as we all know, the d311 is legendary. sony's best headphones out. line-out=d303 but the discman who has the same sound but better build quality is the d515. iow d515>d311 well, i must admit i love the d777 more=tube sound great for rock. my travel discman 20-25 years ago. but the d515 is my second, a discman which i used alot of times. these days no more=computer or real cdp, but 20 years ago.. but i must admit, of all the sony's d515 i take a bow
I have pcdp including denon dcp-100/ sony 311/900/777 but really want sony d515. hmmm One day... i may be lucky..
DCP-100 you already have, the Best Discman there is!!! +1 to what @19lexicon78 said!!! Since this is D-515 Appreciation Thread, I deleted my personal comments about this Discman D-515 and DD9 look like brothers! Conveniently, D-515 also has a few poor relatives. Those who want to check how D-515 sounds, they can buy D-211 or D-311 for pretty cheap. Except for the controller CPU and more reliable laser, D-211/311 internally are the same as D-515:
211/311/515 those 3 sounds the same. the d211 is a bit less detailed compared to 311/515, but it's the best bang for the buck. actually besides the 515/311, the d211 is better sounding than all the rest of the sony's. it's best kept secret. indeed, the laser is better. all my d311's and 211 are dead or not 100% functioning. my 515 is still going strong. also, it's casing is all metal. the msrp of 515 was 550, perhaps that's why 515 and dd9 are brothers, both were the most expensive walk/disman sony made.
I also have the Sanyo SF89 laser head in my D-35/350 Discman and I've managed to keep it working perfectly by simply greasing the two steel railings and worm gear with Tamiya Boron Grease that I got from the RC Car Hobby Shop. I find the construction vastly superior than the Sony KSS counterparts. I've went thru three D-777 over the years (best remote ever) but they always end up not tracking properly on the first track of the discs. I disagree with what people think of the headphone out sound in general on forums tho. The D-35/350 has that old 80's Sony sound with the 16-bit NEC DAC and DDB/Mega Bass. I've had a D-515 and I personally didn't like the overly clean sound but it's just me (never really liked early 1-bit DAC machines in general, my home CD Player is their last multi-bit CDP-557ESD/707ESD). I didn't even like the DSP sound and the inconvenience of having to use the AC Adapter on the D-555 so ended up selling it. They both just sound too sterile to me. But I gotta say the D-515 is a beauty. The finish on the lid is actually the same as the WM-EX1 Walkman which came out later on. DD9's brother to me will always be the D-555/Z555 (THIS to me is the most costly Discman ever made adjusted for inflation and they both came out in 1989). Really wish I still have the D-J50 jewel case thin Discman tho.
