Best Budget CD Player 2024 - What Hi-Fi?
Versatile CD Player with Gapless Playback
Cambridge Audio's AXC35 is a versatile, gapless playback CD player featuring a high quality digital-to-analog converter (DAC), to convert the digital information stored on a CD into an analog sound signal. In addition to excelling with regular audio CDs, the AXC35 will play MP3 and WMA files recorded on CD-R, CD-RW and CD-ROM discs.
Along with its stereo analog outputs, the AXC35 also has a dedicated digital output. This allows you to record from a CD to a digital format or even connect to a standalone external DAC when you’re ready to improve your sound even further and use the AXC35 as a quality CD transport.
"Dynamically Adept Across the Frequencies"
"For starters there’s the classy, understated design. The front panel is uncluttered, with just six buttons and a simple LED display under the disc drive, while the slimline build of the chassis gives it a contemporary feel and makes it look much more expensive than it is," reports What Hi-Fi?, which named the AXC35 its Best Budget CD Player 2024.
"The ACX35 is dynamically adept across the frequencies, keeping its cool with faster time signatures and delivering a sparkling, percussive rhythm through the treble. Instruments are easily distinguishable alongside textured voices in the mid-range."
Highly Musical Sound
The Wolfson Microelectronics WM8524 is a highly regarded stereo DAC, a sophisticated chipset which is designed to support sampling rates up to 192 kHz. Its implementation in the AXC35 ensures superb sound quality from both standard CDs and various media files. The AXC35 also uses a two-pole Butterworth filter for signal processing, creating a flat frequency response for highly musical sound.
Plays MP3 and WMA Files, Too
The AXC35 plays standard CDs and will read files on CD-R, CD-RW, and CD-ROM discs. It will play your MP3, MP3 Pro, and WMA music files, which allows you to access hours of musical entertainment off a single disc without your having to first convert your computer music files to uncompressed CD format.
Gapless playback is a nice feature that eliminates the delay between program material tracks/files.
The analog RCA outputs are augmented by a coaxial digital output. The included wireless remote control gives you full armchair operation.
