Thoughts on the D-NF430?

[MZ-1]

Hello,

Any thoughts concerning the D-NF430 from a performance standpoint?

Is the sound strong as the 15mw per channel would imply?

Is the headphone output hiss free?

How is the FM and AM reception?

Battery life decent with rechargables?

I dont think the LCD on the unit is backlit. Is it hard to read?

Any performance oddities that are extremely frustrating?

Thanks!

Paul

[grenert]

How is the FM and AM reception?

Both reception of AM and FM is pretty good where I live (dense urban area). Other small radios I have get overwhelmed by strong stations, but the D-NF430 is pretty good about keeping them down. I don't know how good reception is in an area far away from radio stations. Note that the equalizer and clearbass settings do not work with the radio, so your EQ options are limited with the radio. Overall, I think the sound is very good; not quite as good as some other portable radios I have, but definitely nice to listen to.

Battery life decent with rechargables?

I've never measured the battery life, but my impression is that Sony's numbers using alkaline batteries are quite a bit higher than what I get with NiMH rechargeables. I'd estimate I get around 8-10 hours listening to regular CDs, something more than that listening to ATRAC/MP3 CDs. I should point out that I use my player with a backlit remote (RM-MC55EL, not included with the player), which I'm sure decreases battery life. The battery meter fluctuates when listening, and it dips down pretty low sometimes, even when the battery is not very old. So, what happens is that when you first turn on the player, the motor spools up and draws a lot of current. This drives down the battery momentarily, and can cause the player to think the battery is dead. I think the end result is that the player prematurely says the battery is dead and refuses to play. Fortunately, it only takes one battery, and it's easy to just pop in another AA. Maybe the battery meter is more stable with alkalines, allowing them to play longer.

I dont think the LCD on the unit is backlit. Is it hard to read?

As you would expect, it is impossible to read in the dark or very low light situations. Otherwise, it is very easy to read. It works fine with my two LCD remotes, which are backlit. It would've been nice to have backlight on the player itself, however.

Any performance oddities that are extremely frustrating?

I really like the player. The only downside is that it's quite a bit thicker than my D-NE10. I haven't done a lot of direct sound quality comparisons with my other music players, but my impressions of the sound are that it is very clear and detailed. The clearbass is very good for adding bass without being too boomy or muddy. I also like the parametric EQ. Speaking of that, it would be nice to have multiple custom EQ settings for different headphones/environments, but you only get one.

I only recently bought some canal phones, and I haven't tried them out with the player to see if they hiss. With open headphones, either there is no hiss, or it is drowned out by the ambient noise the headphones let in.

For the price, I don't think you can go wrong.

-J. P.

[grenert]

Just tried out my canal phones (Panasonic RP-HJE70) and there is some faint high-frequency hiss present. It is definitely noticeable during quiet passages of classical music. For other types of music, I'm not sure you'd notice. Also, since these earphones don't completely block out sound, I can't hear the hiss when there is a lot of ambient noise. I'm sure it would be more noticeable when listening in a quiet room.

As far as amp power goes, I listen at about 70% max volume. I would say that it plays to loud volumes, but not ear-splitting levels. I have an old Discman (from 1997) that really can make your ears bleed. This player is not as loud.

[Damage]

Hello,

Any thoughts concerning the D-NF430 from a performance standpoint?

Is the sound strong as the 15mw per channel would imply?

Is the headphone output hiss free?

How is the FM and AM reception?

Battery life decent with rechargables?

I dont think the LCD on the unit is backlit. Is it hard to read?

Any performance oddities that are extremely frustrating?

Thanks!

Paul

Mine comes from using the D-NE330, which is essentially D-NF430 sans AM/FM tuner.

1. Read more, but to sum it up, it's a Sony Portable. SonicStage is completely optional, unless you want to listen to ATRAC files.

2. 15 mW + 15 mW won't necessairly lead to louder sounds (well, hold that thought), but will result in reduced distortion when the volume is cranked up. This is more important with higher impedence (read: usually more expensive) headphones being driven without an amplifier. Outside of that application, you won't notice that much of a volume boost (per se) when you're using standard earbuds or other low impedence (read: usually cheaper) headphones.

So you can get louder sounds with less distortion.

3. My experience is that there will be some noise associated with headphone out with any portable units. The recent flash players and ones using High Definition/Digital Amps notwithstanding, most PCDP units have some hiss, which you can hear with more sensitive phones during quiet passages. In standard portable scenarios, it won't make a difference.

5. Never had a problem with Battery Life. I tend to use Compresed Audio (high bitrates, at least 192kbps) for the most part, and they held up pretty well (at least 20+ hours).

6. Unless you're in total darkness, the LCD shouldn't pose that big of a problem. However, it might be frustrating to read the screen occassionally, as it is pretty small, even compared to some Flash LCDs.

7. The Jog Lever is a bear, and you might get frustrated with it, especially if you have big fingers. Media compatibility? Well, the previous generation of CD player (D-NE20 specifically) had some issues with certain files, though they seem to have fixed that in this iteration.