Sound quality - Sony's last audiophile portable CD player
High-quality carrying bag included, with interior pouch for external battery pack
Light weight
Slim form factor
Beautiful design
Battery life - about 10-20 hours on internal gumstick battery, depending on headphones and usage habits
Possible collector value

Volume level indicators on the remote's display are relatively tiny
Silver remote does not match player - generic remote used for Sony's high-end MiniDisc and CD players
Buttons/sliders on the player are mounted loosely - they have a slight tendency to rattle if you shake the player
No MP3 or digital format decoding
Throwaway included earbuds
Expensive

I bought the D-EJ2000 in Fall 2003 to replace an older Panasonic portable CD player, listed below. My plan was to keep the Panasonic for home use, connected to a headphone amplifier, with the new Sony as my portable source. This was Sony's flagship Discman at the time, and was superseded by the D-NE20 which had a similar form factor but lacked a line-out and has a digital amplifier rather than an analog one (reputed to be poorer-sounding). I had major qualms about owning two portable CD players at the time, but I am very happy with my purchase now.

The most immediately appealing features about this player are its small size and light weight. The D-EJ2000 is only slightly thicker and larger than a CD. This is due to Sony's use of magnesium in the body of the player, and Sony's usual engineering genius (reserved for their flagship products). The contemporary Panasonic SL-CT800 and iRiver SlimX 550 players didn't quite achieve this level of quality in their flagship players, although they included modern convenience features such as MP3, WMA, and Ogg Vorbis decoding.

On my Alessandro MS-1 headphones, this player sounds fantastic. It is able to relay all the detail and immediacy of great recordings through the headphone output. Bass performance, soundstage, and extended highs are fantastic for a portable player - the overall character of the sound is clean and neutral. Bass boost is included, but is completely unnecessary for high-end headphones. Also, this player lacks the usual DSP sound modes (e.g. Concert Hall, Stadium, Club, etc.), proving its purist design brief. Rock, jazz, and classical recordings all sound great on the D-EJ2000. Overall, the player compares quite favorably to my Arcam FMJ CD36, although it doesn't quite reach into the realm of expensive home audio performance. The player also includes a line out and optical jack - I haven't tested either one, since I am using it as a portable player.

The remote is easy to use and its basic controls are also included on the player body, sans display. If the disc has CD Text, it will display on the remote. Playing features are fairly minimalist - program, repeat, and shuffle modes are included. The D-EJ2000 should be compatible with most CD-R and CD-RW discs, it can also read the Redbook layer of SACD Hybrid discs without a problem. Also, the player has 2 levels of anti-skip (G-Protection) - I use the first level, since I believe the 2nd level may use compression and could compromise sound quality slightly.

Note 1: the included external battery pack tends to trickle charge the internal NiMH battery. If I run out of power, I generally remove the internal battery before connecting the battery pack. I'm not sure if running both the internal and external batteries simultaneously improves sound quality - that might be why Sony allows them to run this way.

Note 2: the player makes a soft whirring sound every few seconds during playback, and you will also notice the battery level fluctuating slightly in sync with this activity. I believe the player is reading at a high speed to a memory buffer rather than playing at 1X speed like old-fashioned CD players. This is presumably a battery-saving measure.

Customer Service

Customer service was great at the Sony Store. My player was the last (display) unit in the store, so I had to wait for a new battery and it was missing the product manual, which I have since downloaded from Sony's website.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic SL-S160 - this is a great player and I still have it, but it's of the bulky old-school variety, using 2 AA batteries. Also, the headphone output is inferior to the Sony's - everything is a bit fuzzier, in comparison. However, it has a stronger output and a line-out, like many older CD player players, which make it useful as a source for bedroom or desk listening and also for higher-impedance, lower-sensitivity headphones.

Arcam FMJ CD36 - my home player. It's the best CD player that I have heard, barring dCS's new Paganini 3-box system.

Excellent build,excellent sound quality can act as a mini HiFi product.Meant for the serious listener.Very effective antiskip for the jogger

Bad earphones,noisy ergonomics.No Adds-on like MP3 or other compression formats which I think is not important for a serious listener.

When I first saw this player at sony.uk after it's first release I fell in love with it,especially that sony categorize it as it's high-end player meant for the serious listener, and for 200$ it's really a top speck machine.The build quality is as usual from sony's top-end market,wonderful finish and sturdy magnesium diecast body,so slim&small just the size of a CD.The remote is the usual from late sony portable products,easy to use & so elegant.The sound quality is superb,a full sweet,open midrange and spine-tingling treble with a serious bass quality.You can say it's TUNED for the serious audiophile(as sony-japan says)there are no extras given,just you & your CDs.It delivers all kind of music whether pop,jaz or classical with the kind of ease and perfection we're accustomed from a sony high-end product.My complaint with the machine is minor but here it is; first as usual from sony's portables,the earphones,this one is terrible so I think you should change it immediately for the high-end MDR-E888SP,but wow-for 68$,too much!!But it really pays dividends for the sound quality.Second quibble,this machine is noisy,when you connect it,like I do,to external active loudspeakers(I use the lovely sony SRS-A35)and you sit beside it listening to your music you become annoyed from it's buzzing;you hear the lense moving & the CD rotating inside the player,more even than the minidsc portable which I thought the noisiest(I have the MZ-R909)This problem won't annoy you if you're using earphones as the player is most of the time away from your ear(I also have the D-cj01,which is not that noisy)but anyway there's nothing wrong with machine and it's wonderfull sound quality makes my complaint just a minor quibble but I hope sony take care of this in the future(by the way this machine makes the same buzzing noise as another high-end sony player I have the SCD-555ES SACD player!!).Third & final complaint,it's difficult to extract the CD from the player with only one hand especially if the edges of the CD are smooth like DG discs or other companies like Hyperion or so,then you have to use both hands to get the discs out,which,believe me,can be so annoying,& this's because the player is just exactly the same size as the CD itself.This's a wonderfull player,nevertheless,& if you're a serious listener& you don't care for the adds-on like MP3 and ATRAC3 and so forth then you should go for this player immediately,and believe me it doesn't just look it's price,butit sounds so too.A really top-speck kit.

Good sound quality. However, had to return the product under warrenty because of a battery problem - I think. Anyway, it died after a couple of months moderate use. The player wouldn't work with the external battery pack either so not sure if the problem isn't with the player itself. Battery life seemed good while it worked.

Headphones are junk. Bought Sony Fontopia EX70LPs which are much better. Bass enhancements setting are bad - waste of time.

Impressive design but questionable battery (as with so many rechargable Sony products in my experience). Bin the headphones.

Incredibly small and light. Remote. Fantastic sound for a portable CD player.

Stock head phones, Toss them immediately. price. No mp3 support

I've owned 4 or 5 CD players, most were Sony, and this is definately the finest CD player I've ever had. I was worried about other reviews that said that it was too quiet but I've never got the volume above 3/4 full. This may be because I'm using a set of Sony MDR-V600 headphones. It is by far the best sounding CD player I've experienced. If you are serious about music and ride the bus or walk a lot. This CD player with a good set of headphones is a great combination. If your not willing to upgrade the headphones, buy a cheaper CD player becuase there's no point in paying $170 for this great sounding CD player.

Similar Products Used:

last model was Sony D-EJ611. several others before that.

Small and lightweight. Efficient battery use. Good sound. Full capability remote. Bass boost for noisy environments that need it is in two steps, so you can choose what you need.

I don't like how the remote also becomes The connection for the headphones; I'd prefer a remote separate from the headphone cord. You can connect the 'phones directly, but then you lose the remote. Older Sony units kept these separate.

I bought this unit to replace an aging Sony portable I use at home. This one is so small that I left the old unit at home and take this one with me on the bus. It works flawlessly, never skipping even when I'm walking. The remote control takes some learning (tiny buttons, many functions) but gives good feedback in its LCD window, which is backlit. Its audio is good, and very quiet. Battery life is outstanding, running for days of typical use on its internal rechargeable, even with Etymotic headphones, which require more power. Plenty of audio output for these phones. Plays any disc. Has travelled around in my fanny pack for six months with no problems.

Similar Products Used:

Various Sony portables, either stolen or worn out through heavy use. A Toshiba portable that was very bad. I've used portables since 1985.