The Esoteric is the best sounding cd player I have ever heard. Redbook sounds quite special. I believe it is due to the Burr-Brown PCM1704 dac which is the last r to r ladder dac they manufactured. There is a big ease to the music, it just flows and is very enjoyable. The dealer told me it was his favorite Esoteric model and in his opinion the best sounding player that Esoteric made. (this was back in July of 2012 and things may have changed by now). The Esoteric is in my main rig and it's always to "go to" source. If I want to listen to something I don't have on cd, I play it via the laptop and Wyred dac.
The Sony music player is a wonderful sounding machine and redbook sounds wonderful on it, but I am playing it with the DSEE engaged which upsamples everything to DSD quality. It truly sounds wonderful, but different than the Esoteric. This is in my secondary system in my home office so I have never heard the Sony and Esoteric side by side on the same system.
I hope this helps.
