Recommendation for portable CD player with SPDIF output

2011-01-26 20:37:28

The ubiquitous adoption of MP3 -- and flash memory-based multimedia in general -- seems to have left the market with only a few portable (battery-powered) CD players left available, and so far the ones I've seen in stores are pretty low-end units (apparently they figure that if you can't afford an iPod or similar, you probably can't afford a nice CD player either?).  Hence, I've been unable to find a portable CD player locally that still has an SPDIF output, but I'll order one on-line if I can find a model number that's still available.

Anyone have suggestions?

Annoyingly, I'm pretty sure I still own such a CD player, but it's at another home some 3,000 miles away right now...

Thanks,
---Joel

Recommendation for portable CD player with SPDIF output

Reply #1 – 2011-01-27 10:00:51

Hi Joel,

I don't know of any portable CD players that have a digital audio output.

So I guess, your best bet would be to look at portable DVD players

the DVD-LV55 from Panasonic comes with a TOS-Link:
http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electro.../model.DVD-LV55

quite a few of Lenco's DVP devices come with S/PDIF output as well:
http://www.lenco.eu/index.php?option=com_c...=56&lang=en

HTH,
Maggi

Recommendation for portable CD player with SPDIF output

Reply #2 – 2011-01-28 21:35:13

several of the high-end Sony Discman players have an optical Toslink output combined with the headphone jack. This output is an unadulterated feed coming from the back end of the read buffer on the optical pick-up and, as such, has every pop, click and "change of track" noise embedded in the stream... it is perfect bits though. Warning... this is before any kind of error correction usually so crappy discs will sound crappy.

Sony DE-J1000
anything that is able to use the optional "MD Link" optical digital output cable (POC-5B/10B/15B/5AB/10AB/15AB Digital Cord) ...so the 985, J1000, J2000, NE-1...

easy enough to look up

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-doc...amp;region_id=1

...by the way, I have the J1000 and will never get rid of it, it is just too pretty and sounds awesome with a pair of Etymotic Research® earbuds (Shure® ones don't work so good because of impedence mismatching...)

Recommendation for portable CD player with SPDIF output

Reply #3 – 2011-01-28 21:55:17

Thanks, that what I was after -- the old line of Sony players with the Toslink output in the headphone jack!

It looks like the D-NE20 from 2005 was about the last really high-end player Sony put out... I'll start watching for it and others on eBay...