What CD Player would you like to see tested?

[NTTY]

Owww that's fantastic news !...Now that could be interesting ..I'll keep an eye out.. Many thanks as always .

The Denon DVD-A11 is giving me a headache. It does not read a CDR and so I can't use my standard Test CD. I had to create a DVD Audio, but it has to be 48kHz or 96kHz meaning I had to recreate all test files
Hopefully @Vintage02 guided me to what Software to use to burn a DVD-A, and I'm getting there. Hopefully I can publish the results soon.

 

[tccalvin]

The Denon DVD-A11 is giving me a headache. It does not read a CDR and so I can't use my standard Test CD. I had to create a DVD Audio, but it has to be 48kHz or 96kHz meaning I had to recreate all test files
Hopefully @Vintage02 guided me to what Software to use to burn a DVD-A, and I'm getting there. Hopefully I can publish the results soon.

Thank you for your patience and always helpful work.

 

[Scytales]

The Denon DVD-A11 is giving me a headache. It does not read a CDR and so I can't use my standard Test CD. I had to create a DVD Audio, but it has to be 48kHz or 96kHz meaning I had to recreate all test files
Hopefully @Vintage02 guided me to what Software to use to burn a DVD-A, and I'm getting there. Hopefully I can publish the results soon.

I would be interested by an image of your future DVD test, because I have a Sony DVP-S9000ES at hand, but it doesn't read CD-R either.

 

[NTTY]

Sure, I’m still learning at the moment.
I did not manage to find a way to mix different bit depths and sampling rates on the same DVD. And I did not have time to recreate all test files, but since I want to release the review of the A11 soon, I went the route of "Speed over quality" which means I made some mistakes, of course, and the resulting DVDs can barely be called "prototypes".

So I created two DVDA, one at 16bits/48kHz and one at 24bits/48kHz. I have several files for 24bits/96kHz but I did not burn them. The discs don’t have the same content, they complement each other. I guess I’ll create identical test files in the future, for all bit-depth/sampling-rate, but it requires time.

The longest learning curve is on the software side, for authoring and burning, with verification of the quality of the test files, and rendering when decoded and played. I had some interesting experience, especially with that Denon and its fancy Alpha filtering which increases the bit depth of 16bits content, and is inevitably fooled by 16bits content converted to 24bits. So it was necessary to have better and adhoc source files for good measurements.

Also, the sampling rate of 48kHz made me discover interesting quantization error patterns already a -6dBFS (16bits) with my usual test tone of 999.91Hz. I would need to refine that, but at the moment, it is speed over quality And I would comment that, if the analog output of the Denon shows the digital quantization errors, then it means it is a silent and high resolution player (and that’s what it is, by the way).

Then will come the question of multi-channels tests

 

[Droid_chinchilla]

I ordered one, we’ll soon know all about it

I've just pulled the trigger and bought one today from my hifi retailer. I was curious about the coax output..the DM 13 was flawed (thank you NTTY for all the hard work!) and I really loved the device. So I hooked it to Coax1 on a Topping DX9 and I plugged a Denon DCD F109 on Coax 2 on the same dac.

I used two identical CDs one from my collection and one from my sister's, and I made the test using Hifiman Ananda stealth, as I cannot measure anything, and of course I do not have the knowledge to do it...Switched Coax1 and 2 using the dac remote, and played same track simultaneously on both players.

Right from the first seconds of Sultans of swing I found the Denon to be more live, more bold, more into the headphones. The Fiio is...I do not know if lower in volume, maybe not, but maybe with less dynamics? I listened to Fiio and I said it sounds so good, but when I switched to Denon it sounded better, it hit me harder with the sound. I switched the cds between players, maybe it was the recording's fault, same result. Denon more punchy, Mark Knopfler's voice was deeper...

The drive is slower than the Denon, I did not measure the time to read the CD when loading, and it makes a mrrrrrr when stopping. It does not like any usb c cable in it, I had an Ikea one and I had to switch the ends because it was losing power as I took it in the hand to press buttons - those are really small. I used it in desktop mode, antiskipping off.

And some strange behavior...sometimes it does not "lock" with the Dac coax output? I have a text appearing on the Topping DX9 display when nothing is connected to coax - UNLOCK. When it sees the connection and when playing, it switches to 44.1KHz. Sometimes, 44.1 appears but there is no sound, I have to restart the player. This happened twice when I left it on the desk for 10 minutes, as I was writing this text. I changed the cables between Denon and Fiio to be sure it is not the cable, even if it is a Fiio cable) Strange. Maybe an update will fix it.

So, to draw a conclusion, I like the format, it would have saved me some space on the desk, but sonically for me I feel it like a downgrade from the Denon. I do not know how it measures, but if I keep it, I will still use the Denon for its sound :|
Unfortunately, it will go back tomorrow...

Some pictures below...

 

[redjr]

Hi. Maybe the Shanling CR60 as it is a low form factor transport. I had one for a few days but it failed to play some cds as sometimes it paused sound and struggled to read data. I used the correct power supply. Some users also reported this behaviour. The cds played ok in a Denon DCD900 and Technics PG5. And maybe the SMSL PL150 as it is also a small form factor player but it is quite controversial about the true gapless palyback. It would be interesting to see if these little players are bit perfect as transports. I have an external DAC and look for minimum alteration of the sound. Thanks in advance

Thanks for the heads up on the CR60. I'm thinking of getting one of this size player to use primarily as a transport. Was there another brand/model you settled on? I'll keeping reading.

 

[Droid_chinchilla]

Thanks for the heads up on the CR60. I'm thinking of getting one of this size player to use primarily as a transport. Was there another brand/model you settled on? I'll keeping reading.

Hi, I've just ear-tested the Fiio DM15 but is was not as good sounding as a 2012 Denon DC F109 on coax out to an external dac. I just settled with the Denon, super fast and solid build, only transport.
If u have the extra cash, the SMSL PL200T is worth having a look at, or the Shanling EC Zero AKM. I also wanted to try the Zero, but I think that this is optimized for portable, you cannot turn off the antiskipping buffering, and has coax on top of all these, i feel it was not designed as a pure transport. I feat the coax out might be flawed like Fiio's.

 

[redjr]

Thanks for the reply. I've looked at the Shanling EC Zero AKM. That's what drove me to this thread. Lots of good info here(as usually on ASR ). The SMSL PL200T is more than I want to pay for the amount of use I foresee. The EC Zero AKM is a possibility, but I read a couple user had an issue with it. I'll need to keep reading the thread to make sure I get all the comments about these units - and others.

 

[redjr]

Found the (near) flawless CD Player, and it is a...

View attachment 476228

The review will be epic

I always wanted an Oppo. I bought a used BDP-83 last year on eBay, primarily for my small SACD collection and it performs flawlessly and sound great. It also does a wonderful job with Blurays too.

 

[Roland68]

Thanks for the reply. I've looked at the Shanling EC Zero AKM. That's what drove me to this thread. Lots of good info here(as usually on ASR ). The SMSL PL200T is more than I want to pay for the amount of use I foresee. The EC Zero AKM is a possibility, but I read a couple user had an issue with it. I'll need to keep reading the thread to make sure I get all the comments about these units - and others.

I suspect the EC Zero AKM has the same problems as the CR60. Plus, a significant portion of your money goes towards the DAC and battery functionality.
Despite several software updates, my CR60 had problems reading various CDs, including some very high-quality ones. Some of the issues were absolutely identical and audible even in the USB rip.
The commonality seems to be a control chip that, among other things, enables autonomous ripping as WAV to USB.

Since several drives with this function from different manufacturers exhibit the same symptoms/problems, after more than a year, I no longer expect a software update to solve them.

 

[redjr]

Thanks for this info. Seems odd that in 2026 we can't build a CD player that can read 'bad' discs. I remember back in the 00s I had more than one Panasonic Blu-ray player that refused to play discs that would play fine on other brands. I kept hoping the problem would be fixed, buy alas it never was. I switched to Sony.

Edit. I guess I won't be considering Shanling then.

 

[rdenney]

Thanks for this info. Seems odd that in 2026 we can't build a CD player that can read 'bad' discs. I remember back in the 00s I had more than one Panasonic Blu-ray player that refused to play discs that would play fine on other brands. I kept hoping the problem would be fixed, buy alas it never was. I switched to Sony.

Edit. I guess I won't be considering Shanling then.

Drive mechanisms are price-point commodity items now, not the purpose-built-for-audio works of engineering art made 30 and more years ago. The electronics are a lot easier, but I doubt many manufacturers are controlling the drives as directly as they were back in the day. I say that without really knowing, but my suspicion is that not only is the drive a commodity item, but the data-level interface to the drive is also a case of you-get-what-you-get.

I have a couple of Tascam CD-401 players, which would be considered decent but not high end in the day, that used absolutely superb Sony KSS-151 mechanisms. A Marantz Commercial PMD331, also from the 90's, likewise. Compared to the cheapie drives now used, it's positively military-grade. My slightly newer Naim CD5 was much higher up on the food chain in the early 2000's, but it uses a Philips VAM1205--definitely not their top mechanism and no match for the KSS-151. It's saving grace is that it does not depend on the mechanism to provide a drawer, which is the downfall of a lot of old CD players. There are no belts in it. But that VAM1205 was a lot nicer than the Sanyo drive that the recent Rega Apollo uses, though without the flimsy drawer mechanism. My Cambridge CXC uses a Sony KSS-213 (down market from the 151), but the Azur 640 I have uses a cheapie Sanyo drive.

Is CEC still making their high-end belt-drive mechanism? The belt drive confers no advantage but the quality and durability are quite high. I see used models at well north of a thousand bucks. The Philips Pro CDM12 is also long gone.

I suspect that with a lot of custom programming, even the cheapest players could manage gapless playback (which the CD player in my Ford will not do) and support for even flaky CDRs, all while sustaining a high tolerance for disk errors. I'm just not sure who is willing to program their interface with the drive that closely these days.

Rick "engineered for price point these days" Denney

 

[Droid_chinchilla]

Hi, good news, check this out....

FIIO Yellow on Instagram: "FIIO CEO James recently announced plans for new products on social media platforms, including the Desktop CD Player DP11. Desktop CD Player DP11 This is a desktop CD player primarily designed to pair with our K-series DAC

32 likes, 3 comments - yellowfiio on January 30, 2026: "FIIO CEO James recently announced plans for new products on social media platforms, including the Desktop CD Player DP11. Desktop CD Player DP11 This is a desktop CD player primarily designed to pair with our K-series DAC/amps, serving as...

www.instagram.com

 

[Poeman]

I'd like to see the Sony BDP-S1700 tested, as a CD-transport (no analogue out). It's the only cheap Blu-ray player by Sony still sold in the market.

 

[redjr]

I'd like to see the Sony BDP-S1700 tested, as a CD-transport (no analogue out). It's the only cheap Blu-ray player by Sony still sold in the market.

This looks like a good, inexpensive, alternative option for use as a transport for mild use. How bad can the transport only electronics be. Especially if feeding a very capability DAC via coax. The small-form appeals to me and makes it more versatile when being paired with other 'mini' components.

 

[redjr]

Hi, good news, check this out....

FIIO Yellow on Instagram: "FIIO CEO James recently announced plans for new products on social media platforms, including the Desktop CD Player DP11. Desktop CD Player DP11 This is a desktop CD player primarily designed to pair with our K-series DAC

32 likes, 3 comments - yellowfiio on January 30, 2026: "FIIO CEO James recently announced plans for new products on social media platforms, including the Desktop CD Player DP11. Desktop CD Player DP11 This is a desktop CD player primarily designed to pair with our K-series DAC/amps, serving as...

www.instagram.com

This looks promising too. FiiO keeps innovating and seems to listen to their customers and market trends.

 

[Poeman]

This looks like a good, inexpensive, alternative option for use as a transport for mild use. How bad can the transport only electronics be. Especially if feeding a very capability DAC via coax. The small-form appeals to me and makes it more versatile when being paired with other 'mini' components.

I actually just bought one and to my ears it sounds great through a Topping E30 II, but it's nice to see if it also measures good.

 

[redjr]

I actually just bought one and to my ears it sounds great through a Topping E30 II, but it's nice to see if it also measures good.

Good to know. I was going to order one too. Seems like little risk and may work fine for my needs. Physical size is important to me and this looks perfect.

 

[redjr]

I've just pulled the trigger and bought one today from my hifi retailer. I was curious about the coax output..the DM 13 was flawed (thank you NTTY for all the hard work!) and I really loved the device. So I hooked it to Coax1 on a Topping DX9 and I plugged a Denon DCD F109 on Coax 2 on the same dac.

I used two identical CDs one from my collection and one from my sister's, and I made the test using Hifiman Ananda stealth, as I cannot measure anything, and of course I do not have the knowledge to do it...Switched Coax1 and 2 using the dac remote, and played same track simultaneously on both players.

Right from the first seconds of Sultans of swing I found the Denon to be more live, more bold, more into the headphones. The Fiio is...I do not know if lower in volume, maybe not, but maybe with less dynamics? I listened to Fiio and I said it sounds so good, but when I switched to Denon it sounded better, it hit me harder with the sound. I switched the cds between players, maybe it was the recording's fault, same result. Denon more punchy, Mark Knopfler's voice was deeper...

The drive is slower than the Denon, I did not measure the time to read the CD when loading, and it makes a mrrrrrr when stopping. It does not like any usb c cable in it, I had an Ikea one and I had to switch the ends because it was losing power as I took it in the hand to press buttons - those are really small. I used it in desktop mode, antiskipping off.

And some strange behavior...sometimes it does not "lock" with the Dac coax output? I have a text appearing on the Topping DX9 display when nothing is connected to coax - UNLOCK. When it sees the connection and when playing, it switches to 44.1KHz. Sometimes, 44.1 appears but there is no sound, I have to restart the player. This happened twice when I left it on the desk for 10 minutes, as I was writing this text. I changed the cables between Denon and Fiio to be sure it is not the cable, even if it is a Fiio cable) Strange. Maybe an update will fix it.

So, to draw a conclusion, I like the format, it would have saved me some space on the desk, but sonically for me I feel it like a downgrade from the Denon. I do not know how it measures, but if I keep it, I will still use the Denon for its sound :|
Unfortunately, it will go back tomorrow...

Some pictures below...

View attachment 507864View attachment 507865View attachment 507866

"And some strange behavior...sometimes it does not "lock" with the Dac coax output? I have a text appearing on the Topping DX9 display when nothing is connected to coax - UNLOCK. When it sees the connection and when playing, it switches to 44.1KHz. Sometimes, 44.1 appears but there is no sound, I have to restart the player. This happened twice when I left it on the desk for 10 minutes, as I was writing this text. I changed the cables between Denon and Fiio to be sure it is not the cable, even if it is a Fiio cable) Strange. Maybe an update will fix it."

I went ahead and ordered the DM15 as I like the form factor and features. I'm hoping the issue you encountered will not surface on mine. I have a variety of DACs and cables to try with it, so maybe the LOCK function will work with what I have. I hope so, as I only intend to use this as a transport, so communicating with the DAC is critical.

 

[NTTY]

I received the DM15 yesterday, I’ll review it soon.