Sony Discman D303 (1991) - Capacitor replace & pictures

Sony Discman D-303 from 1991. Was this Sony's second 1-bit DAC Discman after the D-99?

Old head-fi.org threads from 20 years ago had much speculation and interesting comments on the D-303. Some said that it was a type transition model from the old to the new Discman's. One user had access to an old Sony catalog or ad that listed it as a "Special Purpose". Due to Toslink optical out and gold plated line out? A type of "line out specialist" some theorized. The D-303 had the best line out of any Discman, only the Denon DCP-150 with the AD1868 DAC was better etc., etc,. The amazing detail, wide sound stage, accurate bass and the least distortion were praised.

Finally in February 2022 a D-303 in the proper condition and from a serious seller appeared on e-bay - and I got it. Upon first listening it was quickly apparent to me... that it was worth keeping. And the D-10 was going to be sold. The detail from headphone out was impressive when listening to the usual rich multilayered ambient electronica of choice. Line out through a Headroom desktop amp was indeed warm and rich and impressive.

To my ears the Sony D-10 was cold, thin, lacking intricate detail. And worst of all fatiguing to listen to. No wonder some people have to use a tube amp to warm things up and make it palatable. And even change the OP amps... So I listed the D-10 a week later on e-bay for $303. See the little inside joke I made there? I wonder if the buyer got it. Sold in 24 hrs.

Optical out (1300 strand glass fiber cables from sysconcept.ca with custom lengths and connector type are cheap and worth getting) was just fine and indistinguishable from my basic optical out DAP the old QLS360. Optical out through a great DAC and Amp combo sounded "dramatically better" than headphone out or line out of the D-303 itself, in my opinion. Same for the D-555. I mean the soundstage from a great DAC / AMP combo is so crazy wrap-around-your-head-wide and deep with inky quiet between every sound layer... one is left wondering... why am I even bothering with Discman players? Until you remember you are listening to its Opical out. So the Discman can be a CD transport perhaps, at least, to justify owning a few models I say.

D303 suffers from the same deadly 100uf SMD aluminum capacitors as the D555 does. And the garbage spindle motor Mabuchi RF-410CH from th D-35 / D-350. The worst of both "classics". That motor needs to be replaced with the $1.50 ebay one Mabuchi RF-410CA. Once the sled and gears are cleaned and re-greased with Teflon PTFE Labelle 106 life can go on. Until those other pesky electrolytic capacitors go bad in the future. The board is packed in tight and some of those values are near impossible to find in such small sizes. It won't be fun replacing all of those one day. I left them alone since they are working.

Additional motor info: The Mabuchi RF-410CA from e-bay is usually described by some sellers as NOS from a warehouse. They are probably old and definitely have dry bearings. They run scratchy and loud from an AA battery. As soon as they are oiled it goes quiet. They also have a small pinhole oil port leading to the bronze on the back / base bearing. Yes really. Not even the old original motors have that. I fed oil into the pinhole and let soak a few days. It was actually absorbed.

The D-303 has a good look and style in my opinion. It tuns on 2AA cells as well as the lead acid BP-2EX using the famous little fold and battery holder spring arm. Same as the D-515 would later use. The orange backlight display is fantastic and just plain cool.

(The later model D-211 would allow the user to momentarily turn on a same style orange back light with a button - even from batteries. Really? With battery only? Not too sure of that one. I got a D-211 later as well... literally just to see if the display worked like that... plus there was a buzz on the forums about 18 years ago about it "sounding incredibly great"... but something went terribly wrong during the re-capping of myriad small scale leaking SMD capacitors... but that's another story!)




Running from 6AA battery box into the DC9v input jack.


















Look at those funky red Elna 220uf 6.3v capacitors used on the headphone
coupling! Interesting. They were actually putting some effort into making
it sound as best as they could... without spending too many extra cents per unit.
That's just a trace of sarcasm there folks

 

Now 1-Bit-heads have a majority here at S2G To sell Sony D-10 in favor of D-303, Wow! We all hear differently! I did quite the opposite, until recently did not even bother keeping D-99 and D-303 in my collection, hoarded R-2R/multibit Discmans instead Boils down to personal preferences myguess: I did try to force myself to love BAT VK-75SE but after one year of glorious, almost palpable sound and holographic soundstage I reverted back to NAP250.

@Hyperscope - unless you have it already, you Must try the most reviewed Discman ever made: Optimus CD-3400 (made by Mitsumi for RadioShack, also branded as Akai PD-X73 and Grundig CDP100).
Radio Shack Optimus CD-3400 - Stereophile crowd just could not drop the subject, spent more time talking about CD-3400 than all other Discmans ever made.
Before you ask - I do have a few and they do sound wonderful, especially with a new spindle motor, full recap, recalibration and Line-Out upgrade recommended by Stereophile
Here is one of mine with full 'audiophile' kit, as recommended by Stereophile:


I see one listed on eBay right now: real pain to recap and restore damaged traces but well worth the effort!

 

While I found D-303 to have more detail and to be somehow more pleasing than D-10... I do not like the D-303 sound. I hardly listen to it and probably need to sell or trade it away. D-555 line out with cheap Koss Sporta Pro is much nicer to my ear. Even the lowly D-35 sounds more pleasing.

I already know you don't like the 1-bt DAC's and, so far, it seems I have yet to hear one I like too. My year 2000 model Sony MD player MZ-R900 that I bought new in 2002 from the Sony store sounds "ok" though to my ear. I listen to it exactly 1 hour per week. I even got a spare last year.

Yeah the Optimus 3400, I read the articles and hype, but I am out of the Discman / portable CD player game for now. Denon-50 upgraded to AD1868 is something I want to try. The Denon-50 with 4AA battery inside plus that upgrade is something I want to hear. Apart from that I want to get back into Headroom Ultra Desktop Amps and several top new headphones plus maybe get a good fully serviced restored 90's Akai or 80's Nak cassette deck. And a couple of iconic 70's Mono boxes like JVC RC 550 and National 5410. By the way, did you ever get into the 5410 before the disaster, I see your thread where it arrives from a seller in Europe but then, no more...

 

Ha! just a few weeks ago I received my Denon DCP-50 upgraded by Kaosun to DCP-150 status

@Hyperscope - Headroom amp is an excellent choice. My own 5410 is still in pieces:




Until fixed, I use this beautiful RQ-568:


I will definitely get me another El Diablo, but for now I just do not have enough space to collect boomboxes, so have to limit my 'collector's bug' to Discmans

 

The RQ-568 is the other one on my short list along with Sony CF-490 / 495 or CF1990. RQ-568 has a big 6x9 speaker according to the youtube video where the guy takes one apart. Comments on this forum and "that other boombox place" say it is among the best few Mono boxes. So what does it sound like Jorge? Can you try and describe the sound range and bass response? As for the 5410, I am disappointed to read it is still in pieces you need to get that tuned up and restored asap and post a thread about it here on the forums

EDIT: As for JVC RC 550 my interest is in total speaker replacement, as others have done, plus installing a polarity reverse switch for the midrange (if I remember right) that is wired in reverse that you alone seem to have discovered and documented.

EDIT2: Denon DCP-50 upgrade from Kaosun, how much does he charge for that now? Send a PM if you don't want to divulge that openly

 

@Hyperscope - RQ-568 deserves its own thread here at S2G, I will definitely post my resto efforts once final glitches get polished-out! In short, it is NOT RC-550! but on the bright side, it is manageable/portable even after a (more than a) few beers Nothing special about its bass, but whatever is there is more controlled than I would expect from a bbox. One of the reasons (apart from presumably half-decent amplification) is that the 'baffle' which is just rather thin plastic front of bbox is also reinforced by the backside. Driver's magnet is pushed from behind by a rubber piece. Still rather iffy support for a bass driver, but better than what you have in most other b-boxes:


Price for DCP-50/150 upgrade went up from five-seven years ago but still next to nothing compared to the original DPC-150. I opted for DAC and h/p amp upgrade, love the end result

 

Exciting new threads could be opened up on these things... something this forum is in dire need of. An RQ-568 thread, one on the 5410, another just describing and imaging the DCP-50 upgrade any why it (might) be the greatest thing since sliced bread in Portable CD Player land etc.,