CD Player Buying Guide

CD Players have been around for quite some time now, and as we all know technology advances pretty quickly. The rise in popularity of mp3 players and iPods have made CD players take somewhat of a backseat in their category. However, for those who still own an extensive CD collection or simply understand and appreciate optimal music quality, we've created this buying guide to help you choose a CD player that will work for you. Listen to crisp, clear audio in your home or car with a top performing CD player, that contrary to popular belief is still very much relevant.

This type of CD player is primarily found within home theater systems and typically offers multiple CD changers. Keep in mind when selecting a component CD player there are no speakers included. This means you will have to connect speakers to the unit for any audio playback.

When it comes to the smallest CD players, one can refer to them as portable CD players. They are mostly used with headphones, slightly larger than the CD itself, powered by batteries, and can be taken almost anywhere.

A Boom Box usually has a CD player centered between two speakers, and is very similar to a small stereo that can be powered by an electrical outlet or batteries. For more information on Boomboxes check out our Boombox Buying Guide.

Nowadays, it is very common for cars to come equipped with a CD player. It will usually be a slit in the dashboard where the CD is inserted.

It's rare to find a desktop or laptop with a disk drive that is incapable of playing CD's, most of them allow you to play your media or have the ability to copy files digitally onto the computer's hard drive.

Nobody enjoys music skipping when listening to a CD. This occurs most frequently when someone is running or jostling around their CD player. If you plan on using your player while moving around, than an anti-skipping feature is definitely something you should keep a look out for. The anti-shock technology strengthens the laser that reads the music so there is less of a chance it will miss a beat. In addition, the memory buffer reads the music ahead of time so that if a bump is hit, it keeps playing on from memory.

Bass boost, also referred to as "mega boost", highlights the deep sounding parts of the music and boosts it to give it more depth.

Sometimes you may grow tired of listening to your CD's. This means that having a player with a built-in radio and preset options allows one to jump right to a radio station at the push of a button!

Many CD players allow you to program various tracks in any sequence you may please. Although, there are certain players that allow the individual to program CD's differently, such as shuffle play. In multi disc CD players, the option allows the player to shuffle between CD's and songs. With a single disc, the feature shuffles through various songs at random.

Many CD players have a CD synchronize function that makes digital recording faster and easier by triggering the recording machines and the playback at the same time. This is a great feature for those who love to listen to music, as well as record it.