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Right around the turn of the millennium, compact discs went from the main source of listening to music, to almost obsolete.
They took a tumble from the top, but two decades on, CDs – and portable CD players – are clawing their way to an unlikely comeback among a growing niche of listeners, much like vinyls have done. Younger fans who were raised on streaming and digital are discovering how much better their favorite albums sound when played off a physical disc, and older fans are eager to dust off their collection of discs to try out in new players.
But these aren’t just clones of the same CD players from 20 years ago though. Thanks to the vast improvements, the best portable CD players have integrated new tech to fix some of the problems of the past.
One of the biggest was skipping, which wasn’t only irritating, but also incredibly limiting too, always having to make sure you were keeping the player steady and from getting knocked around. Taking your favorite tunes around with you didn’t mean much if the disc was being jostled with every step or bump in the road. Many of today’s CD players have found remedies and workarounds for this, so you can freely move about or drive over potholes without missing a beat. New players actually read the disc data faster than you’re listening to it by buffering it, then committing a little of the song ahead to RAM memory. Once it’s in there, the disc can even stop spinning entirely while your song is intact and uninterrupted.
Bluetooth is another feature to welcome CD players back into the new era. Wired connections can also be done with an AUX hookup, and are especially great for the car, bringing better-sounding playlists than streaming into your long drives.
Another area where these are beneficial is airplanes. When internet and phone service isn’t available or allowed, and you’ll be stuck in the same spot for hours, a CD player can really come in handy – especially with audiobooks on disc.
And if using batteries was a dealbreaker, plenty of new players have rechargeable lithium-ions, so no more constantly replacing dead ones.
These four players will help you hear your favorites in a familiar, but whole new way, all over again.
