I got an $80 RCA back when I was young, at least I could listen to CDs in the car, models like this were big money back then and it's nice that they've held their value, I'm still combing the garage sales hoping someone will have one.
I had luck in getting one in MINT condition (with case, gondola, remote, headphones) for a bit over $200 a few years ago. In real life it is even more beautiful than any photo!!! Does not sound too good though, not that I cared (or care!): a few hi-rez DAPs nowadays sound better than any Discman
Shhhh! Not here... ***Right now listening to music from PC (FLAC 16/44) via my fav (one of) DAC Centrance HiFi-M8 (Asahi Kasei chip) ***** My another fav DAP is a multibit Hifiman HM-801 on 2 x PCM1704 but it's very heavily modded (All post-DAC part + a new amplifier + a separate reclock board).
@Mystic Traveller Please talk more about modded HiFiMan: I bought their very first DAP and it was crashing allthetime, it was the one and only time when I returned the product to the (then) startup company! Pono is my workhorse now, plus a few iPods (modded and not) but they are getting tired of me
I am not an engineer nor a tech by education, mate, so it's not modded by me. HM-801 was released circa 10 years ago, was expensive and was the first truly Hi-Fi DAP as they said but it had its downfalls sound wise. Many loved its multibit delivery but wanted to tweak it. There is a site player.ru - the biggest Russian speaking forum for portable audio. And there are a few guys there who are engineers and techs and they are well known for their different DAP mods and tweaks. One lad known by his nick Symmcat decided to do his best in terms of improving the sound of a HM-801. So he first developed a post-DAC board replacing the stock one, then he got involved, people liked the results and he turned his attention to the amplifier section. As a result he came up with a few (3-4) versions of his amplifier boards in place of the stock one. All those post-DAC boards and amplifiers could be ordered from him, so it was a sort of limited production - a few dozens have been made. On my HM-801 apart from Symmcat Full Mode (post-DAC boards and amplifier) I also have a separate reclock board mounted which was developed by another well known tech guy from player.ru. But yeah it cost me some not small money - I paid for the mint second-hand HM-801 FSM + reclock about 1000$ last year. Had I decided to buy first a player then do all mods above it would have cost even more. All 2 boards + amp in total would exceed $500 plus installation plus your player. But it was worth it IMO. HM-801 FullSymm has its unique sound signature thanks to 2 x PCM-1704, and then to mods of course. There is a dedicated clan of people there truly loving multibit sound and namely this version.
@Mystic Traveller many thanks for the info! Since my mishap with HM-601 I did not pay much attention to HiFiMan players. But two PCM1704 in a DAP - that is ambitious!!!, my all-time favorite CD players, Naim CDX, CDS3, and also Wadia 781 had these same chips for DACs. I did not even know that re-clocking makes sense for a single-piece players, but now I will look into it. And considering how much folks are paying nowadays for A&K pieces of brushed aluminum, $1k is well within my sanity level
Always welcome, Jorge mate! Yep, it was but HM801 was their top-tier one back then declared as one of the first truly HiFi DAPs. One downside of that was rather low battery life due to high consumption but to remedy that I sent mine for a battery mode. We have a guy who is an expert in modding and repacking batteries. I think it's made sense in this case. Highs in multibit DACs aren't to everyone's taste and here reclocking makes them more crisp, pronounced which I rather like.
Oh, I see, their tops go for too big money, actually this is a general tendency for all top-tier DAPs nowadays.
BTW, that's my beefy Man , with the most extreme bat mod - thickest battery and a custom cover due to that. I never listen to DAPs on streets so the size doesn't actually matter. But I also have a mod with the stock cover. Looks vintage nowadays but possess a serious sound for a portable device. What I also like is that despite its age it can be easily hooked to a PC as an external DAC without any "mumbo jumbo" with drivers which I hate.
And I treated myself with the only existing competitor to D-350, Sony D-150: The only other Sony Discman with plastic clam-case. Unlike D-350, D-150 is also one of the better-sounding Discmans because of Pasific Microsonics PCM60 DAC. One drawback: Sony BP-2 rechargeable battery is its only battery, it has no gondola and does not accept AA adapter So I had to rejuvenate BP-2 with two 3.7V AAA Li-Ion cells. And today I found some photos of my D-350 in its clamshell:
and here is my Pono, with extra PowerBank it should be almost as big as your BeefyMan, and almost as handsome
Yep, I know that Pono guy, read about this one a while ago, was interested 'cos if its shape, was even pondering to score one during my DAP frenzy, some bear signatures, don't remember exactly -Metallica or?
