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Already got back into hi-fi thanks to vinyl? This CD player and Bluetooth streamer combo is the perfect next upgrade, especially if you’re into head-fi
- Shanling CD80 II is a small hi-fi CD player costing $359 (about £269 / AU$550)
- 3.5mm and 4.4mm balanced headphone outs delivering up to 850mW/32Ω
- Stream LDAC over Bluetooth from your phone
You’ve been told a million times about how wonderful vinyl is, but you hear a lot less about CDs – and that’s a good thing, because the relative lack of trendiness means that the cost of good-condition CDs is often a fraction of what you’d pay for the same record on vinyl. If, like me, you like saving money as much as you like listening to music, then a CD player is still a smart addition to your system.
Chinese firm Shanling makes some impressive CD players, including ones with integrated amplification. And it’s just brought out a new player called the CD80 II (via Darko Audio), with high-powered headphone amplification for wired over-ears and IEMs – and with high-quality Bluetooth streaming so you can play music from your phone, computer or tablet.
Shanling CD80 II: key features and pricing
The Shanling CD80 II takes the compact CD80 and delivers a new DAC system and a much improved CD loader too. The 4th-generation CD loader comes from the more advanced CD-S100 model, with an HD450 laser and a familiar tray-style mechanism.
Inside the ESS DAC of the previous model has been replaced by a Cirrus Logic CS43198, and it’s teamed with dual SGM8262 headphone amps to drive the 3.5mm and 4.4mm balanced outputs. They deliver 215mW and 850mW into 32 ohms respectively, with an in-ear monitor-friendly output impedance of less than 1 ohm.
Bluetooth input is Bluetooth 5.0 with support for LDAC as well as the familiar AAC and SBC, and there’s also a USB input with support for 2TB drives to play files, at hi-res audio quality up to PCM 384kHz and DSD256.
There’s a lot going on here, but Shanling has managed to pack it into a very small 28 x 20 x 5cm case, so it’s small enough for even the tightest setups.
The new Shanling CD80 II has a US recommended price of $359; other pricing hasn’t been announced but in the UK the first-gen model had a typical price of £339.
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