XP5 too. Looks wise, to me they just look so refined and expensive looking. I don't like the looks of their hard carry cases but it kept the player in great condition for a few decades until I bought it so I shouldn't complain.
HI Simon and Matt, Welcome! Just had to jump in here because I've got both the D50 and XP5 and I can certainly make a comparo. The D50 is a rock solid unit with bare bones features. It's sound is fantastic for it's age but this was also before the days of skip protection and such. For this reason alone it's a shelf unit but I wouldn't hesitate to bring it outside on mains. The Xp5 is an awesome unit. Fully featured, beautifully sounding unit, and a light weight (if you can call it that) NiCad battery. A tad more refined in the sound department but it does lack something I can't quite put my finger on. If I had to choose one over the other.....I couldn't. I know this comparo contains nothing of substance but pure nostalgia... P.S watch for the dreaded hinge-pin crack on the XP5 and 7 models...a pain in the a$$
Thanks Brutus and mankamaz, I'll make sure to ask about the hinge-pin before I buy one if i don't get to see it first.
D-50 has a refreshing live-ly sound compared to iPhones/iPods, but I keep one in my collection simply as a reminder of what CD sound was for the first few years. To my ears D-50 MkII (D-7) sounds way better and less fatiguing to listen to. D-50 has CX20133 DAC, but D-7 got PCM55 DAC (as Technics SL-XP7 and XP-5), all with no oversampling, infamous brickwall digital filter, so its only excuse of soundind better (to my ears) is PCM55 DAC. Headphone amp in D-7 and SL-XP5 is one of the most powerful in Discmans, 30mWx2 into 32Ohm (vs 10 in D-50 and 15 in SL-XP7) but it is easy to check that it is not that important by using line-out and h/p amp. My favorites are D-25 and Denon DCP 150, but XP5 and D7 would be my second best choice
Hi Jorge, One of my favourites is D50, but the Technics XL P5 sounds great, but above all I prefer the Sony D-303
Interesting... Your favorites are the very first and the very last of great Discmans. My favs are in the middle of the pack. Once they put 1-bit DAC in D-99 and its younger/sleeker brother D-303, they lost me. As I mentioned somewhere, I prefer cassettes recorded from CDs to the original "perfect sound forever": there must be something wrong with my ears ;-)