Sony D-NE Series - Best Sound Quality

[Distorted Vision]

Which were the best models for sound quality from the Sony D-NE series which had optical out?

Many thanks!

[sfbp]

Strange question. If you mean which of the players which happened to provide optical out has the best analogue out? - no idea.

If you mean which one has the best optical out, I'd say they are all much of a muchness. I'm sure they all use the same mechanisms and OPs. I would imagine that plugged into a mains adapter would always give more stable power and therefore less electronic jitter, so avoid anything you cannot get a wall-cube for.

There's one quirk - some of them will actually read ATRAC CDs as well as MP3 CDs. In neither case do you get optical out, but it's a useful feature. I may be wrong but I think it's the D-NE01 (at least) which did this.

[Distorted Vision]

I mean't which has best sound quality for both optical and analogue out. I was looking at the D-NE900 or D-NE920 but it's hard to find one which is complete with all accessories that doesn't have a ridiculous price. I'm not sure which is the better of these models.

[sfbp]

Is this any help?

For the record, the one in my cupboard turned out to be D-NE270 and I am listening to it as I write. Very decent. No optical out, but I don't care about that. I have a gazillion devices I can get data off a conventional device with (any PC and most DVD players), so the optical is unimportant IMHO. It also lacks the "Sony remote" jack, so everything is done with buttons on the front.

The other useful place for ATRAC CD turns out to be in the car - there are lots of Sony head units that can play back ATRAC CDs which avoids having stealable CDs in the car. I even had my stack of them stolen and found it abandoned half a block away when they realised what they had netted.

[Distorted Vision]

Yeah I'd already seen Damage's guide. I'm going to try and find a D-NE900 or a D-N920. Annoyingly a D-NE900 sold on eBay last weekend for £25 in mint condition complete with accessories.