D-NE1

The D-NE1 is the point when Sony's compressed-audio CD Walkman idea started to feel fully serious instead of transitional. It supported ATRAC3plus, ATRAC3, and MP3 playback from CD-R and CD-RW discs, letting a single burned disc hold hundreds of tracks, while the aluminum top plate, optical output, and stronger overall finish gave it a much more deliberate presence than the simpler file-capable models.

This is part of the moment where portable CD had stopped being defined by albums and started being defined by libraries. The D-NE1 is more than adding codec support. It is built around a different assumption about how people were already carrying music.