Audiophiles, learn me old Discman's

I've got a Sony D-555 hiding in a box that I need to sell.  I knew they were popular amongst audiophiles, but I'm looking at these eBay listings and... uhh.... I guess I can build a challenge car now?

Charging the battery now to see it works.

https://www.ebay.com/i/32419755023

https://www.ebay.com/i/224054852171

I got excited, I don't remember what mine is (or exactly where it's at) but by looking at photos I believe it is/was a D-131.  Yeah most ads are < $30.

What's special about the D-555?

I was one of the ~17 people that bought into MiniDisc, I've got the sport oriented Sony MiniDisc Walkman and probably a dozen or so MiniDiscs.  Probably still have the CD-ROM software somewhere, if ya had Windows XP, it might still work.  Any cult following for the also-ran MiniDisc's Betamax equivalent to the iPod's VHS?

In reply to bigdaddylee82 :

I had a minidisc as well, it's probably still in a box somewhere,

I've got a brand new Zune still new in the box.

EvanB (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to bigdaddylee82 :

I had a minidisc as well, it's probably still in a box somewhere,

Hey, how about that!  Wonder who the other 15 are?

Disc-person-

In reply to bigdaddylee82 :

Not sure what is up with them, but I don't think I've seen a review of them that is bad.  Most reviews seem to say that they compete with anything modern that's being put out.

Seems like pretty much any CD player will perform similarly with respect to sound quality, and you are buying features with more money.

At those prices and ages of the "portable" cd player, I think I would just get a Oppo blu ray player. Can you even walk around with those CD players without holding it like its on a serving tray? 

I get there is a bit of "nostalgia" and "vintage" on top of an audiophile situation going on here, but I have to imagine new TI Burr-Brown chip from the last 10 years will perform better.

I remember my Disc-Man. Ate the 4 AAs like candy, and that bastard would skip if a fly farted within 10 feet of it. Still got it, though. 

bigdaddylee82 said:

EvanB (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to bigdaddylee82 :

I had a minidisc as well, it's probably still in a box somewhere,

Hey, how about that!  Wonder who the other 15 are?

I had a roommate who had a few players and a couple thousand disks.  He liked to record college radio stuff, don't think he ever re-listened to anything.

Tangentially related, but does anyone else remember the audiophile world blowing up over a cheap Radio Shack portable CD player in the mid-90s? I found this article: https://www.stereophile.com/cdplayers/480/index.html

Does it have bass boost?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nMzV7gxB988&index=3&list=RDTFNx3LP-kZU