What are the best Discmans

@Jorge @rcpilot23 I absolutely love these exotic colors ! White and red are particularly vibrant. There is one red D-50 on ebay ($1300 non-functional): https://www.ebay.com/itm/124509185173?hash=item1cfd536495:g:r3IAAOSwy8Vf7n-T

I find something intersting regarding those DC-DC coverters used by SONY: on some units they give the internal schematic in the service manual (like on the TC-D5M, WM-D6C, the WM-D3, the TC-153SD), but not on others (like TCD-D7/D8 and also Discmans).

Are the KSS220A and the KSS162 lasers interchanghable ? I found a cheap D250 described to have a faulty laser.

@Longman It's good to know that CF cards can be used instead of old IDE drives (I already ordered some adaptors to have when needed). Old IDE hard drives (especially very small capacity ones) are extremely hard to find. I am a retro computer enthusiat myself,
but did not invest that much time and money in that hobby compared to vintage audio. Mostly interested in laptops from early 90s. I grew up with DOS, Windows 3.1 and Windows 95, but never had any laptops at that point.

 

YES!

 

There was a Battery pack for the D-50 so it was portable. I have seen the battery holder online but very rare. I could easily power it from a small 3S lipo 12volts.

 

LOL $1300 crazy

I used a drop of contact cleaner in the gap of the volume dial and no more crackle. Works perfect. I paid $150 AUD for mine from a local guy last year. Lucky find

By the Valentin I am still trying to fix my Sony Cassette record level issue

 

Portable as in carriable but not wearable. And no skip pritection.

 

Mine has no skip if I carry it around or pick it up and move it around ?
I have read and seen this model does in fact have anti skip circuitry.

 

Oh, cool. I did not know that.

 

Here is a D-50 with the battery holder.

 

I remember reading about a battery holder, but it is rare. I think it was sold separately from the unit itself and it's likely not that many were produced. It's certainly one of the coolest looking CD players and I intend to buy one at some point, but at a reasonable price.

And I would certainly want a battery holder as well, as I want to be able to move it around without its power supply.

Something else I notice is this: a factor that certainly contributed to the success of CDs in the 90s was the lower price. From the very solid construction of the first models in the 80s many companies move to more plasticky cheaper models that also use simpler and more tightly integrated electronics.
Reading this article https://www.philips.com/a-w/research/technologies/cd/technology.html found out that the first generations of CD players used only 14-bit D/A combined with a digital filter to achieve the dynamic range and SNR of a 16-bit converter.
I can imagine that anti-skipping has developed in tandem with advances in memory IC technology, as cheapes and larger RAM chips became available, players could integrate buffers that could store more data than what was fed to the D/A converter.

 

I want to add some opinions about the SONY D-150 and D-250 Discmans, because now I have both in my collection for some time.

In terms of sound quality, the D-250 is a significant improvement due to the 4x oversampling digital filter. The D-150 sounds pretty harsh in comparison, because it lacks any reconstruction filter, either analog or digital.
However, both the D-150 and the D-250 sound considerably better when used with an external headphone amp (a difference in the favour of the D-250 still remains, which is to be expected), likely because of the additional filtering present on the input of a separate amplifier.
Probably this is one of the reasons SONY included a LINE OUT on these models, because that's the only way to get the full potential out of tese Discmans.
It is unfortunate that the headphone amplifier of these units is really good, but won't be used up to its full potential because of the "dirty" signal coming from the DAC.

It is clear that the higher end models with 8x oversampling digital filter sound even smoother than the D-250. Of course, the best are those that have a digital output: this way a better external DAC and amplifier can be used, but from what I have read on the forum, there are only a handful which have a digital out.

 

Hi Jorge, your post interests me as I have recently acquired a Technics SL-XP5. When connected to its power unit it works fine but not with the battery. This is not surprising as it will be very old. You say it is repairable - can you give more info please.

 

correct, all batteries are dead and any attempts at rejuvenating old cells by injecting them with water or acid is a total waste of time! You have to substitute dead cells, the easiest (and quite cheap) way of dealing with this is by sending battery to Kaosun of kaosuncd.com. Extra pains and expenses for the 'US outsiders' so if you decide to DIY:
Remove top plate:


pry out dead cells, they are held together by tough double-stick tape, use strong flat strip of plastic or wood. Try not to damage the edges of the case.

Ten 1.2V rechargeable AAA batteries do the trick:


a piece of lead at the bottom is just to add extra weight. From full charge batteries last for about 2 hours of play. Second set of ten batteries will double that but will also double charging current going through the Discman. Kaosun offers that option but I prefer not to take any risks with SL-XP5

my friend @hlpdt10 uses ten 1,200mAh gumstick batteries instead of 1,100mAh AAA, I have a photo but need his permission to post here

 

Where does the Sony discman d-303 rate?
In this discussion for the best?

 

My personal opinion - it is the best Discman with 1-bit DAC. Boxed units sell for crazy $$ to those who still believe that 1-bit DACs is the best thing that happened to R-2R multibit DACs. Proves, once and for all, that we all hear differently and listen to different things!

other contenders among 1-bit-Heads are:
1) Sony D-311 and D-515 - this is based on the all-knowing Internet Knowledge. I still have to get one for my collection
2) Optimus CD-3400 (aka Akai PD-X73 and Grundig CDP100, but it is actually designed by OEM manufacturer Mitsumi Electric Co.) - based on rave reviews by Stereophile crowd: CD-3400 Portable CD Player

 

I have in .txt files the "copied and pasted" text from old head-fi.org threads on which Discman sounded best. It was almost a consensus in some of these discussions that D-303 line out was the most detailed and warm. I will try and remember to bring those old files and paste them here later.

Meanwhile these old head-fi.org threads mention D-303 right up there too:

The Best Discman Ever in Terms of Sound Quality (2003)
What was the best Sony Discman made (2011)

My opinion these days is that D-303 line out through an amp is phenomenal. Even headphone out is very detailed though fatiguing to listen to for extended periods of time. Most of all I enjoy D-555 with phones directly into line-out. Great resonance and unique bass profile. That's what I listen to when I do my Tetris marathons. Playing those Klaus Schulze epic soundtracks of course

 

Thanks Jorge. That doesn't look too difficult. However the problem I have found is that I can't separate the battery from the player. The unlock switch seems to work but the battery seems to be stuck to the player chassis. I don't want to use force so any suggestions.

 

happens often, Very Often!! Rubber pad(s) from the Discman fuse with the pained battery plate. Brute force won't work, and you have to separate them with minimal damage to the pads.

these are the pads, oval shape and as you can see I managed to separate battery without any damage. Although you can see discoloration to the battery paint


Another SL-XP5, here one of the pads got torn, its piece is 'welded' onto the battery:


and yet another SL-XP5, here all four pads fused to the battery very badly and had to be cut off:





To separate Discman from the battery I use old Credit Card with edge cut at an angle as a chisel. Evidently, point the tip of the 'chisel' towards the battery, you do not want to separate pad from the Discman.
As always, you can use something like these Cell Phone Screen opening Tool

 

Has anyone tried D350? I don’t think it would win any award based on look - it reminds me of my previous office Cisco telephone.

 

The D-35 / D-350 uses the same UPD6376 DAC as the cheap plastic D33. So they are said to sound the same.

Sony's flagship model of 1990. SF89 laser head (by Sanyo) same as D-303.

Personally, I think the D-35 is a great looking player but degraded with weak audio. It could have been so good with a single PCM66 or even a PCM55 / 60. Even Kaosun admitted in an ancient thread on head-fi.org that it was "handsome" but was "weak" in the audio department / lacking a good DAC. Therefor an opportunity exists for DAC upgrade. This intrigues me a great deal and I wonder if a better DAC chip package could fit in the same footprint without having to cram a daughter board in there.

I always use the line out to headphone directly and have good results.

The D-35 has a total of 12 hole-through electrolytic capacitors, no nasty SMD caps to leak or fail, this explains why so many are still working without issues. I recapped mine and am convinced the improvement is very sizable / noticeable. The D-35 has a nice sound with a little extra default bass I find. (The "Mega Bass" is unusable due to the excess.)

 

Here is a copy and paste of my Sony Discman D-303 "comments saved" file:

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AC-96N is the original power adapter of D303
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My impression on D303 and D-515 is not the same as you. I firmly believe that D-303's line out has outstanding details. I have discussed this topic with Hirsch, a moderator here at Headfi, and we agreed that D-303 has the best line out of any portable discmans in his posession. He has Denon DCP-150, D-303, D-25S, Optimus CD-3400. Again, I purely enjoy the D-303 with its line out through my Meta42 and CD3K. I agree with you that the D-303 can't drive Senn HD-580 via the line out...but you can't ignore its amazing details, wide soundstage, great clarity, and its accurate bass.
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The D-303 has a very clean and detailed line output. I've used it a lot recently. Superior to the D-555 and D-777, IMO, but not quite at the level of the Denon DCP-150. It's definitely not a volume issue. The D-303 is one of the least distorted pcdp's I've heard. - HIRSCH
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To my ears, the DCP-100 has a bit more detail and sound stage than the D-303, however both have a very, very clean line out. The D-303 has the best line out of all the sony's I've heard so far, including the D-555 and D-777. However, I have to include a disclamer that I have not heard the 111/211/311 series.

I cannot comment on headphones out, I do most of my listening from the line out.
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https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-diy-discman-repair-thread.29323/

Sony discman motor RF-410 D/V 4v for sony D-303 or D-350

The 303 uses the CDM-350 transport, as introduced with the D-350.
The transport in the 515 is a CDM-515.
(BTW, pappucho has successfully transplanted a CDM-350 into a D-515...).

The 515 and the 303 use the same DSP chip. This is where all similarities end, no other major part is shared between the two models.

Technically, the 515 is much closer to the D-311/D-211 (these two are, apart from the transport, 99.99% identical internally), using the same DSP, DAC and amplifier chip
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Both model are 1 bit Dac. You will be surprised when you hear the D-303 side by side with the dual Dac D-555. D-303 has amazing detail. You can't compare the D-25S to the D-303. I don't think D-25S deserve lots of praise or the Ebay price tag of 260 dollars, but D-303 and D-311 are well worth the money. D-303 are one of a kind. I love the D-311 as well, but D-303's line out is just very impressive.
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I own around 4 of them before. d303 has the best phone out. I love its detailed and warmed sound signature. I found the sound quality beat all the recently mp3 players as of 5/11/2011. It also has very good line out but d555's line out is better than d303. the optical out is a plus if you use it to sync with your mini disc.
d303 has most common issue with the RF-410CH spindle motor and you often see skipping problem with that. in most case, if you hold the discman vertically it will play without skipping.
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D-303 1990. Listed as a "special purpose" discman, I think it is the optical out thing. You will also notice whilst headphone out is steel, lineout is gold plated. perhaps D303 is meant to be a output specialist?
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D303 silver with DBB. It has better digital filter and dac: CXD8178 not the Sm5804. Its DBB system is considered better than ordinary Mega Bass system. [Note: try and compare black D-303 to the silver D-303]
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