Kenwood DMC-M55

I have wanted a portable MD player for a long time. Two years ago, I bought this Kenwood DMC-M55 from Hong Kong. This is a Japanese internal version. It is supposedly only aviliable in Japan. Therefore, the battery charger is 100V AC. But using it in Canada is still OK. It cost $220 Canadian.

Power Economy

1 AA battery can last at least 20 hours playing continutely in normal mode and 54 hours in LP4 mode. If we use 1 AA battery with the recharable battary together, it can last 60 hours in normal mode and 100 hours in LP4 mode. This is one of the reason I buy it. In fact, I didn't charge more than 5 times in two years. This is 'coz even when it starts to indicate it is low battery, it can still play at least 10 MDs completely. It is awesomely economical with power.

Sound Quality

Clear human voice. Bass is enough, even on a bus.

The person next to you will not hear what you are listening while you are enjoying Rock n'roll. The Headphone has good quality for sealing sound. However, Sony has a better hi tone than this one. This speaker's high tone is a bit blurry - not clear enough. Besides, it has 40 sec buffer in normal mode and 120sec (more than a minute) buffer in LP4 mode. It basically won't skip, even when you wear it to run or even horse racing.

Build Quality

Overall feeling is that is quite fagile but so far it is ok. Most likely because it is made from metal. However, you are better to handle with care. I bought a soft case to carry it so it works perfectly. Earplugs are also good. But I felt uncomfortable with it when I listen for more than 2 hours continuously.

Conclusion

It is a good quality and power economy MD player. It also comes with good sound quality. I recommwend it and it's next model.

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