General Asylum: REVIEW: Sony CDP CX355 CD Player/Recorder by RGA General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories.

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Model:	CDP CX355
Category:	CD Player/Recorder
Suggested Retail Price:	$329.00CDN
Description:	300 Disc mega changer
Manufacturer URL:	Sony
Model Picture:	View

Review by RGA ( A ) on May 26, 2003 at 14:38:34 IP Address: 207.6.66.91

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With all the high end single disc cd players on the market there seems to be no love for these big mega changers. The assumption is that anything with this many features and at a relatively low price must automatically be terrible.

Well, I’ll start by going back to the mid 1990s. I had purchased the Pioneer PDF100, the first 100 disc player available. The machine was loud and clunky changing discs, the sound was run of the mill. Though it wasn’t annoying in the highs it seemed just rather dull sounding. The machine had no digital outputs and I mostly used it for cds I never much listened to anyway – ie background music.

Wanting to go a bit more upscale I began the pursuit of single disc models. I ended up with a Cambridge Audio CD6 which I liked better than the Rega Planet, Arcam Alpha 8 and NAD models of the period. The Rega seemed t be less true the source creating some sort of warmth…later described as reverberation. I understand its appeal but it was not for me.

Anyway, fast forward to 2003 and I began to notice that I played the same 20-25 disc over and over. The rest of my collection was in a box gathering dust. I also noticed that I listened more when I owned that Pioneer 100 disc player than I do with my Cambridge. So I thought I’d at least look to see what was available in the way of these changers.

Enter the Sony CDP CX355. This changer had me suspicious. It hold 3 times as many cds as my old Pioneer, it’s about 1/3 the price and has more features including the much needed digital out for adding an external DAC and a keyboard attachment. What the hell, it has a 2 year warranty so it can’t be too horribly made.

FEATURES – What you want to consider.
Firstly, the machine is relatively quick changing discs - pretty close to any carousel, and to my surprise much quieter changing discs than most carousels. The player is limited to 13 characters of input and you enter information for the slot selected. This naturally makes sense. You assign Patricia Barber “Café Blue” slot 72 you have to decide how best to use your 13 characters. And if you take the disc out and put something else in slot 72 you’ll have to re-name the slot. Some people are irritated by this but the player can’t imprint on discs it just memorize slots you assign. You can also assign the disc a sub group (there are 8 in all) which you can label such as Jazz, classical, rock etc. So if you have a party with an 80s theme you can program your player to only play group 5 (80s rock) etc. Naturally, you can run random play within a group or for all groups and you can program up 32 favourites. You can also delete songs from being played in Random play mode if you despise certain songs or are embarrassed you like them when company comes over.

The display is large and easy to see providing you all the information about the disc. The remote is well laid out – though a 100+ button might have been nice. If you own two of these players there is a neat cross fade no delay feature that would have songs ending just as the next song from the second CX355 begins…the two songs would have NO stop and would blend together - a DJ’s dream.

Recommendation to save you a big headache.

First: Enter all your discs on an Exel spread sheet before you begin. Include disc slot number and your sub group. Print this off and then place your discs in the player. You can go back and enter disc information on the keyboard which will make the process easier. BUT, what do I do about my beloved cd jacket inserts. Glad you asked. After all you may be able to find the disc easy but what about the song titles? Get yourself 2-3 of those soft CD carry cases. I have 2 which hold 128 discs ($25.00 CDNfor 2 – wait for a sale) …but guess what – they also hold cd inserts…put the cd inserts in the carry case. Remember you should also label this as well. Little stickers can be applied with the disc number you’ve stored. WHY? If you ever move the player you need to take all your discs out. If you have the inserts in the carry case all labelled then when you take the discs out you know where to put them…in the carry case…and it will make it dead simple to put them back in the player. It will save you a lot of work later. The player will remember the disc information up to about a month if not used. Being organized with a redundant back-up will serve you very well.

Okay, but how does a sub $200.00US gimmick player actually sound?

Well, this is interesting because it actually sounds pretty good - At least as good as any single disc player for the same money. What struck me was the high frequency response. Most cheap players in the 80s early 90s were horrific in the highs, the Sony however was very sweet. Perhaps overly so as though Sony wanted to make damn sure this was not going to sound tizzy…rest assured you will have no complaint in the highs (Though it should be noted that my Sugden amp is noted to smooth slightly aggressive highs). Nevertheless, with Norah Jones’ “Come Away With Me” the Soundstage is large and presenting the in room feel. Her voice had that appropriate wet feel with a full rich texture. Partricia Barber’s “Café Blue” disc came out with flying colours here as well. Everything was presented with aplomb including and most notably the cymbals. There was no etching with these instruments and the drum solo within track 2 was coherent, deep and fast. Sade’s “Kiss of Life” has a fullness of sound, captured well here as well. Sade’s voice was smooth, once again providing the “she’s there” feel. Changing over to Acoustic Alchemy’s “The New Edge” began to reveal the weakness in the player which seemed to be a kind of recessed midrange…in fact most of the time I felt the player to be a little laid back. With the YellowJackets “Collection” album the first track in most of my sessions has the sax projected farther out into the room with the accompaniment in the background. With the Sony, the sax was seemingly located between the other instruments but at the same distance. It’s hard to say which is correct though. The result can be viewed as neutral, or the lack of the player to create depth. Once again though, the sax was presented very smoothly with no fatiguing characterists.

The player ran into some problems with Leahy “Lakefield” the fast pace of the violin seemed to create some congestion – but this is true for far pricier players as well. The weakness in certain songs is a slight thinness in the mid band. This is getting long so I'll not mention the rest of the recordings I used.

An external DAC is of course an option. Having compared the Pioneer mega changer with a mega buck Theta transport both using the same external mega buck DAC, I think I’d get the mega changer and invest the HUGE savings on an even better DAC or speakers.

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Product Weakness:	13 display characters is limiting. Need to be organized before you begin...can't just rely on the player for oranaization. Can sound thin in the midrange, lacks low level detail.
Product Strengths:	Features, storing a large collection of music at your finger tips for a very low price. Sound quality for money reasonably good to boot with no aggravating tendencies. Manual easy to follow. Digital out for External DAC. Quiet player.

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Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Sugden A48b integrated ~50watts
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	none
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Sony CDP 355
Speakers:	Wharfedale Vanguard 95db horn 3 ways (flagship model circa 1989)
Cables/Interconnects:	Tara Labs Prism 11(not used in this audition - just the cheapie cable that came with the unit).
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	mentioned in review
Room Size (LxWxH):	18 x 12 x 10
Room Comments/Treatments:	none
Time Period/Length of Audition:	Only 3 days
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	none
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

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