Hitachi DA-P100 CD-player Review

The Hitachi DA-P100 portable CD player is designed to operate from a.c. power, internal batteries, or (with an optional adaptor) a 12-volt automobile battery. Slightly larger than the smallest portable CD players, since its batteries and a.c. power supply are within its case, the DA-P100 is still a mere handful, measuring less than 7-1/2 inches wide, 6-3/8 inches deep, and 1-5/8 inches high. Without batteries, it weighs about 2 pounds, 10 ounces.

The DA-P100 has an LCD display window that shows the current track number, the playing time on that track, and the machine’s operating status (play, pause, repeat, scan, and battery condition). Pushbuttons control the play/pause functions (on alternate operations), stop, track skip in either direction, and fast search in either direction (with the program audible at a reduced level).

Smaller buttons activate the repeat function (for the current track or the entire disc) and S&P (Scan and Play), which plays the first 10 seconds of each track before proceeding to the next one. A lock button prevents the top-loading disc area from opening accidentally.

The front edge of the player contains a sliding power switch, a stereo headphone jack for a 1/8-inch miniature plug, and two slider controls that affect only the headphone output. One of these controls adjusts headphone volume and the other is marked TONE, with low and high at the extremes and an index mark at the center of its range. The back edge of the player has a socket for the detachable a.c. power cord, a d.c. power input for use with an external 12-volt adaptor, and a line-out jack for a 1/8-inch mini plug. The DA-P100 comes with a slender cable that plugs into this line-out jack and terminates in conventional phono plugs for connection to a system amplifier. A removable cover on the bottom of the unit gives access to the battery compartment.

The major performance specifications of the Hitachi DA-P100 are much like those of other CD players, including a — 90-dB noise level (A-weighted), 0.008 percent distortion, 85-dB channel separation at 1,000 Hz, and a 1.8-volt output. The frequency response is rated as 20 to 20,000 Hz +1, -3 dB. According to the manufacturer, a set of six fresh alkaline AA cells should give about 2-1/2 hours of operation. Price: $399.95.

Lab Tests

With the audio output of the Hitachi DA-P100 terminated in an EIA standard load of 10,000 ohms in parallel with 1,000 picofarads, the output level from a 0-dB (maximum-level) 1,000-Hz test tone was 1.62 volts. Into a high-impedance load, the output increased to 1.78 volts. The channel levels were identical. The playback of a 1,000-Hz square wave indicated that analog low-pass filters were used. The frequency response was well within the machine’s ratings. It showed a slight rolloff below about 60 Hz and above 2,000 Hz, reaching a minimum at 12,000 to 14,000 Hz, and a slight increase from 14,000 to 20,000 Hz. The overall response variation was +0, — 1.6 dB from 20 to 20,000 Hz.

The A-weighted noise level was — 84 dB referred to a 0-dB signal. Harmonic distortion was very low, reading 0.004 to 0.006 percent for levels between 0 and —20 dB. The phase shift between channels rose from 5 degrees at low and middle frequencies to 81 degrees at 20,000 Hz, indicating the use of a single multiplexed D/A converter for both channels. The channel separation decreased from 95 dB at 100 Hz to 58 dB at 20,000 Hz. The maximum output from the headphone jack was 1.6 volts into a 100-ohm load. The source impedance was 10 ohms. With a 10-ohm load, the output clipped at 280 millivolts.

The frequency response from the headphone output differed from that at the line output. The midrange, from 200 to 4,000 Hz, was at a lower level than either the low or the high frequencies, reaching its minimum of —2.5 dB at 1,000 Hz with the tone control set at its midpoint. The high setting introduced a boost shelf of 2 dB over the range from 1,500 to 20,000 Hz. The low setting was more conventional in its effect, rolling off the response above 1,500 Hz to -10 dB at 10,000 Hz and -15 dB at 20,000 Hz.

The DA-P100 was quite sensitive to impact, with light finger taps on the top or side causing the laser pickup to skip or lose its tracking information. Although it is perfectly usable when placed on a stable support, we question its suitability for operation in a moving car.

The player’s error-correction circuits were quite good. We heard a number of momentary dropouts (slight clicks) while it was playing through the 800- and 900-micrometer information-layer defects on the Philips TS5A test CD, but it had no problems with the 700-micrometer defect or with the 800-micrometer black dots on the disc’s outer surface. The pickup required 6 seconds to slew from Track 1 to Track 15 of the TS4 disc (slower than average, but still acceptable), and it made a perfect transition from Track 17 to Track 18 of the TS4 disc (these two tracks are not separated by any silent interval).

Comments

The Hitachi DA-P100 bears a superficial resemblance to some of the personal portable CD players available today, but it is a very different sort of player and clearly was not designed for that kind of service. Not only is it larger and heavier, but it has no visible provision for a carrying strap. And while the player can be operated from an automobile battery, our impact tests show that it prefers a more vibration-free environment than a moving vehicle.

The DA-P 100’s instruction manual gives no hint of its potential for operation far from a.c. power sources. We see it as a very compact player that is well suited to use in a home music system. Its portability and power-source flexibility might also make it a good choice for vacation use in a summer cabin, motor home, or travel trailer.

Although the player’s audio performance is not quite the numerical equal of many larger home CD players, it far surpasses that of almost any analog record player. We doubt that most people would even be aware of its minuscule frequency-response aberrations, let alone find them objectionable. The player does not have all the programming features more conventional home CD players have, but if you don’t need or want them, this is no problem. The instruction manual does mention, however, that the DA-P100 can be used for time-con-trolled playback, since it goes into operation automatically when power is applied if a disc has been loaded into it.

We listened to the headphone outputs with a couple of lightweight phones designed for use with personal portable cassette players or radios. Both phones had an impedance of about 40 ohms, and we found the available volume to be very good with one but barely satisfactory with the other. If you plan to listen with headphones, it would be advisable to confirm in advance that yours are compatible with this player.

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