Just busted out my curious old MPD-AP20U Discman to hear a CD album...

[CZroe]

I can't believe it still works!

This is not normal CD player.

I haven't gotten around to syncing that album to my phone due to iTunes restrictions (different libraries/PCs/iCloud, iTunes Match, no optical drive in Alienware M11x r3 with phone-associated library, etc).

Imagine that: listening to the disc this way is actually less hassle.

I guess it's not technically a Discman or CD Walkman since it also functions as an external USB combo drive for PC (Sony DigitalRelay series), but it does function as a stand-alone player with in-line remote and that's pretty much all I've ever used it for. Yes, it reads DVDs and burns CDs and has a MemoryStick slot (currently has a Lexar bank switching stick that doubles the maximum capacity) with an internal Li-Ion battery. There's also a portable dock that adds even more battery life (8 AA IIRC). It plays straight MP3s from all storage formats (not just ATRAC3).

I loved it back in 2003 because it was the best of all worlds:
It's a solid-state expandable flash MP3 player due to the MemoryStick slot
It's an iPod classic-class jukebox MP3 player due to the ability to play almost 5GB of MP3s per $0.10 DVD-R (back then iPod was still 10GB and had launched with only 5GB and wasn't expandable)
It's a CD Walkman with advanced G-Shock (disc would completely stop seconds after starting each song; probably used the memory from the CD burner function's write buffer).

Listening to the album a second time to see how well the battery held up over so many years. So far it's holding (nearly full). [Edit: Got "Low Battery" warning after listening through a third time. Not nearly as as great as it was when I stopped using it.]

I'm getting hooked on this ancient gadget all over again! I'm tempted to start using it a bit just for the novelty. Would that be too hipster of me?

The one thing I was missing back then was a sport/belt holster of some kind, which hampers portability. Time to look for a generic one.

 

[darkswordsman17]

I was kinda expecting an audiophile tirade about how much better it sounds and rabble rabble rabble. Which actually quite a bit of those Sony portable CD players sounded quite good.

Sounds like an interesting gadget with a lot of features. Still wouldn't make it worth using for me, but wouldn't be bad for like a transportable player.

I have a 5 disc Sony home CD player with a built in 1/4" headphone jack. There are times I almost want to use it but I don't because I think my computer sounds better and I have access to a lot more music on it.

Would that be too hipster of me?

It might be outhipstering the hipsters (since they're probably onto like original iPods or something like that) but at the same time isn't hipster enough (gotta have a portable record player slung to your waist for that yo!).

 

[sdifox]

That aint old. Let me bust out the edison phonograph

 

[Ichinisan]

An external DVD/CD-R drive with built-in battery that charges via USB was pretty awesome back then.

 

[CZroe]

An external DVD/CD-R drive with built-in battery that charges via USB was pretty awesome back then.

Actually, it didn't charge via USB. It was before external optical drives were USB powered. Would've been cool if it could at least trickle charge off USB.

Found a different problem though: it chews up CDs. When I finally pulled out my earbuds after listening through the album a third time I heard the disc spin down with a "click click click click... click... click... click... ... ...click" sound. I looked inside to find shavings from the disc hub scattered around. It looks like a shield plate of some kind is warped and an edge is catching the CD. It seems to want to stay in place when cold as if it is under tension, so I'm going to see if loosening the screws and tightening again will pop it back into place for good (needs to recharge first).

 

[TwiceOver]

A what to play a what?

 

[CZroe]

I was kinda expecting an audiophile tirade about how much better it sounds and rabble rabble rabble. Which actually quite a bit of those Sony portable CD players sounded quite good.

Sounds like an interesting gadget with a lot of features. Still wouldn't make it worth using for me, but wouldn't be bad for like a transportable player...

Well, my ripped library is almost entirely lossless, so it would come down to the superior DAC and headphones, which is not format-specific (a phone, DAP, or CD player can all use the same high or low quality DAC). Personally, I don't mind AptX over A2DP to a quality receiver but my current device doesn't support AptX. I continue to use A2DP without AptX because, well, I am not an audiophile.

I was using the short earbuds that came with my Sony SBH52 Bluetooth handset (yes, "handset," not headset). That's another interesting device. It makes your huge phablet phone appear to be the tiniest phone ever. No, I'm not a Sony-fanatic. I got that to see caller ID and reject/take calls and change music tracks without taking my phablet out of my pocket nearly as often (reduces risk of dropping for some dumb notification) but it doesn't work nearly as well with my iPhone 6 Plus as it did with my Galaxy Note 3. As I recall, Sony bundles it with their 7" Xperia phone. I stopped using it because a Pebble + LG Tone is much more effective/convenient.