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 enhance possibility isn’t beneficial.
- Priced at $70 on Amazon, it is a dependable alternative for these looking for a easy, moveable CD participant with anti-skip safety.
Audiophiles have identified for fairly a very long time that CDs are timeless and ship nice audio for reasonable. Within the age of streaming, CDs have fallen by the wayside, however with the resurgence of an curiosity in retro tech, a number of individuals are once more giving CDs a attempt. There are fairly a couple of CD gamers available on the market, and amongst them is the Hott CD204.
This moveable CD participant is nondescript and unassuming, however then once more, you do not actually need something fancy out of a CD participant. I attempted out the Hott CD204 to see how effectively it performs and if it must be your subsequent moveable listening staple.
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Hott CD204 CD participant
$38 $70 Save $32
The Hott CD204 is a light-weight, moveable, and simple to make use of CD participant. With anti-skip safety and EQ presets, it mixes the brand new with the tried-and-true very effectively.
- Light-weight
- A number of EQ presets
- Simple to make use of
- Dear for what it’s
- Comes with dangerous earbuds
- Bass enhance 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 concerning the measurement of any normal one in all its form, 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 would not have any wi-fi connectivity like Bluetooth, so you may must be sure to 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 automotive.
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Whereas the Hott CD204 is a quite simple CD participant that appears and acts so much like ones you possibly can purchase 20 years in the past, it does have a couple of further options that modernize it. Specifically, it has a couple 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 preferred concerning the Hott CD204 CD participant
The system mixes the trendy with the tried-and-true very effectively
For these trying to embrace retro tech extra, the Hott CD204 has the identical vibe as a CD participant from the early 2000s. There’s nothing excessively trendy about it, aside from the truth that it has a couple of further options like EQ, anti-skip safety, and will be powered by USB-C. This system is hardly distinguishable at first look from a CD participant you may discover in a drawer in your mother and father’ basement.
All of that being mentioned, I do actually benefit from the options which might be extra trendy — the EQ presets are particularly good. The presets included are bass enhance, pop, jazz, rock, and traditional. I loved the jazz and rock presets probably the most, because the jazz preset brightens up treble in a manner that makes horns and percussion sound beautiful whereas not overwhelming bass frequencies, and the rock possibility boosts bass in a manner that does not impede on different greater frequencies. The pop and traditional presets do not do a complete lot for me, since they’re each fairly just like the default sound profile, with traditional having a slight bass enhance, and pop sounding a bit extra flat. The bass enhance 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 may 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 would 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 arms 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 moveable, not less than in a single facet. CD gamers are sort of cumbersome by nature, since they’re all the time a bit greater than a CD and may due to this fact not slot in any pockets, however on the very least, the truth that it is gentle makes it simple 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 compared.
This mixture of simplicity, retro appeal, and slight modernity made the Hott CD204 a beautiful system to make use of.
This mixture of simplicity, retro appeal, and slight modernity made the Hott CD204 a beautiful system to make use of. I listened to an array of CDs from my teen years, and used the CD participant with quite a lot 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 way in which, making it a really dependable possibility in my view.
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What I did not like concerning the Hott CD204 CD participant
Whereas the CD participant is nice total, there are a couple of small caveats
The most important drawback I’ve with the Hott CD204 is that it is costly for what it’s. There are numerous different CD gamers obtainable on-line which might be rather more reasonably priced, or at related costs which have extra options. One instance is the Arafuna CD participant I reviewed beforehand, which is $5 cheaper and has built-in audio system and a chargeable lithium-ion battery. For $70, I’d anticipate some extra options, or not less than higher construct high quality than low-cost plastic housing.
One other small problem I might establish is that the earbuds that include the system have a really tinny high quality to them, with some faint static noise as effectively. The earbuds include simply the ear ideas connected 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.
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For $70, I’d anticipate some extra options, or not less than higher construct high quality than low-cost plastic housing.
Lastly, as talked about once I went over the EQ preset choices, the bass enhance 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 lowered in favor of quantity, resulting in a muddy sound that lacks any readability. It is so loud that it masks greater 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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Do you have to get a Hott CD204 CD participant?
Anybody on the lookout for a reliably good, easy, and light-weight CD participant will have the ability to 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 might say it is a significantly better possibility. It might go on sale for as little as $38, and in that case, I’d suggest it with no hesitation.
In any other case, the Hott CD204 is a beautiful system to hearken to CDs at dwelling or on the go. It satisfies my love of retro tech with out being too outdated. It is so much lighter than my previous CD participant from my childhood, making it much more moveable, and I like that it is matte black, since matte black actually goes with all the things.
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