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Guest Anonymous

I know this forum is for mini-disc, but I discovered here that Sony, is not necessarily the best md player. I need also to buy a cheap CD player for jogging. Any referrals appreciated. thanks! Kevs

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Although I prefer Sony MiniDisc portables, I can't say the same for their recent portable CD players. Yes they are jog proof and all that, but the sound quality isn't anywhere near that of their MiniDisc portables - perhaps a marketing stunt?

The MegaBass function on their CD players muffles the sound horribly - you can't use any "decent" headphones on them at all - it just sounds awful.

Also I have noticed they skip the first half-second or so of every track, which is annoying as most tracks come straight in - so you miss the first beat. Of course, you wouldn't want to record to MiniDisc from one of these, even from the Line Out because of this reason.

My advice would be to get the very cheapest one you can find with 40 seconds or more of antishock memory. You won't get any more from Sony's offerings, even though they cost more - which is a shame, since their older portable CD players really were good.

Hope this was useful smile.gif

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Guest Anonymous

Mini disc ant:

Is 40 sec enough for jogging? At least with G protection your safe.

You think Sony makes good portables? I was just jogging recently with a backup cassette of a minidisc (Sony sports walkman cassette player), and was shocked how -- even one generation removed from the mini-disc source how the metal cassette sounded louder and punchier than mini disc player. Others on this site have confirmed this and say to try out Sharp.

Any recommendations for non-Sony CD portables? -- or mini disc portables still appreciated. (No problem with Sony mini-disc home unit -- it's terrific)

Kevs

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For jogging I don't think I'd use a CD player anyway - because of size & weight. It all depends on what you want.

G Protection on MiniDisc portables can read in upto 3 tracks (depending on the play-length SP / LP2 / LP4) and play them almost as an MP3 player would. This is possible because the file sizes are much smaller since they are compressed, and compare with MP3s as opposed to larger sizes on CDs, so for CD players, G Protection is only just a small step from 40 seconds. This can be tried out by running a CD player open, letting the disc run for a while, then stopping the disc from spinning (I take no responsibility for any damage caused from doing this!!) . My G Protection CD Walkman doesn't last much longer (if at all) than a cheap 40-second anti-shock CD player. Plus sound quality on the cheaper one is better, in my opinion.

I have an MZ-N10, and after about 20 seconds of the unit running from startup the motor stops entirely. This lasts for around 2 tracks in SP and LP2 mode, then it just reads through later on to store the next tracks in memory. This also saves battery power.

Of course, if you like tape - why not stick with that?!

Hope this was helpful,

---

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Guest Anonymous

Mini disc ant:

that was informative. It let me know that Sony's G Protection for cd players is not much better than other brands 40 seconds. Actually, I've seen advertised cd players with 40-80 sec skip protection.

I use cassettes for vacation only, as not to risk losing my minidiscs. But I notice now that rental cars are being equipped with mostly cd players, so I figured why not just bring cd's for both the car and the jogging, (for vacation/travel purposes.

Kevs

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I've had nothing but good luck with Panasonic portable CD players. I've been through 3 Sonys and all of them were atrocious: bad sound quality, misaligned lens and mysterious power short. But I still have a Panasonic I bought 10 years ago as a display model at Best Buy that is still chugging along. It doesn't look too great anymore, but it has never stopped playing.

I recently splurged and bought the ultra-slim SL-CT580, and I love it.

I've also heard that Panasonic make very nice MD portables--a little light on the features, but solid machines overall. Hope I was helpful, and good luck.

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Guest Anonymous

Thanks BJ:

Do you know if the sl-ct580 is good for jogging, what is price?

I've never heard of Panasonic for MD players. Let me know where you see those;I don't even see Panasonic MD on Minidisco.

Kevs

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I've never jogged with the SL-CT580 (I'm lazy), but I've had it rattling around in my car over some rough roads, and I've never heard it skip. The motor only spins enough to feed music into its 40-second memory, then it shuts down until the memory runs low again--good for battery life and skip protection. I haven't seen this model on the shelves often--it's probably discontinued. I paid US$80 for it.

You can probably find it (and a few MD players) on eBay. That's the only place I've seen Panasonic MDs for sale.

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