Since changing from vinyl to CD, I've always carried an emergency/back-up Discman with me in my CD cases in case of equipment failure. (I'd never want to be in the position of standing in front of several hundred people with only one working CD player!)
As my old one didn't play mp3 disc's (which I am starting to occasionally use in live work) I decided to buy a new discman, which met the my criteria:
All controls on the top of the player (not spread over various sides, or only on a remote).
Large display (ideally backlit, but I'd never seen a backlight on a Discman) as the player will be used in low light conditions.
Shockproof.
Can also play MP3 discs.
Line out.
I was surprised to find the D-NE520 had a backlit display (not mentioned on the box or Sony's web site) and fit the bill on all other points. Overall I'm very pleased with my new purchase.
Unexpected bonuses include the "Search"function (allowing you to pre-select a next track whilst the current one still plays) and the reasonably large buttons on the basic remote (much better than the fiddly D-NE920 remote for my application).
But there are some things I wish I could improve:
The display backlight only stays on for around 10-30 seconds after a button press, then goes out. It would be great to make this stay on all the time (I only run it with the mains adaptor) or if a service mode allowed me to increase the backlight on time.
The display is clear text on a black background which is almost impossible to see without the backlight on. I've since seen the D-NE920, which appears to be the exact inverse of the D-NE520 - ie black text on a clear background - and therefore easier to read without the backlight on.
Comparison of D-NE520 and D-NE920 displays:
When I was a teenager (a long time ago!) I remember taking apart LCD displays on watches and calculators. If you moved the filter around you could make the display invert (clear text on a black background). I'm thinking that this is the only difference between the D-NE920 & D-NE520 displays, and that by taking the display apart and changing the orientation of the filter I could make the D-NE520 display black text like the D-NE920.
I should add that my day job is as an electronics engineer.
Has anyone any opinions or comments on the above?
I see that the download section doesn't contain a D-NE520 service manual. Can anyone advise where I can get one from?
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Robbie
Hi,
At weekends I work part time as a DJ.
Since changing from vinyl to CD, I've always carried an emergency/back-up Discman with me in my CD cases in case of equipment failure. (I'd never want to be in the position of standing in front of several hundred people with only one working CD player!)
As my old one didn't play mp3 disc's (which I am starting to occasionally use in live work) I decided to buy a new discman, which met the my criteria:
All controls on the top of the player (not spread over various sides, or only on a remote).
Large display (ideally backlit, but I'd never seen a backlight on a Discman) as the player will be used in low light conditions.
Shockproof.
Can also play MP3 discs.
Line out.
I was surprised to find the D-NE520 had a backlit display (not mentioned on the box or Sony's web site) and fit the bill on all other points. Overall I'm very pleased with my new purchase.
Unexpected bonuses include the "Search"function (allowing you to pre-select a next track whilst the current one still plays) and the reasonably large buttons on the basic remote (much better than the fiddly D-NE920 remote for my application).
But there are some things I wish I could improve:
The display backlight only stays on for around 10-30 seconds after a button press, then goes out. It would be great to make this stay on all the time (I only run it with the mains adaptor) or if a service mode allowed me to increase the backlight on time.
The display is clear text on a black background which is almost impossible to see without the backlight on. I've since seen the D-NE920, which appears to be the exact inverse of the D-NE520 - ie black text on a clear background - and therefore easier to read without the backlight on.
Comparison of D-NE520 and D-NE920 displays:
When I was a teenager (a long time ago!) I remember taking apart LCD displays on watches and calculators. If you moved the filter around you could make the display invert (clear text on a black background). I'm thinking that this is the only difference between the D-NE920 & D-NE520 displays, and that by taking the display apart and changing the orientation of the filter I could make the D-NE520 display black text like the D-NE920.
I should add that my day job is as an electronics engineer.
Has anyone any opinions or comments on the above?
I see that the download section doesn't contain a D-NE520 service manual. Can anyone advise where I can get one from?
Cheers,
Robbie
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