Key Takeaways
- Retro tech lovers are giving CDs a attempt as soon as once more — so, you are going to want a CD participant to take part.
- EQ presets like jazz and rock improve the trendy options of the Hott CD204, however the bass increase possibility will not be really useful.
- Priced at $70 on Amazon, it is a dependable selection for these searching for a easy, transportable CD participant with anti-skip safety.
Audiophiles have identified for fairly a very long time that CDs are timeless and ship great audio for affordable. Within the age of streaming, CDs have fallen by the wayside, however with the resurgence of an curiosity in retro tech, a lot of persons are once more giving CDs a attempt. There are fairly a number of CD gamers available on the market, and amongst them is the Hott CD204.
This transportable CD participant is nondescript and unassuming, however then once more, you do not really want something fancy out of a CD participant. I attempted out the Hott CD204 to see how properly it performs and if it needs to be your subsequent transportable listening staple.
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Hott CD204 CD participant
$38 $70 Save $32
The Hott CD204 is a light-weight, transportable, and straightforward to make use of CD participant. With anti-skip safety and EQ presets, it mixes the brand new with the tried-and-true very properly.
- Light-weight
- A number of EQ presets
- Simple to make use of
- Expensive for what it’s
- Comes with unhealthy earbuds
- Bass increase preset is atrocious
Worth, specs, and availability
Transportable, gentle, and easy
The Hott CD204 is obtainable for buy on Amazon for $70. The matte black CD participant is in regards to the measurement of any customary certainly one of its sort, weighing in at a really gentle 8.4 ounces — with AA batteries inside — and measuring 5.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches.
The system runs both with two AA batteries, which aren’t included, or it may be powered by plugging it into an influence supply with a USB-C cable, which is included within the field. It solely takes wired earbuds or headphones, and does not have any wi-fi connectivity like Bluetooth, so you will have to be sure you have a pair of wired headphones to make use of with the system. The CD participant additionally comes with a 3.5mm aux cable, so you’ll be able to plug it right into a speaker system in your house or your automobile.
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Whereas the Hott CD204 is a quite simple CD participant that appears and acts lots like ones you could possibly purchase 20 years in the past, it does have a number of further options that modernize it. Specifically, it has a number of EQ presets to select from, and it additionally has anti-skip safety, so transferring it round will not impede in your listening.
What I favored in regards to the Hott CD204 CD participant
The system mixes the trendy with the tried-and-true very properly
For these seeking to embrace retro tech extra, the Hott CD204 has the identical vibe as a CD participant from the early 2000s. There may be nothing excessively trendy about it, apart from the truth that it has a number of further options like EQ, anti-skip safety, and may be powered by USB-C. This system is hardly distinguishable at first look from a CD participant you would possibly discover in a drawer in your mother and father’ basement.
All of that being stated, I do actually benefit from the options which are extra trendy — the EQ presets are particularly good. The presets included are bass increase, pop, jazz, rock, and basic. I loved the jazz and rock presets probably the most, for the reason that jazz preset brightens up treble in a approach that makes horns and percussion sound pretty whereas not overwhelming bass frequencies, and the rock possibility boosts bass in a approach that does not impede on different larger frequencies. The pop and basic presets do not do a complete lot for me, since they’re each fairly just like the default sound profile, with basic having a slight bass increase, and pop sounding a bit extra flat. The bass increase EQ preset is particularly atrocious, although, with bass so loud and muddy it masks different frequencies within the music.
This system is hardly distinguishable at first look from a CD participant you would possibly discover in a drawer in your mother and father’ basement.
As I discussed above, this CD participant has anti-skip safety, which ensures that your music does not skip or buffer whenever you’re in movement. I discovered that it labored very well, and I did not have any points whereas strolling round with the CD participant in my fingers or in my tote bag, nor did I’ve any points once I shook the CD participant, simply to check its limits.
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Lastly, the truth that the Hott CD204 is so light-weight does make it actually transportable, at the least in a single side. CD gamers are type of cumbersome by nature, since they’re all the time a bit larger than a CD and may subsequently not slot in any pockets, however on the very least, the truth that it is gentle makes it straightforward to hold round or throw in my bag. It is greater than I can say for the CD participant I used rising up, which was cumbersome and heavy as compared.
This mixture of simplicity, retro appeal, and slight modernity made the Hott CD204 a stunning system to make use of.
This mixture of simplicity, retro appeal, and slight modernity made the Hott CD204 a stunning system to make use of. I listened to an array of CDs from my teen years, and used the CD participant with a wide range of totally different headphones, starting from Sony MDR-EX15AP earbuds to Sony WH-1000XM4 over-ear headphones, and all the time had a good time utilizing the CD participant. There have been no hiccups or malfunctions alongside the best way, making it a really dependable possibility in my view.
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What I did not like in regards to the Hott CD204 CD participant
Whereas the CD participant is nice total, there are a number of small caveats
The largest downside I’ve with the Hott CD204 is that it is costly for what it’s. There are numerous different CD gamers accessible on-line which are rather more inexpensive, or at comparable costs which have extra options. One instance is the Arafuna CD player I reviewed beforehand, which is $5 cheaper and has built-in audio system and a chargeable lithium-ion battery. For $70, I might anticipate some extra options, or at the least higher construct high quality than low-cost plastic housing.
One other small situation I may establish is that the earbuds that include the system have a really tinny high quality to them, with some faint static noise as properly. The earbuds include simply the ear suggestions hooked up to them and no different sizes, so they do not slot in my ears correctly, and make an disagreeable clicking noise once I gently attempt to insert them again in my ear.
For $70, I might anticipate some extra options, or at the least higher construct high quality than low-cost plastic housing.
Lastly, as talked about once I went over the EQ preset choices, the bass increase preset sounds fairly terrible. It goes past simply bass boosted into overwhelmingly bass and sub-bass heavy, to the purpose the place the standard of the bass frequencies is diminished in favor of quantity, resulting in a muddy sound that lacks any readability. It is so loud that it masks larger frequencies within the mid and treble vary, making any monitor I listened to with it unenjoyable. Fortunately, this preset is solely an possibility, so you’ll be able to simply keep away from ever utilizing it.
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Must you get a Hott CD204 CD participant?
Anybody searching for a reliably good, easy, and light-weight CD participant will be capable of benefit from the Hott CD204. In my time utilizing it, I did not run into any main points, the one caveats being the earbuds it comes with — which is not an issue if in case you have different wired headphones — and the worth. But when you may get it on sale, I would say it is a significantly better possibility. It might go on sale for as little as $38, and in that case, I might advocate it with no hesitation.
In any other case, the Hott CD204 is a stunning system to hearken to CDs at house or on the go. It satisfies my love of retro tech with out being too outdated. It is lots lighter than my outdated CD participant from my childhood, making it much more transportable, and I like that it is matte black, since matte black actually goes with every part.
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