Sound Quality in Portables Is Almost Back
Written: Jun 21 '01
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Pros: Clear, surprisingly crisp sound quality.
Cons: Not that many features. Very simple.
The Bottom Line: If your ears haven't been damaged from listening to hiss in portables for the last couple of years, buy this brand. You will hear the difference.
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| pulsetsar's Full Review: Philips AZ7781 Personal CD Player |
Doesn't anybody care about sound quality anymore? All the reviews on this site talk about skipping and bass boost...but nobody talks about the sound in portables. I used to own a Sony Discman from the early 1990s, with optical out, metal body, gold headphone contacts...the works. It was a tank that delivered sound rivaling that of a stereo, given good headphones. NO PORTABLE CD PLAYER ON THE MARKET TODAY ACHIEVES THIS LEVEL OF SOUND QUALITY. If you don't believe me, find one of these old players and compare...you will hear a difference. You don't even see phrases like 8x oversampling, dual 1-bit d/a converter, optical out, etc. anymore.
That being said, Philips is one of those companies which is still producing portables that sound good. The AZ7781 looks cheap, and it is, but the sound coming from it is amazing. I could barely tell the difference when I compared it to my stereo or my friend's old sony (the new sonys, by the way, are very inferior in sound quality to almost anything else...a distintive hisssssss). The skip protection is good, the package includes a good car kit, but even if all of this weren't true I would recommend buying it simply because the sound is incredible.
It has a digital bass boost that distorts the sound, so don't use it. The ESP also distorts the sound, but can be turned off. The design is great for taking around as it is small and lightweight. It also lacks a line out. This is a very simple CD player, which is why I was surprised at the sound.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 80
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Epinions.com ID:
pulsetsar
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Location: Chicago
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 0 members
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