Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony D-SJ301 S2 Sports CD Walkman

I would have liked to give it a full 5 stars - based on the insane sound quality alone. But mine broke down once - it was within the 90-day grace period from Target - so I went and bought a Panasonic. It sucked, so I went back and bought this one again. It hasn't given me problems since.

Many would find the thumb control unconventional and it would be horrid if you were left-handed. But I really liked it - I own another Sony CD walkman - which lacks this and I hate jogging with it. This one NEVER skips. The battery life is amazing - the batteries go on and on. It has a built-in charger which works great for me since I use re-chargarble batteries. I use it everyday and I can't think of myself without it.

Another reason for the 4 stars is that when I spend nearly a $100 on a CD player - I expect them to be responsible enough to give me a decent pair of headphones. I wasn't expecting Bose noise-cancellation headphones - just a decent set. While the one they bundled has good sound quality - it is both flimsy and totally uncomfortable - which made me spend another $20 on Sony street-style headphones.

In the end, I would highly recommend this product. It is well worth the steep price if you are looking for something rugged and great.

The sound quality of portable cd players has been on the same downward spiral that most sound equipment takes when commoditized for the mass market. The reason for this is simple: Joe Duh Average wants FEATURES not SOUND QUALITY. If you read most of the reviews, most people are talking about features. One self-proclaimed "audiofile" (sic) says the "bass sounds good", but mostly mentions features.
Note that the manufacturers don't even list real specifications anymore (like Total Harmonic Distortion - THD, signal-to-noise ratio - S/N, output level, etc.) because Joe Duh doesn't understand or care what these things mean. Joe can't see the op-amp or compressor inside the machine -- but he can see whether it has a remote control or not. (Why anyone needs a remote control on a portable cd player is beyond me.) So when Joe goes to the store to select a portable cd player, he buys the one that has the most visible features. (Joe wants to get his money's worth, after all.) So, what do you do if you are a manufacturer? Where do you invest your money? This is why most portable cd players have a muddy, unbalanced sound these days and this player is no exception. If you look at its specifications, it lists features. The frequency response range really doesn't tell you much, and that is the most you can get out of them. But just listening to it is a real disappointment. It is fascinating to me that people are willing to pay extra for things like AVLS when this is redundant -- just use the volume control! Check this out -- they try to pass it off as a feature: it "guards your hearing by capping your listening level". Thanks, big brother. (Sony doesn't wanna get sued.) Although they aren't going to tell you the output level, it is only about 5mW per channel. It is sturdy and doesn't skip -- everyone is right about that. It is heavy and bulky if you want to carry it in your hand while jogging, however. If you are a true audiophile, I would recommend looking elsewhere. They aren't making good quality portable cd players anymore, and the one I finally found is the best I could get from what is available and it isn't even on the market anymore. I got lucky and found a distributor that happens to have a stock of them and when they are gone, my guess is that there will be no more to buy anywhere. That player does not have the mp3, which is fine with me. It is the Panasonic sl-ct470 and they are going for about $50 (original price on release was closer to $75, I think). The sl-470j is the same player, but it has a remote control which doesn't interest me. It has a S/N of 96 dB and 9mW per channel output level. It is light, not as sturdy as the Sony, but the sound quality is much clearer and the response curve is better. Of course, no one ever uses the earphones that come with any of these players -- I use either one of Sony's MDR series or Sennheiser's P100's for exercising. The results with this particular configuration are pretty good.

A good tip is not to bring this to the beach or any place with sand. The sand did not completely break the cd player, but makes a static sound. It is good if you take care of it, not like I did, and it has a lot of extra buttons, PGM for example puts the songs in the order you want, it is quite helpful at times. The double bass is not too significant. The hand holder is very useful, and their design helps to make it easy to move around. Very good cd player

This CD Player is great! It's very rugged, works well, and looks good. Mine was given to me, but it was worth whoever's money! The bass sounds good, it really will not skip, unless you hit it with an aluminum baseball bat like I did. Just kidding. Seriously, though. This cd player is worth the [price]. The volume nob is easy to reach, the lcd is easy to read, and the 3-function nob is great and sorta fun to use. This CD player will probably outlast my 7-year old Panasonic(which still works, perfectly)...Take this from an audiofile, BUY THIS CD PLAYER. IT's JUST ABOUT THE BEST YOU CAN GET.

Quite simply, the SJ301 is the best off all worlds. Sleek way-cool design, unbelievable skip protection (it has NEVER skipped) and superb sound quality. Plus, one can control play and volume functions intuitively (read - without looking) while the unit is strapped to one's hand. Virtually waterproof. Forget the headphones, they are like all others, so-so; go out and get a real pair! All this for about $..., a know brainer!!